Above is a before and after photo of this year’s Biggest Loser winner, Rachel Frederickson, 24, who went from a size 20 to a size 0/2 in this latest season. Frederickson lost 155 pounds, a total of almost 60% of her body weight! The difference is striking, and many people are questioning whether Frederickson has gone too far. She looks too thin and emaciated to some. US Weekly has some quotes from Frederickson, and she’s not concerned and sounds very proud and pleased of her accomplishment, as she should be:
Us Weekly spoke to the happy victor in a conference call where she revealed her reaction to Tuesday night’s win.
“Oh gosh, I just see a strong, confident woman, and I feel great,” the 24-year-old gushed. “I’ve never felt this great, and it’s very exciting!”
At 5’5″, Frederickson revealed that after starting the show at 260 pounds, her current weight of 105 pounds was her goal.
“Now I’m really at maintenance mode, so now it’s gonna be about doing a yoga class this day, a spin class this day, and I think I’m going to try dance classes because I don’t have a lot of rhythm, but I think it’d be fun to just add totally new things in!” she confessed.
After more than seven months of hard work, exercise, and eating right, Frederickson has not let the critics get to her.
“I’ve never felt this great before,” she continued. “I’ve officially found that proud, confident girl that I’ve lost! I was an athletic, national level swimmer, and to have that athlete come back again is a truly, amazing feeling. I’m going to embrace the new me and continue this journey and my body is going to balance and find this rhythm with this new maintenance and it will be perfect.”
Frederickson does look incredibly tiny to me now, but it seems as rude to point that out as it would be to say that she was larger before. She won Biggest Loser, so of course people are going to notice how she looks. It’s her body and if she feels good that’s what matters. Plus she’s probably just going overboard now because it’s right ahead of the media blitz and she wants to look her best. Sure she could definitely gain some weight back and hopefully she will. I just hope that if she does gain a little weight, she doesn’t see it as any kind of failure.
E! Online has more on Frederickson’s conference call, and she says she eats 1,600 calories a day. She also didn’t directly address questions as to whether she’s too skinny now, and kind of talked around it.
Here’s the Biggest Loser finale:
Photos are screenshots and NBC handouts via US Weekly, NYDailyNews, YouTube
a little but who cares – its HER body
She appears much healthier. Question: did she have surgery to remove all of that extra skin?
I can’t believe, even as young as 23, that her body could reabsorb all of that extra skin.
I wondered about the extra skin too. Losing that much that fast means she had to have lots of saggy, loose skin.
Springforward
The winners of Biggest Loser do get skin removal procedures. It’s a perk of winning.
Well, she’s 23 and looks 40, so the skin is there, it’s making her look old. And from what I understand she wasn’t very fat for very long. It happened quickly so it wasn’t stretched for very long. I think you can bounce back faster when it hasn’t been stretched out for years and years.
I wouldn’t fault her for having surgery (her body), but I was curious, too, because wouldn’t they make her wait until after the show was over? I’m sure it’s against the rules of the game to have any medical interventions that would directly influence your weight loss.
FLORC, Falula,
They are reportedly not allowed to have that surgery until after the finale, and many people decline. I actually don’t think it’s built into the prize anymore.
Instead of the before and after-This is what she looked like when she left the ranch (and won a triathalon)
http://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/218/932/6/S2189326/slug/l/465927513-1.jpg
Compared to this.
http://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/218/931/5/S2189315/slug/l/466879361-1.jpg
Frankly, the real issue isn’t thin/to thin. But the fact is that she lost a ton of muscle mass in her legs and arms compared to her time on the ranch. On the ranch she was a athlete. Now she’s a waif. Which is a problem with how the show is set up. There was no way she was going to beat a 400+ lb guy unless she sacrificed muscle mass and muscle tone. She was at 130 when she left the ranch, and looked healthy and fine. If she wanted to lose muscle in order to win 250K that’s on her-but that’s not something you can gain back easily.
I had no Idea she was so young. The weight loss has really aged her. I honestly thought she was late 30s-early 40s. I hope she gains a little back. I think it might help the extreme aging.
To what L says. I totally agree with you. The show is totally unfair to women. To compare weight lose between the men and women is wrong and puts women at a natural disadvantages on the show. I think she know this and lost muscle to win the show.
What L said. No matter what people think at first glance, it is quite obvious she lost a lot of muscle from her arms while at home because she was competing against men who started out huge. To me, this should be a discussion about the show and why it is unfair to about half the contestants, mostly women. BMI is fallible, but body fat is not. Why not start with all people of a particular percentage of body fat?
Not always. If an individual is getting enough of the right nutrients during weight loss and they are patient and give their skin a chance to catch up, IT WILL. Unfortunately, many people are too impatient to give the time for the skin to retract and then they propel the myth that the skin stretch is irreversible.
I had gastric bypass surgury 2 years ago and have lost 165 lbs, starting weight 320 lbs. I barely have any loose skin (I’m 48 yrs). I was told by my surgeon it is a combination of age, genetics and exercise and the skin will even continue to tighten over the years, the skin takes longer to catch up. However there are some people in my support group that have lost less weight than me and have huge skin flaps that are causing them issues. You can’t generalize; as with everything, everyone is different.
I agree, L, and also with the others that have posted how unfair this set up is to women. The two photos really drives the unfairness of this contest home. At 130, she looked amazing and really healthy. Now, she looks skeletal. While her legs look pretty good, her arms and her face look anorexic. I really am not trying to body shame her–she should be really proud of her accomplishment overall, and I think she will probably eventually add a few pounds back. I’m sorry she had to go there to win, but that’s the system. Bob’s face at the “reveal” pretty much said it all.
Also, I have lost a lot of weight before (more than 70 pounds) and am losing it again (25 pounds in) and I have never had issues with lose skin, and I’m in my late 30’s. It’s mostly genetics, but exercising regularly and getting enough fat in your diet do help. It seems like the folks who take the really low fat dieting route wind up more shriveled and hangdog.
I lost 70lbs from juicing and eating more raw foods. My skin tightened while I was losing the weight. I’m 52 years old and had no problem with loose skin.
Nerd alert.
Thanks… i must be thinking of another weight loss show. But what happened to her? She’s clearly had some tucking.
No problem!
I think she actually just lost her muscle tone in the arms, and is lucky re: excess skin. Another little known fact: the outfits they put women in toward the end (and the one shown here on Rachel) are actually colored/decorated Spanx.
I wonder if the rule is still in place. People who *do* have the surgery have the advantage of losing up to another 15 pounds in skin, that seems unfair to the people who can;t afford it or whose insurance won’t cover it.
Agreed that it’s her body and I would never want to thin shame her. But also, remember when Jennifer Hudson lost all of her weight? I think women tend to look a little like bobble heads at first, once they meet their goal ( myself included when I once lost 30lbs) but it all evens out in the end and things move back into their correct proportions.
I also believe that weightloss is a journey and we shouldn’t be quite so judgy because she’s at a particular stage.
Weight loss is a journey. I think this is the most applicable statement here. Weight generally doesn’t stay the same. Her face looks painfully thin to me and that’s what has aged her so much.
I have a problem with the show anyway and I was giving it the side-eye before reading a bunch of things I didn’t like about it. People are encouraged unhealthy behavior in order to lose as much as possible. Cheating would include not eating or over-exercising and I wouldn’t put it past anyone to do these things. Reportedly, that’s exactly what goes on. I’d provide a cite but don’t have time to find a link. Should be easy enough to find though.
This show reminds me too much of another show, “The Swan”, where a bunch of surgeons did a TON of procedures on women to make them “look beautiful”, and it was just sooo wrong. Both shows encourage unhealthy things.
I lost 90lbs on WW and I had a tummy tuck that was the only place I had saggy skin. Granted I never got as small as her.
I think she will put on a few pounds after the show.
90 pounds on Weight Watchers! That is something to crow about. Congratulations!
yes but this is allegedly a show about people losing weight to get healthy. she now has a BMI of 17.5 which is below the lower level of what is considered to be a healthy norm and if that was a target goal as she claims, someone from the show screwed up in assessing her and helping her reach that goal. Also a 1,600 cal/day meal plan, especially when coupled with intense exercise/fitness plan is not a healthy “weight maintenance” diet
To me, the BMI method is complete bogus. I register as a 16.5 on the scale and while I am indeed thin, you can’t see my ribs and I’m not slicing anyone with my collarbone. I even have a pot belly. Granted, I don’t exercise at all, so I eat only as much as I need; but that’s still three meals a day with some snacks in between. And while the plural of data is not anecdote, it shows that the BMI system is at best skewed and at worst complete bullsh-t.
Absolute rubbish. She’s 24, there’s nothing wrong with being the size she is now. She got hollywood-level thin, which women are pressured to achieve daily. She looks right well pleased and proud. I would be too.
Others who are squawking about “too thin” are imposing their own ideals/ or are jealous.
Ya know, because it’s ok to lose weight, but you can’t have an ounce of vanity. No, no.
Err… you do realise she put herself on national TV specifically for the purpose of being judged for her body size, right?
You can be sitting at home healthy and happy with your own body and still think she might have overdone the diet a bit. But, no everyone’s just jealous…
Whenever I see a post that starts with “Err” or “Um” I know snark will follow.
That lady didn’t “put herself on national TV specifically for the purpose of being judged for her body size, right?” She put herself on TV to get motivated by nationally known trainers to lose weight, and to possibly win money. Which she did.
Her body is not our business.
There are a lot of ways to be motivated to finally lose weight without doing it on national tv. To say commenting on the amount of weight she lost is wrong doesn’t make any sense. We are encouraged to praise them, right? How can expressing concern over excessive weight be wrong then? Her body is underweight in the above photo. It’s pretty obvious. If you want to do that in the privacy of your own home, then yes, no one really has the right to say anything. But if you are going to do it on national tv where you want people to watch you, then you should accept that commentary by strangers is part and parcel of the deal. I think when you start losing, it can be difficult to know when enough is enough and this show doesn’t help with that at all. I hope in time she will find a happy balance.
And you can’t want to win the money! If winning $250,000 meant pushing myself into “too thin” for a couple weeks, I would do it. This was a competition after all. And she won!
Tessa – I was thinking the same thing. I think she went overboard and lost too much just to be sure she would win. Actors do this all the time for movie roles with big paychecks and she approached this the same way.
However – this show is often watched by people with hopes for a *healthy* change. And losing that additional 45 pounds in 30 days is too much WAY too fast. That’s more than a pound a day! This is why she looks so aged – the skin on her face has had no time to retract. It will eventually though. At a glance, she does seem to be retaining muscle – so whatever she is doing, she isn’t wasting (yet). I think she’ll gain a few now that the show is done.
Well said. There is a HUGE discrepancy between what is told to viewers and what gets drilled into contestants. I think they were actually given 3.5 months at home this time, though.
Agree–good for her because she looks great. I was so proud of myself for losing 25 lbs through diet and exercise and transforming my body so I can imagine just how good she feels about herself. I’m sorry that people go berserk when its pointed out that someone is overweight, but feel free to criticize those who lose weight.
I do think she looks too thin and anorectic. “Hollywood thin” is too thin.
Yeah, I think she looks good. She is what normal weight would be for many (genetically inclined, of course) folks who eat a whole food diet and exercise regularly. She has muscles in her arms and legs! Wouldn’t be terrible to gain a few pounds but I don’t think she should aim for that. It may happen naturally at some point (e.g., when she eats more around holidays or social occasions).
I don’t think it’s the fact that she lost the weight in general or how much weight she actually lost…I think the issue here is HOW she lost it and HOW FAST. None of which are healthy. I don’t think anyone here would begrudge her if she lost all that weight she lost within a year and a half. Let’s get real. She lost 150 LBS in FIVE MONTHS. That’s not healthy in any way, shape or form. 105-108 is Hollywood weight. We’re used to that. The problem is she not only lost weight but she lost muscle tone. And her skin, although there is none hanging off her body, hasn’t had time to “catch up” to the weight loss which is why her face looks so old. The skin on our faces stretches and contracts too when we gain or lose weight. She can hide the rest with her clothing but the difference in her face give away the fact that the weight-loss happened at an unhealthy SPEED.
The worse part is, is that she most likely WILL gain the weight back. She will most likely gain more than what she started with. Weight-loss isn’t about dieting until you get to your desired size, it’s about lifestyle changes. PERMANENT LIFESTYLE CHANGES. It takes time to change your life. Five months doesn’t do much. I’ve mentioned my neighbor here before. She was on TBL and lost a whole bunch of weight and yes she gained it back all within a year. Whereas a former classmate of mine had a lap-band surgery, changed her lifestyle and eating habits, and slowly but surely lost the weight (no “older woman” face syndrome either) and several years later still looks as good as she did in HS.
Agreed. More power to people who can fight a winning battle against weight and body image issues. I don’t have any shame for her, but I am with critics who say that the issue is the health problems that come along with losing it too fast. This is a drastic amount to lose in quite a short period of time.
She probably will gain a little back now. She was competing for $250,000 and wanted to win.
I agree, I’ve watched the show a lot over the years and some contestants take competitiveness to another level, she seems that way to me. I hope she can maintain a healthy lifestyle from now on.
She wanted to win, and winning (especially against two larger men who had more weight to lose) means getting to absolutely the lowest weight possible. For 250k, she did what she had to do. In the end TBL is a contest with a cash prize, and all the potential health benefits aside, if you want to win the money, you play the game.
If you want to be really nitpicky yes, you could say that her BMI is below the minimum by a whole 5 pounds or so. Big freaking deal. She was on a reality show where the goal was to lose weight and now people are losing their minds because she lost weight? Give her a break.
I’m 5’7” and at my skinniest was 118lbs and yes, I was too thin…but thankfully I didn’t have people concern-trolling me. I gained 6-7 lbs and am fine. If she is comfortable in her skin now and is happy, let her have that.
She looks fine to me. I’m not seeing the underweight thing. I think it’s the fact that she’s got Angelina arms that are throwing people off and judging her whole body as being too thin.
@claire: you called it I couldn’t figure out why I thought her too thin. Her legs look healthy. But yes, her head and arms seem tiny in comparison and it’s throwing me off. I read on a different site that she lost the last 45 or so pounds in the final 3 months
I think you’re right – she looks really good but I did think wow, skinny arms! I guess that’s just her build though.
I’d imagine now that she’s not competing she’ll put a couple lbs back on, and then maintain, hopefully. That’s a pretty amazing transformation.
I think her face was a shock because the skin has yet to snap back and the 45 lbs in a month thing really aged her. It looks like she’s eating clean so that her body is burning through her fat like crazy. It will snap back. She’s only 23 so that’s just going to happen.
It’s not just the Jolie arms, it’s the face as well and the whole lollipop look. I agree that her legs look healthy.
She and I are the same height and I look sickly thin at 114 lbs, in high school I stayed between 115 and 118 which is fine when you’re 14-16 years old, but even then I was told I was too thin.
This, the lollipop effect. The shot most people were alarmed by was the profile view, where her head was about as wide as her chest.
ITA.
She lost 150 lbs = yea, you’re a winner!!!
She lost 155 lbs = boo, you’re way too thin!!!
Not exactly. It was:
She lost 130 lbs = yea, you’re a winner!!!
She lost 155 lbs = boo, you’re way too thin!!!
NOW do you see the difference?
Wow, good for her.
+ 1, she’s fine.
Yes, she looks healthy and fit to me, not skeletal or anything. And I love her attitude, wanting to try new fitness routines for fun, which is the way to make it stick for a lifetime.
As long as she’s happy. For my own taste, I think she’s a little thin now. But her goal was to win the competition, so she might’ve intentionally lost more weight for that reason. Didn’t one person lose over just a couple of pounds once? I don’t watch the show anymore and can’t remember.
No thinner than most movie stars. I think it’s partly the shape of her face that makes her look so gaunt and the big reveal was so extremely different from her last time on tv. I hope she continues to live a healthy life and feel well.
If she feels happy at that weight, then she’s fine.
Also, I thought she was 40 years old. I’m 22 and I look like her daughter.
I thin that’s from her face/tan, not her body tho
She did what she needed to do to win and I can’t fault her for that. If anyone should be embarrassed/blamed/shamed, it’s the show, not her. She got her prize money and can now adjust to not being in a competitive weight loss setting.
I agree. I think people should be talking about the show, not concern-trolling Rachel. She’s a natural competitor and she really wanted to win. They put her up against big giant (tall) men who started out at 450 lbs, what else was she supposed to do, you know?
YES, the show is at fault. I honestly wonder how many people have developed eating disorders because of the very, very short time frame involved.
Eating disorders are so common here, in the Los Angeles area. When I was in my 20s, if my weight started creeping up past 120, I would start in with the bulimia & my older sis did the same. I am 5’8″. You see it everywhere here, in restaurants and clubs, women dashing into the bathroom to huck up whatever they just ate. Its really pathetic, I’m so happy I’m beyond that nonsense now.
Oh no, really? That is so sad.
Agreed. And I really really hope she is able to adjust and not have any unhealthy psychological effects from the show (like develop an eating disorder, etc).
I could not disagree more. Obesity is an epidemic in this country and TBL promotes exercise and healthy eating. I agree that radical weight loss can be dangerous but the show has a team of medical professionals caring for and assessing the competitors. There are many success stories related to the show that have nothing to do with prize money and the show has had a positive influence on a number of lives. There are very few shows on television that promote a healthy lifestyle and you misjudge this show if you think it is strictly about competitive weight loss.
She has fab legs! I’ve never seen the show but it’s unbelieveable how different she looks.
I’m sure she’s going to gain weight now. You gotta do what you gotta do to get that money. Hell, I’d do it too. I’d take EVERY drug to keep my weight down. I wonder if they do drug tests before the weigh ins..
“Eating right”? Who are they kidding? Her metabolism is now completely out of whack and will stay in starvation mode for at least a year.
Welll… it kinda depends. I get the impression that she was eating low fat/carbs/no sugar, etc throughout while staying active and maintaining a healthy caloric intake by eating all the lean and clean things. This is a perfect recipe for any body to prevent muscle wasting and starvation mode.
BUT – it’s pretty obvious that she dropped her caloric intake dramatically in the last month to insure a win. Will it screw her metabolism up for a year? Not unless she has some disorder. Was it good for her? Hell no. I’m hoping, for her sake, that she started eating the right amounts again as soon as the show ended and she got her check.
She talked about eating 1500-1600 calories a day, walking on the treadmill for about 8+ hours while at work, and taking 3-4 exercise classes a day on the news shows this morning.
That’s not healthy. That’s giving yourself a eating/excercise disorder in order to win a reality tv show. Which again-is her decision, but it needs to get called out (esp in terms of the show and her trainer)
Treadmill for 8-plus hours? How does anybody do that? holy cow. That’s a lot of money though.
Agree!
Holy cow! 3-4 exercise classes a day?! AND working a normal 8 hour job? How the heck does she have time to do that? And what does she mean exercise class? A little aerobics in the morning, beginners spin class at lunch and then relaxation yoga at night? Maybe? I don’t really think it’s a big deal doing the treadmill at work on and off all day though if she took breaks. I’m thinking the average postal worker/delivery person does the same thing. I’m guessing she’s got a standing treadmill desk?
Either way – overkill for the long-term. No way can she maintain that. If she’s trying to then her first injury is around the corner and it’ll all fall down like a wobbly house of cards. I’m still hoping that she just did it to win and she’ll slow down and balance out to a more manageable place. :/
The quick weight loss aged her a lot. I assumed she was in her 40s in the after picture. Not 23.
But her weight is her business, she probably was eating 1600 but going to the gym 4 hours a day, netting much lower calories per day. People will do extreme things to ensure they win that kind of money.
Quote “L says:
February 6, 2014 at 10:44 am
She talked about eating 1500-1600 calories a day, walking on the treadmill for about 8+ hours while at work, and taking 3-4 exercise classes a day on the news shows this morning. ” / unquote
So she was exercising for at least 10 hours a day! Unreal…
I agree about the weight loss aging her. I thought she was in her 40’s. I’ve never watched the show so I have no clue about how the weigh-ins work and the time frames, but I’d guess, judging by the gauntness of her face, that she starved herself before the final weigh-in. She won so I guess, congrats? But I just don’t get a show where you compete for weight loss because that’s a dumb thing to put in competition form. It seems to be a recipe for a possible disaster.
There will never be a ‘Goldilocks weight’, especially for women, when their bodies are meant to exist purely for public comment and concern trolling. They’ll always be too fat (‘It’s just that you’ll be so much healthier if you lost a few pounds!’) or too thin (‘A bit of weight would fill you out nicely!’)
It’s a culture that worships thinness and when you get thin (by any means necessary), you’re too thin. And when you’re too thin, the culture of body shaming feels uncomfortable at the toll it is taking on people’s bodies so you have to be just the ‘right’ kind of thin.
Point is, you can’t win. The system is rigged against you.
THIS.
Well put.
Exactly!!!!
Precisely. Well said.
+1000
This. This poor girl… the whiplash she is probably feeling right now. Went on the Biggest Loser to lose weight because of excess weight that I’m sure came complete with all sorts of body image issues around the shame and guilt you feel for being heavy. Society tells her she’s fat, so she loses the weight, now we tell her she’s too skinny and should gain some back.
I question the Biggest Loser, and that other show Extreme Weight Loss, since pretty much everything on TV is sensationalized. I’ve read a few articles written by previous contestants that shed some light on the lengths they go to to lose the weight, and it’s definitely not (from their experience) the healthy, balanced lifestyle audiences are led to believe. But how can we fault this girl for taking it “too far,” if she even did? She had an entire country praising her for losing weight, not knowing what was going on behind the scenes. I have to think if I was getting praise and adoration for losing weight from thousands of people, I might be tempted to take it to an extreme level, too. But now the adoration has turned into more body-shaming. There is no winning for her (or for any of us.)
My personal thought is that it would be very difficult to get down to 105lbs eating 1600 calories a day and exercising, but that’s just my own personal opinion. I feel for this girl, because whether she did or did not use unhealthy methods to achieve her goal, the psychological aftermath of what she’s experiencing is going to take a toll.
Actually I think it’s more of a society that worships people with signs of self control in a culture of fast food, button clicking, instant messaging, happy-pill popping… etc. We are a generation of excess and those who seem to successfully resist the temptation of instant gratification are the subjects of interest. We all want to know how they did it? Society doesn’t even understand discipline anymore. Most of the time people assume that results are based on something instant – Was it surgery? Was it pills? Did they cheat? Because no way did they choose activity over lethargy or broccoli over ice cream. Not in this culture of give it to me now because I’m entitled to it.
Damn insightful! Welcome to the New Hedonism.
Well said!
what is concern trolling?
It’s when other people don’t agree with you and need an excuse to invalidate your personal opinion. The Thought Police.
I worded that wrong – it’s a term used to describe a differing opinion. Trolls are people who intentionally try to upset other people, but accusing commenters of being concern trolls when, for example, they can’t understand why you would think the lady is too thin to be healthy, is uncalled for. Just an example. No reflection on the original post, just an edification.
to answer what seemed like a sincere question: concern trolling is using the possible crisis faced by a celebrity as an excuse to vent one’s own personal beliefs, gain attention for one’s pet causes, or pass judgment on difference.
So, for example, many people found Sinead O’Connor’s open letter to Miley Cyrus to be concern trolling, as the two women are not acquainted and O’Connor could have reached out to Cyrus privately if she were genuinely interested in reaching her (in particular) with her message of self-acceptance and not being manipulated by music industry money motives. Many saw her public letter-writing to be an act of grandstanding.
Similarly. some contend that comments about the Biggest Loser winner’s level of weight loss are really opportunities for their writers to air their own agendas about how weigh should be managed, and what constitutes healthy lifestyle.
I think the reactions of the experts on the show say it all. Look at Gillian Michaels. This kind of pressure on a body is not good. You cannot lose 60% of your body weight in a few months and be fine. It has to be gradual. I’ve read that it’s bad for your heart, your pressure, etc. This is why eating disorders, especially bulimia, are so dangerous. Because you lose weight very fast and your heart is affected by it. And if you’ve ever followed the show, a lot of contestants have developed eating disorders because of the show or gain back all the weight a few months later, and fall into a deep depression because of it. This show doesn’t help people. It’s a reality tv show. And they’re playing with the health and emotional state of their contestants. It’s shows like this why the Hunger Games books were written. Because we’re starting to reach a place where it’s ok to exploit people in the worst ways possible. What’s next then? Watching live executions?
You can say that it is her body, that we shouldn’t concern troll or body shame. To me, this show makes me uneasy because it adds a morbid factor to the idea of losing weight and it’s kind of perverted in the way we’re supposed to watch these poor contestants torture themselves to win all this money. Think about it. It’s not ok. Look at Gillian’s face. She trains people. She’s an expert. And she’s freaked out.
Didn’t Jillian feed her contestants diet pills? So expert or not, she’s not above exploiting her own contestants either. People are acting freaked out, well where the hell was the concern when the show started 15 seasons ago?!? I think you’re being a bit extreme in your comparisons.
Agreed. Too extreme. It’s not the Hunger Games. No one is forcing them to compete. No one is making them do anything in fact. It’s all optional. And THAT is quite the opposite of oppression. It’s freedom. She made her own decision about how to win the game, and it worked. It’s her body, and it was her choice. She could have quit at any time.
If anything, I think the show shows the average viewer at home that exercise and diet is the way to lose weight. A little sweat and a lot of self control. People see others that are a lot worse off than they are make big changes, and they are motivated to do the same. I think it benefits our society in a weird way. It’s motivational.
She gave them caffeine pills because she said they didn’t need the added calories of half&half, but I don’t think it really happened. The week that she supposedly cheated was when Ruben Studdard got kicked off, and as a result they brought him back on the show. Ruben got the most air time by far because he is famous, followed by the olympian, until they were both eliminated. It was quite obvious watching the show that the producers favored the two of them and saved them each in a couple of ways. The fake cheating was the most glaring example, though.
I was looking at the trainer reaction shots too and then someone commented the reminder that, like so much on these shows, it was pretty much staged. These trainers see their contestants before the big reveal so unless she was wearing a giant fuzzy coat or something when they saw her then they knew what she looked like before hand.
They are allowed to see their OWN contestants, not the ones other trainers coached. The faces in the pics were the two that were not her trainers.
Ahh – I didn’t know that. I thought that everyone had seen everyone and knew before taping. Hmm… Either way it was effective television. 🙂
The final was live, those were the trainers actual reactions to her. They had not seen her in like 3 months of something.
Her trainer was Dolvett so I’d love to see his reaction.
I missed this season. It thrills me more than I can express that the winner was not Bob or Jillian’s!
Don’t most people on that show end up gaining back some of the weight? I’ve never seen it but I recall that there was some magazine article about it. The whole concept of losing so much so quickly seems bound for failure.
Yes. They do. My neighbor was on TBL. Sometimes they gain back more than what they lost.
I was shocked by her appearance. She looked weak and wobbly–kind of shaky. I don’t mean the point where she tripped while walking up the steps to get weighed, anyone can stumble a little randomly. I mean the whole time she was on stage.
I don’t fault her in any way. That is the nature of this show, and I admire her determination to win at all costs. Heck, that’s a quarter million dollars–get it girl!! But I hope no one will get fooled into thinking this is “healthy”.
I thought she looked weak too. When they are on the ranch the trainers have them lifting a lot but I’m thinking when she left she stopped all of that and just did cardio. Her face up close (there is a picture on the BL website) is what shocked me. I’ve never seen wrinkles like that on a girl so young. I think for her body frame she is a bit too thin and I hope she gains a bit back. hopefully this attention doesn’t cause her to become more obsessed with her size and losing more.
I missed this season, but I’ve seen most of them. I’m always concerned finale night that someone’s going to pass out from starving or dehydrating that day. I wish they would weigh them off camera that morning, feed them, then film the show using that morning’s weight. They just look so shell shocked during the finale and I bet most of them restrict calories and water that day.
7 months of working out and dieting to get rid of the physical weight it one thing. How does that person adjust their mind to their new body? There are people who were fat- then they lose weight, and they will still perceive themselves as being fat.
About this lady, I think she lost way too much weight for that period of time, but that’s just my opinion. I do base my opinion on doctors’ advice, and the recommendation is 2 to 4 pounds per week. Now the Big loser it’s a tv show, it’s entertainment, after all. And I don’t watch it – I don’t like this kind of reality shows, I always wonder what the motivation of the producers is and what is happening backstage so to say.
And there was this other big loser winner from Oz, she lost the weight, and then she got fat (obese) again. I think?
^^+1000!
Unless you have gained and lost a substantial amount of weight, it is hard to understand the psychological ramifications that come with physical transformation. Being fat your whole life, and then in a few months, losing 60% of your body weight. You feel like a different person. You question your identity, because much of our identity is wrapped up in our appearance. It is so, so important to take it slow… not just for physiological reasons, but to allow your mind to keep up with your body. I worry about what she’s thinking/feeling/experiencing on an emotional level moreso than the drastic weight loss, because I think it will probably be very difficult for her to remain at this low point.
It should be noted that she was NOT fat all her life. In HS, 6 years ago, she was a state champion swimmer and actually gained all that weight in a period of 3.5 years, she said. She’s only 24, and they do have pictures of her from HS to prove that. It is suggested that this is why she could lose so much so easily, her “default” weight is actually an athletic one.
So, I’ve lost 65 lbs the long, hard way. I still look at myself in the mirror and see a body I hate, without much change, although people who haven’t seen me in a while freak out. I have another 35 lbs to go,with the end result being a loss of 40% of my total body weight. I’m 5’8, and my target goal with my nutrionist is 150. I’m also running and putting on muscle, so the end shape is going to be a lot different than 2 years ago (my goals for 2014 include losing the final 35 lbs, running a 10k and participating in a mudder). I don’t know how I will adjust, or if I will ever break the hate your body cycle, no matter that my body can do some things it has never been able to do, even at my thinnest. (Running miles? what? Who knew I could do that without dying?)
I’ve written here before about disordered eating, and how your body perception and control can really get fked up. [ETA-we’re being edited now? Because I certainly didn’t censor myself.] Food becomes currency instead of fuel. I don’t know what the answer is, but I hope it is that eventually you can retrain your brain to focus on all the strengths and good things about your body instead of just seeing a fat person. For now, I have to force my eye to look at the definition in my calves, or how strong my thighs look, or how much my arms have changed. Otherwise, I will just find the flaws. I’ll probably be posting on CB in 2015-maybe I’ll have a better answer then.
It’s awesome that you are able to enjoy more things in life! Man I suck at running – My form is just lousy… think Phoebe on Friends. I’d probably blow out every joint if I tried flailing my way through a marathon. Hah!
But I’ve always felt that the body should be a vehicle to experience life in ALL its awesomeness – not just the joys of soul food and sedentary comforts. But for a lot of people who’ve always been stuck in the obesity rut it’s kind of like the allegory of the cave where the people born in it who’ve never left have a very limited perspective on what is outside and what’s even possible for them out there.
I hope you grow to love your body. The more you bond with it, the better your relationship with it, the more joy it will bring.
This is off-topic, but I really enjoyed looking at your photography, mytbean. You are talented with a camera. Better than my friend, who is also very good and did my head shots.
Nerd Alert – Thank you very much! I’ll never turn down a compliment. 🙂 Your writing seems like a worthy indulgence too – I need to really give it more of a read but I was hooked at “golden molar.”
You are awesome, PrettyTarheelFan.
I think her arms look a little twiggy, but other than that, she doesn’t look emaciated to me. She could gain 10-15 pounds to soften up her face, but other than that–she looks good.
She does look aged, but she’s got a little loose skin on her face, I’m sure. I think the same thing happened to Jennifer Hudson after her big weight loss. She’s muscular though, which is good. I love her legs. She’ll probably gain a bit of weight back when she settles into a normal lifestyle. I think she looks great, and hope she’s able to maintain a healthy weight and continue to feel good about herself.
IIRC, Jennifer’s face softened up later too. That’ll probably happen to this woman as well. She does look so much older in the face but this was a drastic thing to her body. It’ll likely even out with time.
Yes it’s her body and she looks good, but that isn’t the point. Without nit picking her BMI she looks like she starves herself. I’m not saying she does, just looks like it. You would think she had more muscle from carrying all that weight and 7 months of cardio and weight training with a protein rich diet.
Her weight loss looks cardio obsessed and from her various interviews and quotes so far on top of the publicity tour she’ll do. And It wouldn’t surprise me if she gained weight and saw it as a failure or she lost even more weight and developes an ED.
And this seems unoptainable for the average Bigget Loser watcher or contestant. That could lead to frustrations and developing and ED out of it.
And to the most popular argument in her favor…. She’s no smaller than a starlet. Most of them aren’t very healthy looking.
Yeah, she was obese before and needed to lose weight, but does anyone else think that her face actually looked better when she was chunky as opposed to how it looks now as a super thin woman? There is something to be said about that because it looks like she needed to lose the weight, kinda went overboard for this horrible show, and now needs to learn to find a balance between emaciated and obese. Right now she is underweight and that is also unhealthy. Hopefully once she is off this show, she will find a middle ground that will allow her to eat healthy and exercise but not become too obsessed with being super thin as she is now. I’ve never watched this show. It looks like it encourages rapid weight loss, which is also unhealthy, rather than teaching these contestants to learn long term healthy habits. I’ve read that some contestants have developed eating disorders or have gained the weight back after leaving the show.
I do think her face looked better before. She looks so much older now. Not like a 24 yo.
I thought the faces of Bob and Jillian were very telling. The picture of their reaction is in a tweet within the story.
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4731410?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009&fb_source=timeline&ref=profile
I thought so too. Those were alarmed faces right there.
That says it all, really doesn’t it? Jillian should be worried right about now about backlash.
Jillian wasn’t her trainer. The other guy not pictured there was.
Jillian stakes her reputation on this show though. The look on her face and the o my god she mouthed when she saw the winner said it all.
i think the 1600 calories thing is a joke/sounds good to the public. i think she has been skipping more than a few meals on some extreme calorie restriction and for 250K and to reach a very public goal it’s no big deal.. i’d probably do the same thing
I think she’s lying about the calories, but if she stays on a treadmill all damn day long like it’s a job, then yeah 1600 calories is not even enough for that I wouldn’t think. Also, who in hell would even do that? Got no life?
It’s not that she’s too thin, it’s the way she achieved it that’s worrisome and it shows. I would never put my body under so much stress for money. After all, when something bad happens you realise money is just not worth it. I would also never promote this to other people by justifying it through the cash prize at the end. Like, health IS more important. Most people lose this amoung of weight gradually over years, why in the world would anybody want to starve and over-exercise (this is the reality after all) to get some money and ‘finally’ be thin (again)?
Anybody that goes on this show, for starters.
Too fat. Too thin. I would love to meet the “people” in this world who are the “Weight Police” and ask them exactly “What makes you people happy?”. So tired of the constant complaining about people’s weight.
If this chick is hsppy, who cares if she is “too thin”. This country and people from other countries shame American’s obsessively over weight yet when people lose it or a woman is deemed “too thin” then the shaming is reversed.
I was out a few weeks ago trying those much ballyhooed “Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburgers” at Wendy’s (yeah, I am a little behind on trends). While my friend and I are eating this complete stranger approaches our table and says to me ” You could certainly eat that and about 4 more” and giggled like a mad woman. I am far from too thin but I am petite in height and maintain a healthy lifestyle. I could have been equally rude to her but simply smiled.
I just do not understand people worrying about the weight of others. (Not directed at anyone on this thread just to the public in general) Worry about your own physical apperance and I will worry about mine. No need to be shaming one way or the other.
Well…. I’ve commented on this post way too much already. But the lady that walked up to you probably thought she was complimenting you. Thin in our society is harder to obtain and retain than fat. It’s valued. She didn’t have a lot of grace and obviously didn’t think it through but I would think that it wasn’t meant to be insulting.
I honestly did not see a lot of shaming. Mostly people seemed concerned. She would not be the first one to become addicted to losing weight and who gains power from starving herself. I have no idea if she is doing that, but it’s not so uncommon. She had a strong, beautiful athletic body, and now, less so. So maybe it’s concern more than anything else. And being on this show and baring it all, people are going to look and talk.
This. I was going to add that to my post. Addicts will replace one obsession with the other. Seeing how she used to be athletic, I can assume that she weighed more at her fittest but looked healthy than she does now with her ‘dream goal’ that would put her at underweight. Add to the fact that she’s competitive by nature and I can definitely see her putting thin before health whatever means necessary. She did go on a show that doesn’t really promote health.
“I just do not understand people worrying about the weight of others.” – I think it could be some kind of a subconscious way to keep the self in check. Or – because the appearance is so out there, it’s easy to shame other people in order to make oneself feel better – also in a subconscious way? Or, it has some connection to self-preservation? Or just being nasty? Or it’s about our societies nowadays? (I try to find an explanation to everything hehe).
That experience at Wendy’s, what kind of persons says that to someone else? You were smart to react that way.
She will gain weight they all do she was “making weight “much like boxers,jockeys for a competition.
Agreed. I would probably have done something similar if $250K was on the line.
She’s possibly a little thinner than she should be but the finalists of the Biggest Loser always hit it hard in the last weeks because they want the money. She’s no thinner than the latter reaching competitors of Survivor.
The ones who live on bugs and leaves and a bag of rice for a month. Great comparison.
*eyeroll*
I’m just concerned about those flip-flops! Couldn’t they have given her nicer ones?
Hmm, I find it interesting at the mix of responses to this. At her current weight and height her BMI is 17.5, which is classified as underweight. Now I know there are people out there that have that BMI that are perfectly healthy, but it surely isn’t this woman’s body type, she started at 260 lbs. Should we applaud her going from one extreme to the other? If 105 lbs was her target then she was always aiming to be underweight. Is that a healthy attitude? If she was just someone going through a personal weight loss journey on her own, whether she was being healthy about that weight loss and her goals really wouldn’t matter to the public. But she did this on a TV programme, and I think it’s a dangerous thing to see this as something to aspire to, and as a healthy thing to have achieved.
I guess there’s a thin line between thin/fat shaming, but in this case I think we get to as Rachel publicly went on a show which says it aims to combat obesity and promote health, and she went on it to get thin. 105 lbs is not her ideal weight and no doctor would have advised her that it was. But hey she looks thin so that’s awesome isn’t it! I really wish we lived in a society that wasn’t so looks obsessed. Health and weight although correlated, are not the same thing. Our brains are conditioned to look at the before and after photo and go, doesn’t she look so much better, but a couple of photos never tell the whole story. The fact she chose a goal weight that is actually clinically underweight suggests to me that she still has an unhealthy attitude to food, and issues body image.
Her new weight seems too low for her frame – especially when she is shown walking on stage in the dress, her knee caps seem disproprortionately large.
She looks about 40, now.
The only thing thats bugging me, is that screencap of them comparing her before and after, and it makes her look like she got shorter.
I noticed that, too. Not only is she thinner, she’s shorter. Hehehe.
Oh for the love of God, she can’t win! Her weight will even out and I bet she feel good about herself for achieving what many can’t (and I include myself in that!). If she is too thin, then it’s a product of fat shaming and the epectations that woman should meet a certain body type regardless of their body type and genetic make-up. How about we focus on being good to eachother and less about what we look like? As long as someone is healthy, whatever size, it’s none of our business.
If she’s too thin, it’s probably only because she wanted that $250k and the show doesn’t dissuade unhealthy behavior. She’ll gain weight I’m sure of it. But this show needs to be canceled due to health concerns.
Too thin for what?
I was quoting the post I was answering, so you’re asking the wrong person.
I would imagine everybody on this page is referring to being too thin as in an unhealthy example, obviously.
I understand you’re thin and have a bug up your ass about this subject but don’t take it out on us. It’s nothing but a bunch of comments.
My sister lost 88 pounds in ca. 6-7 months recently. I do not recommend it to anyone. Sure, she was soooo happy and excited, she got a whole new wardrobe in size 0 (at her lowest she was 99-100 pounds and she’s about 5’4″) but she’s over 40 and she looked TERRIBLE – her skin was sagging, she had no boobs and no bum whatsoever, she looked about 15 years older but she was very happy with her results. We were all worried since she became obsessed and could not stop losing weight One year later she gained over 30 lbs back – she looks much better but she started having health problems: kidney and joints in particular. She’s been back and forth to the doctors to see why she’s in constant pain – I speculate that the Atkins/Dukan diet she’s been on really took a toll on her body. Too much animal protein is really bad for you long term. Also, if she as much as eats a normal dinner, she instantly puts on weight . So her metabolism is out of whack. I could stand to lose a few pounds but I’m not going to put myself through all protein diet to achieve it.
This is a very sad story. I hope your sister starts feeling better soon, and is out of pain.
Tell your sister to research eating organic coconut oil. (The liquid is synthetic and not the same.) It boosts the metabolism and can help in other ways. Also turmeric for the pain. She should research these and then ask her doctor about them.
She should probably leave the organ repair and weight advice to her physicians and not a random poster on a gossip site. I’m sure she took lots of advice from “health gurus” that got her to the place she is.
Hope your sister can overcome her demons and issues <3
I’m sorry but her face is frightening.
She needs to get at least 10-15 lbs back on her
“… her face is frightening.” WOW. I seriously hope she doesn’t read this stuff. Some people are downright cruel.
She’s the one who put herself on a national television program, she gets what she gets. As a young, recently obese person and former athlete, she could have easily lost the weight with a personal trainer and nutritionist, she *chose* the scrutiny.
Charming.
I don’t think she looks too skinny at all. She looks incredibly muscular to me. I mean, not everyone likes that look, but if she’s happy, so am I. She looks amazing. I’m the same height as her, and I would look deathly ill at that weight, but I have a different body type. She doesn’t look sickly to me, like Tracy Anderson or Gwyneth.
I’m naturally pretty thin (not emaciated-like, just on the thinner side,) and it bugs me to no end when people concern troll thin women. It’s not like this woman starved herself. She was eating healthy and exercising under the supervision of professionals, and honestly, she looks just fine to me. Tempest in a teapot.
I get the same thing and it bugs me to no end as well. What exactly are they so “concerned” about? That I’ll get diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer? Oops no those are afflictions linked to obesity. What’s funny is no doctor I’ve ever had, ever, expressed even the slightest “concern” about my weight.
This is why the dialogue shouldn’t be about Rachel, it should be about the show: thin girls take offense because they ID with the woman and act like she’s totally fine and healthy.
You don’t know that. She was disoriented and a shadow of herself on the finale. She tripped going up the stairs and didn’t even realize when she had won. It bears noting that you two act like you are naturally thin and get agitated when people point it out. Well, okay. This woman is NOT naturally thin. She is naturally athletic, got too fat during a deep depression, went on a reality show, and is now technically underweight by body fat percentage. She is not you, and you add to the problem by identifying with her (really, tell me how she could relate to a naturally thin person) and acting like the world hates thin people. This is not about you. Not this time; not when it involves an extreme weight loss.
Whether she looks fine to you or not is beside the point. She was put up against impossible odds, and lost more weight than they told her to because she was competing against tall men who started at 400 lbs. She went too far, and it’s okay to point that out and discuss what the show needs to fix to prevent this type of negative effect.
+1 nerd alert.
If she was just some woman off the street “thin shaming” would be relevant. We happen to know exactly what circumstances led to her being this size and there is reason for concern. I don’t blame her she did was she needed to do to win. She is a competitive person and an athlete. I blame the show for getting greedy. They could be fair and have all very heavy people, but then America doesn’t get a “reveal” at the end of a skinny person. And Bob and Jillian can hardly act high and mighty. They created and profited from this monster of a show.
Um, I didn’t say a GD word about Rachel (certainly not that “she looks fine to me”). I have no idea if she’s healthy or not — not sure how just about every female layman in this country are experts on whose thinness is healthy and whose is not. I was merely identifying with UghInsomnia’s experience. That’s why I replied to HER post.
Those people are not what I would call professionals – real professionals do not advocate extreme measures, especially since those measures are proven ineffective.
I think to be concerned about some random stranger is ridiculous, but this woman has put it all out there, and I’m not surprised by the concern because people saw a snippet of her story- it was a pretty drastic change, and let’s face it, some people do go too far.
And Mel, they are concerned about unhealthy measures to get thin – there are plenty of examples of young women who do extreme things. I don’t think she’s probably one of them, but I don’t see how you can think that there would be no concerns at all. We’re not talking about being thin – we’re talking about the extreme measures taken to get there.
How do you know she didn’t starve herself? Losing 45 pounds in four weeks indicates a problem, no?
14 weeks, not four. They were at home for 3.5 months.
She’s beautiful either way. Very sweet face. If she wants to be healthier and thin than that’s her choice, her body. People are reacting as is her BMI is 15 or 16, like she’s now anorexic or something…It’s 17,5. Lighten up. The normal BMI used to be 18. Now it’s 18.5. It’s not a huge deference. She should be proud and people need to get a life..
I think a lot of people are misplacing their disgust with the silver dress. It’s the dress that looks awful, she looks fine. There’s good muscle definition in her arms and especially her calves.
Honestly – her transformation is nothing short of AMAZING.
I think people are commenting because it is a shock to see a slim woman with such great muscle tone standing next to her former obese self. I can barely process that its the same person.
This isn’t about Rachel. This is about the show. FWIW, I think the SHOW thinks she is too thin. They preach a lot about muscle tone and being strong and healthy, not skinny. I watched every episode this season and there were a ton of shenanigans; it really stood out against prior seasons, and it was obvious that a lot of it was for ratings because interest is dying.
First, re: Rachel. She was previously an athlete (state champion swimmer) and had beautiful muscular arms in the episode before the finale. This is why most regular viewers were alarmed: she visibly lost muscle in her arms, and that is something they do not promote to viewers. They also do not promote women going below 12% body fat, and at her height/weight she could not have been more than 5%. So a lot of the shock is due to hypocrisy between her appearance and what the show promotes. They have a very standard definition of “healthy,” which is why I won’t watch it anymore.
I don’t blame Rachel, and I won’t offer an opinion on her body (trying to be objective here). I will say that I could see myself doing the same if it meant that much money. She is a natural competitor, and she competed. In the show she won more challenges than anyone else because she was driven and thrived on winning again. They gave her a goal weight and meal plan, and although she went under her goal weight, she stuck to the plan she was given. It appears she stopped lifting weights and switched to only cardio during the at home half. I do think she did it for competition and I don’t think she has residual mental health issues, but on the final show she did seem quite disoriented.
Moreover, producers heavily favored Ruben and to a lesser extent Holly, because of their notoriety. They made up a fake cheating scandal where Jillian had to admit to breaking the rules and giving out caffeine pills so that Ruben’s elimination would be overturned. It was obvious to me at the time, and in previous seasons contestants were allowed to use caffeine pills if they didn’t like coffee so they could work out the 6-8 hours a day the show currently requires. The deck was stacked.
The show needs to change the way they choose contestants, IMO. They need to start with people who have similar body fat percentages, and will therefore have the same amount of fat to lose. If Rachel and (runner-up) David both had 60% to lose in the first place, this wouldn’t have happened. It simply isn’t fair to put someone like Rachel up against people who had so much more to lose, and men at that who can lose more easily. They just willy-nilly pick people who have a face to look “hot” at the end, or have compelling backstories. Shenanigans all over the place. I’m done watching.
I didn’t watch any of it, so thanks for explaining it from a viewer’s perspective.
You’re welcome! I think it’s somewhat tragic and definitely unfair that this is all landing on Rachel’s shoulders. I’ve done some research and I think the producers always have favorites and hype certain things, and they tell the contestants what to say and what not to say.
For instance, sometimes they will go ten or more days between “weekly” weigh-ins and then pretend they all lost SO much weight, like 12 lbs in a week for a smaller woman, and the contestants are expected to go along with it. IMO, this fuels perception that that kind of weight loss is reasonable or healthy, or even possible when eating.
I could name a lot more, but I see I’m starting to look like a troll on this board, LOL.
Wow, I had no idea that kind of editing actually happens on that show. Yes, I do realize there will be editing to make the show better, but I had no idea it went to the extent to make bi-weekly weigh-ins into “weekly” weigh-ins. That’s terrible, because it’s exactly as you say, it creates very unrealistic expectations for the viewers back home.
I did some digging, littlestar. My roommate in college and I were both overweight and watched the show together, finding it inspirational. Because of this season’s and to a lesser extent, last season’s shenanigans, I did some research. I started looking into it when they made Jillian confess to “cheating,” which I still think was a big, fat lie. Not like Jillian’s so moral or anything, I’m sure they gave her a bonus so she’d agree, but the favoritism of Ruben was blatant even though he lost the least amount of weight of all contestants. I think favoring a celebrity is in bad spirit.
They also played up Bobby’s coming out story for ratings. He came out to his dad on the show and acted like he was sooo worried about it, but his dad was like “ok, well whatever. You’re always #1 to me.” I’d think he would know his dad better than to actually be so worried about that, because he said they were very close. I get the feeling he was already out to his family because they only showed his dad’s reaction and not Bobby actually saying he was gay. IMO they shouldn’t use someone’s sexuality for ratings on a weight loss show.
Well, she’s HollyRexic now, that emaciated look is huge in tinsletown. It’s true her fac e looks sunken. Poor thing, hope she balances out. I’ve never seen this show, but for a 23 yr old to have such a dramatic change isn’t healthy. The brain doesn’t stop developing until 23! The brain and neurology require fats to build properly. This is all pure stupidity to me. I’d rather watch a family who overcomes a sedentary indoorsy soda pop life together to become healthy, active and educated
105 on a 5’4 medium boned frame is underweight. I’m an inch taller and at 105 I would be gross
Yes, definitely she has lost too much weight. I was shocked when I learnt she was 24 years old, to me she looks like she’s at least 40. Going from unhealthy and overweight to unhealthy and underweight is not an outcome people (and tv) should praise and celebrate as a success. I wouldn’t have minded had she been slender but muscular and athletic, but she has no muscle definition whatsoever.
From the bridge of the nose up, she looks like Sandra Bullock to me.
I’m happy for her. If she’s happy with her body that’s what counts. And regardless of how thin she may look, she is still healthier than before, when she was obese. That is the real win here. She’s healthy and she feels it.
Exactly!!
I hate the “you must starve yourself” comments to explain why I’m skinny. I am just as rude and reply “I’m just not greedy”.
She should gain back 10-15 lbs, would make her look healthier, IMO.
I am glad she lost the weight, but was shocked at her appearance. I said to my daughter she probably went that low to win the money and will probably put on 5 – 10 after the show and there would be nothing wrong with putting on that weight. We all fluctuate on our weight usually between 0 and 5 pounds. Somewhere else I read there’s a good possibility they purposely loose the water weight right before the show and it comes back on after the final weigh in. I don’t know. Would I do the same thing? I don’t know as I am pretty competitive and may do what is necessary to win. And if that means losing a little extra weight and then afterwards putting it back on, who knows. I don’t think she is anorexic. I wish the show would combine several aspects to losing weight other than just the weight loss for the final, even the at home contestants. One possibility would be a physical fitness test. Do a test the first day and then right before the final weigh in do a second test and compare the results somehow. Also, maybe count fat loss or BMI. Don’t have any good answers but maybe the show needs some revamping.
she looks like maria menunous now and is too gaunt. Another 10-15 pounds would do her a bit of good and I’m sure she’ll get there rather quickly. I think it came down to the money because the runner up guy wasnt that far behind her
except maria looks a decade younger!
I don’t know if I see too thin or not but 105 lbs at 5’5″ is pretty teeny. And I see her ribs through that green tank and I can’t think that is a good look.
That kind of massive obese weight gain and dramatic weight lose must wreck havoc on her body and skin. I have a cousin who has done gastric bypass and her skin and face looked similar to this gals. There is just something off about their faces and skin after. These are the long term side effects of dramatic weight gain & loss…she will never look like a girl who has always been 105lbs. her skin and body has been through hell and back! She is way healthier now so I think its all good!
If I look at her body, she doesn’t look too thin, but right now her head looks too big for the body. The other difference I notice is that she has significantly tanned. I think she’d look better with her natural skin tone.
She’s fine. Physiologically, her skin just needs to catch up to her dramatic weight loss, hence the harsh look to her face. And she can put back on the muscle mass through training and running again. She looks fantastic and once all the hoopla from the show settles down, she will settle on a weight and musculature that she is comfortable with. It takes some time and experimentation to find the “right” weight for your frame.
Nonsense.
Not nonsense. Once you lose a dramatic amount of weight, if you continue to eat properly and exercise, your body will find its optimum condition.
What’s nonsense is the “she looks fantastic” part. She was beautiful on the last show, 4 months or so ago (it was filmed then). If you watched the show live, she was barely present. Her face was vacant and she was disoriented. The picture above is fine, but she didn’t look fantastic live.
I didn’t see it live, so I can only go by the photos that I am seeing. I am not a fan of “The Biggest Loser” as I believe it doesn’t always send the best message and I do not watch it.
“if you continue to eat properly”
She is very obviously *not* eating properly, and hasn’t for a single day of the 14 weeks she was left to her own devices.
And she looks dreadful. There’s no happy medium, heavier is unattractive, and sexless and scary skinny is “fantastic”-looking. Maybe she’ll get some bolt-ons so she can be your ideal.
Very sad.
Nerd Alert got my meaning.
Excuse me? You know NOTHING about me whatsoever and what my ideal is. I didn’t watch the video, and I should have because in the video, she DOESN’T look healthy and you are correct, she does not look fantastic. In the photos, she looks fine. Not so much in the video. Her skin tone is off and her hair looks a little dull. Also, I had not read the interviews about her over-exercising and taking several classes a day during her time at home. So yes, you are right and I was wrong about her looking fantastic – all taken into account, it would appear she ate well below the amount she claims to have and over-exercised to win the show.
incidentally, my ideal body is one that is healthy, strong, and optimal for one’s frame. I hope she ends up with that.
i will say yes because i was so “no word” when i see the picture
If she’s 5’5″ then at 105 pounds she’s a little underweight and should be very careful. I’m 5’4″ and 108 pounds and I am tiny. I wear a size 1 jeans and they are not always exactly snug. I think if I lost weight I’d look emaciated. She does look healthy, mostly, but adding ten pounds, or even five, wouldn’t be a bad thing at all. Plus, it’s easy to fall into disordered eating behaviors when you get that small. For me anyway. I hope she’s in a healthy place mentally and physically. I imagine all of this uproar over her weight loss might be twisting her head a little bit.
I think this show is DANGEROUS. We have all read of the crazy things they do to lose the maximum amount of weight in the short timeframe. I think one day one of these people is going to keel over dead and then they will shut the whole thing down. To lose 60 percent of your body weight in that short time cannot be healthy in any way, sorry.
@PALERMO – I couldn’t agree with you more.
And all of that screaming.
She looks at least 40 years old after the weight loss.
Her face is all bones and teeth.
Yikes, her face. She looks like Karen Carpenter — all bones and teeth.
She looks unhealthy to me and I can’t believe that she is not at least in her early forties the huge weight loss really aged her..
I don’t watch the Biggest Loser show, because I don’t believe in screaming at people to lose weight, it all seem so forced and unhealthy.
Eating healthy meals and living an active lifestyle are the way to go in my opinion.
Sadly we live in a world that mostly promotes unhealthy food and lifestyles.
I wish that people would live closer to nature and not stuff themselves with junk food and processed food. We could learn a lot from certain European nations! I have never seen so many overweight people in Europe as I do in the USA.
No one yet has acknowledged a HUGE factor here. She most likely SEVERELY dehydrated herself in the last week or so to lose weight quickly, which would account for her low weight, wrinkles/skin quality, disorientation, and overall appearance. As soon as she drinks water and rehydrates, she’ll likely gain back 10 lbs and be completely healthy.
That’s not water weight, it’s ketosis. Her body has eaten her muscle in a desperate search for protein and other nutrients.
This is true. The muscle definition in her arms has undeniably decreased since the show before the finale, filmed about 3.5 months prior to airing.
Congratulations to her for losing the weight and winning.
I am 5’3” and when I was her age I was 105 pounds. But I was toned and had meat on my face, which made me look younger, not older.
as long as she is healthy and achieved her results in a healthy way (non-ketosis in maintenence or over excercising)- that is all that should matter.
I never knew the winner received 250K for this. congrats to her for winning that. I never would have guessed she was only 24 tho, the weight loss def. aged her face.
she will more than likely gain a lot of that weight back within 6 months to a year if not sooner and it will come on even faster than before just b/c of the extreme weight loss. Its great she got 250K but now she also has a messed up metabolism and will probably have to constantly watch what she eats just to not gain weight.
I am an inch taller than her, nearly the same age and I weigh about 120. She is underweight and no that’s not a healthy weight for that height. A few years ago I was doing my MA in Spain and got majorly stressed out due to school and my living situation. I lost my appetite and started skipping meals because I didn’t feel hungry and got nauseous when I ate. No it wasn’t healthy and I lost a good 10 pounds off my frame which was VERY noticeable because I am very slim. My parents were worried I was anorexic and friends noticed. I am happy to report I gained all the weight back after I moved back to the states and I’m fine now. So I am worried about this woman. 105 seems scarily underweight to me, considering I hit 110 at my lowest.
I have a strong reaction to this cause I was an accomplished swimmer. Went on to college competed and won multiple events at NCAA s, You don’t have to be an Olympic athlete to actually accomplish remarkable things athletically; and they claim her to a national swimmer. Just shows how ignorant people really are about this sport. You have to compete on a national level to be a national level athlete…..
If she was as thin as she is now during her competing years, no way she would have been a state champion in the 100 butterfly. She was strong then. She looks frail now; succumbed to all those mixed messages the media send women every day. It makes me really sad for the mixed messages we send our young girls who will only perpetuate this cycle. I wish her the best. She certainly made great strides in health. And I hope she keeps swimming. I know I will.
Everyone has pretty much covered the too skinny/concern trolling/thin shaming thing so the only thing I have to add is: how did she get the willpower to not eat? Because even with a possible payday of winning $250,000 I don’t think I could stop eating like that and work out 8 hours a day. I admire (and I am even a little jealous of) the determination and will power she has, even if perhaps she took it too far.
Sad commentary.
Funny the camera adds 15 pounds…but she looks great even if she looks a decade older!
She looks OK to me. She had a drastic weight loss so it is expected that her face looks emaciated but it will settle. It’s the “Biggest Loser” after all not Healthiest Contestant.
If Matthew Mcconaughey, Anne H or Christian Bale rapidly lost weight for roles, why can’t she do the same for the prize money?
105 is a bit low for 5’5″.
She doesn’t look healthy to me mainly because of her face. Its the skin. Her coloration seems off and her face gaunt. I think she looked stunning at 130. Her skin glowed and her eyes sparkled.
I don’t watch the show however if the measure of winning is strictly based on pounds lost then that puts very heavy people at an unfair advantage. I hope that she only lost the extra weight to sure up her win and will put it back on. I can only wonder though if all of the adulation she is recieving right now might warp her mind into thinking she needs to stay at this weight as opposed to the healthier weight.
I was all sorts of ok with this- thought she looked great for such significant weight loss, “hey people, lay off” went through my mind. Chose not to comment. But I just read an interview she gave yesterday. About how after the show, before the reveal, she walked almost all day everyday on a treadmill and when she wasn’t walking she was taking 3 and 4 classes a day. Like a spin and a zumba. And how it was so fun.
I wish you the best, honey. That’s some not so healthy stuff right there.
Exactly. The more she’s talking the more it’s becoming obvious that this wasn’t a healthy way to do it (mentally or physically). I totally buy that she did it just to win the money and I don’t believe she has a real problem…yet. But I don’t have high hopes that she’s going to be able to adapt to a healthy life — eating well and exercising normally. Not after the extremes she went to in the last four weeks.
I can say I am really shocked and do have genuine concern for her after learning she does literally nothing but exercise all day every day. That is addictive behavior – she’s not living her life. Surely she’ll stop all that now that she got the prize.
The amount of people defending this is disturbing. Losing 155 pounds in 4.5 months is wrong, ethically and medically. I’ve had Duodenal Switch surgery and it’s taken me 10 months to lose 127 pounds, and that’s even considered fast by weight loss standards. The only people who lose as much as she did in such a short amount of time are people who weight in excess of 600 lbs. And, with this surgery, we have to adhere to a high-fat high-protein diet, take mounds of supplements, and have regular blood draws.
It’s extremely damaging to your body to lose weight this fast without surgical intervention. She is now underweight for her BMI and she looks sick and malnourished. If you think she looks good, you need to check your personal standards for what a healthy body image is, because she is NOT medically healthy in any way. There is absolutely no way she could have dropped that amount of weight in that short of time without starving herself. DON’T PROMOTE THIS.
If they have no such maximum/minimum loss and BMI requirements, she didn’t break any rules, but she looks dreadful. Sinewy arms, her legs do NOT look good, just skinny, and she is shapeless. She went from looking soft and feminine to very horsey-looking: her head looks huge, her chin juts out and her 23 year old skin is wrinkly from malnutrition and lack of facial fat. My first thought was, “Is that Karen Carpenter?”
I do hope she puts 20 pounds back on and that this was a calculated move on her part to win the money and not advanced anorexia, but to reward this physique is dangerous and foolish. I expect a rule change before next season starts that will hopefully include full medical workups that disqualify blatantly unhealthy means to the end.
She looks like Debra Messing.
She doesn’t look healthy, she looks emaciated, but she wanted to win the money so pushed it hard at the end.
Can’t say I wouldn’t do the same. It would pay off our house, all of our bills….I’d starve myself for a show. Now she has a nice cushion of 20lbs to put back on and not fret.
I know, I know, it is unhealthy, but she wanted the money. The extreme weightloss is temporary.
It looks like she aged 20 years – losing elasticity in the skin and lost hair as well. Even this amount of money is not worth such a sacrifice to health. She looks much healthier in the before photo.
The money plus the opportunity for weight loss *is* an incredible motivator. I hope you’re right, mollie, and that this weight is temporary for her, she seems like a very sweet girl. As people have said, she’s young, and her skin et al should bounce back if she resumes a healthy lifestyle.