the worst reality show i've ever watched - the biggest loser (part one)

[@issie5580]

Honestly it makes me so mad that the show presents what they do as healthy and sustainable. Every single thing that they do (eat under 1000 calories, compulsively exercise, dehydration techniques ect) I did when I was in the depths of anorexia yet somehow it is prescribed to fat people as a legitimate way of gaining health. It’s so sick and twisted

[@abbiemm2player777]

yes I agree this

[@Shirumoon]

Exactly! When people are quite overweight they can easily eat 2000cals a day and lose weight healthily while slowly building an exercise regimen. Why is that not an option?

[@jfm14]

This! And contrary to popular belief, fat people _can_ develop the same kinds of eating disorders as everyone else. "Atypical anorexia" and "atypical bulimia" are a lot more common than even healthcare professionals realize... that's assuming they've even heard of such diagnoses, which many of them haven't. Promoting disordered eating and obsessive exercise as healthy ways for _anybody_ to lose weight is unconscionable.

[@hb2626]

The misconceptions over calorie deficits are so bad. I know that too well myself. Two years ago I ate 1400 cals a day for a few months while weightlifting+boxing 5 times a week. Did I lose weight? Yeah. Did I gain it back and hated myself even more a few months later? Absolutely. Because it’s literally the most unsustainable thing ever!! And it definitely made me start having a weird relationship with food.

[@smolsannie]

also i remember episodes demonising having treats? like succumbing to temptation?

[@carmirhodes6851]

Just to prove how bad BMI can be, I remember a comedian told this story of how he was, according to his insurance, morbidly underweight, to the point they had to call in a nurse to do a check in. The problem is, BMI couldn't take into account a slight detail that might explain why he was so underweight, like, you know, the fact that he was missing a leg from the hip down.

[@sharmcd4269]

Hah I love Josh Sundquist the comedian your talking about and yeah the system is flawed

[@emm8534]

This is why I hate it so much! I’m labeled as morbidly obese on the BMI scale, it doesn’t take into account that I have DDD’s and a lot of muscle. I’m not skinny by any means but I’m definitely not MORBIDLY obese, my body is just heavier while being the same size or even smaller than someone who, weighs less than me, but doesn’t have as much muscle. A pound of fat and a pound of muscle looks so different you can have body builders in the peak of fitness with a BMI scale saying they are morbidly obese

[@Pokepants]

Wow yeah that might affect that BMI thing. I like that the doctors themselves clearly don't understand how it works themselves if they can't realize a missing leg might make the whole result skew to underweight.

[@tatihinds4939]

@@emm8534 But everyone isn’t like that tho.

[@emm8534]

@@tatihinds4939 whats your point? Cuz my point was how inaccurate the BMI scale is and saying not everyone is like that just proves it lol

[@Abhishekxsahu]

I am a 16 year old highschool kid and in our biology class a particular topic came about what everyone prefers to eat . When my turn came I said that I like to eat anything and everything that I wouldn't say no to any food and *HE* (teacher)said "yeah , we can see that" pointing towards my body indirectly . It was a horrible thing to say to any kid , it takes a lot of courage for me to love myself and people commenting on my body doesn't make it any easy

[@МарияАндреева-б3ч]

Oh no, this is horrible. Some teachers are not ready for their responsibilities

[@sierrarevels6441]

I'm sorry you had to deal with that :(

[@kikimurray7328]

I’m so sorry this happened to you. Your body is your own and no one else has the right to comment on it. It is your home and what matters is that you are happy and comfortable in your own skin. Keeping keeping on

[@kyliesmith521]

That’s straight up disrespectful of that teacher

[@africanodyssey4805]

Your teacher needs to get fired, that was wildly out of line

[@cabin_quilt]

I think the worst part is that they portray all the vomiting/passing out/other health scares as results of them being overweight rather than the result of being starved and overworked. Literally blaming them for reacting badly to being abused.

[@zoepetersen6636]

As someone who has gone months with out any exercise, to doing 3 hours of exercise straight and subsequently been bed-ridden for days afterwards, in heaps of pain and sprained my arm and leg.... doing EIGHT HOURS of exercise EVERY DAY without days of recovery is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS

[@FileCode1459]

yes!! and they never show the contestants stretching, neither before or after exercises, which i highly doubt they do off cameras. what a shitshow

[@KittySnicker]

Maybe you should try moderation? 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@AleTitan]

@@KittySnicker you missed the point

[@thepinkestpigglet7529]

@@KittySnicker wooosh

[@SoulDevoured]

Yeah their regiments are outright cruel for the sake of entertainment. And I feel uncomfortable that so many people were entertained by this. And knowing that many of them hold positions of power. Because it sends the message "it's okay to be cruel to people and ignore their failing health if you're doing some greater good for them." Even if that "greater good" being very debatable and maybe not something they would agree to if properly imformed.

[@styx7503]

Remember: Health does not equal value. When we use being healthy as the reason fat people shouldn't be shamed, we exclude disabled people who can't ever be healthy. It implies that it's a moral failing to be unhealthy. Disabled people, especially fat disabled people, are constantly put under scrutiny for not "being better yet". I'm happy for the fat people who live healthy lives, but the fat people who can never be healthy have just as much value. Great video as always! I look forward to part 2!

[@jordanatheresa]

yes i completely agree! as i said in the video, just because someone is fat and unhealthy doesn’t make them any lesser of a person, i wish i’d made it more clear, your comment sums up my thoughts perfectly! i’m glad you liked the video xx

[@Start.a.curvolution]

Something that I also find super difficult is that there are diseases such as lipedema, I get that with a friend of mine, she is gaining weight because of the disease and it is not that the weight makes her sick but that the disease creates more weight and that there is so little education and so little knowledge in the general public, that makes me personally very, very sad. Because she has to follow a certain diet now, she has to have an operation, it is questionable in Germany whether this operation will be covered by the health insurance, she will probably have to earn and pay the money herself ...And also that with people with chronic illnesses or disabilities. I find it very sad that the face is equated with health and is therefore overlooked that there are also many disabilities and chronic diseases that are invisible. There is also the problem that people think that someone who has a disability is automatically suffering or in pain. My husband becomes a special education teacher and already had a lot of internships at schools for disabled people and he has experienced that even primary school children with a physical disability have had very bad experiences because people simply believe that they do not lead a life worth living as people with disabilities 😢🤯😣 and that makes me so deeply sad

[@DragonbornCanid]

wholeheartedly agree! would also like to add medication to this. I've had to take antidepressants for several years and it had me gain a lot of weight through insatiable hunger and extreme fatigue. Been off the meds for a year now, and i still haven't been able to lose it, despite changing diets, exercising etc. I've felt ever since i gained it that i lost my value as a person. Suddenly i wasn't worthy of love or respect because i was fat.. Im getting better with that now, im caring less about me being overweight.

[@Ambirdy123]

🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻

[@alexisasheep6554]

I'd also like to highlight that being you can actually be healthy and fat at the same time, believe it or not. Being fat increases your risks of health complications but if you look at your blood work and get checked out and the only thing "wrong" with you is that you're fat then you're by all means healthy. It's like saying someone with diabetes isn't healthy or doesn't live a healthy lifestyle bc they're diabetic. That's just not correct. And I think using such language doesn't mean that you're one of those people, you clearly mean well and most people will take it that way, but the language used reflects on how hidden and innate those beliefs have become. It basically says, without meaning to, that being healthy is exclusive to thin or as people might say healthy weight people. Once again, if something is not medically or physically amiss with you and that the only issue is that you're big then there's nothing wrong with you. The key word is "increases risk".

[@Rin-ef2tp]

As an asthmatic hearing Jillian saying that she won’t die if she can’t breathe made me feel ill. That poor woman sounded very clearly like she had exercise induced asthma which most certainly could’ve killed her…

[@inkypunk]

Yeah your lips turning blue (not to mention PASSING OUT) is a medical emergency. What the hell, Jillian??

[@chickenboyluvr]

@Kind Love what’s your point

[@Rin-ef2tp]

@Kind Love and?? You can’t use that excuse if you are literally putting peoples lives at risk

[@じょじょ-n4b]

@Kind Love what a shitty point.

[@Rin-ef2tp]

@Kind Love what are you even talking about? At what point did I even talk about body shaming? And what evidence do you want me to provide? You need to tell me what statement that is incorrect for me to provide evidence against before talking absolute nonsense

[@hildahilda1823]

As a big girl myself I always envied the people on this show for getting help losing weight when it was on but now that I’m an adult woman who’s finally liking the body I live in, it’s really disgusting how they treated these people

[@annabeinglazy5580]

What makes me so uncomfortable is how unsustainable the whole concept is. If people Go on this Show because they want to lose weight... More Power to them. But what really happens is that theyre just paraded around to make other people feel better about themselves and, frankly, who want to See other people suffer. Theyre placed on Crash diets, forced into exercise regimes that noone can sustain and in at least one case injuries are ignored to Hit those "weight Goals". And when contestants gain their weight Back after the Show everyone pretends that it's their fault. when really you cant Just do this Bootcamp stuff while having a normal Life, and noone actually bothered to Set them Up with a plan that works with their lives. It's just awful and makes me glad that it's Not 2004 anymore.

[@jfm14]

💯

[@sadem1045]

They "coached" these people through emotional abuse. It always hurt to watch the contestants fall of treadmills and get yelled at as a result.

[@jennypruitt5969]

Yeah, it is definitively not a great idea to have them lose weight rapidly. They just replace their old eating disorder for a new one.

[@yuki97kira]

Yeah my family and i watch and back then we were like "wow these people is so hardworking to lose this much" but then..when you grow up...

[@caitlin5770]

These "challenges" are really twisted to be completely honest. Listen, I'm a skinny gal who exercises regularly, avoids sugar/fat when possible and alcohol, but if my favourite kind of pizza was sitting right in front of me of course I would take it! Anyone would! The whole "temptation" food has nothing to do with their weight and more to do with like....basic human reactions to senses?????

[@Genin99]

Also the contestants were being starved. So these temptation challenges are Anorexia and Bulimia inducing.

[@caitlin5770]

@@Genin99 So fucked up Anyone would reach for "temptation" food -or any food- if they were being starved 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

[@sonorasgirl]

Yeah, all it’s teaching is anorexia. I have a history with that and while I was in it, I WOULDN’T have even though I was 5’4” and 95 lbs…but that was UNHEALTHY as hell

[@nah4437]

@@ItsMeBarnaby dont call people “fatty”. period.

[@em6644]

Did you miss the part about extremely restrictive diets?? I’d genuinely consider severely restricting someone’s food and then humiliating them for being hungry while effing with their mental health like these shows did to be a form of torture. Sure there’s worse, but it’s extremely cruel and absolutely traumatic. I say that as someone who as experience working with survivors of trauma, including other things that are also classified as torture

[@joshuamoore8560]

I remember when Jillian first joined the show and she said her method was "beatings. Beatings, beatings, beatings." Obviously she wasn't physically assaulting her charges (that we know of,) but she clearly believed that hurling verbal and psychological abuse at the contestants was in their benefit and that instilling a sense of self-loathing in them would help them stay on the wagon, as it were. That NBC thought ANY of this was a good idea is monstrous.

[@Zaptain]

I just remember that was literally her “thing” like it was almost a joke that Jillian was a bully to those she trained. Wonder how she reflects on that now a days

[@tamiina]

@@Zaptain I don’t think she has changed much. She was only recently under fire for attacking Lizzo and getting upset about “society glorifying obesity nowadays”.

[@Dave102693]

I hate Jillian with all my heart.

[@KoreaMojo]

That's what my bf that has done bodybuilding believes helped him achieve his best body. He doesn't look like that now. So I said to him, although he still is well above the average "fit" person his tail is in the boat with me. I yoyo and that must mean I haven't found a lifestyle I can stick with because I haven't found the right one. He's the same to me, in that, if you did things extreme or unhealthy you can't sustain it. It doesn't work until you can live with it and not suffer severe damage from it. People believe though, whatever it takes including making life joyless. I know doing well is not comfortable or easy often but these are not the same as damaging although damaging things also can be uncomfortable and hard. It's just a shame. I want to be healthier and I want him to be his best self and mentally too!

[@adamlambboy8332]

@@tamiina Lizzo is literally vegan and works out. I don’t know what more she can do for people to stop mocking her weight. Girl is trying her best to be healthy but Mother Nature herself gave Lizzo a health condition that makes it hard to lose weight. She’s healthier than a lot of slim people yet she’s still overweight. Girl probably has PCOS or a thyroid condition. 🤷🏼

[@lizexpose228]

When I was quite poor and drinking instead of eating dinner I got so many compliments on my “improved health” I was perpetually hungover and aging myself

[@luciadellalbani7667]

kinda same but in the opposite way: to keep me full even though i don't have much money to buy meat, fish and other nutrient- or protein-dense foods i'm eating a lot more pasta and rice than I ever used to. people always point out the fact that i'm gaining weight but they really have no idea of the whole backstory.

[@QuikVidGuy]

I've lost like 10 pounds this month because work tires me out too much to eat and stresses me out so much that it deepens my alcoholism. Just last week multiple people complimented me on how I've lost 10 pounds in a month and when I said "well I haven't been taking care of myself" they just tripled down on telling me how good I look. Despite my rosacea.

[@alicesenz6374]

Remember the one girl who became extremely underweight and won? That episode really opened my eyes to how messed up fatphobia is. It's not about health. When I was ten pounds in the overweight category, my mom constantly nagged me about my "health." When I ate less than 1000 calories a day, my period stopped, and my hair was falling out, everyone encouraged me and asked me how I lost so much weight. Of course there was also the time in between when I was still chubby but had just started restricting, and I'd be told that I should stop eating so much when I'd only had one meal. If you wanna help someone's health, just share a veggie recipe or something. Don't attack them or assume you know their life.

[@Jkjoannaki]

If someone cares about ones health, they care about both physical and mental health. If they don't value a person's mental health, they don't care about their health. And people should stop pretending they care about people's health. " I'm telling you to lose weight because I care about your health". If you care about my health so much, pay for my medicine and shut up.

[@POOOOOOOO416]

When I developed an eating disorder due to underlying trauma and severe stress I kept getting compliments on how I looked. Even though truly I was slowly starving myself to death. I also was exercising 7 times a week (extremely unhealthy don't do this I broke my body). Also because of a lack of awareness of how eating disorders present in men, I was barred from getting the mental health treatment I needed, because I 'was lying about my disorder to take advantage of the system'. Because despite being hospitalised for malnutrition my body looked attractive. Basically I have had to learn psychology to treat myself in a way I could afford, because of the system I am up against

[@currybread5298]

That's fucked up but you're right about this. Only when being thin can you be perceived as healthy and thus, worthy.

[@siennasamuel]

This comment is everything. I’m really sorry you had to experience those things

[@TheLily97232]

I had a similar experience. Last year I became psychotic and extremely depressed. I ate very little and fasted for long periods. I lost 12kg in 6 months and was in my lowest in my adulthood/teenage years. I was miserable, but everyone in my family (who knew what I was going through mentally) congratulated me for being skinnier, saying "you look better that way ! so beautiful". Big eye opener about their hypocrisy and their lack of actual care for me.

[@allieconzola]

People entering a weight loss reality show to pay off their college debt is the most American thing i've ever heard (and this is coming from an American lol)

[@melz6625]

I was a fat child who was fat-shamed by everyone including my mom. who and this is the kicker was the one feeding me cocoa made with WHIPPED CREAM every morning as I loved cocoa but was allergic to regular cow milk (eczema). Totally mindfucked me. I ended up bulimic as late teen and everyone was complimenting me when I grazed the underweight BMI. Even more mindfuck. I only was able to stop thanks to my dentist scaring me about the state of my teeth. I was so scared to gain weight. At the same time I got a excessive blood test done and it turns out I’m intolerant to a lot of foods because of histamine. In the end I gained a bit of weight but have been leveled at a healthy weight for 8yrs. Goes to show that often there is health issues that are never addressed that could help people lose weight in the long run. My doctors just blanket shame telling me to “just lose weight” never bothered to help my health issues behind my weight.

[@melz6625]

Now I don’t restrict food and I find alternatives that work for me even for chocolates. No standard sugar chocolates but raw sugar cane chocolates are fine. That way I don’t fall down the orthorexic road while actually staying healthy. Oh and no scales. Haven’t been on one in 8yrs

[@ashmondthesoutherntrashmon2210]

i am so so sorry all of that happened. im incredibly glad youre doing okay now,best of luck for the future x

[@gooseman19]

Im proud that you can say this. And i wish i could have helped. That shit hurts a lot and im sorry it had to happen. I have anorexia and idk how bulimia feels but it sounds terribls

[@Powered1Buttercup]

Yeah, I have heard and read horror stories of fat people almost dying or having some serious issues done to them because whenever they go to the doctors for something that might cause them pain or anything like that they’re ignored and just need to lose weight. I have a friend that just for a breast reduction surgery that the doctors ignored her because they thought her breasts were only that big because she was fat so they made lose weight, she did lost a bit and surprise it wasn’t. It’s just so awful to ignore people in pain because you don’t even bother checking other options, no one deserves that.

[@Man-ej6uv]

my sibling was overweight for a year a while ago, and when they went to a doctor for health issues (liver/stomach related) they were told to lose weight and it was all because they were fat. so sad that doctors will ignore you if you’re overweight. i’m not overweight, but i am a young and queer disabled person, and the times i get brushed off are aplenty, no one takes me seriously. they say i’m fine when im clearly not. i assume it’s quite a similar feeling and i sympathize with everyone who has gone or is going through that.

[@malllllll]

Your hair is a power move.

[@tokyobateman6610]

The dark hair + white outfit is amazing

[@HeyRae]

She looks soooo gooood

[@fabchn6340]

It suits her so so well, she's a vision

[@addiem4387]

She is literally glowing in this!! Such a stunning human

[@smolsupernova]

I'm getting modern Daphne Blake vibes 💙

[@paigesherlock]

I used to watch this as a kid before I realized how messed up the concept of the show was. Mid-2000s reality shows were on a whole different level tbh

[@Start.a.curvolution]

This show is still broadcasting in Germany 😳 not the temptation food thing, but still a lot of that sick stuff

[@your_dad_on_vacation]

I'm starting to think Survivor is the only good reality show to come out of the mid 2000's

[@Ashlett337]

Mid-2000s were on a whole different level tbh

[@malllllll]

The Biggest Loser was in my mom’s weekly night rotation along with Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Dancing with The Stars, and American Idol (and a sprinkle of the bachelor) 😩 what a time to be alive

[@papastummyfuzz9281]

Me too!!! I would always watch them with her

[@fairycat23]

As a quizbowler, I feel ashamed that Jeopardy was in your mom's weekly rotation with The Biggest Loser.

[@alliexcx5576]

Fjbbx

[@malllllll]

@@fairycat23 but what stood the test of time for her? Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.

[@dahliadialup]

It was everywhere! I forgot about it until now. It really was awful.

[@autisticsapphic8991]

people: “you’re relatively skinny, so you must be really healthy!” me who lives off of oreos, crackers, and veggie burgers everyday:👁👄👁

[@ruminationstation4200]

I have been both skinny and fat, and it's 50% mental health and 50% metabolism (it's easy for me to tell because I've gone on and off meds that are suspected of messing with our endocrine system). 0% of it has to do with nutritional devotion or adherence to a lifestyle, or my resiliency as a human being. If I'm depressed, I get fat. If I'm on antidepressants, I get fat. When I'm mentally healthy and unmedicated, I'm skinny. It's that simple for me, and it makes it immediately obvious to me how much of diet culture is a scam. I can literally tell when a depressive episode is coming cause I'll start binging sugar and insane amount (guess what is REALLY common among neurodivergent people? Abusing drugs like sugar and caffeine and alcohol....) I eat garbage 24/7. The only time I'm trying to eat healthy is when I'm trying to get out of a depressive spiral. But the points I'm skinniest isn't when I'm eating the best. It's when I am happiest, and my life is full of joy outside of temporary dopamine from sugar and fat.

[@kuromi3z]

@@ruminationstation4200 you told this person your whole life and for what reason … just bc you gain weight it doesn’t mean it’s from a bad reason

[@whiro8945]

I had the same experience but in reverse as a kid. Even though I didn't have full meals most days due to the family budget, people at school would tell me to watch how much I eat/what I was eating because I was fat at the time.

[@watermelonice5929]

Maybe not super healthy, but you’re still much healthier than any overweight person would be. Being overweight causes a bunch of health problems, if you’re overweight you ARE unhealthy by default.

[@soyasauce3626]

That veggie burger thing hit hard 😂

[@AnaPsychology]

Unrelated but girl your hair color is so vibrant and this whole look is gorgeous

[@ChocolateTruffle98]

It compliments her so well!

[@jessterflies]

The worst shows all involve contestants being taken to a location away from their family and friends. It's as if the isolation is part of the emotional manipulation.

[@Melly16yr10]

That’s what narcissit do

[@cyrc9837]

its unfortunately a common thing with reality shows, there’s a lot of emotional manipulation and abuse

[@idontneedaname318]

But every show does this ?

[@co_7523]

Like a cult.

[@gothboithick]

@@idontneedaname318even if it’s commonplace for reality shows, this one should be taking their health into consideration. seven months of isolation & having to earn phone calls home by overexercising isn’t very healthy. they should really have licensed therapists if they’re going to be isolated for 7 months.

[@AngelCaz7]

my bf constantly talks about how he used to love this show when he was younger but i never watched it. now it makes so much sense to me why he’s the way he is w his body image, n the food guilt, n the way he works out. what hurts the most is that he’s fully in denial about all of it, he thinks working out til u throw up is “how u get better” and he’s constantly experiencing yo-yo weightloss bc of this disgusting fucking show. also, i’m actively struggling w anorexia, everything u mentioned in this video is basically pro ana tips u see floating online n it makes me SICK to my stomach that so many ppl saw this show and are now probably doing the same things those contestants went thru on it. wow just wow.

[@Laura-qy7rc]

He doesn't sound like the best person for you to be with if you have anorexia... sorry for the random advice but I am currently recovering from an eating disorder and it means so much to have a bf that's chill about food. I just think it would be hard to be with someone who's obsessed with weight loss or excercise and him being in denial might make it hard for him to understand your struggle and support you. Maybe ye can get over things together tho

[@currybread5298]

For the longest time I too thought that exercising until it hurts is the only proper way to exercise.

[@AngelCaz7]

@@Laura-qy7rc oh yea it definitely isn’t. we got together before i relapsed n i relapsed almost 3 yrs into our relationship. i think a big reason why i did was bc of him, even tho im not rly competitive when it comes to my ed, seeing him constantly working out n stuff made me want to get on a fitness journey myself n it kinda made me spiral oops. ik i definitely shouldn’t have but u know, at the time i didnt realize how much it was triggering me. he doesn’t know i relapsed or the extent of my ed bc he’s in deep denial, therefore he wouldn’t get it n in general it’s hard for me to open up abt it other than w ppl online. im just hoping he doesnt pick up on my behavior n starts copying it on top of the other shit he does. btw im so happy u have someone who’s chill w food. being around ppl who look at food as just that is so strange n fascinating to me!

[@Laura-qy7rc]

@@AngelCaz7 ok, that's hard when ye are together so long. That's understandable, I totally think something like that would trigger me too but it is great to have these kinds of videos to remind us of what isn't normal if you can't get that from people in your life. Thank you :) it really is fascinating! I'm hoping his way is rubbing off on me 🙈 I hope things work out for you!

[@genuinedelusionsmusic]

I never made that correlation but I developed my ED at the age of 11, in 2005/2006 which is when Biggest Loser was huge! (pun intended) I watched every episode, which added to my fear of eating anything with fat in it and started counting calories. I was diagnosed with orthorexia or excersise bulimia because of my obsessive need to workout, and the mental breakdowns I would have if I felt I ate more than 800-1200 calories.

[@paulatamaramohamad5794]

As a fat person I always appreciate it when straight sized people talk about fat phobia because when fat people do it they are usually ignored. Because they are fat

[@jfm14]

Yeah, it's very telling how anyone who calls out fatphobia or defends fat people in any way in online discussions is immediately assumed to be fat themselves... probably because others default to accusing anyone they disagree with on this topic of just "making excuses" for being fat. It's a convenient justification to ignore everything we fat people have to say about our own lives, bodies, health, well-being, etc.

[@currybread5298]

Agree with ya Paula

[@Kakmanmartinez666]

It's a very real thing and I have dealt with it so many times growing up. It's blatant discrimination and harassment that's very damaging.

[@joelman1989]

very often I am much thinner than the person making fat phobic remarks. isn’t it so often the people fat shaming are not the picture of thinness? But anyway I admit it is kind of funny when they try to attack me for being fat and I’m like “well… I weigh 110 pounds my guy.” I also love dispelling the myth that skinny people get shamed just as much as heavier people. Look, as a man, my skinniness has been the result of much self esteem issues in the past and even today. I hate not being strong enough to lift a couch for my wife or help my friend move that fridge. I really sometimes feel ashamed of my weight and build and a more unaware me in high school thought it would be preferable to be “fat” and strong than skinny and weak. But I have NEVER been shamed. I’ve never had people give me dirty looks and I’ve never seen skinny shaming in the media. So whenever people try to pull the “but skinny people get shamed too” card, I feel like I’m in the position to dispel that myth.

[@ggundercover3681]

@@areitikeyks I've only witnessed skinny shamed when you look to other people to be too skinny or lanky, or bony. and this size depends on the country you live in. Sometimes people have a normal weight but they are tall and so they get skinny shamed since they look more boney than others of the same weight but shorter height. generally, you want to be "skinny" or average (but in my country not the Usa, the average size is chubby or fat so anything under seems skinny when it should be average)

[@emilytelfer7542]

The women in my family used to love the biggest loser. They also used to do weight watchers every few months. All of them would say how much they hated their bodies because they were big. In hindsight the eating disorder I developed in my teens was absolutely a result of that toxic environment. I don't blame the women who raised me. I blame the culture that brainwashed all of us. Thanks for the video. It has reminded me to love myself.

[@sg-qi7np]

same thing with me. hope you’re doing better. wishing u peace and love

[@noone-re3zp]

" I don't blame the women who raised me." You're stronger than me. I grew up with four older sisters obsessed with skinniness. The voice in my head when I look at my body in the mirror is their voices. I'd set myself on fire before I forgive them.

[@serenity8739]

I can't tell you how my it means to me to see a beautiful woman like you with societies "ideal body" (not that society will ever not shame women's bodies in whatever what they can) talk about fatphobia and how fatness is misrepresented and how this faux concern just leads to further eating disorders and medical negligence. Thank you for speaking up for us because people are more likely to listen the more people who aren't fat talk about this and accept it unfortunately, people don't want to listen to us because we are seen are just making excuses or demanding privilege. You explained everything so eloquently and thank you for believing our stories and fighting against fatphobia.

[@dr.bendover-md]

There’s no such thing as “fatphobia”.

[@gustavoliara]

If you want a difficult to watch toxic show that you can't find anywhere try "the swan". A bunch of girls that are deemed as ugly get lots and lots of beauty procedures and plastic surgeries. At the end they compete in a pageant and the winner got like lots of money and a car... I think? The concept is insanely problematic, very of it's time.

[@DoraWinifred]

Luxeria has a video series on this here on KZbin

[@peaches8864]

I can’t believe this actually exists

[@gil5885]

omg but this actually sounds so fun to be on the show if the procedures are free i'd love to do it ngl. it's definitely quite grim but i'd be down.

[@rachelcookie321]

When I first read this I thought that sounds so cool and I want to do that but then I realised that if it’s the typical American view of beauty then it’s gonna be very different than mine.

[@theoistrying9904]

@@gil5885 the thing is they pressured these women into getting surgeries they didn’t want, blasted their trauma on tv, the dentist on the team got her license disbarred for malpractice (She puts veneers on and burns near everyone’s gums the remove it.) , put on 1200 day diet, intense workout and have no mirrors to see themselves for months.

[@sighcantthinkofaname]

One thing to add about size discrimination from the legal system, this extends to their children too. Black and Latino boys are MUCH more likely to be tried as an adult in a court of law. It's really upsetting.

[@CaptainSoftboy501]

I hate this so much :')

[@joelle4226]

Isn’t that more to do with race not size.

[@sighcantthinkofaname]

@@joelle4226it's both, there are statistics that show black men are perceived as bigger and stronger than white men. People will look at a six foot tall black twelve year old, say he's the size of a fully grown man, and decide that means he's basically an adult. It's insane.

[@Robstafarian]

@@joelle4226 You should research intersectionality, whilst avoiding as much right-wing propaganda as possible.

[@joelle4226]

@@Robstafarian that was really condescending for no reason. The original commenter explained what they meant well enough.

[@hahaveggie]

When I was 11ish I signed up for the gym with my mom. I wanted to lose weight. This buff 20 something trainer did my body measurements and had me measure my body fat. He said it was very high and told me I was predisposed to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, basically he told me I was obese. Again I was around 11. I’m 27 now and it still haunts me. Fuck that guy

[@NeonWonderFire]

Jesus fucking christ. I hope to god that he doesn't work as a trainer anymore.

[@meatofmink]

I got that talk as an adult and it made me relapse It's fucked how these trainers have the gall

[@rachelcookie321]

You went to the gym at 11? In New Zealand you have to be 16 to go to the gym. Very annoying for 13 year old me who wanted to start working out but now i’m 16 and I have too much anxiety about going to the gym.

[@borkbork4124]

Someone in my family cannot keep weight on but has high cholesterol, blood pressure, and at risk for diabetes: They think they are fine because they are literally thin as a rail. They tell me all the time I am overweight because I am not a size small. So many times they have gifted me clothes too small even though I sent them my correct sizes. Yall, I got that German in me-my everything is big, even my shoe size is a womens US 9 wide.

[@serenitymoon825]

@@borkbork4124 my shoes are US women's 11 wide. I can never find cute shoes in the women's section and have been buying men's clothes since high school

[@nalcarya]

One of my inner circle of friends died last month after being hospitalised since mid-february. He was very obese but also one of the most kind, hard-working and disciplined persons I will ever know. He experienced constant mistreatment by medical staff and doctors, including not being taken seriously when sharing his health problems. He might still be alive if doctors treated him like a person instead of a weight range.

[@kaitlynng7214]

im so sorry for your loss, i hope his experience makes a change for others. much love

[@nalcarya]

@@ItsMeBarnaby That's not just wrong but also incredibly heartless and rude. Shame on you.

[@nalcarya]

@@ItsMeBarnaby It is because there was a medical background. You with your attitude are part of the problem, don't judge without knowing a thing about the situation.

[@buggybbenson]

@@ItsMeBarnaby you know nothing abt their health and ur judgment is disgusting. ur a part of the problem and would let someone die just bc they’re overweight. ur gross, maybe if u actually educated urself you’d know how wrong u are.

[@Violetmama]

@@nalcarya I’m sorry about him I hate men like that and u shouldn’t have had to read that in somewhere u thought was a safe space to share ur feelings. Anyway I’m so sorry for your loss ❤

[@meeshellart8877]

Thank you for acknowledging this "health" shield people try to use when verbally abusing overweight or obese people. All it has ever done is encourage misery and self hatred.

[@Jellybeansatdusk]

Literally! You don’t have to be in perfect health to be treated like a fucking human being! People wouldn’t say that to a cancer patient or someone who is physically disabled or even someone who has COPD from a lifetime of smoking (when their argument is often that being overweight is a “choice” which I mean imagine thinking anyone would be eager and deciding to be treated like that and dehumanized on a daily basis just for existing but that’s beside the point). These people don’t care about health. They care about their holier than thou narcissism and their need to put other people down to feel better about themselves.

[@Jellybeansatdusk]

@@ItsMeBarnaby you’re supposed to shut your mouth and stop pretending you know more about someone else’s medical information and private health than they do. You don’t know anything about them, so just treat them like normal human beings

[@chichiro8625]

@@ItsMeBarnaby because i dont know neither of this people i wont complain to anyone because of their weight

[@dr.bendover-md]

@@ItsMeBarnaby exactly.

[@dorothybelle9411]

I remember the moment I broke the spell of this show for me. I was in highschool and I was watching a previous winner come on the show and talk about how great her life was now. She said something like she still worked out for hours everyday, and I realized that spending the rest of my life working out in fear of gaining any weight would never be worth it, I wasn't going to let the singular focus of my life be being skinny.

[@TimiSterr]

You know a reality show is problematic when you need this many trigger warnings before discussing it

[@minkamausi9285]

I still can't wrap my head around the fact that in some countries they weigh children in school. That sounds like a deliberate setup to give them long time insecurities at best and actual eating disorders at worst.

[@mery8680]

In my highschool they measured girls waists as a "health check" 😂 thank god I wasn't at school that day

[@Roman-bw2fo]

@@mery8680 god that makes my skin crawl, theyre children wtf

[@mery8680]

@@Roman-bw2fo yeah, even then I had body dismorphia and was aware that that would make me hate myself for a quite amount of time.. Also, after that a lot of girls would compare their "score" and brag about it...

[@sssmm3214]

Yep I experienced that during highschool and it honestly messed me up. Being a petite girl,I was always classified as "underweight" "too small" for my age they keep telling us that we should eat more but what can we do? We can't much more cause we're already full or at our limits-- I had an unhealthy relationship with foods because of that and I'm still on process of recovery till now (sorry for my bad English it's my 2nd language hehe)

[@NeonWonderFire]

To be fair, childhood obesity is dangerous and it is concerning how many children are obese these days. That being said, shaming kids while they are still growing up is also very dangerous and more often than not, the kids aren't even responsible for what they are being fed. Not to mention economic factors that constribute to the problem.

[@chimominino]

You know, the other thing I hate about fatphobia is that there are so many systemic aspects that make it easy to become overweight, such as cheap fast food, sugar in everything, huge amounts of marketing, busy lifestyles that make it hard to exercise and cook like you said... and yet, when it comes to losing weight and 'being healthy', it's suddenly up to the individual to resist all that???? Obesity and ill health is a systemic issue, not an individual one.

[@airtempest8945]

It's literally the culture abusing the way we evolved (Binging when possible because we didn't know when food would be available next), and then blaming people for doing things the way that they're wired.

[@muldersimp2052]

This is so true. Even if the problem isn't unhealthy food, like for some it's poor mental health leading to not moving around enough. Like yes, it is possible to lose weight and maintain it but it's so much harder when you have poor mental health or health care in general or don't have access to healthy food or don't know much about nutrition. Like, if a lot of ppl are gaining weight because of unhealthy habits or poor health, is it really that hard to believe that all these ppl aren't individually responsible but pieces of a bigger systemic issue of a terrible health care system, poverty, and lack of access to healthy food.

[@dr.bendover-md]

“a systemic issue” the typical issue you don’t want to be considered accountable for.

[@rajemp7869]

Chiming in to add that weight troubles can come from organs issues, like hyper or hypo thyroid and other issues concerning our organs and hormones and it's not easy to get diagnosed. It's the kind of thing people pass as "a phase" or not an important issue thinking it'll get better one day except, it's the kind of thing that if not supervised by a doctor or requiring surgery won't go away like that. Many people forget about that sadly.

[@racpatrice]

It's both but it mainly lies with the individual. We all need to take personal responsibility for our health. Alot of people are busy and are at a healthy weight living a healthy lifestyle.

[@janakatharina2610]

Me and my parents always watched the german version of the show in 2010 or so and I‘m so happy to say that the german version isn‘t bad at all. The season I most enjoyed was a season where the pairs were father/mother and son/daughter. And they were educated in the right way about food an exercising. They had a Psychologist and a doctor who looked after them. I can remember there was a woman who desperately wanted to win.. she started to exercise in addition to those biggest loser challenges and didn‘t let her body rest anymore.. so the psychologist spoke to her about how that’s not healthy and dangerous and they made a exercising plan of how much she is allowed to exercise per day. I don’t know how but this show made me understand how hard it is to loose weight. Especially when you are as big as the contestants. So in conclusion I think the concept of the show is a good idea but the american version seems aggressive and uneducated I have to say😅

[@brunetteartist24]

Honestly, im glad a positive version of this show exists out there somewhere

[@elizabethcuevas3728]

I’m not surprised that the American version is this uneducated, damaging and terrible - an American

[@daianarutolo3068]

Germany sounds so nice when int comes to reality shows... Making The biggest loser and ANTM being positive and actually helpful? hats off

[@RealGermanish]

@@daianarutolo3068 just came to say that GNTM (Germany's version of ANTM) is absolutely not positive or helpful. There's a scandal going on right now about how the contestants are treated during the show, about the gag contracts that come after, and about the show promoting EDs among it's mostly young female audience. Heidi Klum is in the midst of being cancelled right now.

[@Hello-go5lo]

same. Aber ich muss sagen, ich dachte damals, dass sie Show "Der größte Verlierer" (also halt Loser als Beleidigung) heißt und nicht "Der größte (Gewichts-) Verlierer". Deswegen hab ich mich immer gefragt, warum sich Leute bei so einer Show überhaupt bewerben und die Show nicht weiter geguckt, weil ich dachte, dass sie erniedrigend ist🤦‍♀️

[@lilhonor5425]

My parents watched this show when I was a kid. Later in life I developed an eating disorder and as I’ve gained weight in recovery I’ve struggled a lot with it mentally. I think between my parents watching this show and fat phobia in my family impacted me more than I initially thought.

[@KatieKian]

I was just thinking the same thing. I don't know how I used to watch it so much with my mom as a kid... I struggle lots with eating disorder behaviour and body dysmorphia since childhood. You are not alone.

[@issie5580]

I’m glad you are in recovery love. I’m sending you love and a happy life

[@Genin99]

@@KatieKian There was even a documentary about an eight year old girl with Anorexia. When the girl's mom said that her daughter watched The Biggest Loser, I thought "that's the cause".

[@KatieKian]

@@Genin99 That makes so much sense. It's bizarre to look back on what we were watching as children.

[@Jay-nr3cq]

i’m sorry for what you’ve been through and i’m thrilled to hear you’re recovering!!! i wish you all the best :)))

[@amandamason440]

Thinking about how I was obsessed with this show when I was 7 and then flash forward 9 years I became anorexic- on a good note today marks 6 months in recovery ahh!!!

[@tigs6639]

Congratulations on your recovery 😌 I don't know you, but I'm proud of you🌿🌸🕊

[@mellowlemons22]

so proud!

[@amandamason440]

@@mellowlemons22 thank you, over a year in recovery now and I feel like I am 90% recovered!!!

[@raini3285]

Congrats!!! So proud of u 😁😁

[@mellowlemons22]

@@amandamason440 that’s great! inspiring me to know it gets better 💞

[@scvnthorpe__]

I remember a thread by a guy, he was skinny growing up but had shit bloodwork. He moved on to more skinnyfat/average, bloodwork started actually looking ok, but got fat shamed constantly by his family members. Shit is fucked

[@scvnthorpe__]

Also the expectation that you shouldn't have fat but also shouldn't have muscle and somehow balancing this with necessary micronutrients especially in a food desert. Like wtf

[@Laura-dl2wv]

This is the type of show I would watch to trigger myself during the worst parts of my eating disorders, that and supersized vs super skinny

[@itsanu1420]

Omg super sized vs super skinny was literally the show I used to watch constantly as a tween😭😭😭😭 literally messed me up

[@violetacoutinho]

I used to watch supersized VS super skinny while binge eating, idk why it made me feel better that I was eating a lot but I wasn't the size of the supersized contestants. I'm doing better now a days.

[@ritahelll]

At least supersize vs superskinny would show the health risks of being overweight and underweight and not eating healthy. But yeah the way they filmed and edited it was pretty exploitative.

[@sandpiperr]

Me toooo

[@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick]

My mom bought a Jillian Michaels workout DVD once and it was NOTHING like what could be found on the Biggest Loser. Surprise surprise, it was normal exercising in normal portions with normal amounts of breaks. So yeah, the exercise regiments in The Biggest Loser are even excessive by the standards of what the trainer/hosts are willing to sell you.

[@avah7696]

I used to go to a boarding school in England (I’m german) and when they weighed us, in I think it was Health class, I just cried after. I was going thru effing puberty and they told me I was too heavy. My dad already made me feel bad abt my weight before and being “overweight” according to that BMI shit, actually made me bulimic. Like wtf what was that?

[@avah7696]

I really hope that they don’t do that anymore to young girls and boys

[@hissing3904]

I honestly don't get what telling a child they're overweight is supposed to do. It's parents who provide food, instill eating behaviours and should monitor the child's mental health as well as possible conditions. How about making future parents take classes/assessments on these things as a preventive measure, instead of further traumatizing the child for no reason.

[@nova4476]

all the girls would talk about how ‘’fat’’ they were after getting weighed in class & the number was so low. i weighed almost twice as much so i never told anyone. had problems eating then & still do.

[@suoutubez19]

That’s so traumatic, what the hell? BMI isn’t even accurate or useful whatsoever. People are just fatphobic. I’m sorry that happened to you ☹️

[@georgieh7351]

@@avah7696 I'm sorry to tell you that weighing children still happens in primary school. My mum was one of the nurses that would do the weighing and checking hearing and sight, and as a bigger woman herself she always found it uncomfortable. Alas, it's the government's way of 'tackling obesity' 🙄

[@MiyaGb]

This was great! I’d be interested in you doing a video on a show called bridalplasty! Women who were engaged would compete weekly to have surgery to have their dream face/body for their wedding day!

[@hereiampercylover]

I've never heard of that show. It sounds awful but I'm not surprised it existed 😭😭

[@bambida1st]

Engaging with this for a boost so that I can see this video because wtf

[@oyasumaya]

Seconded!!!

[@salome972]

I- that's disgusting

[@alexagarciaf.278]

please wtf is this but I'll love to see a video about this lol

[@vanilloia7479]

my mom still loves this show and watches it with her wife and doesn't seem to understand why i am not comfortable with them gossiping about and laughing at "their fatties".

[@ziahood5003]

aw honey :( i’m sorry

[@vanilloia7479]

@@ziahood5003 thanks! I'm not exactly over it, i think some formative stuff stays with you forever, and this was only 1 facet of my mom's fatphobia. But I can look at that as an adult and be aware that it is not good parent behavior. Anger and disappointment instead of shame and despair ✌️

[@ziahood5003]

@@vanilloia7479 exactly! so proud of you. as someone who grew up in a similar environment, i can without a doubt tell you that although it is hard, there is a day where you will realize that you’ve overcome all the burdens your parent(s) have put on you. i believe in you honey :-)

[@rachelcookie321]

I guess this shows someone can be progressive about one thing and not about something else.

[@ziahood5003]

@@rachelcookie321 progressive about...?

[@MichiruEll]

When I was 5 years old, my parents separated and I coped by overeating. At age 6 they sent me to a children's dietitian. I don't remember what they said, but the conclusion I got from it is that I was bad for the way my body looked. Guess who has a messed up relationship with food and is still fat at 30 and still way too often uses food as a coping mechanism? What I needed back then was emotional support. Maybe a child therapist, or maybe my family to take more time to show me love. Not a bloody dietician.

[@mastersnet18]

@@ItsMeBarnabyon the contrary, it makes the MOST sense. If diet and exercise alone helped so much we wouldn’t have a trillion dollar weight loss industry.

[@beanis1991]

as someone who was harassed most of my childhood for being chunky, it pushed me into a hole of emotional eating, hating my body and making a way more of a job in my 30's to fix the part of my brain that is fat-phobic to myself because of it. As an obese (and working on it) adult I am happier than ever to see this video, I'm learning to love myself and it's a fucking journey but I'm here and doing it and this video brought tears to my eyes, you are beyond open minded and extremely smart and thank you, for giving so much voice to the people, all people of all kinds . You're a gem babe, everyone needs someone like you.

[@currybread5298]

I hope all well to you Bean

[@beanis1991]

@@currybread5298 blessings to u curry bread

[@hatarlera]

Your hair looks beautiful!!

[@jordanatheresa]

thank you !!

[@katatat2030]

This reminds me soo much of rehab; treating mental illnesses with a short period of torture instead of long-term therapy and medication. And reinforcing the idea that health is about morality and willpower.

[@LunaWitcher]

24:45 According to my nutritionist, the human body loses the first 10% of its weight faster than all the rest of the weight loss. So, if I weighted 250lbs, my body would lose 25lbs super fast, and then significantly slow down how much weight I lose to avoid getting into shock. Losing 10% of your weight super fast (compared to how much you usually lose in your day to day) is very demanding on your system, and to keep losing so much so fast would be extremely detrimental to one's health, so the body avoids it.

[@Gna_d54]

This! There's actually nothing shocking about losing 10 lbs in the first week especially when you consider these people are 100-200 lbs overweight and were likely eating terribly right before they got there and had done zero exercises. it actually would be pretty normal to see a 5-10 lb drop in each week for the first couple.

[@ShanniBananni]

Sad fact: Jillian Michaels was allegedly verbally/emotionally abused by her father. She moved out or was put out as a minor due to the conditions in her home. I think that's why she acts this way. She thinks it's normal to talk to people like that. Now, she has no motivation to behave like a normal, well mannered person because she has become wealthy by being abusive and reactive.

[@sandpiperr]

Yeah, her ex-girlfriend and business partner has talked about her being verbally abusive to wait staff at restaurants too.

[@awesweet2965]

My eating disorder of 8 years started when kids were weighed at school. And the girls compared their numbers and mine was a little different.

[@sparkleFashion13]

The dehydration tactics just prove there is absolutely no science/research or care in the show... anyone who loves fitness and working out should know that sweating has nothing to do with losing weight and isn’t even a good indicator of a good workout, it just means your hot and your body’s attempt to cool down. I feel so bad for the individuals that had to go through that :////

[@ellag3265]

It's horrific. Anyone who knows anything about science would encourage them to drink plenty of water before a workout.

[@choccymilkconnoisseur2775]

@@ellag3265 no, you should not drink heaps of water before a workout, you could throw up or get indigestion. you should slowly sip on water throughout your workout

[@nina.robbs565]

not to mention how dehydration can CAUSE weight gain😭 they're really not helping anyone out

[@val-zl7bm]

I remember watching this show when I was like 6/8 years old, and I think it's something that is playing a big role on my current body dysmorphia and the internalized fatphobia i'm fighting with today

[@jaybirdvlogs7279]

Same lol

[@milkteamachine]

When I was 17 and neck deep into an eating disorder, I used to watch this show while working out and for thinspo. I also fully absorbed the "If it hurts just push through" message and ended up seriously injuring my knee, to the point where I only recently started being able to run again without pain 10 years later.

[@s.stevens4520]

I'll never forget the episode where Jillian Michaels opened up about when she was overweight. She talked about it like it was the most disgusting thing ever... she was a whopping 150 pounds.........That was my goal weight!!!!! 🤦‍♀️

[@devonmunn5728]

Yeah like....I don't think that's even that big for a 13 year old. Like yeah she is short so I don't think she was a skinny Minnie but still

[@XsomeoneXelseX]

There was a girl in my high school friend group who was obsessed with this show. She would laugh at the contestant's suffering. All the other girls in that group with whom I'm still in contact with agree now that she was a psychopath.

[@AleTitan]

@l c most likely

[@gothboithick]

i swear most people who enjoyed this show must be sadists.

[@freyamartin2649]

I watched this show so much as a teenager and it really contributed to my eating disorder. It wasn't at all advocating for everyday healthy eating and lifestyle - it was all about extremes and self-hatred.

[@s...5885]

i am LOVING these reality show reviews so much omg

[@jordanatheresa]

thank u !! i’m enjoying making them 🥰🥰

[@Faythe98]

My grandparents watched this show at dinner with me when i was little. Surprise surprise I later developed anorexia.

[@triplecoasta333]

i hope that eventually, maybe even after my lifetime, there will be a time where body shape and weight aren't this HUGE factor and focus in life. i have intense body dysmorphia, there's good days and not so good days. but the thought of anyone, even people i don't know, experiencing this feeling is sickening and sad. i never judge people on their body or even comment on it for this reason alone. i hate when im with someone and they say something negative about a complete STRANGERS body. i genuinely think all shapes and sizes are beautiful.

[@CaptainSoftboy501]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 AMEN TO EVERYTHING YOU SAID. Unfortunately, I agree that maybe these changes wont happen until after our lifetime, but people speaking up about it NOW gives me hope :')

[@JM-hd3lr]

it sadly won’t happen bc capitalism thrive off our insecurities (makeup, plastic surgery, braces…)

[@WhitneyDahlin]

Sure being obese doesn't mean you currently have health problems. But it guarantees you will have health problems by the time you're 40 if you do not change your lifestyle. That's what people are referring to. Also no being obese is not healthy eat for you. It is not healthy for your knees and back, isn't healthy for your skeletal system, it isn't healthy for your skin. It isn't healthy. It can't be. Just like being skeletally thin isn't healthy for you either. If it wasn't unhealthy to be obese then people wouldn't have large flaps of skin whenever they lose weight now would they? But they do because being obese is incredibly unhealthy for your skin and incredibly damaging. That doesn't mean we should judge anyone for being obese. It literally isn't anyone's business whether someone else is healthy or not. But she's really spreading misinformation and pretending like there are no physical and emotional health downsides to being obese.

[@JM-hd3lr]

@@WhitneyDahlin no she’s just saying that these methods do more harm than good and that shaming unhealthy ppl doesn’t work

[@MyLoserBrain]

@@JM-hd3lr she literally says at the beginning of the vid that being obese isnt unhealthy 🤦 the show is bad but she honestly doesnt understand that the fat acceptance community calls people like me an the other commenter "fatphobic" when what they said is right an that i agree with them somehow us bad people.

[@sophdog2564]

So fun fact, this show is pretty much the only reality show I watched as a kid, and my mom would always put it on. I never saw an issue with it because I was like 7 and didn't really have a frame of reference for how messed up it was. I just thought "Oh wow how good that they're helping people lose weight" Then my mom stopped watching it at some point and I forgot it existed and I saw this video and was like "Oh yeah, that's fucked up"

[@Ashley-qu7db]

My family has always been chunky and my dad ( who is a raging narcissist lol) was obsessed with this show and he would yell at us and tell us we had to lose 100 pounds and I remember crying because I was so young I didn’t even weigh 100 pounds yet lol.

[@juliee593]

Did he want you to become anti matter or something

[@Ashley-qu7db]

@@juliee593 lmao apparently 😂

[@emilian7052]

He’s definitely insecure about himself

[@Ashley-qu7db]

@@ItsMeBarnaby indeed haha.

[@emilian7052]

@@Ashley-qu7db you know he’s being sarcastic right

[@waffywaffburg9150]

I actually remember watching this when it first aired (I was in high school still) this show was in the same zeitgeist as the show the sawn which I also watched when it aired. I remember wishing I could go on the biggest loser and I would watch it feeling inspired to starve and exercise myself to super skinny beauty but in reality I feel like it just helped fuel my unhealthy obsession on my body and thinking I’m just not working hard enough if I had someone to berate me like Julian maybe I could do it! But I had no Julian so I just talked to myself like she would to her clients just constant demanding more exercise, less food etc. I still have body issues to this day but to say this show is the reason would be disingenuous as I would say I had the issues already but shows like this just keep the thoughts going.

[@DarkMochaFrapp]

Whoa, I remember the swan! Messed me up seeing those women get all that surgery to go with the weight loss!

[@sarahmcdonald6980]

i was told by my doctor at 16 that i needed to lose weight and she put me on weight watchers, started a years long ordeal with anorexia, of course when i went back to the doctor at my new tiny size she congratulated me, despite being at the weakest and most unhealthy point of my entire life

[@sophiebosio8171]

This is so blatantly damaging!! Physically, mentally, socially... I would guess that even if the contestants did manage to lose weight on the show, their bodies could easily end up in overall worse shape because of the abuse (malnutrition and overexercising) and either way, the experience would probably be another entry on an already long list of traumas in the contestants' lives, which may even cause the contestants to behave more self-destructingly after the fact. Not necessarily over-eating, but other maladaptive coping mechanisms as well. It's horrifying to think about how many people had to approve of this show in order for it to be filmed, produced, broadcast and consumed...

[@Genin99]

Kai Hibbard is a prime example of that, when she went home for the episode before the finale, her boyfriend noticed that she was covered with bruises, eating noting, spending too long at the gym and weighing herself to the point where he had to hide the scale. Luckily Kai's boyfriend organized an intervention with her friends and family members, the intervention resulting in Kai getting treatment and her boyfriend is now her husband.

[@piggypige]

I know my eating disorder is back in full swing because my reaction to this video was "worth it". Society has no respect for overweight people and it breaks my heart how associated my weight is with self worth. I just imagine what I would think about myself when i was 3 years old and cry.

[@1917yee]

I just finished reading "fearing the black body" and it was AMAZING!!! I'm so glad you brought it up!

[@sierraking3171]

Please review the show Bridalplasty!!! Pitting women against each other and themselves to have a complete body overhaul for their wedding days. The fair well they said to each contestant sent home “you’re wedding will still go on, you just won’t be perfect” ugh awful

[@GreatBooker]

Omg that show was a fever dream I hope she sees this comment

[@jasminelambert3753]

I literally just looked at the nutrition facts on Kraft Mac and cheese and a serving (prepared with milk and butter like the instructions) is literally only 360 calories. Definitely not 2000 lol

[@lenschowbooks]

It's also so unfair to compare the weight loss between those with uteruses to those without since the weight of someone with a uterus can naturally fluctuate several pounds for some people every month... like, how is that fair??

[@KP-ej7gc]

You mean women?

[@АнастасияЛаврентьева-я6э]

The uterus doesn't affect weight gain/loss. Hormones do. Hormones characteristic to women. Just say women and men 🤦

[@lenschowbooks]

@@KP-ej7gc I mean people with a uterus. Can be women, can be men, can be non binary, can be genderfluid or other 🤷

[@lenschowbooks]

@@АнастасияЛаврентьева-я6э not only women have a uterus and therefore not only women have those hormones

[@АнастасияЛаврентьева-я6э]

@@lenschowbooks you are talking about gender. I'm taking about sex in reference to biology

[@lee-ci8mj]

I watched some episodes with my mom and I feel like the personal trainers HATED the contestants and couldn’t empathize with them at all…

[@morganwespiser275]

I'm only at the seven minute mark at present, but it is such a relief to hear someone talk about the fact that being weighed at school and judged by your teachers and peers can be really traumatizing! The exact thing happened to me where my BMI was "overweight", I had to read it aloud to my whole class for physical education, and because of everyone's judgement that moment really marked the start of a really unhealthy mentality towards my weight that would develop into an ed. A lot of people I've known personally who've struggled with body image issues and eds went through something very similar too. Maybe if all of us talk about how horrible that experience can be then the next generation of teachers won't do that to their students and kids won't have to struggle the same way we have :) Love the video!

[@TerriMRoberts]

Ooooof that show is so bad and speaking as a fitness trainer, I have never been so happy as when it was finally cancelled. I teach courses to become a personal trainer & I actually use this shoe as an example of how *not* to be a trainer. Even when I took my courses & was a newbie trainer, the behaviour seen from the cast of this show was unthinkable for certified trainers. And I do mean "cast" because they're there to entertain, not educate. Sadly it was so damn popular for so long it has left a lot of people with a very negative impression of what exercise should be. And there's the thing; just FYI, there's no legislation for what qualifications a person needs to be a fitness trainer and someone on this show - not gonna say who to cover my butt legally, but you can figure it out pretty easily - was not a *certified* trainer at the time this show was on. They've got an empire of home workout DVDs etc some of which I tell my student-trainers to watch so they can pick out how bad they are. Also, 100% agree Maintenance Phase is awesome. I recommend them to my students too.

[@poromise]

Haven't watched the biggest loser, but I know that at least my 600lb life is horrible. It features people with histories of horrible abuse and mental health problems who use food as a comfort mechanism, and the treatment is always the same: a 1200 calorie diet, will yourself to lose enough weight to qualify for gastric band surgery, maybe some therapy after losing some weight if Dr. Now feels like it. In pretty much every episode the first thing they should do is start therapy (and possibly medication) and get to the root cause of the overeating, rather than making them go on a 1200 cal diet cold turkey, abandon their comfort mechanism without tackling the need for it, and watch them struggle to lose any weight at all. Cruelty makes for great TV ratings though.

[@layan4124]

Yes! I've always wondered why they gave them such low calorie diets when they're used to eating 10s of thousands of calories daily? 1200 calories is nearly starvation for me and im 440 pounds less than 600.. ridiculous!! it needs to be treated like an addiction because it IS!

[@retrogirl2498]

Yesss they choose people with the most mental health struggles give them a list of what they can and can’t eat, no recipes no demonstration of how to make cooking those foods easier. Then give them no type of therapy just a camera in their face and then they’re told they aren’t trying hard enough at the doctor. like it’s no wonder so many of them fail.

[@joelle4226]

@@layan4124 because to lose weight they need to be at a calorie deficit.

[@joelle4226]

@@retrogirl2498 yeah it’s sad I think the first episode of it was good but after that it wasn’t good to watch

[@layan4124]

@@joelle4226 yes, but their maintenance calories would still be thousands above that, so they'd be in a deficit even if they ate 3000cal a day or more in some situations. It's just too cruel for these chronic over eaters because 1200cal is under eating for most healthy weights as well

[@loverrlee]

I’ve struggled with my weight all my life. I’ve been skinny and I’ve been fat. Multiple times in my life, I’ve gained or lost roughly 50 pounds. But I finally learned that I have PCOS (which is a hormonal disorder) which explains a lot of why I struggled so much with my weight because even if I was eating very healthy, sometimes even undereating, and I would still struggle to even maintain my weight. After months of working out and eating at or below 1200 calories a day I’d still be maintaining at a high weight, but then I’d give in and eat pizza and then I’d LOSE weight?! Like what?! My body is still a mystery to me honestly. And the truth is, even if you think we understand how fat works, the truth is we just don’t actually understand everything that goes into someone’s weight. Science is just now proving that hormones actually play a much bigger role in weight maintenance than we previously ever knew…

[@no1inparticular487]

yeah honestly I think that there is an increadible amount of things we dont understand about bodies- the info we know is so clouded by missinformation, fatphobia, sexism, racism prejudice etc . so many doctors arent taught correctly about nutrition how.. the hell is the general public supposed to understand it??? also u might have allready wached it, but the youtuber Leena Norms has a video on her PCOS if u ever wanted to talk in the comments etc to people who have had a similar experience

[@sahrai7492]

I have pcos too and have talked about it to family members and they basically told me it was just another excuse for not wanting to be “healthy” and just like you there’s been times where I’ve starved myself because I had to work from early morning to night and barely ate anything and I would gain weight. It was the worst I also remember going to the doctor because my ear was bleeding and they told me it was because I was fat and needed to go on a diet.

[@loverrlee]

@@sahrai7492 That's so awful I'm sorry that has happened to you! I know my husband has also had that problem, going to the doctor for something completely unrelated to weight only to be told it's because he's fat and needs to lose weight. And we both have literally starved ourselves for weeks on end (for a fat person this is just called "fasting" and is actually encouraged). So we have fasted for weeks on end and sure, we'd lose about 10 pounds, but only to gain all back immediately after eating any food again (we're talking salads). It's why it's so hard to maintain healthy eating in the long run when it doesn't seem to matter if I eat healthy or unhealthy, my body wants to stay the same overweight size I was as a teenager. No matter how much I try, my body just seems to naturally want to stay at that weight if I'm eating salads or if I'm eating pizza. It doesn't seem to matter at all...

[@TheRealBlkButterfly]

I can tell you that back in 2006-07 I used to let my then 6-7 year old son watch biggest loser because I really thought it was one of the most child safe options at that time of night. What I didn't anticipate, at that time, was the negative impact this show would have on him. He developed an eating disorder for a while there and cried that he didn't want to get fat like the people on TV. As soon as this behaviour started to show in my very young child I stopped all watching of the show and got him to speak with someone to help him through that awful thought and feeling process. Edit: I should add also that he has ALWAYS been very slim, as is everybody in our family. We are all quite tall and quite slim. But the TV show made him feel like if he ate then he would be morbidly obese.

[@charlottewillis5653]

I used to watch this when I was younger and thought it was kind of messed up then, but now, OH LORD. I grew up in the age of serious fatphobia (where you aspired to be a size 00) and I find it so crazy that this show was even allowed to air. Just imagine how reinforcing this was for so many people growing up, being scared of eating the wrong thing, told they needed to be a certain size in order to be "healthy". Just disgusting. Thank you Jordan for sharing your thoughts!!

[@gingerdevonshire1479]

I watched this show when I was in middle school, and guess what? I developed anorexia over highschool and huge anxiety towards gaining any amount of weight, something that am still battling even in my late 20's

[@ameria_eve]

thank you for speaking out about fat phobia as a slim person. people hardly want to listen to bigger people. it’s just like you said just because you have certain type of body doesn’t mean that you are unhealthy/healthy.

[@sundaygirl4299]

honestly me being forcefully weighed in school at the age of 10 as well as being horrendously bullied for being slightly overweight were literally the two root causes of a 12 year long ED that I’m still suffering from now

[@handsomesquidward1731]

I remember my mom watching this when I grew up. The more she watched it, the more she talked about wanting to lose weight, but the thing is, she always lived a very healthy lifestyle, and nobody would described her as overweight. She started trying all kinds of diets, but the one that concerned me the most was the one where You eat for 5 days and then You only drink water for 2 days. She always calls herself fat and ugly, and it all started after she started watching the show.

[@mstly4lg]

Jordan Theresa, in your Marry Harry video, you mentioned how you and your boyfriend recognised the unfair treatment of black constants in reality TV, and that's been on my mind ever since. I would be highly interested if you did a video on this. A someone of Caribbean heritage, I'm fully aware of these occurrences on TV and I would relish a video articulating what happens. Controversial, but even most recently, Jairzinho's elimination from Bake Off felt unfair. The way Paul said to him 'don't give me that waffle' can easily be passed off as a joke, but as someone who in day to day life experiences passive racism, I felt the agressive undertones of that comment- not calling Paul racist, just saying he wouldn't have spoken like that to, say, Maggie.

[@cherry-colouredpunk]

the amount that these contestants would lose in a week (or a few weeks) is about the same as i did due to having a chronic illness and it's just insane to me,,, like they were quite literally losing weight at the rate that only an ill person can

[@halloweentownhigh420]

Losing weight doesn't mean being healthier. PLUS some contestants lose fat, but gain muscle. And muscle weighs more than fat, so at the weigh ins, the people end up gaining weight just because they are more muscular

[@frotlupz6766]

Anytime I saw this show as a kid, I always felt uncomfortable because the way the trainers talked to and yelled at the contestants reminded me of the verbal abuse I was going through during that time from my grandfather.

[@awkwardtaco056]

This was truly one of the strangest walks down memory lane I've had, my mom watched this show religiously during it's OG run and I vividly recalled things you brought up that mysteriously lacks footage on KZbin, such as contestants having to drag around food trucks, the temptation challenges, or the mini fridge elimination room. Even as early as 8-11 years old I remember feeling really uncomfortable at a lot of the show's messages and content that indeed was just straight up abusive/exploitative of the contestants. It's pretty tragic being able to so easily link my mother's own internalized fatphobia and unhealthy diet habits she tried to push onto me back to this cesspool of a show. Absolutely phenomenal video though and I'm stoked to watch part 2 :)

[@SteviiLove]

As a small woman with graves disease, I can't tell you how many times I've had to educate people that just because I'm skinny doesn't mean I'm healthy; I have an autoimmune disease that makes it impossible for me to gain or maintain healthy weight. I've been at least 10 pounds underweight my entire life which is just as unhealthy and can lead to lots of issues too. Honestly, the most common responses I get are "it must be nice to be so skinny", "I wish I was as skinny as you" while not taking into account how being so thin from an illness they can't see had negatively impacted and effected my life.

[@georgieh7351]

Literally the only way I've managed to get to a 'healthy' weight was by starving myself. I would like to lose some weight again, but I need to find the best way for me that won't trigger an eating disorder.

[@samcornell7829]

If you focus on what you eat instead of how much it helps (biggest one is eating lots of fruits and vegetables for good carbs and fats) and at least light excerise (think walking a dog even a couple times a week)

[@sadmo5236]

Oh wow the last time I saw Jillian, I was a high schooler starving myself on a liquid diet doing her 2 hour cardios, what a time

[@julietwells7686]

Your hair looks stunning!!

[@Colourinne]

When you said hospitals often jump to blaming weight before helping patients - I FELT that. This happened to me last year and I never even questioned it until you said that. I have multiple chronic illnesses, have had them for 14 years and gradually gained weight over the years due to medication and am now considered morbidly obese. I went to the hospital because I thought I had an internal abscess again and nearly died last time this happened, when it finally got checked out it turned out to be a muscle tear I asked what the cause could be and the technician immediately said ‘well you aren’t in the best shape’ And only now am I thinking, yeah I’m not in the best shape, but I also have a condition that attacks my joints, muscles and tissues, so like… maybe that contributes as well? 🤣 Thankyou for your eloquence 🥰💕

[@ispeakewok]

Looking at the comments, so many people used to watch this show with their mums. Can we take a minute to acknowledge the intergenerational indoctrination in to the Church of hating your body. Our poor mums.

[@cherry-colouredpunk]

i completely forgot this show existed but I know i definitely saw a few episodes on tv growing up, early 2000s reality tv was BRUTAL

[@averyeml]

I’m very much overweight and almost always have been but every time a doctor has checked me up they’re shocked to see that it has little affect on my actual health. I got a lap band right out of high school because my insurance covered it and it has helped keep me at a weight I like, and one of the things the doctor who ran my entire procedure was impressed about was that there wasn’t a fatty buildup on any organs, which is apparently a thing overweight people get. I am able to move without issue or pain, I have even run a few 5ks. But anyone who looks at my clothing size or general build assumes I’m unhealthy based on fat alone.

[@noone-re3zp]

You have to be overweight for a long period of time for it to affect your health. And you have to be *very* overweight for fat cells to get big enough to surround your organs.

[@Vex_TheJester]

​@@noone-re3zp people also have a very twisted idea of what it means to be overweight, especially people who grew up in the 90s and 2000s

[@malloryhaberlack]

All through out my schooling here in America the Gym teachers would read your weight out in front of the class. It was torture for me I was one the biggest kids in the school and it made me feel sooo isolated.

[@Mad_scientist_huburis]

I remember watching this show when I was younger and seeing the trainers praise contestants for exercising to the point of vomiting. They would go on about how proud they were that they were ‘pushing themselves’ in retrospect, that’s super messed up

[@JlNXED]

Imagine if there was actually a show about informative or personalized healthy eating, mental health, safety of working out, and maintaining healthy weight, i don’t understand why it’s so hard, and there’s so much bs in society, and not as much support, just learning about the body and food and mind and such would be helpful, they say losing weight is all mental, but why is there not much support for this, people go through a lot, not to mention present health issues or disorders and coping mechanisms, or even learning basic things you’re just expected to know things and how to do them, yet when you don’t you are shamed and you have try figure it out with no help

[@ashmondthesoutherntrashmon2210]

I love your hair! Thank you so much for making these videos,they really help me and i'm sure many others xx

[@probablymiku]

my dad told my sister and i growing up that a super muscular fitness dude in his class had his BMI say he was obese. It’s so flawed and i’m grateful that i was taught at around 9-10 years old to take it with a huge grain of salt

[@kyliesmith521]

My mother watched this show weekly when I was kid. We had so many fitness magazines around the house some with Julian’s face plastered on them. I didn’t think much of any of it as a kid but my mother definitely had a lot of body image issues which she passed on to me. She had a degree in healthy living so I just assumed that those things were normal. I had a bad relationship with working out in my early teen years. Working out everyday on top of sports teams and school gym classes. No matter if I was spending the might at a friends or it was a holiday because I would feel fat if I didn’t. I felt fat no matter what just because I had a different body type and some natural fat on my body. I tried so hard to look like those skinny lean white models on the fitness magazines. Looking back I was the skinniest I could possibly be yet all those fitness magazines and shows warped my brain into thinking I had lose X amount of pounds and workout everyday for hours or I’d be unworthy.

[@iziroz7298]

coming from someone who has struggled with food anxiety, binge eating disorders, childhood and adulthood obesity, that has first had experience of health inequality within the NHS and lack of job opportunities on the basis of my weight you speak with such sensitivity and eloquently about fatphobia. I cannot comment on my personal experience with the intersectionality between fatphobia and racism because I am a white woman; however you explain things in an easily digestible unpretentious way that is informed and interesting. definitely reccommeding this video to my mum who works in eating disorders and is someone who struggles to identify how fatphobia is rooted in racism and the prevalence it still has in the nhs today. much love xx

[@yorick2284]

I used to love this show as a teenager - I was a fat kid who turned into an anorexic teen and I used it for 'motivation'.