"You Are What You Eat," says BBC TV

Have you caught the BBC TV show, "You Are What You Eat" with the fearless macro nutritionist whose name I can't quite remember (I think she's another Jillian)?  Does the show inspire you or revolt you?  It's certainly what I'd call brutally honest and concrete.  Is it a good wake up call or a shame game?  Does it WORK as a motivator for us watchers?

Personally, I love the show. As often as possible, I watch it.
Gillian McKeith does tend to be rather blunt, but it helps motivated people to hear how a healthier person feels about their lifestyle. In some extreme cases, when a person truly needs to change the way they're giving nourishment (or the lack thereof) to their bodies, someone like Gillian to poke and prod them and remain entirely honest is the best "diet' tool they could possibly have.

Also, I've certainly learnt of some interesting foods from watching! And learnt how to eat out properly without expending incredible amounts of calories.

There's an article about how some people have regained the weight that they lost on these reality shows:

Link

I have seen the show "You are what you eat" and I think she does go too far in the humiliation department. In one episode she told a woman she was going to have a facial and then instead she had someone make-up her face to look old and haggard. The woman was crushed to the point of tears. I mean, that's trickery enough to scar you for life. McKeith claimed she did it to make her realize that if she doesn't improve her lifestyle then she will age badly. She attempts to shock people to reverse their habits and that doesn't work for everyone.

These shows put tremendous pressure on people to lose weight in a short period of time. It isn't a natural process for the body.

I haven't watched this show in a while, so I'm going by what I remember.  On the one hand, some of her shock tactics work.  I like the bit where she loads up a table or two with everything the person eats in a week.  That's a good tactic that points out just how much food is being consumed and what's missing from the diet.  However, I don't think it's necessary to goad a person into weeping for the camera on each program.  That's just cruel.  Most of the information she offers is good sense, but frankly, some of the stuff she spouts off is just plain nonsense.  Colonics my -- er, well, you know what I mean.

Patricia

Jilian McKeith!

I love her, i really recomend the book, she has a suggestion for everythying and some really good recipes.

She goes by the diet of abundance. Lots of high qualty, low calorie super foods :)

xXx

Brutality simply doesn't work for most people.

When a healthy lifestyle comes from shame and self-hatred, what happens once you actually heal and feel better about yourself? You return to previous patterns, as an act of self-loving rebellion - and rightly so. Personally I would just slap the bitch, if she tried to make me cry.

People need confidence and love (including self-love) along with the process - turn healthy living into a positive experience, not a bataan death march toward thinness.

I don't like the title either. People are so much more than what they eat. What they eat is virtually irrelevant to their worth as people.

I'm loving your comments, all.  They stimulate a lot of thought. Thanks!

I just started watching that show and love it. I am learning a lot of good information from that nutrtionist. Thier accents do get kind of annoying though lol

I think the show is educational but some of its values are screwy. For example, the nutritionist was going through a girl's cupboards and tossed out all of the canned veggies. Yeah, there's sodium, but honestly.

Also, I don't think that going from fast food everyday to tons of fruits and veggies, whole grains, beans, etc. is very efficient. I can only imagine how constipated and gassy the contestants are due to the high amounts of fiber their bowles are not used to.

Overall though, I think it is a good wakeup call when they see their week's menu all on the table. It looks like the Christmas dinner from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, yikes..

Oh that woman annoys me.. she has a face like a melted wellie.

Embarassing that she was told off for calling herself a doctor!

Her nutritional advice and the validity of her qualifications have been questioned by health professionals.[1]

One TV advertisement of her book was cited by the Advertising Standards Authority in 2005 as misscheduled for a commercial TV break.[2]

Another issue was "informally resolved," in 2007 by the ASA about one leaflet's failure to note her PhD "without the usual disclaimer she was not a medical doctor";[3]

she then agreed to stop using the title 'Doctor' on her products.[4]

In 2005, McKeith was given the Best Organic Businesses 2005 Consumer Education Award by the Soil Association.[5]

[1] Cooke, Rachel. "The vegetable monologues", The Observer, June 12, 2005, accessed November 29, 2006.
[2] Broadcasting Advertising Adjudications, Advertising Standards Authority, June 2005.
[3] Gibson, Owen. "TV dietician to stop using the title "Dr" in adverts, The Guardian, February 12, 2007.
[4]ASA Adjudications 14 February 2007
[5] Best organic businesses 2005 announced by Soil Association, Soil Association, May 17, 2005. Accessed February 13, 2007.

Original Post by trustwomen:

Brutality simply doesn't work for most people.

When a healthy lifestyle comes from shame and self-hatred, what happens once you actually heal and feel better about yourself? You return to previous patterns, as an act of self-loving rebellion - and rightly so. Personally I would just slap the bitch, if she tried to make me cry.

People need confidence and love (including self-love) along with the process - turn healthy living into a positive experience, not a bataan death march toward thinness.

I don't like the title either. People are so much more than what they eat. What they eat is virtually irrelevant to their worth as people.

While I agree that a positive attitude and keeping a positive mindset is important, I think that many people here go too far.  They sugar coat the truth and won't make the hard judgments for fear of hurting someones feelings.  I think that the truth even if it hurts is important.  If a person can't face the hard truths that their behavior must change and that they must be responsible for their own failures and not make excuses, then they won't succeed.

I'm not saying that being sensitive to someone's feelings is unimportant, but facilitating their bad behavior by coddling them is not helping them.  I know we can't be perfect 100% of the time, but if you let yourself make excuses when you fail and don't take responsibility for that failure and recommit yourself to doing better, then when you are done, all you will have are excess pounds and a pile of excuses instead of the healthy body we all deserve.

Sometimes tough love is the best love.

techdog, I think that the reason people on CC tend to be gentle with each other is that on an internet forum, you sort of have to take people at their word (if they say they're strictly following their calorie limits, etc). It's not like someone you know, where you can call them on their self-delusion. You can suggest possible problems, but if you don't know people IRL, you can never know what the real problem is.

I haven't seen much "coddling" on this forum, honestly. And as for saying that people's behaviour "must" change - that is the kind of ultimatum you give to people whose behaviour is hurting you personally, like in an intervention. I would never get "tough love" on people on an anonymous forum, because the purpose of "tough love" is to protect the "lover" from the excesses, manipulations, and harm caused by the dysfunction of the "lovee". Like in drug addiction, family conflicts, etc.

Tough love might work in person (and even then, studies show that it is among the least effective therapeutic techniques in the long run), but I would be hard-pressed to think of any useful application for it on CC. When you are dealing with people who are in pain, hurting them more usually makes the problem worse, not better.

As far as "truth that must be faced" by CCers, I see it as the following: being obese is bad for your health; your weight is in your power to change; and the laws of physics don't lie. I can't think of many people on here who don't or can't see these things. Sometimes there is a certain powerlessness that comes through, and that must be addressed by reminding people that lifestyle change and weight loss are possible.

I do see what I consider to be coddling on these forums.  People post on here all the time about how they did something unhealthy for themselves and their excuses why they did it and instead of people gently suggesting that those excuses aren't going to help the poster, they just post examples of how they are bad sometimes too.

I'm not saying that we should jump down the throat of someone seeking help.  But I do believe that if we don't tactfully point out that owning up to our shortcomings and not making excuses is the first step to not repeating bad behavior, then we do the person a disservice.  It might hurt a little to hear it, but in the long run, I believe that it is honesty that will help them more than just sympathizing with them.

A perfect example of this was a person who posted stating that weekend drinking was derailing their weight loss because they would drink, lose inhibitions, and then binge on junk food while they were drunk.  The person was a college student and they stated that they refused to give up or curtail their drinking habits.  A lot of people then replied with "I can so relate" or "Your only in college once, so live it up", basically facilitating their behavior by giving them more excuses.  I think that a much more helpful response would be to reply that "You need to decide which is more important to you, drinking with your friends or losing weight because unless you can learn to curb your binging when drunk, then you are going to have a hard time losing weight."  I said something to that effect.  I don't think that response was too harsh, but people suggested that I was an idiot for not validating their behavior.  I gave my honest opinion that their weight loss goals and their behavior were not compatible and even suggested that since the main reason for drinking with friends was to socialize, that being the designated driver or just choosing non-alcoholic beverages while out with friends would still let them socialize and also help with the binging problem.  That is what I meant by tough love.  Giving an honest opinion that the poster really didn't want to hear instead of validating their behavior.

And I don't agree that saying a persons behavior must change is an ultimatum.  If someone states that they are eating 4000 calories per day, not exercising and then whines about how unhappy they are being fat, then telling them that in order to lose weight, that they must change their eating habits and consider getting more exercise, I don't think that is an ultimatum, but merely a statement of fact.

I think you may have misinterpreted my earlier response.  What I am advocating is pointing out the sometimes difficult truths to people and being first an advocate of healthy behaviors and second of not offending someone instead of the other way around. 

I think it is like the difference between:

Kid:  Mom, it hurts when I do this.

Mom:  Poor baby, let me kiss it and make it better.

and this:

Kid:  Mom, it hurts when I do this.

Mom:  Well, then maybe you shouldn't do that.

The first might make the kid feel better and not feel silly for doing something that hurts them, but the second I think is the better advice, even if it does make the kid feel foolish.

OK, with that clarification I think we agree. I didn't go to the drinking thread (I don't go to threads like that, usually) but what you are describing is indeed unhelpfully excessive "encouragement". :)

It's all about balance, isn't it, kids? Again, I love to hear what you all have to say.

I'm shaking with laughter about the comment that "McKeith has a face like a melted wellie," by the way. Am I the only one who both wonders at and admires Brit TV for displaying the "vin ordinaire" of human faces on TV and film? I mean, they don't blush over (or apply blush to) the real, flawed physiognomies of the actors, newsanchors, comedians, commentators, and presenters who burst on telly screens like fright masks, sometimes. We Americans, on the other hand, do powder, paint, slice, and dice our public persona to sad perfection. I noticed, for instance, that wondrously craggy, character-laden face of Gordon Ramsey looks much smoother and more refined on "Hell's Kitchen" than it did in his "Nightmares." So, which do you prefer, au naturel or idealized humanity on the screens?

It's an interesting show, but there isn't enough detail about what her reccomended diet involves and she never gives recipes.  I guess we'd have to buy her book if she has one, and I bet she does.

I love that show but it is about balance, Its about changing positively and making a decision to throw out the junk.  & Sometimes during "You are what you eat" the people who are losing weight havent even volunteered to do it, its their family members that have volunteered them for it. That shows failure already because nobody likes being told what to do! Great show though and i personally love all her health foods!

http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/micr osites/Y/yawye/index.html

http://www.gillianmckeith.info/

i agree with her philosophies of the as much healthy food as you want and clean eating as a tool to treat common ailments.  however, i think her plan is too drastic to be continued long term.  i think if people take smaller steps to having a healthier life style, it's better for mind, body and long term commitment.  taking a few months to quit soda, then a few months to limit sweets, then a few months to eat lots of greens...ect ect.  it just doesn't exciting television or give the results people want to see fast enough.

it won't be until we start valuing health before weight that these fad diet approaches will stop, despite the fact that it's a well known fact they fail fail fail.