Why you ask?
Because the “winner” Rachel Frederickson lost a record shattering 59.62% of her
body weight (155 pounds) ending the season at 105 pounds.
And what, you
continue is wrong with that? Well, let’s start in the beginning.
Rachel, who
is 5’4, came on the show weight 260 pounds with a BMI of 44.6 and fell into the
“Obese” category. Now, before I continue let me just say, as someone that lives
and breathes the fitness world I know BMI calculations can be way off depending
on the person. The calculation is based solely off your height and weight and
doesn’t take into account any muscularity you carry on your frame. So if you
are 140 pounds but 114 pounds of that is lean muscle your BMI could register
higher than it really should.
But, back to
Rachel. As she herself told us in her backstory, while in high school she was a
three time state champion swimmer. At 18 she gave up a scholarship opportunity
to move to Germany with her boyfriend. When that relationship fizzled Rachel
says she gained more than 100 pounds over the next six years. She bounced
around from place to place until finally settling in Los Angeles where she is
currently a voice-over artist. “I was very hard on myself for some of the
decisions I made. I’m ready to become that strong and confident girl again...and
live the life I always imagined” [1]Do me a favor; re-read the 4th sentence … it took SIX YEARS for her to gain 100 pounds. That’s 100 pounds over 2,190 days – an average of 16 pounds gained a year. The average American gains (and doesn’t lose) 1 – 2 pounds each holiday season alone.[2]
So now that we know Rachel’s backstory let’s look at her time on the ranch. Keep in mind this season was taped over the course of 16 weeks (including a 30 day break between week 14 and the finale) – just 4 months.
Rachel’s
Weekly Weigh-Ins (starting with week 5)
| Previous Weight | Current Weight | Pounds Lost | BMI | |
| Week 1 | 260 | 44.6 | ||
| Week 5 | 216 | 198 | 18 | 34 |
| Week 6 | 198 | 195 | 3 | 33.5 |
| Week 7 | 195 | 183 | 12 | 31.4 |
| Week 8 | 183 | 178 | 5 | 30.6 |
| Week 9 | 178 | 171 | 7 | 29.3 |
| Week 10 | 171 | 167 | 4 | 28.7 |
| Week 11 | 167 | 161 | 6 | 27.6 |
| Week 12 | 161 | 155 | 6 | 26.6 |
| Week 13 | 155 | 151 | 4 | 25.9 |
| Week 14 | 151 | 150 | 1 | 25.7 |
| FINALE3 | 120 | 105 | 45 | 18 |
As you can
see, during production of the show Rachel was never within a healthy BMI range
for her height, she started “obese” and went home between Week 14 and the
Finale still in the Overweight category. When she returned for her final
weigh-in she would be classified as “under-weight.” Somehow Rachel managed to
lose 45 pounds in 30 days an average
weight loss of 11.25 pounds per week. The CDC states that losing weight
gradually at a rate of 1 – 2 pounds per week is considered a healthy weight loss,[4]
which means Rachel lost FIVE TIMES that
amount in her 30 days at home.
So there my
friends are the statistics on Rachel’s “journey” to a “strong and confident
girl”…
And I, for one am outraged not only by Rachel’s results but also by this show in general. When the show began I, like many millions, was sucked in – these were real “success” stories. People whose lives had been destroyed by their weight gain trying to reclaim what they lost. Coming out on top and showing the world that yes, you too can lose weight and be the best you ever! But is any of that actually true?
Contestants
on the show have to sign binding contracts that prevent them from talking about
their time on the ranch. If they do they can be sued for up to $1,000,000
dollars.[5]
What could possibly be happening on that ranch that would damage the show’s
reputation so badly that they would need to sue former contestants for such a
staggering sum?
According to Kai Hubbard, a season 3 contestant more than you could possibly imagine. In a shocking interview with the Tampa Bay Times, Kai dishes on everything from dehydration to 6+ hour long work outs. She went on to spread her story by speaking with the CBS Early Show, telling them: “I left with a very poor mental body image, I found myself loathing what I looked like the more weight I dropped because of the pressure on me. And I found myself doing things like considering coffee a meal. And because of the mentality that I was surrounded with, and the pressure that was given at that show, it was considered acceptable to behave that way."
Producers of the show have tried to discredit her story but she’s not the only one speaking out. Ryan Benson told the New York Times he thinks he has been shunned by the show because he publicly admitted that he dropped some of the weight by fasting and dehydrating himself to the point that he was urinating blood.[6]
And yet, despite these claims NBC continues to tout The Biggest Loser as a “healthy weight loss show” but what can be healthy about starvation, overtraining, dehydration, stress fractures and more?
I’m angry. I’m really very angry. I’m angry that this show
continues to promote an unhealthy diet and exercise regime. I’m angry that it’s
so popular. I’m angry that we put a dollar figure on weight loss. I’m angry
that we as a society are still using
the number on a scale as a way to define ourselves. I’m angry that once again
we have to explain to our daughters that what they see on TV isn’t realistic.
I’ll be honest – I didn’t actually watch the finale. I had
forgotten it was on. I read about it today and when I posted my anger on my
Facebook wall, my sister commented that when Rachel weighed in and the numbers
on the scale bounce around like they do (to create suspense) she said they
dipped BELOW 100… even hitting numbers in the 80’s at one point. This alone, is
disgusting. I truly don’t even have words for that. Eighty pounds for a 5’4
woman … let that one sink in for a minute.And to claim that she looks the way she does without any surgery only further solidifies my belief that this show has no moral compass. Another industry friend of mine likened it to a balloon “Blow up a balloon one time. Does it return to its original state? Now do that a few times. How is that balloon looking now?” … And she’s right. There is no way this woman could have lost 155 pounds in four months and have no sagging skin as a result.
The producers of this show really should be ashamed of themselves. Perhaps in their “off season” they could take a really long hard look at the controversy they’ve drummed up with this most recent result and instead of capitalizing on it (as all reality shows do) make some changes and recreate the show in a more truthful and meaningful way. I for one would be more inclined to watch a show that truly teaches lifestyle changes. A show that isn’t a constant commercial (shoving uncomfortable branding moments in your face), that takes real people in real life situations and turns their lives around in a sustainable, achievable way.
Perhaps that’s wishful thinking, maybe our society is so brainwashed into believing Biggest Loser type lies that a show truly based in reality wouldn’t survive it’s first year.
The worst part I think is that this is a show full of obese
people suffering and punishing themselves to be thin. We award the thinnest
person with a quarter of a million dollars and then we are outraged by it and
tell her she’s too thin. Before she was too fat now she’s “anorexic,” “emaciated”
and “gaunt” … but isn’t that the purpose? Isn’t she supposed to do absolutely
everything in her power to lose the most amount of weight she possibly can to
beat out the rest of the competitors? Haven’t you ever been asked what you’d do
for $250,000? I personally would probably do just about anything – that is a
life changing amount of money for most people. So when presented with the
chance to win it solely by losing weight well… I can think of about 100
different ways to come out on top and perhaps that just what Rachel did. She played
the game … and she won.
My only hope is that when her media blitz is over and the
cameras have turned off for the last time, maybe she will sit down and be
honest with herself. She’ll realize 105 pounds is not sustainable or healthy
for her. She’ll reflect on how she got to where she was in the beginning and
how she got to the end. She’ll find ways to be happy again and not be starving
all the time. And maybe then, she’ll find the “strong, confident girl” she once
was.
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