But, last night's winner who is 5 foot 5 (according to the Internet) weighed in at 105 pounds, which is considered underweight. She is extremely thin, but she is also an athlete. I know some very thin runners.
It does make you wonder. Did one eating disorder turn into another eating disorder like bulimia or anorexia. What did she do to lose this weight? Was it really healthy?
I have no idea how the show monitors the contestants after they go home or even while they are at the Ranch, but I have a feeling she took extreme measures. I don't know if it was just to lose the weight or if it was to win the show. Either way. Not a good image for the show. You can clearly see Jillian's shock in the video.
It will be interesting to see what the Biggest Loser does with this one.
What do you think? Is she too thin? Is it up to us to judge? Probably not. I suppose a Doctor should determine if she is at a healthy weight. I just hope the show didn't push her into a dangerous new cycle.
"Weigh In" - What do you think?
I saw photos of her on Facebook this morning and the weight loss is a bit extreme. I really hope she just lost extra weight to win and then puts some of it back on.
ReplyDeleteI saw this on someone else's blog this morning and I think it's a shame. It's even worse because they show that a high percentage of the contestants gain the weight back. It's not realistic to eat 1000-1200 calories a day and workout for 4+ hours. It's not a maintainable lifestyle. I think she went way too far. Case in point, apparently a lot of pro-anorexia sites are really applauding her and making her a bit of an icon.
ReplyDeleteI figure she was just trying to win...most of those contestants will gain 10 lbs (at least that is what it looks like to me) after the show and then figure out how to maintain once they are back to real life...
ReplyDeleteI haven't watched this season, but I did see the pictures of her from the finale and she does look 'too skinny'. But - I feel bad for her too, because I don't think there would be this much outrage if it were a dude.
ReplyDeleteThe Biggest Loser had to know that something like this would happen eventually...
She does look too skinny. I didn't know there were pro anorexia sites? Why? People are nuts.
ReplyDeleteI didn't see this in person, but saw it all over FB and twitter. She does look painfully thin, especially because of the way her arms are just bone and not too much muscle/fat. She must have been really restrictive with her dieting, which is a little scary and a method I would think would not be sustainable in the long term.
ReplyDeleteI was shocked when I saw her picture. Part of me wonders if she lost what looks like too much weight just to win the $$. I am *hoping* that is the case and now that she has the cash, she will get back to a normal weight. (not that I necessarily agree with that as it is a risk but the show is a contest after all...).
ReplyDeleteI don't watch the Biggest Loser at all, so maybe I'm not the best judge - in looking at the video and at Rachel, she honestly didn't look that underweight to me. I'd call her skinny, but not underweight. She has the body of a long distance runner to me. But hopefully the way she got there was simply through working out. In terms of muscle mass I think her body looks fine to me.
ReplyDeleteI don't watch the show either. But as other people have pointed out (http://fitandfeminist.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/the-shocking-outcome-of-the-biggest-loser-is-not-all-that-shocking/) the whole incentive of the show is to lose as big a percentage of your body weight as possible. Is she happy? Healthy? Fulfilled? Does she have a positive outlook on life? All those things are invisible. The only thing we can see is that she's lost a dramatic amount of weight. No idea if she is - for her, because everyone is different - healthy or not. And thus I'm reminded why I don't watch such shows!
ReplyDeleteI feel like she did what she had to, to make sure she won the money. She won, now I hope she can get back to a normal weight and not have any side effects for the drastic weight loss. For that kind of money I would do the same thing. .
ReplyDeleteI saw this and have been thinking about it too, but we judge people for being too fat then we judge them for being too thin. If she's happy and healthy, who are we to say? I hope that she doesn't get a bunch of negativity from random people. She worked really hard.
ReplyDeleteI don't watch the show but I did see this. I don't know all the facts but I do know that looks like a disturbing amount of weight for such a short period of time. I hope it was just to win as well.
ReplyDeleteI watched this season and was alway a Rachel supporter. She was always working out hard and won events (like the triathlon). Being a previous competetive swimmer, she knows how to work hard. It's harder for women to win TBL because it is based on percentage, and men just seem to loose percentage easier. this might have driven her to work out harder.
ReplyDeleteI hope that Rachel finds a healthy balance with her eating and lifestyle.