The Slowest Loser
Contestants lined up for the television show The Biggest Loser segment taped on Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House in 2009. Photograph REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
The Biggest Loser has been one of the most popular reality shows of the current millennium. The contestants, ranging from significantly overweight to morbidly obese, were offered once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to work out with celebrity trainers. With Bob Harper screaming in one ear and Jillian Michaels shouting in the other, contestants were pushed to their physical limits in an effort to shed pounds ASAP.
They were worked hard and not in a kind way. In fact, TBL sensationalized weight loss, placing it at center stage and training the spotlight on it. But the idolization of taking off pounds led to unintended consequences.
Many contestants wound up with results that were the polar opposite of what they were hoping to...
