"Don't Stop Till You Get Enough"

So now I'm back blogging, you know I need to weigh in on this month's weightiest topic (you see what I did there - twice!) - The Biggest Loser. If you know me, you know I don't see anyone based on their size. I am in the fitness industry because I want to help people love movement and to be healthy. I could give a crap what their BMI's are. I want people to live long, healthy, productive and active lives, and to have absolutely no regrets. Let's be honest here, this is only possible at or within a healthy weight range (which differs for every individual). So please do not think any comments about weight in this blog are meant unkindly. I'm not that person.
I am going to make a confession here. Don't hate or judge.

I have NEVER watched the Biggest Loser. Nothing about watching people who need help get humiliated and set up for failure appeals to me. Now I understand that not all the contestants gain all their weight back - but I would love to find some statistics as to how many currently maintain a healthy lifestyle. For the record - I have no problem with people losing weight in a doctor supervised, personal trainer assisted, dietician approved environment (which the show is) but I have always thought the show needed more.
- a psychotherapist. Overeating to morbid obesity is a disease and must be treated from the inside out. The why of each individual circumstance should be addressed fully or the cycle will continue.
- a life coach. To take each contestant shopping for groceries, clothes, help them make meal plans, teach how to make healthy meals and snack by themselves, and how to schedule and organize their lives. THEN, in the final month of the show, they should go home with the contestant and help them implement these rituals when the added daily stresses of life are back. Help them identify their triggers and manage their emotions. ANYONE can lose weight, get fit and eat healthy when they are locked in a bubble. It's the real world that fouls everything up.

I know - these things cost more money and, let's be real, all reality TV is more about making money than actually helping people. I know it's cynical, and I'm being very general...but too bad, this is my blog.

So the big kerfuffle is as follows.

"Contestant on Diet Challenge Show Loses TOO MUCH WEIGHT"

Ummm..hmmm....duh! Sorry, I know that Rachel looked a little like a praying mantis, but SHE WANTED TO WIN! She had to lose a certain percentage to beat the other two finalists and she did just that.What would YOU do if $250,00 was on the line after you starved yourself and were verbally bashed into working out a gazillion hours per week until every joint ached, and your body wanted to collapse? Exercise while overweight or obese is extremely difficult. Every movement, sitting and standing even, can be painful. Amplify this by what these contestants put themselves through and I would want a HUGE reward at the end as well. This was the motivator for these contestants - to WIN. They wanted to be the Biggest Loser. Not the fittest Dad, not the hottest Mamasita, not the "health nut". They wanted to be the Biggest Loser. Unfortunately, the actual results become the byproduct.

Do I think she lost too much weight? See above. Results vary with individuals - what is a ridiculously low weight for one 5'4 woman is completely healthy for another. I pray that Rachel and her health care team can determine what that is for her.
Until the headlines read,
"Biggest Loser sends Home Contestant, Rejecting them Because They Failed to Meet Unrealistic Weight Loss Goals, and thus Perpetuating their Already Constant Cycle of Low Self Esteem and Emotional Issues"
I refuse to comment any further.
Find Your CORE!