That's possible. If there is trickery, I would rather that they were up front about it. Nothing wrong with losing those significant numbers over a longer period of time. Last night, they specifically mentioned time passing of 8 weeks. Each episode, it appears, is filmed over the course of a week.
One thing, which seems very realistic, is one man didn't show any weight loss last week. Another, who has been working out something like 5 hrs. a day, showed very little weight loss and several have only lost a few pounds now. The weight loss numbers are slowing even though they are doing everything 'right' which is very realistic. I liked that one of the trainers talked to the guy who was working out too much about the importance of increasing his calories. He didn't seem to believe it . . . which we've all been there, I think . . .needing to increase calories in order to speed up the metabolism.
I also like that they've shown people having emotions without it seeming exploitive or 'acted.' Weight loss can be very emotional no matter what background or how strong an individual is.
Sandy