Opinions on criticism of 'Biggest Loser's' weight loss???

What'cha think?

I never watch TV, but I caught part of this program a couple of weeks ago, and I knew the gist of it. It piqued my interest, because the semi-finalists were competing in a triathlon, something I am training for. So, I got hooked just enough to watch the finale. I thought that the winner, Rachel Frederickson, did an amazing job transforming herself, going from 206 to 105 lbs. And, she was an awesome competitor in that tri, beating the pants off of 2 guys and another woman.

I understand concerns over anorexia and body image in girls. But, this woman cannot, in my uninformed opinion, be anything but healthy, because to do what she is doing, athletically, takes a tremendous amount of energy and strength, and those do not go hand in hand with anorexia.

I have lost about 60 lbs, and I know it was a hard struggle but very rewarding. I can't imagine losing 150, but she did. And, I think it's very unfair of people to criticize her when they aren't in her shoes, so to speak.

Kudos to Rachel Frederickson!

Here's what I hate about that show ...

You didn't lose enough weight. You're out of here. Go be fat somewhere else.

Of course the trainers seem like geniuses when all we see is success stories. But for many people, it's not just a matter of diet and exercise (heck, I gained 5 lbs on NutriSystem).

I have never seen the show, but I've seen pictures of this woman. She does not look unnaturally thin to me. I understand people are saying she's too thin. She used to be an athlete, and now she looks like one (again, I presume).

The thing I wonder is how tall she is? At 105, she should be fairly short, then. Does anyone know her height?

She is 5'4", from what I have heard. To me, 105 just seems to be... to little for that height. I do think it was taken a bit too far in her case. She looks thinner than an active athlete.

Yeah, I would have thought she'd be a little shorter. But she's young and maybe fairly fine boned. I've seen a lot of thinner looking people wandering the streets. She looks healthy to me. Maybe she overdid it a tiny bit, but not much.

Seriously if we told out therapist we work out over 4 hours(like the biggest loser winner does) a day and was as thin as her what do you think the therapist would say or do? That is now an eating disorder and her exercising is is purging. What kind of message are they sending. Holy Crap!

This is the first time I heard her name. Saw the biggest loser years ago.

I have no opinion on 105 if she hadn't started at 206 8 weeks, 10 weeks ago (?) I do think loosing that much weight in that short a time period is not healthy. In fact it probably puts her into starvation mode which means eventually her brain and body are going to work really hard to bring those fat stores back. She would have to maintain that daily amount of exercise and food intake for the rest of her life. 4 hours a day while maintaining a career or motherhood? Increasing food intake will cause the body to convert calories to fat and store it if you are in starvation mode.

I feel for people, especially women, who buy into temporary or low calorie diets because their self image really suffers even more when they gain it back. It can be devastating if they already had a poor self image. Like we don't have enough image messages already.

I always thought the name of the show had a dual meaning that is rather telling and arguably insulting. Are loosing weight only to be "losers" in the long term?

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All this fat loss stuff is bad in general. I mean, when I used to see before and after photos (well the supposed before and after photos) of people on a diet/exercise program etc., I could tell the difference between "fat" and "thin". Now, they still look fat afterwards to me. Rarely do I see someone that I would legitimately call skinny. Maybe some models.

I also have the problem of being big boned and prone to gain muscle mass quickly, meaning I'll always be at least 20 pounds more than I look. And so I'm always going to weigh too much. So, no matter how much weight I lose (and I've been losing weight relatively steadily…I don't check my weight that often because then I'd never eat) I'm still going to be considered "overweight" by those stupid BMI charts. And I don't think I can ever actually get my stomach flat…I can't ever exercise enough because I get to the point that my stomach hurts or I'm nauseous because of overworking the muscles.

So let's just stop all of this. So no one else ends up like me when they watch these shows or fashion shows etc. And the kicker—I can't say whether I have an eating disorder or not, but I know I'll never weigh little enough to qualify having one.

well, google her...

why are people more shocked though about "zomg she so skinny" and not the fact she let herself to pack on all those pounds?

I never considered myself too skinny in my adulthood (teenage spidery looks don't count) and had a chubby period in my life... I was kinda shocked to discover to be called "skinny witch" by some...

seems obessity is more acceptable by many (although overeating is as much eating disorder as not eating) then looking thin, or even normal weight.

"seems obessity is more acceptable by many"

Whatever weight you are our society, the media says it's wrong. No women gets away from criticism of her body. How she deals with it, well that's a different story.

My t actually shared this with me. Warning... It is very powerful.



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I think the criticism is nothing but jealousy. There are people who can't be 105 no matter what.

The way she looks is concerning to me because she is quite a bit low the lowest healthy BMI for her height. I think BMI is really sort of a guideline, useful in context. But the thing is, she was a competitive swimmer.
I was too. I still have residual muscle mass that was developed and never went away from competitive swimming- serious female swimmers generally develop a certain body type, muscles distributed a certain way... she had to do something drastic if the pictures for n ow aren't showing that residual muscle mass, which they aren't, really.

I mean, she somehow lost all this weight by eating right and exercising and somehow got rid of the arm/shoulder mass that is so common (and apparent in her before pictures).

Given her person history she would be more likely to have some kind of eating/diet/weight issues- going either way.

Did she eat well? I haven't seen the show in years but the last time I did I remember it was fruits and veggies (good) and a whole bunch of sponsored preprepared low calorie, low fat foods. I suppose it is a matter of opinion but I don't feel that is a maintainable diet long term.

I just think eating/diet/weight issues are directly related to media messages. Maybe somebody said it and I missed it but yours is the first post that told me she was a competitive swimmer before all this.

I do agree with your bmi comment. I knew somebody who was rejected from the Navy because she had the wrong bmi. The thing is she is big boned, tall and has a lot of dense muscle. They lost a really good person because they based it on a number.

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Never watched it but how long do they have to lose weight?

I can't get much under 130 without negative physical symptoms cropping up. I think losing weight that fast your body image doesn't keep up with the physical reality. It's a hard thing to wrap your head around anyway. I hope all the negative reaction doesn't send her back to the opposite extreme and she has a chance to get some balance with it. I never could get adjusted to the way I looked and now I'm back up where I started from.

I think it's great. Good for her! She did it. There are very few things we can control in our lives, our weight we should be able to control, and she did just that, she took control! I weighed 224 at 5' 10". I went down to 155 lbs and people were saying I was too skinny, yet my BMI was perfect! I have since slipped back up to 165, but am still in the normal band in the BMI.

I agree with one of our members who said people are just jealous. I think so too. I seen that first hand so I know how people can be. How any one can be concerned about her health is laughable. She's eating right and working out. She's healthier then 80% of her critics

I find the opposite to be true. I have been very skinny (with a very low BMI) and I have been very very overweight (with a high BMI). Before my weight got too low, people always complimented me on how skinny I was and how they wished they could be that small. When I was very overweight, I'd get laughed at by teenagers just going to the mall. I don't think it's accepted more to be overweight at all. I will say overweight man can get away with it more than overweight women. No one complains on the red carpet about how skinny some of those actresses are, they just say they look beatuiful and have a great body. But if one of them gained some weight, it's "Oh my god, she's going to become obese. Is she eating her feelings?".

Your chubby period, unless you have been obese, isn't the same thing. And obesity is less accepted in my opinion. If you haven't been at a weight that you could medically consider as obese, then I don't think you can understand what it's like.

I've read that the people on biggest loser are pushed too hard to the point where it endangers their health. I think the show sets up unrealist expectations for people. Also, besides the health aspect, I could give a rat's patootie how much people weigh.

"Pretty" awesome! Thanks!

You really think so, or was this an impulsive response?
(for clarity on what you wrote)

As much as I worry about those getting too heavy (I don't care about that "looks" thing people talk about because everyone looks the same to me), I would worry if someone crash dieted without a real lifestyle change. Sure, I might feel envious because I need to lose a little, but also it is a real concern. They might take it too far, they might not have found healthy routines and suddenly swing to overeating. If they crash diet, how do they know when to stop and what stop means? Do they know a healthy way to maintain weight or do they just have the tools to lose or gain? That is what I wonder.

I didn't watch this season but the show has always been very extreme. There's also a cash prize for the one that loses the most weight so it's not all about just trying to get in their best shape. She does look a bit gaunt but that'll probably improve now that the competition and training is over. Most of the past winners do gain back a bit of the weight after the show.