Slate’s Dan Engbar after watching a full episode of The Biggest Loser (~16:00):
I found it shocking. Shocking! And compelling. … I was shocked at how fraudulent it is just from top to bottom. And I found it compelling to see people fall off of treadmills and vomit.
Well worth a listen to Slate’s longer panel discussion. HT Yoni Freedhoff for the pointer; see Yoni’s blog Weighty Matters for lots more on The Biggest Loser.
Weight Maven is written by Beth Mazur. Beth believes that obesity is more symptom than cause and that the real problem is our Western diet -- especially sugar, refined grains, and industrial oils. Beth writes about nutrition, ancestral health, & food policy. And cats! 
I’m appalled by the Biggest Loser, I cannot watch that show.
Great discussion on slate. I’m glad that Yoni regularily takes this show to task on his blog.
I’ve admitted previously that TBL is one of my guilty pleasures. I cannot stand the trainer abuse, don’t like that folks are voted off (why can’t everyone stay on the ranch for the length of the show?), and am very distressed that TBL, like gastric bypass, may seem to work initially but isn’t necessarily long lasting.
Oh, but the people and the stories. They get me most of the time. TBL, I wish I could quit you!
Beth, I think your TBL addiction is rather interesting. I couldn’t watch more than a minute of that show without throwing up myself. However, I too have a guilty pleasure (although I’m working hard on kicking the habit): I read two of the nastiest weight loss bloggers around. They both take infinite pleasure in mocking a couple of bloggers who are (currently) not particularly successful with their weight-loss attempts.
Their venom is definitely on par with TBL. The woman blogger reminds me of the nastiest queen bee in high school. She has a coterie of readers who back up her nasty comments like a bunch of drones. The male blogger (and the two are definitely on-line buddies) is equally horrible and has his own following of zombies (mostly, if not all, women).
I used to read these two every day, just to see just how mean they could get. They were never disappointing but I started to feel really upset, as if I were feeding the trolls. Since Jan. 1, I have looked at these two blogs once each. I’m aiming for total abstinence.
Wendy, I suppose it helps that I typically watch TBL via DVR and fast forward thru the worst bits (workouts and challenges). BTW, I know exactly which blogs you are talking about; the woman’s used to be in my feed too, but I decided that I just didn’t need that kind of toxic read on a regular basis!
@Beth: I’ve never watched TBL. My daughter-in-law has been known to watch it, occasionally, with the sound turned off and the text of the TBL discourse running at the bottom of the screen (intended for folks with hearing issues). She keeps the sound off because she doesn’t want to damage her 2 year old who plays with her toys in the same room and could otherwise hear some very nasty bullying. Thank goodness my granddaughter can’t hear that abusive yelling and intimidating body gestures. I do believe that kind of sick yelling and hostile faces (scary!), as portrayed on Yoni’s blog posts about TBL, could be very damaging for a toddler to hear—well, also harmful for me and probably many others to hear.
I wonder if the past contestants who lost a lot of fat (both winners and runner’s up), then regained a lot, could organize a class action law suit (surely there are enough of them by now, after all these seasons) and reveal the exact details of the damaging weight-loss aftermath to their bodies and to their psyches. I understand they are contractually bound to keep silent, but if enough of them came forward in solidarity (and gleaned support from fat acceptance activists and others who have experienced oppression or stigma) then perhaps they could blow the lid off the b.s. and hegemonic myths which are perpetrated by the distorted (one sided) view of what happens after weight is lost.
I know. I’m dreaming big.
@Wendy: Give yourself a big hug and a pat on the back for joining the resistance movement against fat-stigma-supporting blogs and shows. Your mind and heart are no doubt grateful for your effort! :) As they say in recovery circles, aim first for “Progress not Perfection!”