The Ugly Side of Extreme Weight Loss Reality Shows

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What does it mean to be healthy? Is it a number on the scale, the size pants a person wears, being able to run a mile or is it something that cannot be seen by the naked eye? America has become the fattest nation and the most delusional at how to truly be healthy. With so many people striving to lose weight the focus has shifted from getting healthy to who can lose the most weight in the shortest amount of time. Reality shows like “The Biggest Loser” has glorified extreme weight loss and has given viewers unrealistic expectations when trying to lose weight and get healthy. Society today has become obsessed with physical appearance, specifically a person’s weight that the mind automatically assumes a thin person is in better health than someone who is overweight. The truth is actually the complete opposite. Trisha, a member of an elite fitness club, spoke about the moment she realized her weight loss goal needed to be reevaluated. Trisha weighed almost 300 pounds and was only 5 foot, 4 inches. Her work out partner, Rebecca, was the complete opposite when it came to looks. Rebecca was almost 5 foot, 11 inches and around 120 pounds. Trisha envied Rebecca’s body type and would give anything to trade bodies. Based on their heights and weights most people would look at them and automatically assume the thinner person would win if they raced against each other. After 6 months of working out together Trisha started to realize how much more she could do of everything! She could lift more weight, do more repetitions and stay at a harder pace on every cardio machine they used. One day while on the Stairmaster, Rebecca once again had to completely stop the machine and take a breather while Trisha was at a fast pace nearly jogging up the st... ... middle of paper ... ...n Toronto and his team determined an underweight individual has almost twice the chance of dying than someone who is overweight. (Underweight or overweight: Study looks at which is deadlier. March 29 2014). There needs to be a line drawn on how much weight a contestant can lose since it is clear the contestants cannot draw that line for themselves. Reaching an unhealthy weight that would disqualify a contestant from the grand prize is not enough to change the mentality of being thin is being healthy. Works Cited Underweight or overweight: Study looks at which is deadlier. (March 29 2014). Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/underweight-or-overweight-study-looks-at-which-is-deadlier/ 'Biggest Loser': Where are they now? (2012). Retrieved from http://www.today.com/id/40423712/ns/today-today_entertainment/t/biggest-loser-where-are-they-now/#.U1R-q1ftdJs

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