The Biggest Loser? Dignity and Common Sense
2014 after a 10k & not good enough for TBL
This weekend I watched Fit for TV, the new documentary about The Biggest Loser.
Did I yell at the screen? Yes.
Did I swear when Jillian Michaels appeared? Absolutely.
Do I regret watching? Not entirely.
A Complicated Relationship
My relationship with this show has always been complicated. I’ve lived in a larger body my whole life. That comes with a lifetime of shame, second-guessing, and—too often—apologizing for simply existing.
So when The Biggest Loser premiered (a carbon copy of Discovery Health’s The Body Challenge), I was curious.
What I found was painful. The manufactured drama, the food challenges, the “vote people off the island” plot twist—all reinforced harmful stereotypes. It fed into the idea that people in larger bodies are weak, gluttonous, or failures if they can’t reach an arbitrary standard.
And yet, I kept watching. Why? Because it was one of the few places that showed the grit, toughness, and resilience of heavier people. Running marathons. Training for hours. Standing in front of millions of viewers in nothing but bike shorts and a sports bra.
That takes incredible courage. For once, fat people weren’t invisible. They were strong. They were badass.
The Shift in Conversation
The documentary reveals just how much the cultural conversation has shifted. Many now look back on the show with horror. Millennials on social media can’t believe that wrecking people’s dignity for entertainment was once mainstream.
But two key pieces were glossed over: common sense and context.
Common Sense
Contestants were on 800-calorie diets, burning 6,000 calories while exercising 5–7 hours a day. Who can sustain that?
Outside of professional athletes and fitness trainers, no one.
A few contestants became personal trainers themselves and succeeded—but only by changing their entire lives and careers. For most, it was never sustainable.
Context
Our idea of “normal” weight wasn’t born in medicine—it was born in insurance companies. In the 1950s, MetLife created height/weight tables to set premiums, not improve health. That thinking led directly to the flawed BMI chart.
BMI doesn’t account for age, ethnicity, sex, muscle mass, or body composition. By its measure, athletes like Jason Kelce, Ilona Maher, or A’ja Wilson are “overweight.”
Clearly, the math doesn’t tell the full story.
The Lasting Harm
What breaks my heart most is hearing contestants still blame themselves for their “failure” after the show—even in the face of research documenting the metabolic damage it caused.
That’s what happens when dignity is stripped away. People internalize blame for a system designed to shame them.
Moving Forward
I’d like to think shows like The Biggest Loser are behind us. But human nature being what it is, train wrecks will always draw an audience.
The least we can do is remember the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
And stop looking at people in larger bodies as train wrecks.
