Fit For TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser

 

So if you haven't checked out the behind-the-scenes Biggest Loser documentary on Netflix, I'd say it's worth a watch.

Bottom line: Even though the 3-part series gives the people behind Biggest Loser every chance to do their best to defend themselves and their mission, you probably aren't going to end up feeling too many warm-fuzzies over the supposed "let's help out the poor fatties" premise.

But along with the not-surprising aspects (still fascinating) there were some genuine surprises as well!

More to Loathe?

Is the object of a reality show watching people express self-loathing on television?

Laughter or tears? Sometimes it's hard to tell.
Photo:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/franzifisch/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

I ask the question about self-loathing because I just saw the reality show More to Love. My impression?

Hard to believe, but this show makes the Biggest Loser look good.

On the Biggest Loser show, the contestants are equally dissatisfied with their shape, but they're trying to do something about it. (In addition to whining to the camera about it.) I don't agree with the way some of them try to lose weight, nor do I think numbers on the scale should be as important as improvements in fitness, but at least they're doing something. The women on More to Love spend most of their time whining.

Think I'm exaggerating? Below are quotes lifted from the latest episode of More to Love:

• "A lot of guys have mistreated me before because of my weight."
• "I've never done things like this before, because of my weight."
• "I've had some bad relationships, that might have been because of my weight."

As far as I can see, it's not the fault of the guy. He keeps making appreciative comments like "women with curves in all the right places." It's the friggin' women themselves. They're not so much lambs being led to the slaughter as lambs reaching for the knife so they can slit their own throats because it's so miserable being a lamb already.

He says things like, "The women I'm attracted to are women who are confident and comfortable in their own skin." And one of the women responds to the camera thusly, "What makes me confident is the way he looks at me."

Well, okay. A comment like that could have come from any insecure woman, regardless of her size. Even so, these women come across as people who have never had anyone be nice to them ever in the whole of their life. One woman said, "I've never felt so complimented in my entire life." Really? In the whole of your life?

I mean, it's not as if the guy were slathering on the compliments like extra suntan oil; he was polite, not extravagant. But these women lapped it up like kittens who'd never before encountered cream. Needy and insecure. (There was one woman who acted confident, but she got booted off pretty quickly.)

When I achieve world domination, I think I will outlaw reality shows in favor of a better reality. If a better reality doesn't come along, I will at least ensure that 'romantic' reality shows include:

- forcing people to re-read some of Crabby's posts about Fat Acceptance
- a brick wall made of Nerf bricks, so people who hate themselves can hit their head against it
- a genuine "I'm with stupid" t-shirts where the arrow points straight up
- self-help books with titles like "Fat or Phat: A guide to being Cool without undergoing a personality transplant"
- maybe some Oprah re-runs about self-acceptance




I'm not a fan of reality shows in general (or of reality sometimes) and especially I don't like the idea of finding 'true love' from a show where a horde of men/women compete to be picked by their One True Love. Shows like this one take all the outward trappings of romance and parody them in a burlesque of buffoonery. Er... not that I have strong opinions on the subject.

When I wrote a post about the Biggest Loser, some people wrote comments about how the show inspired them to lose weight and exercise. I suppose there might be people who feel that way about this show. If so, could you please tell me why? 'Cause I don't get it. I thought the idea behind the show had merit, but the way it's being played stinks.

Have you seen the show 'More to Love'? If so, am I missing some secret charm? Or is there something fabulous about Reality shows that I'm currently missing? Do tell.

The Biggest Loser: from reality show to reality?

Okay, I'm wearing the Cranky pants today. (They're always a size too small, hence the crankiness.)

This is the tale of a woman who watched The Biggest Loser and decided to apply it to her own life.

Note: this post is not intended to criticize the Biggest Loser. I have been told, at great length, that a lot of people watch the Biggest Loser and find it inspirational. However, I don't think most people apply it this literally to their lives.

This tale is about a woman who got married, as many women do, settled down, and found herself trying to balance work, family, and a healthy lifestyle. Well, two out of the three, anyway. The weight began creeping up.

(This part I can certainly relate to. The weight creeps up on you like the invasive ivy that your neighbor thought would look really nice planted on their side of the fence. Eventually, you notice it's there and go on an extreme argument with the friggin' neighbor makeover.)


As a regular watcher of The Biggest Loser, she decided to follow their lead. For a full month she lived apart from her family. Aside from her job, her focus was on losing weight.

The husband, and stepson, went to live with his father down the street, and she devoted herself to a rigorous schedule of diet and exercise. Without a recalcitrant teenager it was easier to stock the fridge with healthy foods, and without spending time hanging out with her husband, she had time to concentrate on exercising.

(That part, I don't get. Surely husbands can be trained, with sufficient patience, to exercise? Or at least watch TV while their wives work out? Couldn't she set up the treadmill or weights in the room where they watched TV, and work out while watching reality shows?)

I can't believe Jillian just said that to Tara!

The results, like the results on the Biggest Loser, were impressive. She lost over 13 pounds, and with the increased muscle tone from working out, the overall impression was of a loss closer to 25 pounds. That's pretty good going for 30 days of diet and exercising.

It was great that she lost the fat and gained the muscle. My problem with this is that it was a lot of work for a short-term improvement. Without retraining the people she lives with, the problems that caused the weight gain have not changed. So what's to stop the weight from creeping back? Nothing, so far as I can see.


I can see a wife and mother fantasizing about having the house to herself for a month. But it doesn't seem right to model your behavior after reality shows. They're not really connected to reality.

It's tempting to get all the distractions out of your life and concentrate on what you really want to achieve. But since she clearly has no desire to oust her family permanently (understandably), seems like she put in a lot of effort for a little temporary weight loss.

Can you imagine people imitating the extreme behavior exemplified by reality shows? Survivor as a business model: Can't decide who to layoff? Simple! Strand the whole group on a desert island and come back in a couple weeks to see who's been voted off.

Pick your friends based on how well they dance when paired with real professional dancers!

Look at me, I'm dancing with Tattoo Man!
Photo credit: Tobes501

Want to get a promotion and a raise and fame and fortune? Go into your boss's office and impress him with your tremendous singing ability! This will also have the added side effect of combining promotion with layoffs if you don't sing quite as well as your co-workers.

Your co-workers seem really enthused... about your leaving...

Photo credit: kwalk268

Then again, there's always the Donald Trump approach -- wait, that's not a reality show, is it? Seems like plain reality to me.

Photo credit: w00kie

Um... am I going to get flamed for this post?

Quick disclaimer: I understand that the show The Biggest Loser inspires (some) people to eat healthy and workout regularly. But I think it's most effective when it brings family members on the show to work together at losing the weight. While isolating yourself from the problems that led to the weight gain can help you lose weight, it's not going to do bupkis about helping you maintain the weight loss.


Re-training yourself -- and your family, if necessary -- works.
Extreme makeovers are showy, but don't address the basic problems.

If you don't change the underlying behavior, the weight is just going to creep up again. What's the point?

Who is the real loser here?

This might be a contentious post. But before you get mad at me, somebody please explain this to me: why is The Biggest Loser seen as a positive show?

I've been hearing people talk about this show for months, and I finally saw it this week. Someone please explain the appeal to me.


Seriously. I'm not trying to sound bitchy; I just don't get it. In case you didn't watch it, I'll explain what has me stumped.

I saw a man get up on the scale to be weighed. He lost three pounds in a week. Last I checked, the sight of someone who is overweight losing three pounds is a good thing. Even though three pounds in one week is above the recommended amount for healthy loss, it's weight loss that's not a radical shock to the system.

The man heard the amount of weight he'd lost, and his face fell. He was downcast. He bared his teeth in an 'I'm being a good sport, damn it' grin, and managed to get out something along the lines of "well, it's better than nothing."

Excuse me? What kind of an upside-down reality is this where losing three pounds is 'better than nothing'? The values being preached here seem totally screwed to me.

I realize they tried to give the show a positive angle by showing people going back to their friends and family after having lost weight. I am glad that they included segments on how people are still exercising after they leave. But still, the point of the show itself is to lose numbers on the scale as fast as possible.

By focusing the competition on losing pounds, it seems like the emphasis is on doing whatever the hell you have to do to lose the weight. Doesn't matter how much you've improved your health, how much cardiovascular fitness you've gained, how much farther you can run or how much more weight you can lift. All that matters is the numbers on the damn scale.

Ryan Benson, a winner on the show, revealed how he won:
I wanted to win so bad that the last ten days before the final weigh-in I didn't eat one piece of solid food! If you've heard of "The Master Cleanse" that's what I did. It's basically drinking lemonade made with water, fresh squeezed lemon juice, pure maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. The rules of the show said we couldn't use any weight-loss drugs, well I didn't take any drugs, I just starved myself!


To me, any 'weight loss' show where someone who starves themselves would do better than someone who improves their fitness is not a show people should watch.

When I achieve world domination, I will design reality shows that actually let people win when they improve. Why not have a show that rewards people not for losing weight, but for gaining stamina? Measure a bunch of unfit people at the start of the show, test them for how far they can run, or how much they can lift, or something like that. Then test them again each week and reward the people who show the most improvement. Screw the scale! Screw numbers that only focus on size rather than health!

Cool people like Fit Bottomed Girls and Scale Junkie watch this show. From the comments I've read, apparently you watch it too. (Yes, you over there in the corner. You know who you are.) So what gives?

Please let me know why you think this show is something that people should watch. Or let me know what kind of a fitness reality show you plan to host once you achieve world domination.

Photo credit: Luis Munoz.