With shows
like The Biggest Loser being a ratings success, many health clubs now run their
own very successful 12 weeks transformation challenges, but how much emphasis
is being placed on clients learning how to lose weight in a healthy way?
I recently
completed my very own 12 week transformation and in fact, I was deemed such a success,
that I was announced as the best female transformation for my club. Alas, it
came at a cost.
Having been
recently diagnosed with a thyroid condition, I was overweight and I must admit,
not very happy with my appearance, so, I signed up for the twelve week
challenge in the hope of losing weight and being taught the correct way to do
this through exercise and diet. Unfortunately, what I was to discover was not
what they had claimed at the onset.
I first
discovered this weeks out from the beginning of the challenge as I sat with a
fellow gym member. She too had signed up and as we sat drinking a coffee, she received a
text message from her trainer telling her that it would be a waste of his time,
as she wouldn’t really try. Try? What was he expecting from her? She was
willing to give it a go, but before she had even embarked on her journey, she
was told that she was deemed as unworthy. These texts continued throughout the
12 weeks, he constantly admonished her for such things as not losing enough
weight, for not training hard enough, heck, he even went so far as to tell her
off for eating a piece of fruit as he had banned her from eating fruit of any
sort. Eventually, he told her that he couldn’t train her anymore as it wasn’t
working out for him. You see, he wasn’t looking good by having a client who
didn’t appear to be successful.
Upon
signing up, I was told that having a trainer was a must, and despite being told
that I only had to see them three times throughout the 12 weeks, was quickly
told that I should see them a minimum of one day a week at $55 a session and
from there, the real winners became apparent. The real winners were the trainers
and as I discovered later, the sponsor which was a store selling supplements.
I met with
my trainer and I actually liked her, but did I benefit in any form? Perhaps in
some ways, but other times, it became obvious that her phone took priority. As
I did the weights, my form was never corrected and I’m not really sure if those
weekly sessions provided me with the tools to continue. She also gave me a 12
week eating plan. The plan wasn’t teaching me how to eat a balanced, nutritious
diet; it was a diet consisting of protein, vegetables and supplements in a way
to lose weight fast. Real fast. I was told that it was only for 12 weeks and
then I could go back to doing whatever I wanted to afterwards. This was rather interesting;
the healthclub was sending out seminars discussing eating a nutritious diet,
but my trainer contradicted this with the plan I was given.
As I initially
adhered to the diet and exercised, the weight came off. Of course it did. If
anyone ate only protein with vegetables and exercised many hours a day,
naturally, the weight would fall off, but was it sustainable? I don’t think so.
The ‘all or nothing’ way of thought, became apparent. One must push themselves
ONLY for 12 weeks, then go away, put the weight back on and then, come back and
do it all again. This was a money making venture, for the clubs, the trainers
and their sponsors.
I’m yet to
discuss who the sponsors were; the sponsors were a sport supplement store. I
was told that in order to lose weight, I should start using all their products,
in fact, if I told them I was involved with the challenge, I would be given a
10% discount on their starting pack worth over $150. You see, in order to lose
weight, apparently, one must have a range of chemicals in their body to speed
up their metabolism, to use their fat stores, give their workouts an extra push,
and the list continued.
As the
weeks unfolded, it became apparent that I was willing to put in the hours in my
endeavour to lose the weight, so this brought many other dilemmas. People weren’t
happy for me that hard work and dedication were being rewarded by losing
weight, people, especially other trainers, were annoyed that I was ‘beating’
their clients and they wouldn’t receive the accolades for being the best
trainer and hence, be the trainer to train with, for future challenges.
Suddenly, the tone became sinister. They only wanted to know how much weight I’d
lost for their own reasons. It wasn’t to say, “Well done”; it was only asked to
compare me against their clients.
Nearing the
end of the challenge, a trainer approached me and asked, yet again, how I was
going? Upon telling him, he told me that to really lose the weight, I should
only eat chicken and broccoli and if I really, really, wanted to lose the weight
for the final weigh in, to stop drinking water for the three days preceding. He
told me that this is what his male competitor was doing. It must have worked as
his client ended up going to nationals. In his quest to appear the best, the
trainer was advocating for his client to put his life at risk.
I was floored and as I announced this on my
facebook page, the hatred towards me really began. A few of his clients banded
together and started harassing me, telling me that I was a hater, a sore loser
and many other things. After deactivating my account, they continued via text
messages and eventually followed me on to instagram. The only way to stop this
was to threaten the main offenders with a legal intervention. Sadly, this
continued through other means.
On the big
night of champions, I was announced the winner at club level and whilst I stood
up on stage waiting to see if I won for the region, the barbs continued, people
questioned why I was up on stage, as I was still fat. Yes, the adults in the
audience were denigrating me for still being a little overweight. I couldn’t believe that this was happening to
me. Despite many hours of dedication, I was being treated in this manner for
questioning the tactics utilised by other trainers.
Did I learn
a healthy way to transform? No, I was shown a way to lose weight fast. Is their
way of losing weight sustainable? Not unless I am willing to spend 4 hours a
day at the gym and eat an unhealthy diet. Will I participate in another
challenge? NEVER again, but I have learnt something about myself, I have learnt
that I love to run. I can do this outside wherever my heart and feet takes me.
It doesn’t cost me a cent and I can do it away from everyone who wants to hate
me for both speaking out against the tactics used and for achieving weightloss
in a healthy manner through hard work and dedication.
Incidentally,
I never used the supplements being pushed by their sponsors, nor did I adhere
to a regimented diet of only protein and vegetables for the whole 12 weeks, I
ended up searching for meal plans which offered around 1200 calories a day.
Funny that, weightloss is as simple as exercising and eating a calorie controlled
diet and how much weight did I lose? I lost 15.1 kilos in 12 weeks.
BUT more
importantly, what did I gain from all of this? I realised that I am so much
more than a number on a scale, I am a person who stands up for what I believe
in and in this quest for speaking the truth, I will be hated by those who are
trying to make money out of a person’s misery.
More emphasis in the weight loss industry
should be placed on giving us the tools to become healthy. It isn’t about a
number on the scales nor is it about the before and after shots, it is about
our personal endeavours to become healthier and transform into becoming that
person. Sadly, this particular transformation was about a company and their
trainers making money and looking good.
