Don't Be A Loser: My Take on 'The Biggest Loser'

What’s my take on NBC’s ‘The Biggest Loser’? The TV show that on day one, throws out-of-shape, obese contestants on a treadmill and sets the speed to 6.0? The show that requires 300+lb. individuals to do box jumps for 5 hours straight? The show that with each new season, makes the network millions of dollars off the backs of overweight participants trying their best not to humiliate themselves? What do I think of The Biggest Loser? 

It’s great. 

It changes lives.

This opinion doesn't align with many fitness professionals that argue the show is “Too dangerous” and “Unrealistic” and “Not the way I would train someone in that shape”.

Even if you or I wouldn’t train the severely overweight the way they are trained on the show, it is not our place to question it or say the coaches are doing it wrong. Everyone gets to the top of the hill in their own way. Many times it’s different from your way.

Too many people are quick to say that there’s no way contestants will be able to sustain the type of exercise and diet regimen that is prescribed on the show once they leave. The good news is that the burden is on them, not you, to sustain it. Either they will and continue healthier living; or they won’t and they’ll get fat again. And either way, you will still live the same. 

Kim Kardashian was not the first to break the internet. A few seasons back, one participant came out for her final weigh-in looking like this….

Social Media was littered with posts claiming how unhealthy it was for her to lose that much weight. Shut up. If you lost over 150lbs. you would be ecstatic! I’d guess her to be healthier on the right than she is on the left, even if she does suffer from an eating disorder you assume her to have.

At this point I’ll give in and admit that I disagree with things I see taking place on the show. My problem is in the immense amount of hate toward the show. Every season, contestants’ lives are changed for the better. Every season, thousands of viewers are inspired from home. The show promotes exercising and living healthier. This is what makes The Biggest Loser great overall. 

Don’t be a loser. Don’t hate on The Biggest Loser. Besides, It’s looking like I'm going to have to send my cat there pretty soon.