I am a big fan of The Biggest Loser. I find it motivating and uplifting to hear the stories of other people’s struggles with weight loss. I also love the trainers, Bob and Jillian. They have a rough edge, but if you watch the show on a regular basis, you know that they are caring people.
Our country is in trouble. There are more than 190 million Americans who are either overweight or obese. Childhood obesity has increased at an astounding rate as well. In 2010, childhood obesity has tripled as compared to thirty years ago.These statistics are scary. However, diet products are capitalizing on this. They are popping up all over the place and people are spending tons of money on diet books, diet food, and fitness manuals to try to do it themselves.
However, as many of the contestants on The Biggest Loser can confirm, most of these diets don’t work. People need to get to the route of their problem, understand their pain and get beyond it. This year’s contestants have very sad stories to share and one could understand why they have weight problems.
The new season, which premiered last night at 8 pm EST on NBC, tooks place in several major cities around the country. Jillian, Bob, Alison (the show’s host) or one of the successful contestants from a past Biggest Loser season were in these cities along with dozens of people looking to change their behavior and lose weight. In each city, three people were called out of the crowd. They were told to weigh in in front of everyone and then compete in their first challenge. Two of the three get a chance to go to the ranch.
My “biggest” complaint about this episode was the challenges. In each city, the three contestants either had to climb 500 steps or run a 1-mile race. It would have been more interesting and exciting if in each city, the contestants did a different challenge.
At one of the races, one of the contestants collapsed and at one of the step challenges, someone also passed out. It was so sad to see that these people tried so hard to get on the show and couldn’t even complete or finish the challenge. All I kept thinking was, the people who came in last needed the ranch the most!
On each season of The Biggest Loser, there is always some type of new spin. In past years, teams were family members and in the beginning years, they were random people. This season team members don’t know each other at all. They are complete strangers who need to work together in order to survive on the ranch.
There will be some new twists and turns on the ranch to keep the interest up. But the main premise is for the contestants to learn to exercise and to eat a balanced meal the right way. Jillian and Bob will keep the contestants on their toes by making them “go the distance” in their exercise regime.
Watching The Biggest Loser for the past ten years, I realized that I too needed a trainer to push me to another level. Through the years, I have found that it is very difficult to do it any other way and make it stick.
Article first published as TV Preview: The Biggest Loser Premieres Tenth Season September 21 on Blogcritics.
Susan Powter, that crazy looking lady with the spiky hair, said it best: You have to eat (right), you have to move and you have to breath. Good eating habits, regular exercise and an active lifestyle are all you need to keep the extra pounds off.