The Reality Behind the Biggest Loser

NBC’s the Biggest Loser has been lighting up our television screens for more than ten years. Since the shows debut season in 2004 there have been more than 16 winners of the show, who at the seasons end lost a drastic amount of weight. The Biggest Loser is the most popular and critically acclaimed American reality TV make cover competition show however, the show has been all over media headlines recently for the less than satisfying long term effects that the diet plans have had on former contestants. Now, there is reason to speculate that the Biggest Loser is more focused on promoting the NBC network and seeing drastic changes in its contestants than to worry about the individual’s long-term health.

            Before getting a clear understanding of the recent Biggest Loser controversy, it is important to have a better understanding of what the show is.  The Biggest Loser is classified as makeover television, which means its mission is to help the people who,  “are floundering [that they] can and must be taught to develop and maximize their capacities for normalcy, happiness, material stability, and success rather than rely on a public ‘safety net’” (Ouellette & Hay 2008). The Biggest Loser hopes to give contestants a complete lifestyle change, while instilling the same values to the viewers who are watching from home. “Makeover programmes enact the promised freedoms as well as the apparent burdens of enterprising citizenship on screen, utilizing coaches, lifestyle experts and motivators to transform floundering individuals into successful self-managers ” (Ouellette & Hay 2008). To the public eye it seems as though the Biggest Loser has provided healthier lifestyle structures for contestants, but now that contestants are speaking out against the show, saying that they have worse health than before, makes me question NBC’s true motives.

A recent article released by the New York Times discussing an in depth study conducted on the Biggest Loser’s season eight contestants revealed, “surprising new discoveries about the physiology of obesity that help explain why so many people struggle unsuccessfully to keep off the weight they lose”(Kolata 2016). Kevin Hall, who is an expert on metabolism at the Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases implemented the study, he wanted to first see what happened to contestants years after they lost the large amount of weight due to the vigorous Biggest Loser dieting program and correlate how it compares to where they originally were.

One of the main findings of the study was that contestant’s metabolisms slowed down. This finding did not shock the researchers because that is typically what happens to people who begin a diet plan in order to lose weight. However, what did shock them was that as years went by their metabolisms still continued to slow down,  “they became even slower, and the pounds kept piling on. It was as if their bodies were intensifying their effort to pull the contestants back to their original weight” (Kolata 2016). One of the contestants who was extremely effected by this side effect was Danny Cahill, the season eight winner. He originally went on the show weighing 430 pounds and was able to a jaw dropping 239 pounds over 7 months. Sadly, over the years his metabolism has extremely slowed down and he has gained back 100 of the pounds he lost. Danny’s metabolic rate now burns 800 fewer calories a day than expected for a man his size (Kolata 2016).

Season 8 Winner Danny Cahill at finale 191 pounds, now 295 pounds

The sad truth of it all is that it is inevitable for your body to fight back against the weight you are trying lose. No matter how much time goes by, if you are below your initial weight your body will fight back to gain it back and this is what makes dieting so miserably hard. One of the researchers of the study stated that, “the key point is that you can be on TV, you can lose enormous amounts of weight, you can go on for six years, but you can’t get away from a basic biological reality,” (Kolata 2016). These contestants are put through an extreme lifestyle change in order to reach their weight loss goal, however what happens after the show when they are now forced to face the rest of the journey on their own? A major factor in the contestants regaining of weight is that they no longer have the resources that the show gave them. Trainers, exercise doctors, and sleep specialists are no longer realistic for these people and that leaves them in a very tough position.

Additional findings of the study included constants became “Slimmer and Hungrier,” there was a loss of a key hormone called leptin and that small imbalances between calories eaten and calories burned are more noticeable when people are trying to lose weight” (Kolata 2016). The researchers conducted this study, not to deliberately shame NBC’s the Biggest Loser, but to try and find new ways to go about obesity. These short-term vigorous diets are clearly having a harmful impact on people’s health. The recent controversy surrounding the Biggest Loser leaves me intrigued to see how NBC and the shows producers will react. Will they continue on with a new season and ignore the findings? Or will they adapt a new diet plan for contestants to ensure that their long-term health is under consideration? Clearly, the show needs to get strong ratings and NBC wants to promote the commercial sector. In order for them to do that it would be more eye catching to see a contestant lose 200 pounds in seven months than it is to hear about their long term health plans. Viewers are more likely to buy Biggest Loser exercise equipment and diet plans when they see results like that and this is what makeover TV is all about. However, I think in order for NBC to do the moral thing they need to make changes in the way they conduct the show. They can no longer sell their ideas and ideologies to viewers when numerous former contestants are battling serious health issues and are in worse health conditions than when they began the show. Makeover TV such as the Biggest Loser sells us ideas on what we should be, but at what length do we go to? Do we sacrifice our own health to conform to what the Biggest Loser is telling us we should be?

References

Kolata, G. (2016). After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight. Retrieved May 09, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/health/biggest-loser-weight-loss.html?_r=0

Ouellette, L., & Hay, J. (2008). Makeover television, governmentality and the good citizen. Continuum, 22(4), 471-484. doi:10.1080/10304310801982930