No Pain No Gain

The Biggest Loser is a reality television show. In this game show, contestants compete to lose the most weight. This is done within a limited amount of time. In order to be chosen as a contestant, each person who wants to be on the show goes through a selection process. Each contestant sends in a video explaining the reasons why they want to be on The Biggest Loser. Once the contestants are on the show, they are put to the test. They must complete an exercise challenge as soon as they arrive. Who ever is the least successful at the challenge has a greater chance of facing elimination, at the end of the week. Elimination happens every week to push the contestants who want to be healthy, less over weight, and live longer.

Inspiration is a key factor in the reasoning behind The Biggest Loser. While viewing The Biggest Loser with my boyfriend, Matt, he had mentioned that he used to watch The Biggest Loser throughout high school and had followed contestants weight loss. He had also explained that it had been one of the inspirations to get him to where he is today, a personal trainer. Matt was inspired by the trainers on the show with how they pushed the contestants. Without the motivation that the trainers portray throughout each season, Matt may have not chosen the major he did. He majored in Exercise Science. Another inspiration example is in episode two when the trainers revealed the contestant biological age to them. Most of the contestants biological age was 15-20  years more than their actual age. If they were not obese, they may live longer. This is an eye-opener for both the contestants and the viewer. "A person may find inspiration in the perceived physical and psychological changes the program offers, but...that inspiration is unlikely to turn to action[,]" Readdy and Ebbeck explain in "Weighing in on NBC's The Biggest Loser" (585-586). Therefore, watching reality television with an open mind, could possibly change someone's decision on what path to take throughout life. 

Before and After 

The Biggest Loser provides a view into how a contestant's weight problem is revealed to the world through reality television. How they react to the emotional stress of this exposure is expressed in personal interviews throughout the show. One of the contestants, Sam, was angry at his trainer for pushing him to try harder during a 5K run. Five kilometers is equal to 3.2 miles. As a competitive runner, I was thinking, "oh come on; it's not even that long" but he was actually stressed out and walked the entire way. I was extremely disappointed in Sam. Another example, occured when a contestant could not participate because there was high risk of a heart attack. This shows the audience that no matter how badly someone may want to lose weight they may not be able to. One other example is on episode two, during a biological age reveal, a contestant was given the bad news that she would only have a predicted 15 more years to live. This number of years was only if she did not lose weight. Michelle Obama, the previous first lady in the United States, put a healthy eating law for schools in effect when Barack Obama came into presidency. She understood the importance of weight management and healthy eating. As "Michelle Obama [said while on the] show[,] The Biggest Loser, 'I am a big fan of The Biggest Loser because the contestants inspire so many of us' (season 13: ep. 15)"(Roost, 174). The Biggest Loser may influence someone's health choices.

This link shows how this show has made a difference for the contestants.
As a viewer can see in the video, these contestants look extremely healthier than they were before. Losing the weight on The Biggest Loser most likely added several years to their life. A viewer could also see that these contestants are not celebrities. They have that "amateur status" John Derry talks about in the text "Reality Status."

Team work is a big part of the contestants game plan. This can help viewers become better team members by understanding the importance in team work. Each contestant either comes with a family member, friend, or they are paired with a stranger. During the week, the different teams work together to lose more weight than the other teams. At the end of each week, each contestant within the teams are weighed. Their weights are added together and whoever's percentage is the lowest gets eliminated. If the team fails to motivate each other, they may not reach the goal weight. The risk of getting eliminated is higher when motivation is lower. This brings the team members together and shows support throughout the show. For example, on episode one a team was put in danger of elimination due to one person on the team only loosing four pounds. On the next few episodes this team worked even harder in order to overcome elimination. This view of support and motivation could inspire the viewers to become better people and may help them support and motivate the important people in their life as well. 

One Team Being Weighed

The Biggest Loser is not only about who can lose the most weight, or the prize of being the biggest loser; which is a great sum of cash. This reality television show reveals compassion, strength, determination, growing bonds, emotional and physical stress, and the motivation to get through any obstacles that are difficult in life.

Works Cited

Deery, June. Reality Tv. Malden, MA: Polity Press, 2015.
Readdy, Tucker, and Vicki Ebbeck. "Weighing in on NBC's The Biggest Loser, govern mentality and self-concept on the scale." Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport 89.4 (2012): p 579. Report.  
Roost, Alisa C. "Loosing It: The Construction and Stigmatization of Obesity on Reality Television in the United States." Journal of Popular Culture 49.1 (Feb 2016): pp. 174-195. Humanities Source, dio: 10.1111/jpcu.12377.