The Biggest Loser

I'm going to say it: I love the Biggest Loser.  Now, I know that there are plenty of reasons that the show is not a good model for how to lose weight safely, keep it off, and to encourage a healthy lifestyle.  Let's be honest, losing 10+ points in a week is crazy, no matter how big you are, and the restrictive diets and intensive exercise regimes the contestants endure should only be undertaken with serious supervision.  All of this means that the results they get are unrealistic for the average person.  In addition, these people are living on a "ranch" where their only job is to work out and lose weight, a situation that is unlikely to occur for the vast majority of the population.

So why, then, do I love it?  The show itself is highly manipulative in its editing and organization (we'll find out how Koli did...after this 5 minute commercial break!) and clearly designed to pull at your heartstrings.  The girlfriend finds it cheesy and overproduced, and I agree.  Sort of.

The thing is, I find it inspirational, too.  Not because the contestants lose hundreds of pounds, but because they want to so bad that they're willing to fight through pain and hunger and loneliness and being screamed at by the trainers so they can do it.  And, yes, they're competing for $250,000 if they lose the most weight, but they're also trying to change their lives.  That's what all the sweat and tears are about: trying to make life-altering decisions.  Yes, when they leave the show, they often gain some, if not all, of the weight back.  But some of them don't.  Some of them do change their lives. 

On the days that I don't want to work out, when I'm tired and grumpy and just want to watch bad TV, I put on a recorded episode of the Biggest Loser and usually that motivates me to get off the couch.   If they can get up and work their butts off day in and day out, why can't I do my little 40 minutes or an hour?  Why not?