Disturbing Biggest Loser article

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  • Owlie45
    Owlie45 Posts: 810 Member
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    That is awful!
  • GingerbreadCandy
    GingerbreadCandy Posts: 403 Member
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    I can't say I am surprised. It's good that it's being talked about, though.
  • kwirky112
    kwirky112 Posts: 46 Member
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    I would like to think that some of it is exaggerated however I also read a similar article from the Australian Biggest Loser.
  • HeySwoleSister
    HeySwoleSister Posts: 1,938 Member
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    Plus, people use the show as justification for their nasty attitudes. "There's no excuse for anyone to be fat, those people on the show lose all that weight in just a few weeks! It's just lazy to go slow!" It also leads to the crazy expectations of people on here, the ones who can't understand why they're not losing 20 pounds a week....
  • GingerbreadCandy
    GingerbreadCandy Posts: 403 Member
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    I think one of the worst things is that the German version is sponsored by my gym. They broadcast episodes in front of the treadmills every now and then with their logo appearing here and there. I tried watching it once while on the treadmill, to see what it was about. I had to quit after 10 minutes... I completely and utterly despise that show.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    Reading the article makes me want to cry. Weight loss is never supposed to be that way.
  • clambert1273
    clambert1273 Posts: 840 Member
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    Ugh but thats what America thinks... I need to eat 400 calories and workout so hard every day then I can do it too ... Just ugh
  • silentKayak
    silentKayak Posts: 658 Member
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    Absolutely horrible and the opposite of what we should be doing. Small sustainable changes that fit in with your lifestyle and lead to gradual weight loss.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited January 2015
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    Sounds like another place full of volunteers....Boot Camp. Not really feeling the outrage, to be honest.

    And some of the negative quotes in the article are utter nonsense. At the level of fitness these people are coming in at, 5 hours of "workout" isn't even on the same planet as running a marathon.
  • weddingcountdown26
    weddingcountdown26 Posts: 7 Member
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    Literally starving themselves thin. Not sustainable atall
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,579 Member
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    As a trainer, I really hate how portrayal of how to lose weight this way is acceptable. While impressive, what the show doesn't show are the 90% of contestants who gained back a SIGNIFICANT amount of weight (season 3 winner Erik Chopin was the exception and where is he now again?). The only contestants they show are those that kept it off (which is about 10% of them). Even Ali Vincent regained up to a weight of 170lbs (she's 5'5") after winning it at 122lbs.
    The reality is that that type of training regimen is never used even in weight loss clinics. Training people to complete exhaustion doesn't get them to keep doing it consistently. And while it's a competition, the network puts it out like this is THE WAY, that people should approach weight loss in real life.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    You know this is very sad, but they have the choice to leave.
  • Aviva92
    Aviva92 Posts: 2,333 Member
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    I'm not sure how to feel about this. On the one hand it's cruel, but these are adults and they agree to go through with it. Nobody is forcing them.
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
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    Aviva92 wrote: »
    I'm not sure how to feel about this. On the one hand it's cruel, but these are adults and they agree to go through with it. Nobody is forcing them.

    That's what I was thinking. I mean, no, I don't approve of the methods, personally. However, it's a reality show and anyone who's even seen the show once will know it's all about the drama, ridiculously fat weight loss, grueling workouts and so on.

  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    Also, this: cracked.com/article_21137_5-details-they-cut-from-my-season-the-biggest-loser.html

    Shows like this go beyond 'irresponsible' and cross the line to downright dangerous. I'm not a big fan of the over-litigious culture of the US, but it frankly surprises me that no parent of a teenager with an eating disorder has brought a lawsuit against the show yet.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    Aviva92 wrote: »
    I'm not sure how to feel about this. On the one hand it's cruel, but these are adults and they agree to go through with it. Nobody is forcing them.
    LAWoman72 wrote: »
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    I'm not sure how to feel about this. On the one hand it's cruel, but these are adults and they agree to go through with it. Nobody is forcing them.

    That's what I was thinking. I mean, no, I don't approve of the methods, personally. However, it's a reality show and anyone who's even seen the show once will know it's all about the drama, ridiculously fat weight loss, grueling workouts and so on.

    It's sad the contestants allow the BL staff to treat them so badly.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,579 Member
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    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    You know this is very sad, but they have the choice to leave.
    True, but leaving means quitting and on national TV, you'll be reminded of that the rest of your life. Even though people will never experience how difficult it is to train that extreme with that much weight, their opinion will be that a person that leaves, wimps out.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    People want to be on TV. Jerry Springer is on its 24th(!!!) season.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    Aviva92 wrote: »
    I'm not sure how to feel about this. On the one hand it's cruel, but these are adults and they agree to go through with it. Nobody is forcing them.

    The problem is that not only is the show abusing the contestants in the name of "good TV" or profit, but that the show influences millions of other people -- adults, teens, children, you name it. Not only does it promote fat-shaming and mistreatment of overweight people, but it promotes unhealthy ideas about how to lose weight.

    Heck, anyone who hangs around MFP long enough sees twenty people a day (often teens) coming to the forum expecting to lose weight as fast as the contestants do on the Biggest Loser, and willing to resort to extreme and unhealthy means to do it.

    Biggest Loser didn't create any of these problems. But it's had a tremendous influence in perpetuating them.
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    edited January 2015
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    SLLRunner wrote: »
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    I'm not sure how to feel about this. On the one hand it's cruel, but these are adults and they agree to go through with it. Nobody is forcing them.
    LAWoman72 wrote: »
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    I'm not sure how to feel about this. On the one hand it's cruel, but these are adults and they agree to go through with it. Nobody is forcing them.

    That's what I was thinking. I mean, no, I don't approve of the methods, personally. However, it's a reality show and anyone who's even seen the show once will know it's all about the drama, ridiculously fat weight loss, grueling workouts and so on.

    It's sad the contestants allow the BL staff to treat them so badly.

    Well, they have to. They're under contract. But they DO sign that contract...and again...if they've ever seen the show (and I'd for sure be watching a show before I went on it), I think a lot of this must be covered, or there'd be lawsuits galore, I would imagine.

    That's not to say ANYONE should ever be allowed to treat anyone badly...but it's a sensationalist show, a "reality" show, and these are notorious for being at least semi-scripted and for monkey wrenches being thrown in for viewability. If there were no gasps and groans and "Oh my GODs" from the audience, there would be no show. I think most reasonable people realize this. And of course, a lot of those gasps of "shock" wouldn't come if anything were to be leaked in advance, hence the policed phone calls and so on.

    Once again. Not saying I enjoy seeing anyone being treated badly. I do feel for the people on the show, whether they realized what they were in for or not. Perhaps the draw of being able to finally lose gigantic amounts of weight convinced them that somehow it would all be okay. I do understand that kind of desperation.

    I have watched The Biggest Loser exactly once, and personally, that was more than enough for me.

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