Reality TV programs are popping up everywhere. It started with “Survivor,” but since then reality TV has really branched out. We have regular people (not actors) racing around the world and engaging in all kinds of activities in hopes of winning a million bucks. We have people courting and choosing mates. Reality TV seems limitless. It’s no surprise that weight loss reality TV has made it into American living rooms and dens.

It’s amazing, really. You see people who are grossly overweight set out to lose a lot of weight, and in a relatively short period of time. These “contestants” live in a vacuum that can’t come anywhere close to emulating real people out there in the real world who are dieting and exercising in an effort to lose unwanted pounds.

The “contestants” (I don’t know what else to call them.) are surrounded by doctors, dieticians, fitness instructors, and other professionals 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Professionals are in charge of meal planning, portion control, and exercise regimes.

There have been reports that the TV audience isn’t treated to what REALLY goes on behind the scenes, like vomiting, purging, and use of strong diet suppressants and diuretics. The networks, of course, deny these allegations vigorously.

My main objection to these reality weight loss television programs is that viewers can be “tricked” into believing that they can accomplish the same amazing results at home. They can’t. Those of us who live out here in the “real” world have families, jobs, relationships, and hundreds of other distractions. Nobody prepares our meals for us, and nobody controls portion sizes except us. We don’t have a registered dietician on call. We don’t have a personal trainer that we can depend upon at any hour of the day or night, either.

Things are a bit different out here in the real world, where diet and exercise programs are a lot harder to stick to.