The Biggest Loser, in my opinion, is the horrible result from the meeting of reality show bullshit and our need to see something exceptionally rare happen very quickly. Like when the house of a hoarder gets cleared out and professionally decorated in a weekend. Or when someone's condemned house is demolished and turned into a McMansion for the owner and his entire disabled family in a mere 7 days. The Biggest Loser, however, seeks to take the morbidly obese and turn them into personal trainers in one season of television. Some people are losing dozens of pounds in days for Christ's sake!
I just don't understand how that can be healthy. The network must have paid some doctors to approve the workloads for these people because the show is ridiculous. Also, it allows the viewer to assume these results might be attainable in a similar time frame. When it doesn't, though, it allows the viewer to also lose hope and continue to be unhealthy and watching reality tv instead of doing something for themselves.
There are some good shows out there, though. I'd recommend Ruby on the Style Network. She is a work in progress. At her heaviest she was over 700 lbs. Now she is just under 300. It has taken a long time but she goes about it with the right priorities. She exercises religiously and is conscious of her food intake. She also has a great support system. That is really important, too, but that's another post.
I also like You Are What You Eat on the BBC. Host Gillian McKeith does use some scare tactics, but her food and exercise advice is spot on. I've also learned some interesting meal ideas from watching her. She makes food look exciting and fresh and her end goal is health and the weight removes itself quickly in becoming healthy.
I've heard recently that The Biggest Loser will be making changes to the show to make it more realistic. I hope that's the case. It's amazing that they believe that after months of working out every day, 5-8 hours a day, that the average contestant is going to go back to their normal lives and maintain or continue to lose. They have been setting these people up for disaster. I may give another try if they fix some major problems, but for now I don't find them to be inspirational at all, I find them to be assholes.
