The Biggest Loser

[JayEll]

jtammy, I'm not that naive. But I've sent an email asking where he got his numbers.

Someone else posted a link to a Times article about some of the things the contestants do to get their weight down before weigh in. Was very interesting. Like popping in and out of the sauna all night, eating asparagus for its diuretic qualities...

Also, it seems most contestants have regained some weight since the show--but that's to be expected, I think, because of the nature of the show. Erik put back on 22 pounds in 5 months after the show ended.

ShyShy19, I think the show is inspirational, too, because regardless of how the time is manipulated, those folks' bodies really do change. It's interesting to see that.

Jay

[kaplods]

A question I have, if the time on the show is actually manipulated - did they do focus groups and test audiences that proved that people wouldn't watch a show in which people lost 1 - 5 lbs per week, or did they just assume people wouldn't watch if the numbers were real.

[MariaMaria]

A television season is 13 weeks. They're going to condense to fit into the season regardless of how much real time passes.

[JayEll]

OK, the lawyer from NWS actually answered my email. Here is what he had to say about my question:

I searched for two days on the Internet and could not find these dates, or the exact number of days it took each season for the contestants to lose their weight, which was amazing to me. I assumed it would be on the NBC web site. I knew instantly from looking at the data that it must have taken several times longer than 11 or 12 weekly episodes to lose this amount of weight.

I got the dates directly from a high-level official with NBC who works on this show. It is a long story about the particulars about how I got them, but I am an attorney and have no problem using my legal skills when necessary to get information.

When I made the comment to the person from NBC, who called me back with the information, that this must be one of the best-kept secrets in America the person stated, "Yeah, it is pretty hard to find" and kind of laughed when they said it. Now you see why.

If you have any more questions please feel free to contact me. I hope this helps.

Any suggestions about how I can explain this material better, or anything else on the web site, are welcome. I want people to know and understand the truth, not just about the Biggest Loser, but also about all of the weight-loss scams and deceptions, and 99.9% are.

Thank you for your interest.

Jay

[kaplods]

MariaMaria,

The question isn't why the show is condensed into 13 weeks, it is why would the go so far out of their way to distort the perception of "real time." There are other shows on weight loss that show several weekly weigh-ins in the course of one episode. The obviously believe (whether based in fact or perception) that they must decieve the audience in order to draw and keep them.

[jtammy]

Thanks Jay for sharing the email. Colleen, that's a good question. Why would they distort the time? Would the typical American viewer not want to know that it is normal to only lose 1 - 2 lbs per week? probably....

[ShyShy19]

I would still watch

[JayEll]

Oh, me too. But more as entertainment.

Jay