Early this morning whilst my children were whizzing all over the floor in the area of the toilet and I was still snuggled under the covers checking the weather (-7! It’s like Minnesota misses me and followed me all the way here! Aw!), the internets were all atwitter with shock surrounding The Biggest Loser’s latest winner, Rachel Frederickson – or rather, what’s left of her. Frederickson made Biggest Loser history and international headlines for losing a record-breaking 60% of her body weight, dropping 155 pounds in a mere five months on the show. I saw a couple of headlines but then I was into the morning rush of trying to get all my kids clothed (success), fed (success) and to school on time (utter failure) and didn’t have time to catch up with the story until this afternoon. And then… whoa.
Bob and Jillian’s expressions (and silent “oh my god”) pretty much summed up the general reaction:
A lot of shock. Some awe. And then confusion about what exactly this means. It seems everyone had an opinion on Frederickson. Some people called her gaunt and skeletal while others accused her of having an eating disorder. Kim Neilson, a finalist on TBL season 13, tweeted, “And I thought I was too skinny at ‘The Biggest Loser’ finale. That was ridiculous!” There was even a vocal minority calling for the $250,000 prize to be awarded to the runner-up instead and that Frederickson should be disqualified.
Then the backlash to the backlash started. “She’s no skinnier than 95% of the other women you see on primetime TV,” one commenter (correctly) pointed out. Most of the people on this side cried “skinny shaming” and (also correctly) pointed out that you can’t tell from looking at someone what their health is like or if they have an eating disorder. As my friend Diana wrote on Facebook, “Just because she is a tiny bit underweight, her BMI is 18 and 18.5+ is considered healthy, my BMI when I got married at 22 was 17. I don’t think anyone would look at me then and say I was underweight, and I most certainly DID NOT have anorexia, in fact, I ate way too much taking for granted that I could eat whatever I wanted and not gain an ounce. ”
“Who knows what she was thinking, really, up on that platform?” one radio commentator said, as I listened to the afternoon news while I put on my makeup. (Yes it took me until this afternoon to get a shower. Hush.)
“She’s probably just elated she won! She’s a former athlete and clearly still has quite the competitive spirit,” the co-host answered as I detected a wee bit of jealousy in her voice.
As they bantered back and forth about BMIs (at 5’4″ and 105 pounds, Frederickson’s is 18 – officially “underweight”) and how much weight she carried in her lower body and whether or not the weight loss made her look “too old”, I felt my chest tightening and my breath coming faster. Part of me was mentally calculating ratios and percentages in my head while the other part of me was wondering where they got off talking about Frederickson’s body like she was a fall heifer.
Why is her body anyone’s business?? I huffed and pulled out my makeup bag. Most days I just wear a smear of moisturizer with sunscreen and some mascara so I look like have eyeballs but today as I peered at my bleak face, I frowned and pulled out the eyeliner and shadows.
The radio people kept talking and I kept alternating between quiet despair and righteous indignation as I brushed and mascara’ed and blushed faster and faster. How did she lose so much weight so fast? That’s 31 pounds a month! At least a pound every day! That can’t be healthy! Heck, it’s probably not even healthy for me to be thinking about! Why do I care so much about this?? I felt tears welling in my eyes so I looked up at the mirror. And found this:
That is a full face of slap, yo. Seriously that’s like date-night level of makeup… all to go pickup my kids from school for which I’ll be out in public for exactly 7 minutes.
The Biggest Loser GAVE ME SPIDER LASHES. Aaaaghhh! Why? Well, that’s easy. Because when I’m feeling insecure I cover up by layering on a crap ton of makeup and if I’m really on a roll, I’ll change my clothes 17 times because I think everything makes me look fat. And why was I feeling insecure? Because if Rachel Fredericksen did one thing really well it’s that she unmasked how deep, conflicted and hypocritical our feelings as a society are about weight loss. Sure we talk a good game about body acceptance and health movements and strong is the new skinny or whatever but the truth is we care deeply and personally about weight. Our weight. Friends’ weights. And even strangers on TV’s weights. Whether they were horrified or impressed by her weight loss, everyone cared about Rachel. Because she’d taken us at our word and then took it to it’s most logical – and extreme – conclusion. It was almost as if she looked the camera in the eye and yelled You want me to lose weight? You hate fat people so much?? Well I WILL LOSE ALLLL THE WEIGHT AND YOU WILL LOVE ME.
Here’s the thing – her weight and how she lost it actually is the radio people’s business. And the magazine’s and the internet’s and Facebook’s and, well, all of our business. She entered a public contest for the express purpose of publicly sharing her weight loss journey. I think this is one of the few cases where you can say that someone actually did sign up for public scrutiny of their body. That doesn’t mean I think it is right or fair or kind (and I’m not going to add to it) but I do think people are allowed their opinions in this case. It’s part of the game.
And Frederickson played that game like a champ, y’all. I don’t watch the show (never have, never will) but from what I read she went in there like a gladiator, willing to do whatever it took to come out on top. She was in it to win it and – in a mindset I can personally appreciate – decided to go all the way. Whether or not that means she is “unhealthy” or “has an eating disorder”, I don’t know. And I’m not going to speculate about her mental or physical status. But I will say this, based on my personal experience with eating disorders:
1. If that had been me on that platform, my first thought would not have been about the cash prize or even winning. I would have thought, “1-0-freaking-5?! If they’d just given me one more week, I could have made it under 100!!” Because eventually at some point competitive weight loss – no matter how it starts, whether game show or cafeteria or family challenge – becomes a competition simply between you and the scale. Nothing else matters but that number and making it obey you.
2. If (IF) she does end up with some form of disordered eating (and she certainly wouldn’t be the first to come out of that show with a few extra DSM-V diagnoses) then I think it’s the fault of The Biggest Loser franchise. The show claims to be all about health and teaching good habits and saving people when I think it’s become apparent that it’s really about putting on a good show, first and foremost. (Many past contestants have spoken out about dangerous things they did to lose weight.) And Frederickson did everything they told her to. She was the model contestant. And so many ED sufferers start from that exact place of perfectionism and wanting to please other people. Whether or not she has an ED, this show is the perfect storm for one.
3. I don’t know any medical professionals who would not be concerned about a patient losing a pound a day for five straight months.
Yet I truly don’t want to project my issues on to her. Like I said, I have no idea what is going on inside her. And I also don’t know what she weighed, say, in high school. Perhaps this is her healthiest, happiest weight and if so I applaud her for finding it. Yet, in the end, I think she’s in an untenable situation. No matter what happens from here, someone will be waiting for her to fail. Anyone who has lost weight knows the real trial comes in trying to keep it off. Lots of people on the web theorized that perhaps she’s very savvy and took extreme measures to lose weight just to get the cash prize, after which she’ll get back to a “normal” weight. An equal amount of people suggested she will gain the weight back not because of some master plan but because that’s what most of the BL winners end up doing. I also think that many people, especially when they’re in that heady rush of losing weight for the first time, go a little too low and then eventually their body settles out at something a few pounds heavier as they get their bearings.
And I feel for her. I hope she navigates these next few weeks, months and years with confidence and self-care. I can’t even imagine the pressure she must feel having so many people care deeply about her and her weight. I want nothing but happiness for her. But I also feel for all of us because if this controversy has shown us anything it’s that what you weigh and, even more importantly, how much control you have over your weight is still a very real source of power for women. On TV you win a quarter of a million dollars and instant fame. In real life you’re rewarded with compliments and new clothes. Always you’re rewarded with more attention and whether that attention is positive or negative doesn’t seem to matter as much as just knowing that people care about you.
The sad truth is that I too want to look the camera in the eye and yell I WILL MAKE YOU LOVE ME. I remember sadly telling my therapist once about how when I was at my thinnest (which was super unhealthy and I DID have an eating disorder) I felt like I not only looked better but that people in general treated me better. Not only did strangers at the gym stop me to tell me I had “the perfect body” (as if there is such a thing) but I swear more people smiled at me, clerks were more helpful, waiters more attentive. I felt like the whole world liked me better when I was sick. It’s one of the things that has made getting healthy and recovering such a difficult process. At the time my therapist replied that it was probably my increased confidence people were responding to, not my weight loss. But as I stared in the mirror thinking about Rachel Frederickson’s amazing transformation, all I could think was that I had been right all along. People really do like me thinner.
It’s bad enough if I believe that (and I’m fighting that thought today with all my might) but I cannot stand for my daughter to believe that her worth as a person is contingent on her weight. Just yesterday, I got an e-mail from a former student pleading for help with an eating disorder that she feared would take her life. The sad thing is that I get e-mails like that nearly every week. If Fredricksen didn’t compromise her health to lose weight, that doesn’t take away from the many, many girls and women who will see her success and adulation and will take drastic measures to get the same thing. And that’s the real danger of making weight loss into a competitive sport. That’s why I never watch this show.
What’s your take on all this? Anyone else think her success unmasks all the show’s failings?
I thought perhaps you lost track of the make-up application process whilst venting in front of the mirror.
That’s when I cut myself shaving the most.
Every reality show has a mean spirited aspect to it which is either obvious or “duh” why didn’t I notice that before?
The entertainment industry is nasty and reality TV takes nasty to a whole other level.
There is nasty that we DO see and there is nasty that we DON’T see. The nastiness is like a an iceberg with two-thirds of it submerged.
People who wouldn’t rub a dogs nose in an imperfection gleefully to it to other people.
Gleefully.
There is a pervasive cold-heartedness spreading.
Peter Jackson, the director of the LORD OF THE RINGS, THE HOBBIT, DESOLATION OF SMAUG stated: In a battle scene you have to show one of the heroes within ten minutes or you will lose your audience because they won’t care.
THEY WON’T CARE.
Unless someone “above the line” getting a percentage is in danger, then they care.
Never put your well-being (mentally, physically, emotionally) in the hands of someone who does not care.
They will be devastatingly nasty and hurt you every time.
Don’t give them the opportunity.
Their opinions mean nothing.
Their opinions are not worth your care or consideration.
This is like the Battle of the Alamo…you really do not want to send a gift basket of bullets to the invading forces.
I absolutely agree that Biggest Loser cares little about the contestants and is ALL about putting on a good show. (I’m not saying that many involved – especially the trainers – don’t want good things for the contestants, that just isn’t a priority of the producers.) However, I don’t think they can be faulted for wanting to make good television. That is their job, and they are doing it well. The problem is when we, the viewers (well, not me actually, I don’t watch the show) take their “message” too much to heart and fail to recognize the show for what it is. I am personally appalled by the idea of putting my body on display, but the contestants know what they are signing up for. Audiences also need to realize what they, in watching the show, are signing up for: a little entertainment, and possibly some motivation/inspiration, but not a lot of reality. What the contestants on Biggest Loser are accomplishing is not at all realistic, and is definitely too dangerous for most people to attempt on their own.
I actually watch the Biggest Loser and enjoy it. I think that when Rachel left the ranch she looked great. I think the change from when she left the ranch to the finale was a bit extreme and that is what caused a lot of the reactions (even Bob & Jilliian’s). But, I also think that if someone just saw Rachel on the street without any BL stuff going on, they wouldn’t think twice about how she looked!
My hope is that she is 100% healthy – beyond that, the numbers are just that – numbers.
This is why I don’t watch the show. The show and trainers encourage people to do everything to lose weight. Someone finally listened …and went overboard…and now the trainers see what can happen. Try see first hand what can go wrong.
I just hope she is ok.
Oh, the many thoughts. Losing that much weight so fast is not healthy in my mind. When I see her picture, I see initially too skinny. Then I look at her and start analyzing more and she doesn’t look that unhealthy to me. Maybe a few more pounds would even her out and that would be a ‘golden’ weight. But what is a ‘golden’ weight? Doing the 30 day challenge was a big struggle for me because I ended up gaining weight and I didn’t like it. I have been told a few times that it would be healthy for me to gain, but I don’t want to gain any. I don’t want to lose pounds, but I do want to lose inches. So am I unhealthy? Do I have a problem? Perhaps, but not to an extent where it’s dangerous. I hope that Frederickson is happy with where she has gotten and proud of what she has done. I hope that she doesn’t get too much grief for getting where she has, and that she is healthy.
This is such a great perspective. I do watch the show, mostly because I find that it’s interesting to learn the emotional/psychological issues that are holding people back from losing weight. However, I agree that it does take it to an extreme when everyone is trying to lose as much weight as they can to win money. I loved Holly, the Olympic weight-lifter, who got up on stage and started laughing when they said “can she take the lead?” because she was in it for HER and to meet HER goals, which is to be a better weightlifter. I loved Rachel on the show and think it’s ridiculous that people are criticizing her. The poor girl was criticized when she was fat, now she’s criticized for being skinny — and now, on a national level. I think the Biggest Loser should get more of the criticism, instead of being applauded for awesome ratings. Rachel has a competitive spirit, similar to myself… so I can totally see how tracking calories becomes more of a game. You figure out how you can cut 50 calories here, 150 calories there and BEAT your recommended intake… oh, and if you workout for an extra hour, you’ll really be low and in your head, get that much further ahead! I hope Rachel can take the money and get back to a normal, healthy life — one where she works out for the right reasons and is able to have a healthy relationship with food.
“If Fredricksen didn’t compromise her health to lose weight, that doesn’t take away from the many, many girls and women who will see her success and adulation and will take drastic measures to get the same thing. And that’s the real danger of making weight loss into a competitive sport.”
I think your words here speak volumes. It’s exactly how I feel about it. When TBL first started, it struck me as a way for people to get healthier inside and out, and for viewers to get a touching look at their journeys. As with most “reality” competitions, it has devolved into being more about the competition and the prize money, and less about getting there in a healthy manner – or, let’s say, a fair manner. As each season goes on, the contestants will try to get more extreme results than past winners, and will grab the attention of even more viewers who use them as their “fitspiration.”
For what little it’s worth, just looking at her, I don’t know if her weight is too low, but I think her upper body does look gaunt while her lower body looks fantastic. It looks as though she may have done something extreme during the time since she left the ranch (from the pictures I’ve seen; I do not watch the show either), and happened to lose disproportionately from her upper body.
Like you, I feel for her! I blogged about this myself and my takeaway was that it’s unfortunate that it took us this long to notice something and that for us to notice something someone had to set off our “not normal” detectors in the “too thin” direction. I find it really interesting all the attention this story is getting–especially the people who are advocating for us to shut up about it or who think that she looks great! I’m happy that this is causing a conversation–I used to love the show when I was sick with my eating disorder–along with all the weight loss shows out there on TLC, stories about “real people” who have shed the pounds and transformed their lives (apparently) in magazines and the like. I get now that this kind of narrative can be damaging and that The Biggest Loser is probably, for most people, not inspiring so much as it is dangerous and discouraging. Rant done! Thanks for bringing this issue to the forefront and your long list of readers, Charlotte–and doing it with honesty and personal insight. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again–you rock!
I can’t decide what I think about this. I can see it from all angles. It’s a tv competition and she competed. She did what she had to do to win. Lance Armstrong took performance enhancing drugs to win, but does that make the end justify the means of getting there? I don’t know.
I agree with someone above me who said her lower body looks great, but her arms and face are skinny. I have always had a very skinny upper body and I’m self conscious about it – the way she carries herself, it looks like she was too. Even some of the interviews I’ve seen, she seems to be trying to convince herself that she’s confident. But that’s totally understandable….given the situation how could she be?
I just hope this backlash doesn’t crush her and push her spiraling back to where she was when the show started. That’s my only concern.
And no, I don’t watch the show. Never have.
I actually watch the show and enjoy it. I agree she out herself out there for public scrutiny, but I also think people should be nice. I also have thought the same thing about Rachel vs Hollywood–she is no skinnier than Hollywood at large.
One thing I am confused about is the timeline. Hap (a contestant this year) had a baby while he was on the ranch. I don’t remember exactly when, but I would guess around 3-4 weeks in (just a guess). He said at the finale that the baby was 7 months old. So it was likely at least 8 months of time spent losing weight.
Sorry but TBL is my guilty tv secret, both the US and Aussie versions, although here in the UK we are a few seasons behind the US . I enjoy it even though I know I’m being manipulated as a viewer, and I dislike the all or nothing mentality that it purveys – I guess it’s a kind of love-hate thing for me. I wish that more attention was paid during the programme to the contestants’ nutrition, although that isn’t as dramatic as footage of a trainer yelling at a contestant, making them puke and then psychobabbling at them.
I do think that some things were done better in older seasons of TBL. For instance, I remember some contestants in season 5 (the first one I saw) being told to eat more when they didn’t lose weight. More relevantly, there used to be be footage of how the finalists were doing at home between leaving the ranch and the finale, with the trainers going to visit each one. I distinctly remember Jillian telling off Tara (season 6 or 7?) for becoming too obsessive about diet and overtraining for the final – she wanted her to take a step back and think about the rest of her life rather focussing on the short term of getting a s low as possible in order to win at all costs. OK, still staged for cameras, but it’s obvious that this wasn’t done this season, and even if this year’s winner had ignored the advice at least it would have been said during the show
So I suppose the winner’s more extreme appearance does more than previous winners to highlight the downsides to TBL and the messages it puts out. But it’s not helpful or possible to say whether she has developed an ED as a result of the show, and she may well put some weight back on when she’s no longer under pressure to win a game show.
I’m thinking the contestants probably employ wrestling-style eight cutting techniques in a last ditch effort to win. Maybe she dehydrated herself and the next day looked much more normal? She did have a ‘hallowed out’ Look that probably caused the reaction. …. Charlotte I too have found that I get more attention when I am really thin. Sad for a lot of us that believe thin=special or lovable. It’s bull and only has as much power over us as we allow.
I’ve never watched the show on purpose, but have caught bits and pieces as others watch, and it does seem weird to me that everyone is just NOW noticing how f–cked up the whole thing is. The kind of weight loss they feature every damn season is unhealthy, and the fact that this woman ended up at slightly below a normal bmi does not seem like a big deal in the context of the crazy-ass stuff they always feature.
Plus, the product whoring is so hilariously awful, that right there keeps me far away. So yeah, I’m not shocked but I’ve always disliked the show.
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I don’t watch the Biggest Loser but I caught the last 10 minutes of the finale waiting for the 10 o’clock news to come on and I admit when I saw the winner I kind of cringed. I think, like others have said, if I saw her on the street I wouldn’t think she was too thin and yes, she does appear to have a pear shaped weight distribution. I think what causes controversy is that she got to this exceptionally low weight in such a short period of time which then makes it seem like it would have to take extreme measures to achieve. But given the fact that the weight loss achieved by anybody on the show is done thru using extreme methods you would think it shouldn’t cause so much controversy.
Personally, I don’t think the Biggest Loser’s contestants weight loss is healthy in any way. Sure, you can shock your body into dropping 20 pounds in a week but long term how sustainable is that and at some point your body is going to start working against all of that shocking.
Charlotte, I think you’re smart in separating self projection from the personal situations of others. I too immediately jump to the assumption of an ED in cases like this because a weight loss competition would trigger that in me personally. But for a lot of people (I think), this isn’t the case. Or is it? I don’t know what the statistics are on people who are dieting for health benefits slipping into ED due to all of the obsession on calories and exercise. I know it makes me extremely uncomfortable to listen to the details of someone’s diet even when it’s for legitimate health reasons because there is a narrow grey line between what I hear them say and what I have said to myself.
I don’t watch the show, but I’m assuming the person who loses the most weight wins? That’s what it’s all about? In which case, it seems rather mean spirited to criticize someone for doing what they had to do (outside of breaking rules) to win a competition.
Do I think it’s healthy to lose that much weight so quickly? No. Do I think she is too skinny? I really couldn’t say, based on a few photos. Do I have a problem with The Biggest Loser as a show? Yes.
But: The contestants choose to compete, of their own free will. Viewers choose to tune in and watch. So, it seems ridiculous, to me, to complain that this person lost a whole lotta weight, when that is the entire point of the show.
Since you mentioned it, I’ll share my TBL knowledge. You wondered what Rachel was like a teen (body wise)? Well, the show made a huge deal that she used to be a champion swimmer in high school and even showed clips of her from back in the day. She wasn’t as rail thin as she is now. She had muscle on her arms, as any competitive swimmer would. Think about the olympic swimmers, those women have big strong shoulders and arms.
That said, I’ve watched the show for many a seasons (I gave up on this season because it was boring) and they’ve definitely been focusing on getting more athletes as contestants (former Olympian Rulon Gardner, an ex NFL guy, a weight lifter a season or so ago, another weight lifter this season) so they are definitely targeting highly competitive people. In doing so, they are courting a “disaster” like this, where one of their highly competitive folks gets super focused and gets a bit extreme so they can win.
Then mix in the fact that Rachel (and other contestants) are usually a bit emotionally unstable (the powers that be love a good sob story like “I got fat because someone died” and the like) and are now put into a situation where they are stripped of their loved ones and just about forced to “love” their trainers (stockholm syndrome for the win!) and I’m actually surprised it took FIFTEEN SEASONS before we had a winner that was technically (by BMI standards) underweight.
In fact, a few seasons back (too lazy to look it up) the winner (Helen) was considered “too skinny” as well. Comparing Helen and Rachel, Helen looks positively “fat” next to Rachel.
I really think The Biggest Loser just needs to end already. We’ve had the modern day freak show (“ooh, look at these fat ladies!”) for fifteen seasons now. We need to get the hell over it and move on to something else. Aren’t there some D-list celebrities somewhere we should be “keeping up with” or outrageous “housewives” to amuse us? We don’t need to make every day fat folks our entertainment.
I’ve been almost exactly there. I lost more than half my body weight in 6-8 months. And it probably makes me a bad person (or maybe still sick?) that my first thought was, “WTF. How did she do the same thing and end up with no saggy skin on her arms? Mine will never go away!” But after that I just felt sad for her. I still remember very clearly being in that place. Yes, I did have a diagnosed ED and I don’t know if she does but I don’t think there’s any possible way to lose that much weight that fast without extremely disordered behaviors. And those take a toll on you. So I feel bad for her and hope she can get to a place where food/exercise don’t rule her life. It also makes me shake my head though because the same thing happened to me. I was praised up and down for losing so much weight by everyone (friends, family, strangers) until I hit some invisible line and all of a sudden the same people were “so worried” about me. You can’t win.
But I can’t watch this show, not for any moral reasons, but mostly because I get too jealous. Same thing happened last week when I saw a friend I hadn’t seen in 8 months and she’d lost a bunch of weight. I’m not jealous of how people look but because they get to lose weight and I don’t. True, I’m much happier overall now but I still miss it.
I saw this for the first time this morning! My initial reaction was terrific! Then I heard the backlash. Pleeeease! She looks great, and her attitude is great. She has done a reset and has a chance now to live a much healthier life. I think the backlash is from a delusional used to overweight society that can’t deal with normal looking people because it confronts their issues.
At her age, there is nothing wrong with rapid weight loss as long as one is monitored as it goes. If she were a professional athlete in training and burned that many calories a day, it would be considered just that, an athlete in training!
A couple of things…
Professional athlete – Biggest Loser?
Both do it for the bucks, to be sure. And they both get a play by play on TV.
Rachel Frederickson does not have a professional athletic career (thought) to necessitate extremes.
A professional bodybuilder for example cannot maintain contest day conditioning 24/7 365
days a year.
They would die trying.
And the reason bodybuilding is not an Olympic sport is because they cannot pass the drug tests. And any that WOULD pass the drug tests, would not look like the “professionals”.
Is it possible Rachel got extreme because of competition, spotlight and the money?
Yes. It would be silly to rule that out.
Everyday people do not need extreme.
And that is who is watching.
Impressionable everyday people with issues.
The producers of this show KNOW this. That is how they keep their ratings up and make money.
That’s the irresponsible part.
The training level is like a pro athlete. Like a female basketball player or a top level martial artist. Have you ever trained at that level? I’ve done it for years! She trained at that level but did not replace the calories. I’m not commenting on the show. I do not support the show.
The difference between your example of a female basketball player (or a martial artist) and my example of a bodybuilder…
…is that all too often dangerously low levels of body fat ARE a result of bodybuilding, and apparently The Biggest Loser.
Not so with being a female basketball player or a martial artist. Neither one of these disciplines has a focus on “scrawny” in regards to body fat.
I am 6 feet, 210 lbs with discernible abs.
But these things were not my goals.
I have been running and lifting weights and doing martial arts since before Bruce Lee said “Boards don’t hit back”.
Being capable has always been my goal.
I can spur of the moment run 18 miles and still have enough energy to climb a 30 foot rope with just my arms.
But I don’t do it every day. Just sometimes.
Every year on my birthday I check to see if I can still do that number in one-armed push ups on each arm.
A..higher degree of functionality…I have found to be necessary in my life.
But body fat and weight…it just is what it is.
I walk quietly by the side of the road and hope no one notices…
If she were naturally that skinny it would be one thing. It is ABSOLUTELY true that you cannot judge someone’s health by looking at them (unless they have, say, scurvy). HOWEVER, she lost 155 pounds in 5 months!!!!!!!! There is NO WAY that is healthy, at all!
I think Crabby makes an excellent point: In the first couple of seasons, there was much less product placement. I’m sure the producers are under more pressure from the makers of those products to achieve certain results. Add to that the fact that the show doesn’t get quite the ratings it used to, and those producers will go to more extremes. I’m sure they’re having a big ol’ laugh right now over this. They don’t care about Ms. Frederickson beyond what she means to their bottom line. The fact that we are all talking about this is music to their ears (and dollar signs in their eyes).
Well spoken!
Agreed. However, the winner of the very FIRST season, Ryan Benson, admitted that he was so dehydrated prior to the finale that he was actually peeing blood, so I would say while it SEEMS that this show has become more extreme in each passing season, there were fundamentally serious gambles taking place with the contestants’ health from the very beginning of this show.
Excellent points. Both above and below.
Scary! I wonder if it’l take a contestant’s death to bring an end to all of this. Or if, at this point, that would just be a ratings boon. This show is a sad, sad statement on our culture, IMHO.
I think there is a pretty big difference between a person who is naturally thin and always weighed around 105, and a person who started at 260 and kept right on losing through the so-called “healthy range” before landing on a weight that is considered underweight regardless of if she is 5″ 5″ or 5′ 4″, as reports vary. One has to wonder if she really would have stopped at 105, or if the weigh in had a been a week or 2 or 3 from now, if that number would have been any lower. At what point would producers step in?
I think there is also a difference between criticizing the person and criticizing the process that led to this. I don’t think it is unfair to point out risk factors or clues that may indicate there is something more to her weight loss than trying to win a contest. The show highlighted her competitiveness, strive for perfection, and desire to please others to name a few… Also cringe-worthy was when she wagged her finger in her “former self’s” face, saying, “you are sooo gross.” Obviously no one but her knows if her true motivations were merely to win, or if in pursuing that quest, something went awry along the way. I sincerely hope that if a line has been crossed into ED territory, she gets the help she needs.
Analyzing someone’s weight “for health reasons” within 0.5 BMI units does no one a bit of good.
a) If she has an ED, it’s between her and her therapist.
b) Whether she has an ED or not, who’s not motivated by a lot of money?
c) She wanted to win, and she won. Yay!
d) She looks amazing.
e) We’ve all been talking FOREVER about how “numbers don’t matter” and “BMI doesn’t matter” and blah blah blah. Depressing that this got more news coverage than Ukraine.
IF–and admittedly this is a huge IF–she did develop an eating disorder while on the show, the show should ABSOLUTELY come under scrutiny to see what role it played in that process. If the show inherently encourages unhealthy and disordered relationships with food, then we should be outraged by its practices–not only on behalf of her health and well being but on behalf of all past and future contestants as well. Safeguards should be in place not only to prevent eating disorders, but to ensure the safety of all participants. Some of the allegations of past contestants do suggest that these are valid concerns. (Ryan Benson’s extreme dehydration, Kai Hibbard’s story). While I don’t think we should criticize anyone for their weight, big or small, I do think there are serious questions to be asked when the winner of a weight loss contest weighs in “underweight” (however slightly).
Bottom line is that this is a show for ratings and entertainment. It’s as despicable to me as the gladiator games of old. All is done for ratings and the fact that this winner maybe ‘overdid’ it is music to the producers/tv execs/ advertisers ears. She played the game and won. Yippee? I won’t watch the show because I find the false insistence that the players are ‘getting healthy’ using such unhealthy means aggravating.
On a side point, my hands and forearms look like that, though I am nowhere near an underweight BMI. I’ve always had skeleton arms, even now 30 lbs heavier than my lowest ED weight they are pretty skeletal. Maybe she has similar structure?
I hope she is fine. My gut says she is not, but I can’t say what’s healthy for her. It would be a shame for her to have won a battle but lost a war (or maybe started a new war?).
“(or maybe started a new war?)”…Yes…Sad to imagine.
I have read a bunch of blog posts and reactions about this issue, but I have to stay that yours is my favorite! I really feel you on the many, many conflicted feelings that arise for those of us who have ever struggled with our weight and body image, and I really appreciate how honest you are (in every single post, not just this one!).
Dr. J!
Quote: “I walk quietly by the side of the road and hope no one notices…”
I do that quite often myself, as I am scarred by my ex and terrified of a relationship.
(My “wussitude” as Charlotte has coined the phrase.)
Well, I haven’t watched this show in quite some time… mainly because I don’t have time to and I would have known nothing about this had social media not shown it, thus enticing me to read and read and read… My initial thoughts were that she looked great. But this is coming from a disordered head who found myself being triggered by all of the rigmarole involved in this. I had to quit reading before I found myself wanting to look like her (only to realize that I have a lower BMI than her and am thriving over her publicity…)
I have no idea what I’m saying except that, God, I hope she doesn’t intend to keep this up the rest of her life because if it hasn’t happened yet, the disordered mindset is sure to set in. And I never went on this show but developed an ED in my 30’s and see no hope of ever changing these disordered thoughts.
I’m just wondering if the whole deal is going to help more people to finally think that maybe the problems don’t just go (*poof*) and vanish just because one is thinner and leaner. As a mentor once told me, there are demons at every level. No matter how much you gain there will always be problems and challenges.
Losing weight solves many problems, but it’s certainly no utopia.
I feel strongly that TBL is reckless and irresponsible. It takes people who already have eating disorders and teaches them how to have other eating disorders. Some of these people need treatment, not a new diet and exercise plan.
But then, I’m a firm believer in Intuitive Eating. I think in 100 years people are going to be saying, “Did you know people used to count calories?! And restrict their food?! Can you believe how ignorant they were?! Just barbaric.”
I watched the finale last night on streaming TV because of the controversy. Every one is focused on the winner but didn’t anyone notice that the other finalist, Bobby, looked underweight too. There was, at least, 5 people this season that looked like they had lost too much too quickly. Rachael is the only one who is being focused on but I think TBL did a number on all of their contestants.
I know she signed up for this so she is subject it to more than the average person but I hope she survives this.
Here’s the thing: The entire premise and process of TBL is wrong. It’s exploitative, misleading, and unsustainable. It’s scripted, edited, and manipulated for TV.
That aside: A 5’4″ woman who weighs 105 is definitely on the slim side. But to base her supposed BMI simply on her height and weight is misleading, as it is not a true reflection of muscle mass vs. fat.
We are living in a nation where the average adult woman is 5’4″ and nearly ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY POUNDS…a nation where a 15 minute walk through any suburban shopping center will allow one to see a dozen women who weigh more than 200 pounds and probably at least two who top out in a weight range that would put them in the “ultra heavyweight” category were they to step into a mixed martial arts cage.
We think this woman looks too skinny because we saw her weigh 265 pounds. If you saw her not in a “televised extreme weight loss contest” context, you would think NOTHING of her except that she has long, pretty hair, a big smile, and SHE LOOKS GOOD. If you see a 5’4″ woman on the subway and she weighs 105 pounds, you might notice she’s slim in comparison to the crowd, but she isn’t a gaunt, weak, shaking skeleton of a person by any means.
This is simply hate from a population which has been conditioned to normalize obesity.
not judgeing on purpoe, but my reaction when I saw a report online jsut now (curiosity got the bettter of me) was “she’s 24?”… bad me…
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Your questions regarding being treated better when you were thinner reminded me of this article I read recently. http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-12360/what-losing-100-pounds-taught-me-about-how-we-treat-overweight-people.html
Charlotte,
Great write up. The concern that I have with Rachel Frederickson is that when you lose that much weight drastically in such a short amount of time, it isn’t good for your body at all, as you have pointed out so accurately. I can’t help but to think of the sad story of Elvis Presley who when he was home he’d put on a lot of weight and just before he was going to go back on the road he’d lose all the weight through drugs and such. Well it’s sad because it finally caught up with him. Losing weight naturally and in a planned and controlled manner is great. But in this case, I think it can be dangerous.
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I’m glad you love words, because you use them so beautifully to say the things I think. Yes, I fear that Rachel has been delivered to a fully formed ED, but I hope she hasn’t. I think a lot of the negative reaction (especially Jillian’s, she of the perfection body– any jealousy there?) had to do with the ability to continue to look comfortably down upon the poor losers who will NEVER have the ultimate bod, any more than any of the rest of us will. I won’t watch the show because I don’t think it has anything at all to do with health, and more to do with unhealthy obsessions.
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I alll the time used to study piece of writing in news
papers but now as I am a user of internet therefore from now
I am using net for articles or reviews, thanks
to web.