Tag Archives: Biggest Loser

They Don’t Quite Get It

I love The Biggest Loser and try never to miss an episode. If I do, it feels like I’ve missed a family reunion. (Yes, our family reunions do involve abundant sweating, hysterical preoccupation with food, and at least one person screaming in the face of a poor defenseless person. Sometimes an in-law, but usually an employee who had the gall to remind us that the hotel ice machines were not there to cool our barkin’ dawgs.)

I’ve included the entire article, lest I be accused of going Andrew Breitbart on you. It’s awful in so many ways. Not Penny Parker’s writing — she’s fab and I love reading her column — but the facts she’s reporting are dreadful. (Hey! Does that make this blog a Penny Dreadful?? Oh, I crack myself up.)

Elway’s Cherry Creek Employees Finish Biggest Loser Contest

By Penny Parker

Seven male employees at Elway’s Cherry Creek opted to put money where their mouths were instead of ribeyes and au gratin potatoes.

The steak place’s biggest loser contest ran from April 1 to July 1, with a combined weight loss of 316 pounds. Each participant ponied up $300 for the contest.

The biggest loser was also the biggest winner. Server Ben Fraley lost 66 pounds and 25.7 percent of his weight.

For his exhausting effort (general manager Andrew Chapman said Ben took off two days last week to work out more than four hours a day and subsist on water), Fraley took home $1,800.

Second-place winner server Jason Hader earned his $300 back. The competition was supervised by server Kevin Webber, who’s also a personal trainer and sports nutrition specialist at Max Muscle Denver.

“We went out (Thursday) and put on about 5 pounds each at breakfast,” said Chapman, who shed 42 pounds. “We went to Syrup, started with beignets, then we each ordered two entrees.”

I don’t even know where to start.

Which do you think is worse:

1. Two days of 4-hour workouts while only drinking water

2. That when it was “over” they went on a food binge. Or,

3. That all of this was “supervised” by a “personal trainer and sports nutrition specialist”?

The Biggest Loser

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I’m a huge fan of The Biggest Loser. When I first heard about it I thought it was a horrible show that was going to ridicule people like so many reality shows do. But as soon as I watched it, I realized that wasn’t the case. I recommend it to anyone serious about losing weight and getting healthy. In addition to the compelling personal stories of the contestants, you learn a lot from the show about exercise, diet, nutrition, and I guarantee you will be inspired by these people. Sometimes annoyed, but mostly inspired.

I recognize there are camera tricks, editing, behind-the-scenes shenanigans and what you see isn’t necessarily what you get. WYSINWYG, for those of you who like acronyms. And I know there are many contestants who gained back all their weight when they had to deal with the real world.

Erik Chopin, winner of Season 3, gained back half the weight he lost and was back up over 300 pounds.

Season 1 winner, Ryan Benson, was back up over 300 pounds late last year, too.

Kai Hibbard has gained back 70 pounds and has been dissing about the behind the scenes pressure on the contestants.

I am really curious about all the contestants throughout its run, though. How many have figured it out? How many are at a healthy weight? How many are no better off? Why? What is their stumbling block? So. Very. Curious.

If you haven’t watched it before, order it on Netflix or watch it live. If you can’t, here’s episode one from Season 9 from hulu.com.

Do you watch The Biggest Loser? Why or why not? What do you love/hate about it? Do you know anyone who has been a Biggest Loser contestant? Anyone who has tried out?