I’m watching both of these shows in their entirety and I don’t know why they’ve historically gotten so much backlash. One reviewer called TBL “a dumpster fire of a TV show” and others seem to think M6L is downright abusive. However, I can’t find anything particularly bad in either.

Although it’s true that in TBL the contestants are losing an egregious amount of weight each week, it’s likely (actually almost certain) that most of this is water weight and it would have been more dangerous to instead not lose the weight. The intense exercise scenes seem pretty typical for anybody who’s serious about athletics. Finally, the famous “damaged metabolism” study that shut down TBL turned out to be debunked due to “damaged metabolism” being a boring, normal adaptation under high physical activity.

And although there are tons of bare naked shower scenes in M6L, everyone knew that going in and they agreed anyway. Some also complain how the stars don’t receive enough support for things like therapy and other cost centers. I would say that would actually have been a great thing to add, but it would be impractical at scale and have a high chance of bankrupting the production with how much healthcare costs, resulting in a net loss of benefit for those who need the surgery.

So, what’s your viewpoint here?

  • dai@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Shedding weight fast is a great method for excess skin that requires cosmetic surgery to remove. Slowly losing weight can reduce but not eliminate the requirements for surgery.

    Good friend of mine lost almost half his body weight in around 4 years, his arms, legs are all OK but his stomach area needs some work. I can’t imagine the hardship people “competing” on the biggest loser need to go through once the season is over.

    • nix
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      8 months ago

      That’s true, I was simplifying a little bit because it certainly depends on how you lose it. Crash diets are the worst because they can really mess with your organs, but liposuction or more balanced changes can avoid the worst of that.