06 February 2014

The Biggest Loser

I got hooked on The Biggest Loser a couple of years ago. I'm not a television watcher but this show is one of my favorites. Okay, probably my ONLY favorite. The contestants are all inspiring to me as I watch them battle back to regain control of their lives and do hard things. My number one rule is I cannot watch it sitting on the couch, so it's become my workout routine as I use the elliptical.

This year was no different. I watched and cheered and even cried a couple of times with all the contestants over a four month period. The other night was the final episode, and I was so excited to see the transformations, to be shocked at how different they all looked, to see them healthy again.

Craig looked amazing for having gone home first. Tumi won the at-home prize after losing 175 pounds, down to 144 pounds from 319. Fernanda was so stunning I didn't even recognize her. Marie shocked me because frankly I didn't think she had it in her to go as far as she did. In the end I was rooting for David. His story touched me and he had such a worthy cause he was fighting for after losing his first wife to brain cancer.

In the end, Rachel, David, and Bobby were vying for title of Biggest Loser and Rachel came out on top.

(Click here to see before and after photos.)

The obsessive behavior that led these contestants to overeat and gain weight in the first place can be just as extreme in the opposite direction. Rachel may have lost the most weight but she looked sickly, anorexic, emaciated, like death was at her door. She was way too thin. Even her trainers were in shock at her appearance. I've never been more disappointed in a finale.

My kids love to watch the show with me, and this time around I made a point to talk about extreme weight loss/weight gain. I'm really hoping Rachel crunched some numbers, saw that she might have to really lose a lot more weight to be "safe" and win the overall prize, and is now planning on putting some weight back on. But seriously, is 105 pounds at 5'4" normal? I think it's crazy.

Can't wait for next season to see what, if any, changes are made to the show.

1 comment:

Mary said...

We thought the same thing! I only caught a couple episodes of the series and the last 15 minutes of the finale, so I wasn't rooting for anyone. But I think the winner was probably aiming for the prize money and not just good health. She did look awful. Glad you had a conversation with your kids about it--a show that's supposedly promoting health, sheesh!