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

Stupid show its never been about health

It did help a lot of people to change their life. That is a fact. Met Danny Cahill (one of the winners) in person and he told his personal story. He is just one of a lot of contestants, who kept their weight off and have a happy healthy life. Did you even watch the show?

Firstly I will say that Rachel was a favorite of mine - I loved her never-quit attitude and spirit. I was surprised when I saw her during the finale - I had thought she said she was close to her goal weight during the semi-finals, but I may have been hearing things.

That being said, let's face the facts folks - the point of The Biggest Loser is not to watch overweight people learn how to be healthy and lose weight in a controlled, safe manner. If it were, there wouldn't be contestants striving for - and being praised for - ridiculously high, sometimes double-digit weight losses week after week.

The point of The Biggest Loser is to watch morbidly obese people beat the ever living cr*p out of themselves in an attempt to lose as much of their bodyweight as possible in a short amount of time.

Let's face it - this is television we're talking about, and it's all about ratings. Would a show about a group of overweight people who learn to eat healthily and workout on a normal, consistent, sustainable basis and lose let's say, 2-5lbs a week (just throwing a figure out there) rake in nearly the same amount of viewers? Not even slightly.

Well I did stop watching this show years ago b/c it focused too much on the drama between the contestants and voting people off. I started watching again last season since there was someone on the show I actually knew. I liked this season in that there was no voting off for the most part. It was strictly that those with the least progress went home with the exception of the trainer saves and all. That being said we all have to remember it is a contest for $250,000!!! I was rooting for the Ginger Goddess all season long!

I do wish there wasn't such a big gap (3 1/2 months) between the finale and leaving the ranch. Then Rachel would have had a better idea of where she needed to be to win the money.

Rachel - SW 260 FW 105 % lost - 59.62%

David - SW 409 FW 187 % lost - 54.28%

Bobby - SW 358 FW 170 % lost - 52.51%

For Rachel to still have won and have a % lost of 54.29%, she could have weighed 119. But with 3 1/2 months, she didn't know how the others would do. I believe she then went to an extreme to win the money. She seems to have a pretty good head on her shoulders and I hope she goes back to the strong athletic contestant she was before she left the ranch.

I do think there will need to be other changes to the show though as a result of this. I am not sure how they could prevent this, but greater minds than mine will figure it out. I don't really watch this show as any type of inspiration for myself as I know the results from the show are not reasonable for those of us in the real world. I am losing slowly and consistently and that is fine with me since I don't have to eat Jennie O and Subway for every meal. :laugh: Although if I had a chance of winning a quarter of a million dollars, I would do it.

We all need to remember, it's a contest for $250,000 in the end!

ETA: To beat Tumi (if she had been sent home), she couldn't have been more than 118. Tougher to win the at home prize this year!

I'm pretty sure I would get down to 105 lbs if it meant $250,000. Maybe this will bring upon a rule change, but it's a TV show, the fact that we're even having this discussion is insanely good for ratings.

And why is it acceptable too call someone too skinny but if you call someone fat everyone loses their minds? Maybe y'all should just stop criticizing the way other people look.

She is anorexic. She has no muscle, no fat, basically skin and bones. It's really disturbing. I don't think they should be giving people $250,000 to starve themselves.

I am the one that started this topic and it was not set up to bash anyone thin or fat. I do think that this episode is going to raise the concern that a lot of people have had with the show as far as health. Do I think that someone can be underweight and be healthy? YES! Do I think that some can be overweight and healthy? YES! But beyond that, there gets to a point where unhealthy is unhealthy no matter how you tip the scale. On the skinny side, yes Nicole Richie is thin, but she is a slender healthy thin. What we saw tonight on Biggest Loser was a different level, at least what I saw. If we are too afraid to say it when we see it, then we are just as big as a problem than the people who call others "fat" or "twiggy". Its not about that...it is about being HEALTHY.

What makes you think that she is unhealthy? It said she was at 19% bodyfat. If that is unhealthy, then I guess I have one foot in the grave, and jillian 6 feet under. Yet I'm willing to bet that Rachel could probably outrun the majority of people making the negative comments about her.

Yes, she is very thin. But she is far from anorexic. And judging by the amount of negative comments on here and the internet in general, we have a huge perception problem in this country when it comes to what "healthy" looks like.

I believe Rachel was at 19% bf on the previous episode when she weighed in at 150 (the triathlon epi filmed 3 months ago). She was literally skin and bones tonight. It's not quite as obvious in the before/after pic posted earlier....but her absolute *frailty* was astonishing when the other contestants and Alison hugged her. She look like a light draft could blow her over like it was a gale force wind. It didn't look like shehad lost ssome muscle tone...it looked like she had lost nearly ALL her muscle. No way could she do a triathlon today...she wouldn't even have the strength to complete the swim. I have my doubts that she would even have the strength to tread water. I am seriously concerned for her health (both mental and physical), because I really identified with her on the show.

There is no way she is 5'4" and 150, with 19% bodyfat. Unless she was a body builder, which she obviously is not.

Were these her stats? I don't have trouble believing she could have been there. That's 121.5 lbs of LBM. Obese people tend to carry a lot of LBM, some of it muscle, some connective tissue, etc. If she retained a decent amount, I could definitely see her havig been 5'4, 150 @ 19%.

But were these her actual stats previously?

I know she is 5'4". Somebody else said 150. And I am telling you right now, as somebody who is 5'4" and muscular. No way she was 5'4", 150, and only 19% bodyfat. WAAAAAY OFF. I would say more like 25-30%

Or maybe you aren't as "muscular" as you thought?

150 pounds at 19% body fat means 122 pounds LBM. That is not impossible, and one need not be a "bodybuilder" to have 122lbs lbm. When I was obese, my LBM was roughly 130 pounds. I have maintained most of that.

She looks unhealthy too me, but hey it's her body! I wish her much success. Every journey is a battle.

I don't think she looks that bad, who are we to judge? There are a lot of over weight people and there are a lot of under weight people, who cares?

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.

Humor me and tell me how you "know for a fact" that Rachel is unhealthy?

Your condescending comments doesn't help your case. Stop defending your own lifestyle and weight to complete strangers in MFP. Each of your response scream insecurity. You may be physically healthy, maybe you can consider evaluating if you are mentally healthy.

Ooh burn. Personal attacks because you can't answer a question? Who is the insecure one again?

Can you please tell me how you "know for a fact" that Rachel is healthy?

I honestly think that this is the end of Biggest Loser tonight. There is no way to hide the unhealthy nature of the show anymore.

Why would this be the end of the show? They helped MANY people this season make some amazing life changes. Holy cow, did you see Tuni! And David? Jay? Jennifer? on and on.... Someone will always take something too far. Rachel (Who I really liked the whole time) did take it too far. I think it is likely she has some kind of eating disorder. For 250K, I still could not starve myself like that. I couldn't. Hoping she can build back some of the muscle she burnt through and find a healthy balance. I wish her the best.

Get off NBC/BL's case and find another horse to beat. I love what BL has done for so many people and the way it has motivated me as well.