No One Wins on 'The Biggest Loser'

I was really hoping that the take-home message from NBC's new reality program, The Biggest Loser, would be some valuable lessons about weight control. I should have known better when I realized no registered dietitian was involved in the program.

After watching the show, I was outraged and disappointed that network executives and advertisers would endorse such exploitation of overweight people. The show is not about healthy weight loss. It is a dramatized and often humiliating portrayal, with the castoff mentality of reality television.

The Setup

On the show, a dozen desperate overweight men and women begin a personal weight loss journey in hopes of winning $250,000 -- a sum that pales in comparison to the million-dollar rewards on other reality shows. Two teams, red and blue, live together in Malibu and compete to lose the most weight each week.

The red team is coached by a drill sergeant-type fitness trainer and follows a high-protein, high-fiber, low-carbohydrate, controlled-portion diet. The blue team's strategy is to eat small, frequent meals with fewer calories, more volume, and low carbohydrates. Guidance for the blue team is provided by a kinder, gentler fitness trainer.

If your team is not the biggest loser in a given week, you must cast off a member who is not losing his or her share of pounds.

Emotional Drama

Starvation, deprivation, and being pushed to physical extremes are, apparently, the kind of human drama we like to watch. Fitness trainers drive contestants to the point of tears and emotional outbursts. Of course, the cameras are there to capture the bickering, the pressure, and the breakdowns of the hungry and physically exhausted contestants.

As if the drama of unrealistically rapid weight loss is not enough, the contestants are asked to put on bathing suits and expose more flesh than they want the world to see. The 12 team members line up and have their weights displayed in giant numbers at the beginning of the week, then again at week's end. Now, I am a strong proponent of weekly weigh-ins and accountability, but I recommend doing it in private and tracking your own personal journey to success.

To make the situation even more unrealistic, glass-front refrigerators filled with "forbidden foods" are an ever-present temptation to the dieters. In addition, there are plates of tempting foods at every meal. I would describe these tactics as cruel and unusual punishment. And they do little to teach the contestants about healthy weight loss.