When it comes to The Biggest Loser, my stance is this: make diet and exercise your full-time job – complete with personal trainer – and it’s pretty hard not to lose weight. But will you keep it off? Of course not. (Just like any diet, which is why I’m such a fan of the Health At Every Size approach to nutrition and exercise.) And at least one former contestant can back me up on this: In today’s New York Times, first season winner Ryan C. Benson notes he wasn’t part of tonight’s reunion episode because he’s since gained back most of the 122 pounds he shed in the competition. What’s more:
“[Benson] thinks he has been shunned by the show because he publicly admitted that he dropped some of the weight by fasting and dehydrating himself to the point that he was urinating blood.”
Sorry, but I really think you had to hear that. The article goes on to cite another former contestant, season three’s Kai Hibbard, who reportedly admitted she drank little or no water up to 24 hours before a weigh-in. After she left the show, she apparently gained 31 pounds in two weeks, “most of it simply from drinking water again.”
Also interesting: after several former contestants were contacted by by the paper to be interviewed for this piece, a talent producer from the show emailed others to warn them of the consequences – up to a $1 million fine! – of speaking to a reporter without the show’s permission.
Perhaps they don’t want any more of these types of diet secrets leaked?
