S05.E05: Growing Up Polygamist

[Rhondinella]

Updates from the Brown teens on how they deal with dating, college and their lives as polygamists. Also: Janelle hits a plateau on her weight-loss journey.

 

 

Um, haven't we already seen Janelle hit her "plateau" at least twice now?  They're really running out of new content.

[MarkySnark]

You would think that with her and KoDouche's new-found "romantic" attachment that she would be working off more calories getting busy with the King. Of course, that only happens every fourth night. The other three are probably spent with Ben & Jerry.

[DakotaJustice]

The kids aren't actually polygamists, their parents are.

[Kohola3]

And since they seem to have more brain cells than all of their parents combined, hopefully none of them will follow this disastrous lifestyle.

[Katjoy26]

Um, haven't we already seen Janelle hit her "plateau" at least twice now?  They're really running out of new content.

I'm thinking a gastric bypass will be a future plot point.

[MarkySnark]

Odd that they have referred to others as Christian as if it is different. As in, Aspyn dates Christians and they are going to visit a Christian polygamist family. Aren't they Christians themselves? Or is it their way of saying, "See? We discuss religion on our show. F.U. Interwebs."

Edited June 30, 2014 by MarkySnark

[Ladystardust]

Odd that they have referred to others as Christian as if it is different. As in, Aspyn dates Christians and they are going to visit a Christian polygamist family. Aren't they Christians themselves? Or is it their way of saying, "See? We discuss religion on our show. F.U. Interwebs."

I can't answer that from the Mormon side, but I grew up in a Christian church and Mormons were always referred to as if they were a completely different religion. I know they share the same Bible as Christians, but the religion is pretty different from what I understand (again, someone who grew up LDS may have a different perspective on this). 

[Katjoy26]

Did I understand correctly she's only lost 25 lbs in year?

[MarkySnark]

Thanks for clearing that up, Ladystardust. It just seemed odd since they rarely mention religion at all. I mean, unless they are being run out of Utah or having to quit their job or any other time things don't go their way and they can cry persecution. Then, religion. If they want to have a King Kody party or if some fool-hardy morons give them an obscene amount of money for their phoney-baloney joory bizness, no religion.

[wrestlesflamingos]

What did I watch? That felt like a political ad crossed with save the children.  The filler has become "describe your kids as reductively as possible -- we'll cut in some footage of Janelle reluctantly climbing a hill."  

[Armchair Critic]

Way to bite the hand that feeds you Christine by calling her daughter's Christian friends "boring" because they are monogamous. If exciting means crying all the time fighting for scraps of asshat Kody's attention than give me boring any day.

 

All 3 of the daughters that were dating are attractive, but they are on a slippery slope heading towards obesity so I hope they can keep it in check. I am saying this from experience, it gets a lot harder when you hit your 30's...

 

Did I miss it or did they not show Mariah?

[Mullet]

If this episode is any indication they better learn new skills soon cause the TLC money is going to be a distant memory. So friggin boring. They have no story left.

[CofCinci]

If this episode is any indication they better learn new skills soon cause the TLC money is going to be a distant memory. So friggin boring. They have no story left.

Yep. There is no story left. You can't get blood from a stone.

The only way to CPR this series is for Kody to declare that God?Jesus?Joseph Smith?Shamu? wants him to take a 5th wife.

[Rhondinella]

I can't answer that from the Mormon side, but I grew up in a Christian church and Mormons were always referred to as if they were a completely different religion. I know they share the same Bible as Christians, but the religion is pretty different from what I understand (again, someone who grew up LDS may have a different perspective on this).

 

 

I'm still active in Christian (Protestant) circles and in general I think Mormons are considered at the very least "unorthodox" as Christians.  Some would consider them not Christian at all.  But that depends on how you define that.  If you go with the most basic definition that a Christian is someone who believes that Christ was the Son of God who died for the world's salvation, then I think most Mormons qualify (unlike, say, Jehovah's Witnesses, who have a unorthodox view of Christ's nature).  However, some of their beliefs, especially about the afterlife strike most Christians as strange at the very least.  And there is a perception (not sure if it's accurate or not) that they revere Joseph Smith as much as or even more than Christ.  Which certainly is a problem for most Christians.  

 

So, yeah, that.  I will say that many Christians do admire their commitment to family and "clean living."  Of course, none of this is referring to the FLDS and Warren Jeffs.  I have no idea what they believe nor do I think I want to.

 

Edit: Just read this blurb on the "Mormons" page of Wikipedia: "Mormons self-identify as being Christian, while many Christians, particularly evangelical Protestants, disagree with this view."  Of course, it's Wikipedia, so take it for what it's worth.

[3girlsforus]

Yep. There is no story left. You can't get blood from a stone.

The only way to CPR this series is for Kody to declare that God?Jesus?Joseph Smith?Shamu? wants him to take a 5th wife.

 

You know as comical as that might be to see Robin and Meri deal with another wife, I'd hate to see the kids have to go through that. 

[CofCinci]

You know as comical as that might be to see Robin and Meri deal with another wife, I'd hate to see the kids have to go through that.

The older kids are over Kody. They'll do fine.

[Armchair Critic]

The older kids are over Kody.

 

I get the feeling they love their moms but don't have much respect for Kody, although they know enough to be polite about it.

[sandyskyblue]

I was impressed with the kids on this episode, especially Logan.  The kids that were featured all seem to have their heads screwed on straight and have their own ideas about their futures, despite having parents that have lots of issues.  Somehow, the kids seem like 'regular' kids and in my opinion, I think most of the credit for that goes to Janelle and Christine, certainly not Kody.

Edited June 30, 2014 by sandyskyblue

[suomi]

Mormons aren't Christian in that they follow a subsequent prophet. Same way Christians aren't Jewish.

 

Well, yes, and no. Son of God/Messiah and prophet(s) are different concepts. The Jews are still waiting for their Messiah to make an appearance. (Hope that makes sense). 

 

You are correct, Rhondinella, about the Joseph Smith v Jesus Christ valuation, which IMO is the #1 criticism from mainstream/orthodox Christians. It's never acknowledged by the LDS because they are well aware of how it sets them apart (negatively). The #2 criticism is that the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants are taught from and read more than the Bible. The public stance is that BoM/D&C are "in addition to" but the reality is that they are believed in/valued more. The #3 criticism is the LDS aversion to crosses/crucifixes. None, nada, zip, nil. C/Cs are never displayed anywhere (church houses, stake houses, temples, in homes) and they are never worn as jewelry. The cornerstone of Christianity is death/resurrection/salvation so it's a big deal to Protestants/Catholics that Mormons gloss over the crucifixion and get right to the eternal salvation part. I've been told by every one of my employers in UT that wearing C/Cs in any form or displaying them at work (in your cubicle, for example) is "inappropriate" and "divisive" and therefore not allowed. Which also rankles the more mainstream religions. (Are there any crosses among the MSWC joory selections, which are predominantly faith-based items? No.)

 

And Maddie flat out said "Oh my hell!" I didn't know that she is Student Body Prez. You go, girl! Robin mentioned something about dating/eating and said "mill" for meal. Don't know why she bugs me so much. But she does.

[Christi]

snore

Their stupid visit is, Im sure; a ploy to introduce a new show...arent all the stupid family visits?

Edited June 30, 2014 by Christi

[Intuition]

 

Did I understand correctly she's only lost 25 lbs in year?

 

Yes, but I wouldn't consider that "only".  I'd be thrilled to death if I lost that much weight in a year given my insulin resistance.  I think Janelle is being hard on herself.  I didn't get the procrastination stuff.  Procrastinating with what - Exercise?  Perhaps I was just so bored I was falling asleep and didn't catch that.  I thought the entire segment was trying to make much out of nothing at all.  I was actually expecting it to be better.  I feel like this show has changed since the previous season.  Perhaps something has changed in production?  It just seems different, and not in a good way.  They're still scraping the barrel for storylines.  It's nice to see how the kids are doing for a change but even that was a total snore.  Although I must say it is refreshing to see how the older kids are doing so well and are so much more grounded and normal than their parents.

[RedheadZombie]

Robyn likes to say that Solomon is "everybody's baby", but I think that role is filled by Logan. He was the first and it's obvious that everyone, including Meri, adores him.

I think he's just a great kid. He's doing his own thing, while continuing to respect the adults. Of course he knows they're a train wreck, but you don't see him mocking the adults or encouraging his siblings to do so.

The parents want Logan to be a role model - which he is of course. But the best way he's going to influence his siblings is to model hard work, education, monogomy. He's never flat out rejected the idea of being polygamist, but he's had a front row seat to all of the drawbacks, and I don't think there's any way he will take that route. He's just too good to insult his parents' way of life.

[LotusFlower]

If Janelle has only lost 25 lbs. in a year, that's only 2 lbs. a month. For an obese person, that's not a lot. Sure, she's plateaued, but she must have terrible eating habits. I feel for her, though. If I were married to Kadouche, and Meri, and Sobbin' Robyn, I'd be miserable and over-eat, too.

I like the 4 teens they spotlighted, but I don't think it's necessarily a testament to good parenting and/or the plural life. When you have a gazillion kids, the law of averages means at least a few turn out ok. I don't think it's a coincidence that they featured the four they did, and left out Mariah (although she's been featured a lot, sometimes as sour and spoiled, sometimes as kind of ok ). Nor did they interview Hunter and some of the younger kids (I don't know their names) who don't seem to like their dad very much. This show has a very strict message - we're one big, HAPPY family - and anyone who goes off-message or expresses a contrarian point of view is not featured (notice not a single friend said anything negative about polygamy when asked).

And yea - road trip? The sure-fire sign of a reality show that's run out of ideas.

[Xena]

Yeah, this show is seriously ... boring me to tears right now.  Even the expectation of 'drama!' next week with the RV trip doesn't interest me - we already saw 'drama!' with the LAST RV trip they took.  Usually I love to watch Kody have his little baby tantrums, but even that doesn't entice me anymore.  I may have to opt out of watching and just let you kind people here on the forums catch me up if something interesting happens....

[mythoughtis]

Thoughts:

 

Janelle is stress eating, she said so herself.  So, basically, sabotaging her own diet.

 

Logan, Maddie, Aspen, MyKelti turned out to be wonderful young adults... all of which seem to have cloudy rememberances of their childhood.  Moving from place to place, state to state, bankruptcies, Logan and Maddie living apart from Kody for two years.   I think Mykelti's boyfriend broke up with her as a direct result of Kody's 'hormones in the mouth speech'.  His parents probably told him to do so.   You can tell she still misses him. 

 

Logan's true feelings can be shown by his living in an off-campus apartment rather than at home.  Dorm life I can understand, but if you are going to live off-campus and pay extra money rather than live at home in the same town, you really want your privacy. 

 

Wonder how Maddie is going to feel as a prosecuting attorney when she has to try people similar to her parents.,  not specifically as regards to polygamy, but in other terms of their family life that we have seen.  

 

Aspen is a wonderful young woman also, I have nothing else to say about her scenes. 

[RealityCowgirl]

 

Logan's true feelings can be shown by his living in an off-campus apartment rather than at home.  Dorm life I can understand, but if you are going to live off-campus and pay extra money rather than live at home in the same town, you really want your privacy. 

 

Aspen is a wonderful young woman also, I have nothing else to say about her scenes. 

 

Yeah, normally, I'd say no one in this family can afford the luxury of living away from home when attending a local college. But these two, in particular, have earned a big-time break from the nuthouse - and the major burdens they shouldered as caretakers of their younger siblings. I'm certainly not going to begrudge them the chance to finally breathe and live their lives.

[Madding crowd]

I have a couple of nephews who live with roommates near campus because they want the 'campus' life and wanted some independence, I'm guessing that is Logan's reason too . It was nice to see how well the kids are doing but kind of boring too. I think Mariah wasn't featured because is out of town.

Janelle might have gained some muscle and lost inches rather than pounds. It is a myth that all fat people lose weight quickly and in massive amounts. Women past 40 have a much harder time which I know from personal experience. Janelle is not my favorite person and I agree she is stress eating, but I understand her frustration.

[ghoulina]

Thank you, TLC, for giving us an hour of mostly Brown kids and not those insufferable adults! I actually really enjoyed this episode. 

 

I love Logan, as always. He just seems like a great person. And I love that he feels free to be his own person, with no shame about it. He can still be a good, moral person without doing things exactly like his parents. And I love that Jenelle supports him in that and fundamentally trusts him. Really, they all do a good job of not forcing stuff upon the kids and I do appreciate that. And in reality, they can't be too surprised that their kids are veering away from polygamy when they moved them to a very secular city and the kids are being exposed to a much broader world. 

 

But is it weird that I think Logan looks like Christine???

 

Maddie has such big dreams - love it! I really hope she becomes a lawyer and has a wonderful life. I'm glad to see her happy and passionate about things, because she was SO upset when they first moved. 

 

I think Aspyn will be a wonderful teacher. She seems like such a sweet girl. 

 

Mykelti is such a ball of sass, love her! I think it's amazing she's doing dual enrollment right now. She is very driven and that's awesome. 

 

Honestly, for the most part I love the Brown kids (Mariah is one exception, and I'm so glad they didn't focus on her last night). It can't just be accidental that all of these older kids are such good people. The Browns have to be doing something right. I did find it interesting, though, that both Mykelti and Aspyn expressed a strong desire to have kids but were either unsure or completely unenthused about the prospect of a husband. It would seem to be that maybe the adults are largely good parents, but they kind of suck at marriage. 

Edited June 30, 2014 by ghoulina

[Bellalisa]

Maddie needs speech therapy if she thinks she is going to be a lawyer. I can't understand her because she speaks as if her teeth are closed together. if you want to do a Maddy imitation put your top molars against your bottom molars and start talking.  You get s "SHCS" sound for "S". It's very distracting like she has marbles in her mouth. The judge is not going to understand her.

 

I think Janelle does not care too much that she is fat. She is not truly motivated. She has seen herself on TV and in publicity photos and I guess is not too mortified by her appearance. If she was, she would try harder. Her life won't change on iota if she weighs less. To not eat food you enjoy, to not self-medicate with food, you need a big big big reason! You need to want it so bad because you can't stand looking at yourself. To suffer in weight loss you need a big motivation or pay-off. I think she doesn't really care too much, in that it would be nice to lose wieght but if she doesn't-- oh well. Kody never mentioned it, she would still be stuck with the shitty sister wives. She would like to lose weight but not badly enough to actually put in the effort of discomfort it requires.

[MarkySnark]

I think Mariah being out of town is only part of the reason she wasn't shown. She seems to come back often enough that they could have featured her if they wanted to. But this was the "Look at our great kids! We must be great parents! Polygamy is wonderful!" Episode and Mariah's spoiled brat attitude doesn't fit with that narrative. So, they took advantage of the fact that she stayed at Westminster College (can I get a discount, please? I mentioned the name) for a weekend to film something without her.

[ghoulina]

If Janelle has only lost 25 lbs. in a year, that's only 2 lbs. a month. For an obese person, that's not a lot. Sure, she's plateaued, but she must have terrible eating habits. I feel for her, though. If I were married to Kadouche, and Meri, and Sobbin' Robyn, I'd be miserable and over-eat, too.

 

Yea, she admitted to stress-eating, which is something I do as well. It's not a good habit for anyone to be in, but fortunately I have never been overweight and I exercise regularly. But I hate getting like that and I could really emphasize with her frustration. She needs to talk to someone, to get some tips for how to curb that habit. It's so hard to break bad habits as you get older, though. I wish she had some "fit friends" - some people that could go on this journey with her and hold each other accountable. I get the impression that this family, as a whole, does not eat very healthy. So it's probably hard for her. Like when one spouse quits smoking and the other doesn't. 

 

I think Mykelti's boyfriend broke up with her as a direct result of Kody's 'hormones in the mouth speech'.  His parents probably told him to do so.   You can tell she still misses him.

 

I thought the same thing. It's one thing to wait to have sex, but how many teenage boys are going to wait for marriage to kiss??? 

[Adeejay]

It's one thing to wait to have sex, but how many teenage boys are going to wait for marriage to kiss???

Perhaps a teenage boy or a young man, who is courting a Duggar girl.  Sorry couldn’t resist.  I think Janelle is being too hard on her self.  Losing 25 pounds in a year is quite an accomplishment, because a lot of people can’t even lose ten.  Logan, Maddie, Aspyn and Mykelti seem to have grown into wonderful young people.  Their parents should be proud.

[Katjoy26]

As great as the kids seem I wouldn't want one of my kids to date any of them. I wouldn't want them anywhere near this screwed up family.

[DakotaJustice]

Did I understand correctly she's only lost 25 lbs in year?

Actually, in "The Wives Diet Woes" filmed in 2011, when Robyn was still pregnant with Sol, Janelle weighed in at 265 lbs.

So that's 28.9 pounds in THREE years.  

 

I mean, it's a loss, but considering how much time they've spent on this topic during the last three years, and with Sean attempting to promote himself as #tvtrainer to the "stars" it's pretty lame.  When I weighed 265 and decided to DO something about it, I lost 30 pounds within a few months, AND have kept it off for oh, 20-some odd years, and lost more since then.  

 

I doubt weight-loss surgery will help much, if she's stress eating.  I just know too many people IRL who've been able to out-eat their surgeries.  The WLS forums are filled with people who've done it.  Stress eating starts in the mind, it doesn't matter how tiny their stomach is.  Look at Carnie Wilson and Ann Wilson (Heart) for examples...

 

I feel kinda bad for Janelle, but real annoyance/anger towards grandstanding "TV Trainer" Sean.

As great as the kids seem I wouldn't want one of my kids to date any of them. I wouldn't want them anywhere near this screwed up family.

 

My thought too.  I also thought in retrospect, that Mykelti's boyfriend John had a look on his face during the Kody Kissing Lecture (gag) that he just wanted to get the F out of there and not even look back.  Mykelti said something about him kind of just passing her in the hallways now.  While he was planning on going away to school, they could have still dated before he left and been friends.  Look how sad she was, and to me Christine was almost gloating about it.  Mykelti doesn't seem like a bad kid.  Or wild for that matter.  She's just a normal girl.  Kody will be busy chasing away boyfriend prospects with his Kissing passes on Hormones...be it true or not, that's how we're made, whether you believe in God or a different higher power.  Just suck it up Kody and quit making sex such a taboo for everyone except yourself.

[Kohola3]

I did find it interesting, though, that both Mykelti and Aspyn expressed a strong desire to have kids but were either unsure or completely unenthused about the prospect of a husband.

 

I thought that was interesting as well. Since their only exposure to what laughingly passes as a husband in the harem is King Kody, I guess he hasn't made the greatest impression on them.

 

But maybe a "boring" monogamous relationship might change their minds.

 

Loved the kids and if there was any good influence to their great attitudes, it's only from their mothers.  The King has nothing whatsoever to do with any good traits.  I bet he hasn't spent more than 15 minutes a month with any of them.

 

And they are dragging all of those younger kids across country to meet another polygamist family?  What the hell for?  To "see what their back yard looks like"?  Riveting stuff, Christine.  Certainly worth 4 days trapped together in moving boxes.  Count me out on watching, I have better things to do than subsidize this mess.

[ghoulina]

oved the kids and if there was any good influence to their great attitudes, it's only from their mothers.  The King has nothing whatsoever to do with any good traits.  I bet he hasn't spent more than 15 minutes a month with any of them.

 

I can agree with that. It seems like he loves to burst in, make proclamations, and burst back out - leaving the moms to deal with the day-to-day raising of these kids. I will never forget when Jenelle's son and Christine's were fighting in Jenelle's house while Kody was there, and his solution was to just send Christine's home. I thought they were brothers? How about teaching them how to get along and actually talking with them? 

 

Although, I wonder what the dynamic was like before LV. They all lived in the same house, so I wonder how involved Kody was then? Did he retreat to Meri's "apartment" often? 

[MMLEsq]

I think Mariah being out of town is only part of the reason she wasn't shown. She seems to come back often enough that they could have featured her if they wanted to. But this was the "Look at our great kids! We must be great parents! Polygamy is wonderful!" Episode and Mariah's spoiled brat attitude doesn't fit with that narrative. So, they took advantage of the fact that she stayed at Westminster College (can I get a discount, please? I mentioned the name) for a weekend to film something without her.

I thought part of the reason might also be because, unlike the other 4 older kids, Mariah might not have any experience at all dating. 

 

I was surprised to hear "courtship" mentioned...definitely reminded me of 19 Kids and Counting (the Duggars).  IMO, if they weren't on TV, Kody wouldn't care at all about courtships, kissing, etc.  (Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Kody "transfer some hormones" to Robyn will Christine was in labor with Truley?)  I bet it would have been left up to each mom to set rules (or not) with respect to the kids' dating.  Both Janelle and Christine (but especially Janelle) seem to have taken a certain "they're good kids, I trust them" approach to it.  

[Higgins]

If Janelle has only lost 25 lbs. in a year, that's only 2 lbs. a month. For an obese person, that's not a lot. Sure, she's plateaued, but she must have terrible eating habits. I feel for her, though. If I were married to Kadouche, and Meri, and Sobbin' Robyn, I'd be miserable and over-eat, too.

It is possible that Janelle is following conventional dietary advice and keeping her calories and fat relatively low and not losing much at all. I suspect she has insulin resistance and until she cuts her carbohydrates to under 50g per day and increase her fat, she won't lose more weight.

[Curious5]

Thank heavens I taped the program so I could fast forward through the junk. I had started to watch  when Jeanelle started to CRY!  No, no no - not her!  Oh, I can't wait until Kody cries about life being so hard and how hard life is.

 

Just how hard can it be to do the financial end of a jewelry company that has no business.  Real Estate?  Where are all house sales?  If Jeanelle wants to lose weight, just stop eating!  Just look at all the kids.  Plump to fat and that the mothers fault.

Edited June 30, 2014 by maraleia
edited to remove bold type

[Higgins]

She should just stop eating? If it were that simple don't you think everybody would be thin? Clearly there is more to it than that. Metabolism is a very complicated mechanism that involves hormones, genetic code, mental status and much more than medical science understands.

[DakotaJustice]

The father of one of Logan's female roomies posted on Twitter in response to Christine's tweet about the girls being so "Stupid and giggly around Logan - it's embarrassing".  He was NOT happy, and also confirmed that his daughter didn't get paid to be on the show, nor did any of the other kids in that scene. 

[Bellalisa]

It is possible that Janelle is following conventional dietary advice and keeping her calories and fat relatively low and not losing much at all. I suspect she has insulin resistance and until she cuts her carbohydrates to under 50g per day and increase her fat, she won't lose more weight.

I suspect that's not it. Cutting out carbs is not the reason she can't lose weight. If she was eating a reasonable number of carbs, low fat and low calories and keeping her daily caloric intake low- consistenty- day after day month after month- while exercising she would lose. If she cut out carbs to 50g per day - but keeps binge eating and emotional eating she won't. And she isn't going to binge on steak and hard boiled eggs.  Sure, if she stuck to that she would lose but if she stuck to anything she would lose. She has not said "I eat 1400 calores a day,  every day for a year,  and exercise and I can't lose weight"- she said she emotional eats.  

[Higgins]

I suspect that's not it. Cutting out carbs is not the reason she can't lose weight. If she was eating a reasonable number of carbs, low fat and low calories and keeping her daily caloric intake low- consistenty- day after day month after month- while exercising she would lose. If she cut out carbs to 50g per day - but keeps binge eating and emotional eating she won't. And she isn't going to binge on steak and hard boiled eggs.  Sure, if she stuck to that she would lose but if she stuck to anything she would lose. She has not said "I eat 1400 calores a day,  every day for a year,  and exercise and I can't lose weight"- she said she emotional eats.  

That has been totally debunked.

 

http://garytaubes.com/2010/12/inanity-of-overeating/

Edited June 30, 2014 by psychnurse

[ghoulina]

Thank heavens I taped the program so I could fast forward through the junk. I had started to watch  when Jeanelle started to CRY!  No, no no - not her!  Oh, I can't wait until Kody cries about life being so hard and how hard life is.

Just how hard can it be to do the financial end of a jewelry company that has no business.  Real Estate?  Where are all house sales?

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only thing I remember Jenelle getting teary about was when talking about how upset Madison had been in regards to their move vs. how well she's doing now. I thought it was a touching, refreshing moment coming from the usually tearless one on this show. 

 

I did kind of wonder, though, how busy Jenelle can really be when she claimed that's one of the reasons she doesn't take good care of herself. I'd really like to see a legitimate "day in the life" with these people. 

[GleamingMist]

The father of one of Logan's female roomies posted on Twitter in response to Christine's tweet about the girls being so "Stupid and giggly around Logan - it's embarrassing".  He was NOT happy, and also confirmed that his daughter didn't get paid to be on the show, nor did any of the other kids in that scene. 

 

Good.  If someone said that about my daughter I'd probably react the same way.  To me they seemed like typical 19-20 year old girls who get a bit flirty/giggly around a good-looking guy.  That was a rather thoughtless tweet from Christine.  I can't speak to how girls are around Logan in real life, but I thought those girls might have been a bit nervous being on camera?  Just my thought. 

[Madding crowd]

That has been totally debunked.

http://garytaubes.co...-of-overeating/

Edited by psychnurse, 16 minutes ago.

Gary Taubes is a writer and not an MD, and there is no actual proof this is true, his books are his opinions. There can be different reasons both to gain and lose weight. I suspect Janelle is struggling because: she is over 40 and her metabolism has slowed, she is losing inches and gaining muscle which weighs more than fat, and she admits to eating too many calories.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Madding crowd

[DakotaJustice]

I suspect that's not it. Cutting out carbs is not the reason she can't lose weight. If she was eating a reasonable number of carbs, low fat and low calories and keeping her daily caloric intake low- consistenty- day after day month after month- while exercising she would lose. If she cut out carbs to 50g per day - but keeps binge eating and emotional eating she won't. And she isn't going to binge on steak and hard boiled eggs. Sure, if she stuck to that she would lose but if she stuck to anything she would lose. She has not said "I eat 1400 calores a day, every day for a year, and exercise and I can't lose weight"- she said she emotional eats.

Whatever Gary Taubes has to say - that's his truth.

I can only speak from my own experience coming from where Janelle is now or was. And I'm older than she is.

My truth: I'm a VERY active person. Extremely fit, I'd consider myself athletic.

However - if I don't watch my calories, I won't lose weight. If I eat too much, I gain weight. "Too much" being over 2,000 calories a day.

To lose weight, I need to keep my calories at or under 1500 a day, 80 percent of the time.

And that's with long distance road cycling (averaging 50-90 miles a weekend), indoor climbing 2-3x a week, teaching spin and strength training classes, and participating in boxing and circuit classes several times a week.

It matters not where the calories are coming from. Too many calories consumed means a weight gain.

I've had my thyroid checked, everything. It is what it is.

This is my truth.

And I am also an emotional/recreational eater.

Edited June 30, 2014 by DakotaJustice

[Higgins]

That has been totally debunked.

http://garytaubes.co...-of-overeating/

Edited by psychnurse, 16 minutes ago.

Gary Taubes is a writer and not an MD, and there is no actual proof this is true, his books are his opinions. There can be different reasons both to gain and lose weight. I suspect Janelle is struggling because: she is over 40 and her metabolism has slowed, she is losing inches and gaining muscle which weighs more than fat, and she admits to eating too many calories.

That's not the point. Did you read the article? You would be mistaken if you think that Medical doctors are more versed in this subject that Gary Taubes. In medical school they barely touch on nutritional science and nutritional science is in it's infancy. Janelle may say that she eats too much and she may but,why? Why is her body set point so high and many people just magically maintain exact calorie equality at a lower set point? It is much more complicated than, Janelle eats 20 more calories every single day than she expends but Robin, by pure luck eats exactly what she expends without even trying.

[wrestlesflamingos]

Can we skip the blogger science on any topic? I'm glad that guy has a book to sell but the diet debate is duller than the show. Perhaps it's a topic than can be covered in another thread?

[Curious5]

This business of it's too hard to lose weight if you're over 40 is a joke.  Sign into any low carb group online and find out that the most obese people  lose weight and keep it off.  Cut bad cards, sugar and booze.  Eat low carb veggies and move.  Weight will come off.  The shame is that most of the kids are overweight also.  I noticed that the friends of the older girls are also all overweight.  Cut out the pizza! I think if TLC wants this show to succeed they should change the show to Four Fat Wives And 15 Overweight Children.

 

A true hit would be watching them  go on the Biggest Loser.  Look at the guys on Pawn Stars.  Some have lost over 100 lbs - on their own by watching what they eat.  Anyone can lose weight - if they want to.  Jeanelle and the other women have low self respect and gave up a long time ago to care about themselves.  This has turned into the worst soap opera on TV.

 

If you fast forward through this show, please note that the majority - approx. 75%  of ads are simply covering TLC's other shows.  There is little revenue coming in from this show.  TLC spent its advertising time to push other programs like Honey Boo Boo (can't believe that show!)