The early episodes of The Biggest Loser are hard to stomach. If we wanted to see fat people struggle with their weight, we wouldn???t live in New York.
But by midseason, when these tubbies start regaining some semblance of a chin, we start to appreciate The Biggest Loser as the ultimate make over show. We even buy the line about it ???changing lives.???
But for people whose unhealthy body mass indexes are not being used for reality TV show fodder, this dramatic transformation is a bit depressing.
The Times reports today that viewers playing at home can feel disappointed with their less dramatic weight loss:
???I find myself in the beginning of every season raring to go,??? said Renee Peters, 35, a serial dieter and computer programmer in Atlanta, who is the host of the online weight-loss forum the Fatfighters. ???But then they???ve lost 70 pounds and I???ve only lost 5 in the same time frame, and I find myself eating ice cream.???
And the rapid weight loss isn???t exactly healthy. Losing weight as quickly as the contestants do can lead to gallstones, cardiac arrhythmias and ultimately a higher chance of regaining the weight.
But if these are the risks that must be taken to make unattractive people appealing on national TV, so be it. Our entertainment is nothing compared with a little cardiac arrhythmias.
No. 1
tina says:
People can’t compare themselves to the show becuase the contestants are working out like 5 hours everyday whereas a person who works may only work out an hour.
Posted: Oct 18, 2007 at 12:09 pm