The Dead Weight

So I fast-forwarded through the Biggest Loser finale the other night. Somehow they managed to fit 14 minutes of compelling programming into a scant two-hour time-slot. This season was won by the woman of ambiguous ethnicity (the younger one).

I enjoy the show and I enjoy the idea of people making positive changes in their life but there’s certainly something a bit depressing (or hilarious, depending on my mood) when you read or hear of the “winners” gaining back some or all of the weight.

For example, Ryan, the guy who won the first year ended up gaining all the weight back. Here’s what he wrote about his preparations for the last show in his season:

I wanted to win so bad that the last ten days before the final weigh-in I didn’t eat one piece of solid food! If you’ve heard of “The Master Cleanse” that’s what I did. Its basically drinking lemonade made with water, fresh squeezed lemon juice, pure maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. The rules of the show said we couldn’t use any weight-loss drugs, well I didn’t take any drugs, I just starved myself! Twenty-four hours before the final weigh-in I stopped putting ANYTHING in my body, liquid or solid, then I started using some old high school wrestling tricks. I wore a rubber suit while jogging on the treadmill, and then spent a lot of time in the steam room. In the final 24 hours I probably dropped 10-13 lbs in just pure water weight. By the time of the final weigh-in I was peeing blood.

Fun!