Biggest Loser too thin... Thoughts?
Danny_Boy13
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http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/05/health/biggest-weight-loss/?hpt=he_c2
When Rachel Frederickson, 24, stepped out onto the stage at NBC's "The Biggest Loser" finale Tuesday night, some wondered if she had gone too far.
While the show is known for its dramatic weight loss transformations -- most winners lose more than 50% of their body weight -- Frederickson appeared extremely thin. And the looks on trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels' faces could be interpreted as shock -- or dismay.
Frederickson went from 260 pounds to 105 pounds, losing 59.62% of her body weight. At 5 feet, 5 inches tall, that puts her body mass index at 17.5. Anything under 18.5 is considered by the National Institutes of Health to be underweight.
NBC on Wednesday declined to comment on its $250,000 grand prize winner, a voice-over artist who lives in Los Angeles.
Social media, however, was buzzing.
"Are you kidding?" One woman wrote on the show's Facebook page. "Rachel looks anorexic! She has gone from one extreme to the other!"
Other posts called Frederickson "frail" and said she seemed "dizzy" and "disoriented" on stage.
"She obviously worked incredibly hard to achieve her weight loss goals, but I am wondering if the pressure of winning a large cash prize caused her to take it too far," one said.
Others posted on Frederickson's Facebook page, asking her to get help and expressing disappointment.
"I'm saddened that my 13-year-old daughter watched as you were rewarded for doing that to your body," one woman said.
Frederickson as of Wednesday had not responded to the posts and had not commented on the controversy on Twitter.
Michaels issued a statement late Wednesday on social media on behalf of herself and Harper, saying, "Bob and I want to take a moment to congratulate all of the BL contestants on their hard work. We're not comfortable commenting on Rachel's journey because (we) weren't her trainers and weren't given an opportunity to work with her at any point. Any questions about the contestants on the Biggest Loser should be directed to the show's producers."
Asked by another Twitter user whether she was concerned about Frederickson's weight, Michaels posted, "We won't comment because we had nothing to do with it and want no part in shaming someone with 'public statements.'"
HLNtv.com: Opinion: Dropping pounds nothing like 'Biggest Loser'
BMI applies less on an individual level and is more utilized for population norms -- many people, such as marathon runners or endurance athletes have low BMIs and are perfectly healthy. And some people who eat well and exercise normally are just naturally thin.
However, losing a significant amount of weight using unhealthy methods can be dangerous, said experts unfamiliar with Frederickson. It's the darker side of weight loss -- as obesity is unhealthy, so is being underweight.
"Can you be too thin? Yes. Can it be as dangerous as being too fat? Yes," said Dr. Steven Lamm, weight management expert and medical director of NYU's Preston Robert Tisch Center for Men's Health.
Severe weight reduction can result in hormone disruption or bone thinning (reduction in bone density) and can affect women's fertility, as they stop menstruating, said Lamm and Dr. Robert Kushner, clinical director of the Northwestern Comprehensive Center on Obesity in Chicago.
Kushner said most of his patients lose about 30% of their body weight over the course of a year. "On the other end, I have patients with a BMI of 30 that are in perfectly good health," he said
Lamm notes the television show is about extremes, "not what we as a profession are looking at."
But "if I were to see this in a patient, I would be concerned about their emotional stability," he said.
Frederickson is "just below that lower end" on the BMI scale, Kushner said. "Not watching the show ... I really couldn't say whether she's unhealthy, or she shouldn't weigh that much. Because she very well could have a healthy lifestyle."
Still, "there are some people who we see for weight management who develop disordered eating," he said. "It's like a pendulum and they swing to the other end ... I don't see a lot of those patients, but I do see them."
Such patients are afraid to gain any weight because of their fear of again becoming obese, he said.
The real message, said Lamm, "is that people should appreciate that when they are overweight they don't have to lose 100 pounds to improve their overall health, that small changes in body weight can have a very sigificant impact on blood sugar, cholesterol.
"They shouldn't think that if they can't lose 100 pounds they shouldn't try."
'Biggest Loser' trainer: Dumbbells and diets don't get you in shape.
When Rachel Frederickson, 24, stepped out onto the stage at NBC's "The Biggest Loser" finale Tuesday night, some wondered if she had gone too far.
While the show is known for its dramatic weight loss transformations -- most winners lose more than 50% of their body weight -- Frederickson appeared extremely thin. And the looks on trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels' faces could be interpreted as shock -- or dismay.
Frederickson went from 260 pounds to 105 pounds, losing 59.62% of her body weight. At 5 feet, 5 inches tall, that puts her body mass index at 17.5. Anything under 18.5 is considered by the National Institutes of Health to be underweight.
NBC on Wednesday declined to comment on its $250,000 grand prize winner, a voice-over artist who lives in Los Angeles.
Social media, however, was buzzing.
"Are you kidding?" One woman wrote on the show's Facebook page. "Rachel looks anorexic! She has gone from one extreme to the other!"
Other posts called Frederickson "frail" and said she seemed "dizzy" and "disoriented" on stage.
"She obviously worked incredibly hard to achieve her weight loss goals, but I am wondering if the pressure of winning a large cash prize caused her to take it too far," one said.
Others posted on Frederickson's Facebook page, asking her to get help and expressing disappointment.
"I'm saddened that my 13-year-old daughter watched as you were rewarded for doing that to your body," one woman said.
Frederickson as of Wednesday had not responded to the posts and had not commented on the controversy on Twitter.
Michaels issued a statement late Wednesday on social media on behalf of herself and Harper, saying, "Bob and I want to take a moment to congratulate all of the BL contestants on their hard work. We're not comfortable commenting on Rachel's journey because (we) weren't her trainers and weren't given an opportunity to work with her at any point. Any questions about the contestants on the Biggest Loser should be directed to the show's producers."
Asked by another Twitter user whether she was concerned about Frederickson's weight, Michaels posted, "We won't comment because we had nothing to do with it and want no part in shaming someone with 'public statements.'"
HLNtv.com: Opinion: Dropping pounds nothing like 'Biggest Loser'
BMI applies less on an individual level and is more utilized for population norms -- many people, such as marathon runners or endurance athletes have low BMIs and are perfectly healthy. And some people who eat well and exercise normally are just naturally thin.
However, losing a significant amount of weight using unhealthy methods can be dangerous, said experts unfamiliar with Frederickson. It's the darker side of weight loss -- as obesity is unhealthy, so is being underweight.
"Can you be too thin? Yes. Can it be as dangerous as being too fat? Yes," said Dr. Steven Lamm, weight management expert and medical director of NYU's Preston Robert Tisch Center for Men's Health.
Severe weight reduction can result in hormone disruption or bone thinning (reduction in bone density) and can affect women's fertility, as they stop menstruating, said Lamm and Dr. Robert Kushner, clinical director of the Northwestern Comprehensive Center on Obesity in Chicago.
Kushner said most of his patients lose about 30% of their body weight over the course of a year. "On the other end, I have patients with a BMI of 30 that are in perfectly good health," he said
Lamm notes the television show is about extremes, "not what we as a profession are looking at."
But "if I were to see this in a patient, I would be concerned about their emotional stability," he said.
Frederickson is "just below that lower end" on the BMI scale, Kushner said. "Not watching the show ... I really couldn't say whether she's unhealthy, or she shouldn't weigh that much. Because she very well could have a healthy lifestyle."
Still, "there are some people who we see for weight management who develop disordered eating," he said. "It's like a pendulum and they swing to the other end ... I don't see a lot of those patients, but I do see them."
Such patients are afraid to gain any weight because of their fear of again becoming obese, he said.
The real message, said Lamm, "is that people should appreciate that when they are overweight they don't have to lose 100 pounds to improve their overall health, that small changes in body weight can have a very sigificant impact on blood sugar, cholesterol.
"They shouldn't think that if they can't lose 100 pounds they shouldn't try."
'Biggest Loser' trainer: Dumbbells and diets don't get you in shape.
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Replies
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Yay. Again!
Strong recycling skills. Al Gore loves you, and has dedicated a carbon credit in your honor.
I predict eight pages.0 -
Yay. Again!
Strong recycling skills. Al Gore loves you, and has dedicated a carbon credit in your honor.
I predict eight pages.
This was posted already.... my bad.0 -
One thing we don't hear a lot about on the show is that because of the stress and pressure to lose weight a lot of of the competitors restrict their water intake before weigh ins and that may be part of the issue. Dehydration could have played a role in her weight, appearance and disorientation. If you add 5 lbs of water she would be at the bottom end of normal. Most of the finalists will gain back a few lbs after the money is no longer on the line and look healthier. I would personally like it better if they went by body fat % and not % of total weight lost.0
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http://fitandfeminist.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/the-shocking-outcome-of-the-biggest-loser-is-not-all-that-shocking/These are the tricks of eating disorders dressed up with dramatic music and lighting and turned into mass entertainment.
So the fact that The Biggest Loser has been promoting what basically amounts to glossy eating disorders for fifteen cycles now means I was completely unsurprised by the outcry surrounding the latest winner. Rachel Fredericksen won the latest cycle when she lost 155 pounds. Her starting weight was 260 pounds, she weighed in at 105 pounds. That means she lost nearly 60% of her body weight. And she did this over the span of a handful of months!
After the reveal last night, people took to social media – including The Biggest Loser’s Facebook page – to express their dismay and concern. A lot of people are talking about how she looks anorexic, and I’ll admit that she’s quite thin. I try not to make judgments about health based on what someone’s body looks like, so I’m not going to go there. But what I will say is that it is not surprising to see that this has finally happened. Fredericksen took the game to its logical outcome. She played the game and she played it hard, and in doing so, she laid bare the show’s messed-up, disordered premises for all the world to see.
Maybe it was easier to ignore when the final contestants were bigger, because we as a society have a hard time understanding that heavier people can and do have eating disorders. Maybe everyone was okay with it because the implicit understanding surrounding a lot of weight loss talk in our society is that if you are fat, you should be willing to do whatever it takes to not be fat anymore.0 -
This show is what it is because this is what the people who watch it want to see. Your typical Biggest Loser viewer is not impressed by a 260-lb woman who still weighs 200+ after a few months. Even though that would be a much better example of losing weight safely and sustainably, the point of the show is not to educate anyone on such matters. The point of the show is to take really overweight people and turn them into circus freaks for the masses, who, as usual, get what they deserve.0
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What really gets me about that article is the comment about the 13 year old girl watching. If you don't like it, don't let her watch. The whole show is unhealthy and unrealistic.
Anyhow, I haven't seen her so can't comment on how she looks, but she's not underweight, so really the only problem is the speed at which it was lost, which is the whole premise of the show0 -
is it too early for dead horse gif?0
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I have a coworker that defends BL. I told her I believe weight loss plan (how strict, food choices etc) must be individualized to be effective long term - she said "NO, one plan works for all on that show and they are all safe to workout like that so I know any overweight person can if they would." I thought, WHAT? - People on that show have pushed through injuries that should have benched them. I'm not near that overweight as some on the show and I would be sick pushing so hard. It can't be healthy. I am in a mental struggle with bringing this up to her or not. She is a thin, PoP healthy (meaning healthy idea of the week), perfect kinda person. Could be more can of worms than I want to open, but OH it's tempting. I'm not completely sure the girl went to far - she's at the bottom of body fat recommendations for athletic from what I read. But they may want to reconsider their rules going forward. She didn't look healthy though, she looked weirdly skinny, but not anorexic. She didn't make it to skeletal but I wonder if she'd had time if she would have?0
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She's a little too thin for my tastes, I personally thought she looked her best on the episode when they competed in the Triathilon. If she wanted to be thinner, more power to her. She will more likely gain back a few pounds from celebration food alone. She will be okay. She was my inspiration in getting it done in the gym from day one. My hope is that she did it by doing what she was advised to do and not by using drugs or anything. Nothing to make her forfeit the money (if that is a possibility).0
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She actually is underweight, about 15 pounds underweight.What really gets me about that article is the comment about the 13 year old girl watching. If you don't like it, don't let her watch. The whole show is unhealthy and unrealistic.
Anyhow, I haven't seen her so can't comment on how she looks, but she's not underweight, so really the only problem is the speed at which it was lost, which is the whole premise of the show0 -
I'm not a fan of body-shaming anyone.
I only have one comment: if she was smart, she dropped some extra lbs for the money :drinker:0 -
my bad, I don't watch the show, I am just going by above article
She actually is underweight, about 15 pounds underweight.What really gets me about that article is the comment about the 13 year old girl watching. If you don't like it, don't let her watch. The whole show is unhealthy and unrealistic.
Anyhow, I haven't seen her so can't comment on how she looks, but she's not underweight, so really the only problem is the speed at which it was lost, which is the whole premise of the show0 -
It was for 250k. IT WAS FOR 250k.
Call me too skinny or whatever you want, I'll gain the weight back after the 250k or what's left after taxes is in my bank account.0 -
http://fitandfeminist.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/the-shocking-outcome-of-the-biggest-loser-is-not-all-that-shocking/These are the tricks of eating disorders dressed up with dramatic music and lighting and turned into mass entertainment.
So the fact that The Biggest Loser has been promoting what basically amounts to glossy eating disorders for fifteen cycles now means I was completely unsurprised by the outcry surrounding the latest winner. Rachel Fredericksen won the latest cycle when she lost 155 pounds. Her starting weight was 260 pounds, she weighed in at 105 pounds. That means she lost nearly 60% of her body weight. And she did this over the span of a handful of months!
After the reveal last night, people took to social media – including The Biggest Loser’s Facebook page – to express their dismay and concern. A lot of people are talking about how she looks anorexic, and I’ll admit that she’s quite thin. I try not to make judgments about health based on what someone’s body looks like, so I’m not going to go there. But what I will say is that it is not surprising to see that this has finally happened. Fredericksen took the game to its logical outcome. She played the game and she played it hard, and in doing so, she laid bare the show’s messed-up, disordered premises for all the world to see.
Maybe it was easier to ignore when the final contestants were bigger, because we as a society have a hard time understanding that heavier people can and do have eating disorders. Maybe everyone was okay with it because the implicit understanding surrounding a lot of weight loss talk in our society is that if you are fat, you should be willing to do whatever it takes to not be fat anymore.
I'm wondering if this may actually be a positive thing. It may be bad for this one woman's health, but perhaps highlighting these issues with the programme will have a positive effect on the thousands of viewers' attitudes towards weight loss? Hopefully the shocking nature of the unhealthy loss will get people to look for a more rational and healthy method to lose weight.0 -
Hell yeah!It was for 250k. IT WAS FOR 250k.
Call me too skinny or whatever you want, I'll gain the weight back after the 250k or what's left after taxes is in my bank account.0 -
Have now seen the pics. Borderline anorexic?! Yeah, no. She looks fine, has played the game, and got the money. Good on her. Hell even if she did look anorexic I wouldn't judge, it's her body, what she wants to look like, and what she will do to win, is none of my damn business, anymore than what my body looks like is anyone else's damn business.0
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