"The Biggest Loser" Exposes The Dieting Fraud
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One of the major arguments of the growing fat acceptance movement is that fear-mongering about "health" functions more as a tool to bash fat people than as a genuine expression of desire for a healthier populace. You couldn't ask for a better argument for that point of view than this article in the New York Times about the dangers posed to contestants on the reality show The Biggest Loser, though the very name of the show has always suggested to me that it's more about mocking fat people than promoting healthy lifestyles. Contestants from the show are claiming that the rapid-fire weight loss encouraged on the program led them to dehydrate themselves, some to the point where they were urinating blood. These concerns are coming after a recent episode had contestants rushed to the hospital for heat stroke.
But as the article points out, even contestants that didn't try to cheat the system by dropping water weight were still putting their bodies in grave danger by losing so much weight so quickly. You're not really supposed to aim to drop more than two pounds a week on a responsible weight loss program, because doing more than that can cause heart problems and electrolyte imbalances that could cause a heart attack. Yet The Biggest Loser is far from the only cultural product that promotes the idea that rapidly turning fat people into thin people is a legitimate strategy for "health." That message blares at us from a variety of tabloid coves, weight-loss advertisements, TV shows, and puff pieces fawning over fat celebrities that dropped half their body weight in a short amount of time due to gastric bypass surgery. Why is it not enough for fat people to lose weight? Why does it have to be so much so quickly?
Part of it is a numbers game. Look at the numbers given in this Times article: Contestants lost 118 pounds, 112 pounds, 122 pounds. At the recommended weight-loss rates, that means most of them would have taken more than a year to accomplish their goals. But searching around the Internet, it seems that the show tapes for only 10 to 12 weeks. Committing yourself to a year or many years of weight loss can seem like an overwhelming goal, especially since the emphasis in the world of weight loss is self-deprivation and pain, as if you're punishing yourself for getting fat. But most people would like to believe they could give a couple months over to the misery of dieting and exercise, as long as they see a light at the end of the tunnel.
The emphasis on rapid weight loss goes a long way to explaining why diets don't work. The demands of dieting are unsustainable, and people who diet spend all their time thinking about how they're going to reward themselves with all the forbidden foods when they finally cross the line. It goes straight back up to an American inability to conceive of moderation. Extreme dieting rests next to virginity pledges or teetotalism, or from the left, Buy Nothing Day or throwing out your television set. When looking for alternatives to excess, we latch onto abstinence. But abstinence pledges defeat us, and we don't just fall off the wagon, but fling ourselves off it. Indulgence/punishment rituals satisfy our need for drama, but they don't do much for our health or well-being.
Comments
Differences in definition.
By: mjoy | Wed, 12/09/2009 - 13:09
When was diet defined as "denying one's self caloric, sugar-added, highly-processed foods for the purpose of weight loss or gain?"
Unfortunately, that blood-urinating contest understood this definition of diet to be the only way to essentially cut himself in half.
But I think the show really does demonstrate the fidelity of diet by its original definition: habitual nourishment. The contests on the show, from what I have seen, are coached and guided to make good decisions for nourishing their bodies -- the defining reason for eating.
Food is not a means to an end. Food is the means to regular, healthy, everyday life.
I find that when I discuss my "diet," people tend to speculate that I have some goal and that I will eventually "return to normal" after so many months. And maybe that's because my diet consists of natural, unprocessed foods: meat, fish, nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables. But I can testify that nature has produced some of the tastiest, most satisfying, nutritious food on the planet. But ultimately, I eat this way to feed a healthy, happy, active lifestyle.
So I disagree (or agree with your final sentiment) -- diets DO work...when you understand it and prescribe to it by its truest meaning: the fuel for life.
Not Blaming the Patriarchy
By: Benedictine2000 | Fri, 11/27/2009 - 11:40
When appearing on the Today show, Hutton blamed gay writers for stereotyping single women as sluts on Sex & the City.
Hutton said, "It's written by guys, who happen to be gay, who are sluts. That's what I think. Let's face it most men are sluts. ...... You have a bunch of guys who are sluts, writing for women and telling them they are supposed to act like this."
It's the same in the fashion industry- which, face it, is run mostly by gay males. (been there) Are voluptuous woman like Monroe or Loren appealing to them? No Way. What is being promoting is the least womanly figure that can be attained- and that is only accomplished by nearing the starvation stage- where breasts & butt & curves disappear almost entirely.
It's shameful that our entire population is now judging feminine appeal by standards set by a mostly gay industry- and that women have bought into it.
poor journalism
By: yossarian | Thu, 11/26/2009 - 16:23
"Looking on the Internet" is how you do your research? The contestants are on the ranch for 15-16 weeks, then the finalists spend another few months at home before the finale. If you ever watched the show you would know this.
Some of the contestants go overboard, and the ones who do, it seems, don't keep the weight off. But many have, and some are even doing things like the Ironman - truly inspiring.
Also, is a 10-pound weight loss in one week really that shocking for somebody who weighs 300+ pounds and who has probably cut their calorie consumption in half, if not more?
I've never agreed with the
By: buggie | Wed, 11/25/2009 - 20:37
I've never agreed with the premise of this show. If the show were just about getting fit and healthy, they would judge the people by races or how much weight they lift or their cholesterol levels or something, not by the scale. I've never really watched it, and I'm shocked to hear how much weight these people lose in such a short period of time. For most people, especially women, it takes a bit of momentum to start losing weight. It can takes of changed behavior before real pounds start dropping off. "Dieting" in most senses of the word is just all about money. People know which foods are healthy and which aren't, they know that exercise is good for you. They don't need to pay people money to tell them what to eat or send them food. Dieting also ignores the physiology of weight gain and loss. Years ago I saw that show Celebrity Fit Club, which I assume was sort of modeled after the Biggest Loser. This one contestant had gained 2 or 3 lbs between weigh-ins or something. As the judges berated her and accused her of cheating, she broke down and said she had eaten a Snickers bar. She said she had her period, and needed her Snickers fix. These people were 1) outraged over 2-3 lbs 2) actually blamed *one Snickers bar* for it and 3) never thought to mention that it wasn't the Snickers bar, but the fact that she had her period in the first place!
Up is down, reports Marcotte
By: pampl | Wed, 11/25/2009 - 20:06
She summarizes a report in the NEJM with her hyperlink text, "diets don't work". Now let's see how the authors summarize it:
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/360/9/859
"Conclusions Reduced-calorie diets result in clinically meaningful weight loss regardless of which macronutrients they emphasize. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00072995 [ClinicalTrials.gov] .)"
Hmm.
Good to know I am not the
By: ubergoober | Wed, 11/25/2009 - 18:34
Good to know I am not the only one in shock and awe when the contestants lose the equivalent of a person during what amounts to summer camp. My measly one pound loss a week compared to 5-14 pounds seems like an exercise in futility and makes me want to eat my weight in ice cream. I thought the Life Time show DietTribe emphasized much more realistic goals: 50 pounds in four months or 35 pounds for a smaller contestant. Plus, the man candy on the show was quite a treat.
I did, though
By: Amanda Marcotte | Wed, 11/25/2009 - 11:59
You just didn't pick up on it. ;)
Nice analysis
By: wackyjer | Wed, 11/25/2009 - 11:46
I like your thinking on this. It's also heartening to see you discuss this without blaming the patriarchy ;-)