Biggest Loser Finale

daniellabella986

I just think she looked malnourished and way older than 24 - sad that the network hasn't really made any comments and the trainers are kind of skating around the subject.

lizcraft

I have not watched the show since I cancelled my dvr. Too expensive right now. I love the show.

Madmarsha

I actually don't think her body looks too bad but her face looks terrible. She looks like she aged 20 years.

I agree. I mean, we've all seen loose skin on stomachs, thighs, and upper arms but she looked like she had loose hanging skin on her cheeks. Speaking of which, I just now figured out why they make the girls wear those oh-so-flattering belly-baring tank tops when they first come on and then compression shorts and belly-hiding long shirts on the finale. The better to hide your loose skin that we are pretending you don't have, my dear.

Serenitynow29

Seriously? Someone is 50-100 pounds overweight and no one bats an eye, because this is America where everyone is overweight. But you get 1 point below a normal BMI and everyone loses their minds.

You can't please them when you're obese and you can't please them when you're too skinny.

^^^^^^
Yep :grumble:

^^^^^ x 2.
Thanks for making it easy.

littlekitty3

I thought she was 40 >_>

In one article I read she admits to exercising four times a day...wtf.

Skarlet13

Seriously? Someone is 50-100 pounds overweight and no one bats an eye, because this is America where everyone is overweight. But you get 1 point below a normal BMI and everyone loses their minds.

You can't please them when you're obese and you can't please them when you're too skinny.

^^^^^^
Yep :grumble:

^^^^^ x 2.
Thanks for making it easy.

You know, I don't think her body looks too bad. It just looks thin which is okay to me. But what the heck happened to her face? She looks 20 years older. Does that happen as a result of the stress from losing too quickly?

Mr_Knight

The winner went from being 150% overweight to *possibly* being 10% underweight with vastly improved fitness levels. That is a massive improvement in health, and a bloody impressive achievement.

A little fine tuning and she'll be golden, really don't understand where all the manufactured outrage is coming from.

taekwondo_bitch

She just looked grey, and about ten years older at that. I guess she should have gone to Specsavers?

littleburgy

I read somewhere that behind the scenes she lost so much because she really wanted to win the contest but was going to try to be at a healthier weight afterwards. I don't know if it's true or not but when you offer a large cash prize and put people on a TV show where they are losing weight in a competition within a short period of time, it's going to put people under enormous pressure to lose as much weight as possible in a limited span of time -- so it's hardly surprising that results like this have happened. People have come forward and spoken up about these shows (not just these but shows like Extreme Makeover, Weight Loss Edition)

http://fatman2fitman.tumblr.com/post/40213968513/the-truth-about-the-biggest-loser

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/former-biggest-loser-contestant-andrew-cosi-costello-reveals-the-truth-about-the-weight-loss-show/story-e6frfmq9-1226820498768

http://blackgirlsguidetoweightloss.com/health-on-the-small-screen/former-extreme-makeover-weight-loss-edition-cast-member-blows-whistle-on-shows-practices/

Weight loss isn't a game nor should it be used as a subject for entertaining an audience. These shows need to go.

my_username123

Rachel looked anorexic not healthy.

BinaryPulsar

The winner went from being 150% overweight to *possibly* being 10% underweight with vastly improved fitness levels. That is a massive improvement in health, and a bloody impressive achievement.

A little fine tuning and she'll be golden, really don't understand where all the manufactured outrage is coming from.

Manufactured rage. She looks like she is in her 40's not 20's. Her face looks way too thin to me. It was when I saw her face, and then found out her age that I was like...oooh, ok I get why people are saying this.

svelt123

:drinker: I agree with you!

Skarlet13

The winner went from being 150% overweight to *possibly* being 10% underweight with vastly improved fitness levels. That is a massive improvement in health, and a bloody impressive achievement.

A little fine tuning and she'll be golden, really don't understand where all the manufactured outrage is coming from.

Manufactured rage. She looks like she is in her 40's not 20's. Her face looks way too thin to me. It was when I saw her face, and then found out her age that I was like...oooh, ok I get why people are saying this.

Yeah I agree. Her face is what shocked me. Her body is actually not that bad and I thought she looked good until I saw her face...her body just looks slim to me which is not such a bad thing and was an amazing transformation. So if her body is ok, why did she age so much in the face? Is it the stress on her body from rapid weight loss? Or is that just what happens to the skin after a significant loss?

Mr_Knight

Delete.

Whambam087

You know what's truly funny?

Biggest Loser has been promoting unsafe, unrealistic, extreme weigh loss tactics all along, but no one seemed to care until someone started LOOKING unhealthy.
No one gave a s^hit about all the vomiting because of physical exhaustion, the incredibly low calorie diets, etc. That chick who won did it the same way everyone else did, she just did it a little bit longer.

I am just saying, no one took offense to her drastic methods until the results were showing on her body.

this x1000

ultimately it is a show where skinny people get to torture fat people all in the name of getting skinny and the world watches it for amusement. She took the show to its natural conclusion and when confronted by the result of their preaching the trainers look horrified as if it's never occurred to them. Also realistically she looks like most television and Hollywood stars in terms of weight, but I suppose with Angelina Jolie people kid themselves and say 'she must be one of those lucky ones that never gains a pound'. Is it healthy? No, but in a few years time the woman will write a book about 'How Biggest Loser ruined my life' and she'll sell millions.

Exactly! When has biggest loser been about steady, realistic weight loss? It's always been about dropping big numbers at the weekly weigh in.

Wetcoaster

Our panel of obesity experts on The Biggest Loser’s extreme regimen: ‘Incredibly unhealthy’ and ‘ridiculous’

http://life.nationalpost.com/2014/02/07/our-panel-of-obesity-experts-on-the-biggest-losers-extreme-regimen-incredibly-unhealthy-and-ridiculous/


We asked a few Canadian doctors about what they thought about the show’s rapid weight loss regimen, as well as what the surrounding weight criticism could mean for contestants.




Jaclyn Pritchard, Weight and Lifestyle Management Program at the Cleveland Clinic:

“The Biggest Loser promotes incredibly unhealthy weight loss practices to obtain the kinds of shocking weight loss that will keep participants in the game. This type of fast weight loss is both incredibly unhealthy and unsustainable. When you lose weight rapidly, you lose muscle weight, which drops your metabolism (meaning you burn fewer calories). The participants are put on such low calorie diets that they cant help but lose muscle weight, affecting their metabolism. When they reach their weight loss goal their metabolic rate is so affected that they have to continue eating lower calorie to maintain their weight — this is no way to live or need to eat to maintain your weight. The Biggest Loser provides participants with a completely nonsensical approach to weight loss leaving the odds of weight maintenance against them.”

“The impact [of negative comments after weight loss] could be huge … likely because we as a society have a hard time understanding that heavier people can and do have eating disorders. The Biggest Loser does not address the food behaviours or life obstacles that lead to obesity that many of the participants have. So if these issues are not addressed, the participant is left in a skinny body but with the same food challenges and body image issues as in their previous fat body.”




Arya M. Sharma, professor of Medicine Chair for Obesity, Research & Management at the University of Alberta:

“The very premise of this show is so ridiculous, you don’t know where to begin talking about all that is wrong about it. Not only is it overly simplistic to equate body weight with health (or losing weight with getting healthier), but the whole notion of engaging in ridiculous amounts of punitive physical abuse whilst on a starvation diet as an even remotely sustainable approach to improving your health, raises ethical questions on so many levels. The health risks of rapid weight loss are well described ranging from loss of muscle mass to electrolyte imbalances, kidney failure, and even sudden cardiac death.

“The skinnyness cult (not least through photoshopped images in the media and celebrity pop culture) does enough to damage the self-esteem of even the healthiest woman (or man) — it is hard to imagine what this criticism will do to this contestant.”




Yoni Freedhoff, assistant professor at the Department of Family Medicine, University of Ottawa. Medical director at the Bariatric Medical Institute:

“Losing weight ultra-rapidly necessitates dramatic, and possibly traumatic, degrees of both under-eating and over-exercising. No doubt there are risks to the body with overly rapid losses (including disproportionate muscle loss and metabolic slowing), but more important for viewers and participants to know, if the behaviours utilized for weight loss aren’t themselves sustained, weight regain is inevitable.”

“In terms of impacts on body image for the winner, it’s impossible to speculate, though the reason I’ve never allowed a television program to follow any of my patients (despite many requests over the years), is that I would definitely expect the pressure of the public eye to make the already difficult challenge of maintaining a lifestyle change that much more stressful.”




Sonja Wicklum, medical doctor, Calgary Weight Management Centre:

“This would be considered an unhealthy amount of weight loss for this period of time. It is also worth pointing out that, at 105 pounds, she has also crossed into the ‘underweight category’. “

“The greatest concern with this amount of loss over such a short period of time is the loss of FFM (fat free mass). FFM is made up of muscle, organ tissue, skin and bone. Although all components are important, it is particularly the loss of too much lean muscle that is worrisome. There is an association between declining health in adults with significant loss of FFM — problems can include impaired immunity, increase risk of infection, increase risk of fracture, increased overall risk of mortality, and most importantly for her — impaired ability to sustain the weight loss. Without knowing her body composition it is impossible to know exactly how great her loss of FFM has been, but with this amount of total weight loss we can be certain it is too high.”

“It is OK to lose some weight quickly, but then the rest should be lost much slower, to maintain metabolic health and maximize the chance of long-term success. All this being said, I would not want this woman to feel bad or to be criticized personally. She will need to adapt to her new body and hopefully she will receive good support over the next couple of years to help her build back her lean muscle mass, while maintaining a healthy diet and exercise regime and a healthy body image.”




Jennifer French, registered psychologist, Calgary Weight Management Centre.

“Having others vigilant of her body is likely to contribute to being even more self-conscious of appearance than before. Attention, even apparently positive, about someone’s image may contribute to the thoughts ‘I need to the keep this up,’ or ‘I am not okay no matter what I do.’ These thoughts and the pressure to change may be a contributing factors to why weight is regained. The focus on restrictive eating, sets in motion a cycle of thoughts such as ‘I cannot have that’ and at some point, the person gives in, which often leads to a binge. The binge may be evidence in ones’s mind that she is out of control and will fall back into old habits, leading to shame, guilt, and feelings of failure. The psychological consequences are that she feels locked into rigid rules about food and how her body looks and this keeps the cycle going. Chronic self-criticism and negative body image make it difficult to make consistently healthy choices that are required for good self-care that lead to weight management.”

Natmarie73

Um… I'm a 45 year old mother… :huh:

I'm over 40 as well, and don't look as "old" and haggard as she does now, nor do any of my 40+ year old friends/family.

LeeDahlen38

Here ya go. #MyTake Friend me afterward if you want. Haters..... well No time for them! I like the fact that ALL the comments in this called it well thought and balanced. //Lee

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/commander38/view/and-the-biggest-loser-is-626361

BinaryPulsar

There is nothing wrong with being 40. I'm 35. I look young for my age (still get carded because they say I look 18), that is my goal. When I was in my 20's people thought I was a young teenager, so maybe my perception is biased. Also, last night I had a glass of wine and maybe lost my filter. I do not want to offend anyone. Also I weigh 102, so I am not against being slim.

ALaureano2423

I have always been a big fan of the biggest loser. It has helped inspire me many times along my journey with weight loss. I have always questioned the methods they use to allow the contestants to loose that much weight so quickly, but I guess I felt comforted that at least they were under doctor supervision the entire time, and presumably weren't doing anything that could seriously effect their health negatively, after all, isn't loosing weight the end goal? But when I saw Rachel, it kinda broke my heart a little. It seems to me from the comments that she has made thus far, that she is totally unaware or reluctant to admit that she might have lost just a little too much weight. I think she wanted to win so badly that even when she saw a healthy number on the scale, she felt like she had to keep going, and that is what I think people are upset about, that a weight loss competition and the promise of 250,000 dollars could push someone to diet themselves down to a weight that that extremely low.