Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser

It was a fascinating watch, but I'm not sure it really went anywhere. There was no solid finding or conclusion-just a range of opinions. So, not a great ending.

For me, however, there were some takeaways:

1. The treatment of the woman with rhabdomyolysis was appalling. If her allegations are true, she is owed at least an apology from the trainers and producers-possibly more. It's a reminder that very few people truly understand rhabdo.

2. The Biggest Loser was always about entertainment and money. It was a mistake to think otherwise.

3. The doctor seemed like a good guy. I only wish he had been more outspoken.

4. Weight loss isn't achieved by exercise-it's about calorie deficit. As Bob acknowledged, the exercise was largely for show. At the same time, too steep a calorie deficit is dangerous and unhealthy in the long term. The trainers should have known better.

5. There was definitely some fat-shaming. And some of what the trainers did crossed the line.

I watched The Biggest Loser with my wife at the time. Good grief, anyone who had watched the first season knew EXACTLY what they were getting themselves into. They'd seen Bob and Jillian get up in the faces of the contestants, and raise their voices as part of the motivation. ANYONE who was involved in team sports in high school has endured far worse than that. Joelle seemed to lock herself into a power struggle with her coach. She deliberately held back during training sessions as a way of holding onto that little bit of control. Her negative experiences on TBL seem to be rooted in the fact that her personality was completely unsuited for the show. Crying that there isn't "aftercare" for contestants after the show is the most entitled nonsense. Grow up. The program helped you lose a large amount of weight, it's on you to change your life if you want to keep it off. Caffeine as a scandal? C'mon.

While it was truly disheartening to see the producers (and some contestants) ignoring the physician's medical expertise, I felt like all of the contestants outside of season 1-2 had seen the show and knew what they were signing up for. The documentary also lacked a lot of important social context. At that time, bootcamp style workouts were all the rage. Crossfit was born out of that era. The doc really (and in my opinion unfairly) attacked the trainers for delivering the popular military-style workouts they were being paid to deliver at the time. They also left out that the show adapted over for time to address rising concerns like mental and emotional health. While we can see now how dangerous what they were doing was, I loved that show. It was inspirational to watch everyday folks achieve massive change and it proved that old fashioned diet and exercise can change your weight. If some folks cheated with pills, that is not the fault of the show. Bring back The Biggest Loser!

The documentary itself is not bad. It's entertaining and has some not bad stories.

However, what bothers me is the narrative: A bunch of whining Americans, who knew exactly what they were signing up to and got that exact thing. You couldn't say you didn't know! Ok for season 1 or 2, but all following seasons? You didn't watch it? What are you whining about? You wanted this! This is a TV show meant to create ratings and interest. You want to lose weight by yourself, go hire a trainer and a nutritionist and don't sign up to a TV show and then whine endlessly.

I think this is less a documentary and more a self-aggrandizing recount of a long-running reality television series. Even the (tacit and semi-overt) "admissions" regarding negative health outcomes for some participants just didn't justify the length of time required to watch this offering. I fear it just didn't break any new ground about this topic.