10 Reasons I Will NEVER Watch the Biggest Loser Again

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When the Biggest Loser first started, it was actually a show I used to love. It was taking people with unhealthy lifestyles and trying to turn their lives around. Sadly, the current version of the Biggest Loser isn’t even remotely related to the well meaning early episodes. It’s become a freak show spectacle guised as a self help how to. That’s why this blogger hasn’t watched the show in over seven years. Let me break it down for you.

10 Reasons I Will  NEVER Watch the Biggest Loser Again

1. It’s become a giant infomerical: When BL first started out, they would share some great tips on living well and getting healthy.  Now it’s nothing but a giant plug for anything from plastic baggies to heart rate monitors. It’s pretty obvious that scenes are scripted so they can plug this or that product. I am all for sharing products you are truly in love with, but five or six a show? Come on.

2. They deal with very little of the psychological issues that caused weight gain: Most people don’t become overweight because they merely love food. A lot of times there are psychological issues that cause weight gain. There isn’t enough time to deal with decades of emotional issues during the show. Their main concern is learning to be skinny.

“I hear a lot of people saying stuff about all the ‘tools’ Biggest Losers learn while on the ranch,” Suzy posted on her Facebook fan page late Thursday night. “I was taught how to get skinny. Suzy Hoover (Biggest Loser Season 2)

3. It’s become an extreme sport edition: The first season of the Biggest Loser the contestants were on the ranch for a month, and then sent home with a personal at home gym to continue what they have learned. Now they are taking people that haven’t exercised in years and training them for marathons. In less than a year, an average athlete wouldn’t necessarily be able to accomplish that. It’s just over the top.

4. They don’t know when enough is enough: It used to be the average overweight Joe that was on the Biggest Loser. Now they seem to only care about the biggest of the biggest, and try to make them lose colossal amounts of weight. Each season the contestants get bigger and the losses more extreme. Maybe when someone finally dies on the show they will realize these extremities are dangerous.

 In fact at one point my trainer was excited because I looked anorexic. Editing can make the viewer think anything and everything the producers (the ones making money) want you to think.” Suzy Hoover (Biggest Loser Season 2)

5. They are willing to win at all costs: There was a scandal recently where Jillian Michaels gave her contestants caffeine supplements to curb their appetites. Caffeine is not a healthy alternative to losing weight. It can be extremely dangerous especially in people that might have heart problems. This “win at all costs” mentality has rubbed off on contestants over the years because there have been several episodes of contestants drinking gallons of water to throw weight challenges which is also not good for your body.

6.  They set unrealistic expectation for the public: It’s not possible to share all that the contestants do on the ranch in a one hour show, but in my opinion they don’t do enough disclosing just how much exercise goes on to cause this weight loss. Contestants have later shared they were exercising 4-6 hours a day! That’s almost a full time job. Not sure about you but I don’t have 40 hours a week to exercise.

‘You know what? Sue me if you want to, NBC, but I’m telling these people, I didn’t lose 12 pounds in a week. It didn’t happen. It wasn’t a week. And even when it looks like I lost 12 pounds in a week . . . I was so severely dehydrated that I was completely unhealthy.” – Kai Hubbard (Season 3 Biggest Loser Contestant)

7. They cause an all or nothing mentality: I can’t tell you how many times I have heard Jillian Michaels tout that you have to work “hard” to get into shape. They make it appear that unless you are able to kill yourself in a boot camp like setting or kill yourself on the treadmill at least an hour a day that it won’t help you lose weight. While it can be challenging to lose weight, you can definitely become healthier with ANY exercise. Surprisingly that exercise doesn’t  even have to be in a gym like setting. Garden, go hiking, go canoeing. Just get moving!

8. They destroy the contestants’ metabolisms: According to the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, the massive and drastic weight loss the Biggest Loser contestants experience leads to a dramatic decrease in their metabolic functions. Put simply, unless they continue their extreme hours and hours a day exercise, most BL contestants are very likely to gain some if not all of their weight back.

9. They tout people as failures when they don’t lose 10 pounds in one week: If you’ve ever watched the Biggest Loser, you will remember seeing the trainer’s faces fall when a contestant doesn’t lose double digits in what we are told is a week period. That amount of weight loss is INSANE no matter what size you are. The American Medical Association recommends losing an average of 1-2 pounds a week to improve your health and maintain weight loss.

10. They teach people foods are off limits: There is room for ANY food in moderation in your diet, unless you have medical conditions. Biggest Loser contestants are shown diets heavy in lots of fruits and veggies and told they have to find healthier alternatives for their favorite treats. One thing I have learned in my own journey is that there is no fricking way you will EVER think replacing a mint flavored yogurt for mint chocolate chip ice cream will suffice. That type of trickery leads to binge eating and self hatred.

As you can tell I am pretty passionate about the trickery and deception shown on the Biggest Loser. This article has needed to be written for a while now, but isn’t to cast judgement on the contestants. It’s meant to open your eyes that even when a show is called “reality TV” that it is still on television and resembles more of a fan fiction than anything that is truly real.