Biggest Loser Finale...what is going on??

"While she does not have the body type that I want, I think we should be careful in what we say. I am under my recommended BMI and on the border of healthy and underweight, according to the charts, and you certainly can't say that I am "all skin and bones". "Appallingly" skinny to you, is what some people are naturally. They eat just as much as I do, exercise less, and are completely healthy. I'm sure I would get bashed if I called somebody appallingly fat. Lets be careful with what we say, since I am positive there are healthy, active, well fed women on here that have her exact body type."

THIS THIS THIS!!! I am astounded at the body shaming going on here of the winning contestant. How is it okay to call someone "skin and bones" "disgustingly weak" and completely slam their appearance, yet it's not ok to call someone fat, appallingly obese, and the like? I think we, as an overweight nation, have forgotten what skinny looks like. Her BMI is slightly under "normal," but that has always been a horrible measure of health. Everyone knows that, and it's hypocritical to use BMI against her now when everyone knows what crap it is. Rachel is amazingly better off now than she was at her heaviest. I'm sure her weight will even out to where she wants it to be, because that's all that matters.

(Edited to add quotations around the quote of another forum member... for some reason the quote function wasn't working for me.)

And for the record, 105 at 5'4" is within a healthy BMI.

This nation is just accustomed to seeing its own fat.

Her BMI is 18 .... anything below 18.5% is considered underweight for her size.
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/BMI/bmicalc.htm

I am not about skinny shaming. I agree we all come in different shapes and sizes but I just think that she went from one extreme to another. From being overweight to underweight. I don't know if she simply did it for the money and plans on gaining the weight back, I don't know her personally so I cannot say that.

What I hope happens, after the sheer shock of her intense weight loss, Biggest Loser re-thinks its position. It should be all about healthy weight loss. So there should be a line that cannot get crossed. They should sit down with each of the contestants and a dr and determine what the lowest HEALTHY weight is for that person and put in their contracts that if they go below that line, they are disqualified.

Lets remember, this is supposed to motivate people to start their journey, not to promote unhealthy weight loss.

All in all, I really would rather watch Chris Powell and his wife on his show because its a one on one thing and that person's health is the priority! That is how it should be.

Her BMI is 18 .... anything below 18.5% is considered underweight for her size.
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/BMI/bmicalc.htm

I am not about skinny shaming. I agree we all come in different shapes and sizes but I just think that she went from one extreme to another. From being overweight to underweight. I don't know if she simply did it for the money and plans on gaining the weight back, I don't know her personally so I cannot say that.

What I hope happens, after the sheer shock of her intense weight loss, Biggest Loser re-thinks its position. It should be all about healthy weight loss. So there should be a line that cannot get crossed. They should sit down with each of the contestants and a dr and determine what the lowest HEALTHY weight is for that person and put in their contracts that if they go below that line, they are disqualified.

Lets remember, this is supposed to motivate people to start their journey, not to promote unhealthy weight loss.

All in all, I really would rather watch Chris Powell and his wife on his show because its a one on one thing and that person's health is the priority! That is how it should be.

Suddenly BMI charts are accurate because we are talking about a skinny woman?

I guess anybody with a BMI of 25.5 deserves ridicule and has an eating disorder as well.

BMI charts are used for people of ALL sizes. I am not using it strictly because she is skinny. I am overweight and I know it and I am working on correcting that. My dr sat me down and showed me where I personally was on the BMI chart so no, I am NOT saying it simply because she is skinny, as I said, she went from one extreme to another. Unhealthy overweight and Unhealthy underweight. Also, as I said, who is to say she wont gain some back to look better and be healthy and just did the drastic and unhealthy weight loss for the money. We do not know but it does set a very poor example.

Ditto for me

Uhhh, the prize is a quarter of a million dollars. I would do a hell of a lot worse than be hungry for 30 days for that much money. Does anyone know she wasnt under strict Dr. supervision and proper supplementation with vitamins and minerals? Think about what you can do with a quarter of a cool crisp million, straight cash.


P.S. Oh, $250,000.00 ..

Uhhh, the prize is a quarter of a million dollars. I would do a hell of a lot worse than be hungry for 30 days for that much money. Does anyone know she wasnt under strict Dr. supervision and proper supplementation with vitamins and minerals? Think about what you can do with a quarter of a cool crisp million, straight cash.


P.S. Oh, $250,000.00 ..

I would love to have the money...and the car...and she will be a spokes model for the show, I think everyone is over reacting....she feels great! She's happy, and I am happy for her.

Her BMI is 18 .... anything below 18.5% is considered underweight for her size.
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/BMI/bmicalc.htm

I am not about skinny shaming. I agree we all come in different shapes and sizes but I just think that she went from one extreme to another. From being overweight to underweight. I don't know if she simply did it for the money and plans on gaining the weight back, I don't know her personally so I cannot say that.

What I hope happens, after the sheer shock of her intense weight loss, Biggest Loser re-thinks its position. It should be all about healthy weight loss. So there should be a line that cannot get crossed. They should sit down with each of the contestants and a dr and determine what the lowest HEALTHY weight is for that person and put in their contracts that if they go below that line, they are disqualified.

Lets remember, this is supposed to motivate people to start their journey, not to promote unhealthy weight loss.

All in all, I really would rather watch Chris Powell and his wife on his show because its a one on one thing and that person's health is the priority! That is how it should be.

Suddenly BMI charts are accurate because we are talking about a skinny woman?

I guess anybody with a BMI of 25.5 deserves ridicule and has an eating disorder as well.

BMI charts are used for people of ALL sizes. I am not using it strictly because she is skinny. I am overweight and I know it and I am working on correcting that. My dr sat me down and showed me where I personally was on the BMI chart so no, I am NOT saying it simply because she is skinny, as I said, she went from one extreme to another. Unhealthy overweight and Unhealthy underweight. Also, as I said, who is to say she wont gain some back to look better and be healthy and just did the drastic and unhealthy weight loss for the money. We do not know but it does set a very poor example.

Sorry, but I don't see how somebody finishing their weight loss journey sets a poor example.

Well, if you are comfortable watching someone win a prize for being at an unhealthy size, that is up to you. As I said, even Bob and Jillian had a look of pure and honest concern on their faces when she walked out.

Let me be clear, I am not jealous, I am not envious, I am not hating on skinny people. I am just saying it is a concern when we see someone looking as unhealthy as she does, and underweight that we give her a prize and say "job well done, better too skinny then too fat"

Everybody's reaction, including yours, to a woman who may or may not be a FEW pounds under weight is what's shocking. You would've thought she came out looking like a holocaust survivor. She is not "clearly unhealthy" anymore than a person with a FEW extra pounds is clearly unhealthy.

How about I go around making rash judgements and assumptions about people who don't fit into a size 6 or below jeans. It seems people are less shocked at the sight of a morbidly obese woman than a woman who may be 1-2 lbs under weight. Truth is Rachel is closer to a "healthy" weight than 70% of Americans and maybe people really are just used to seeing their own fat.

Her BMI is 18 .... anything below 18.5% is considered underweight for her size.
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/BMI/bmicalc.htm

I am not about skinny shaming. I agree we all come in different shapes and sizes but I just think that she went from one extreme to another. From being overweight to underweight. I don't know if she simply did it for the money and plans on gaining the weight back, I don't know her personally so I cannot say that.

What I hope happens, after the sheer shock of her intense weight loss, Biggest Loser re-thinks its position. It should be all about healthy weight loss. So there should be a line that cannot get crossed. They should sit down with each of the contestants and a dr and determine what the lowest HEALTHY weight is for that person and put in their contracts that if they go below that line, they are disqualified.

Lets remember, this is supposed to motivate people to start their journey, not to promote unhealthy weight loss.

All in all, I really would rather watch Chris Powell and his wife on his show because its a one on one thing and that person's health is the priority! That is how it should be.

Suddenly BMI charts are accurate because we are talking about a skinny woman?

I guess anybody with a BMI of 25.5 deserves ridicule and has an eating disorder as well.

BMI charts are used for people of ALL sizes. I am not using it strictly because she is skinny. I am overweight and I know it and I am working on correcting that. My dr sat me down and showed me where I personally was on the BMI chart so no, I am NOT saying it simply because she is skinny, as I said, she went from one extreme to another. Unhealthy overweight and Unhealthy underweight. Also, as I said, who is to say she wont gain some back to look better and be healthy and just did the drastic and unhealthy weight loss for the money. We do not know but it does set a very poor example.

Sorry, but I don't see how somebody finishing their weight loss journey sets a poor example.

Well, if you are comfortable watching someone win a prize for being at an unhealthy size, that is up to you. As I said, even Bob and Jillian had a look of pure and honest concern on their faces when she walked out.

Let me be clear, I am not jealous, I am not envious, I am not hating on skinny people. I am just saying it is a concern when we see someone looking as unhealthy as she does, and underweight that we give her a prize and say "job well done, better too skinny then too fat"

Everybody's reaction, including yours, to a woman who may or may not be a FEW pounds under weight is what's shocking. You would've thought she came out looking like a holocaust survivor. She is not "clearly unhealthy" anymore than a person with a FEW extra pounds is clearly unhealthy.

How about I go around making rash judgements and assumptions about people who don't fit into a size 6 or below jeans. It seems people are less shocked at the sight of a morbidly obese woman than a woman who may be 1-2 lbs under weight. Truth is Rachel is closer to a "healthy" weight than 70% of Americans and maybe people really are just used to seeing their own fat.

Judging from your comments, it seems like you didn't really followed the show so I'm not sure why you are spending so much time being all defensive about your own weight when we are talking about the BL winner. You are right that the BMI is only a guideline and each persons weight should be viewed individually to deem them healthy or unhealthy. I can tell you for a a fact that in Rachel's case, she is unhealthy. Rachel looked sick during the finale. Also in case you don't know, being an slightly underweight is much more unhealthy than being slightly overweight. There's a lot of leniency upwards but not going downwards. Serious medical issues don't start becoming a problem usually unless someone's BMI is well above 30. Even then, the damage to someone's health usually takes years or decades before increase in mortality. But people with BMI lower than 17.5 can have serious health implications in just a short period of time.

Most doctors would not consider a BMI around 18 to be unhealthy for a small framed healthy person. They eat a meal and suddenly they are at 18.5.

But, I agree that Rachel looks very thin for her frame.