It’s heralded as one of the most popular weight loss shows in America.
But is it too good to be true?
According to Kai Hibbard, a former contestant on The Biggest Loser, it is. In a scathing new editorial published by the New York Post, she now slams the show for promoting unhealthy behaviors, which ultimately destroyed her health.
She even claims the show’s dangerous fitness routines caused her feet to bleed through her shoes–for nearly 3 weeks.
“There was no easing into it,” says Hibbard, who appeared on season 3 of The Biggest Loser. “That doesn’t make for good TV. My feet were bleeding through my shoes for the first three weeks.”
Why the Biggest Loser is Dangerous
Though the show’s producers continue to maintain it promotes ‘a healthy lifestyle,’ that is clearly not the case, according to Hibbard and other contestants. According to some reports, calories are whittled down to fewer than 1,000 calories a day–nutritionists usually don’t recommend eating fewer than 1,200 calories per day–with Hibbard reporting she ate around 400 calories at her peak during the competition.
Worse yet, the foods that were “approved” were hardly healthy choices–processed cheese, energy drinks, Jell-O and butter sprays were trainer-approved.
“Safe weight loss is one to two pounds per week, and most people find that hard,” says Lynn Darby, a Bowling Green State University professor of exercise science. “If you reduce your calories to less than 800-1,000 a day, your metabolism will shut down.”
To make matters worse, the show forced the contestants to start working out immediately–to the tune of five to eight hour workouts. Hibbard claims she collapsed, but the trainer’s response was to remind her of how fat she was, and even recommended smoking as a way to dull her appetite.
Both Hibbard and nutritionists agree: This regimen isn’t healthy.
“Add five to eight hours of exercise a day–that’s like running a marathon, in poor shape, five days a week,” says Darby. “I’m surprised that no one’s really been injured on the show.”
The Healthy Way to Diet
Though The Biggest Loser does make you thin, there’s one catch: It’s unhealthy. Its toll on a person’s physical health is hellish enough; research even shows that eating few calories and exercising too much can actually eat away at muscle, putting people at a higher risk of regaining weight.
But what if you want to really lose weight?
It’s actually not that complicated, say health experts–just focus on making small changes gradually.
“With most weight-loss programs, people gain at least half of the weight back,” says Darby. “And the people who are most successful in our studies are the ones who make small changes over the long term–so I can’t imagine that anyone on ‘The Biggest Loser’ has weight loss that’s sustainable.”
Readers: What do you think of The Biggest Loser?
Source:
The Brutal Secrets Behind ‘The Biggest Loser’ – NYPost.com
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