Unfortunately missed most of the premiere episode but caught some on youtube. Ive been a devoted fan from Day 1. But some things that they do bother me. Tell me what you think ?

Biggest Loser, big people, big risks ?
Arent these people just setting themselves up for a heart attack ? Go from little exercise to running on a treadmill, climbing mountains, weight lifting till they puke... I would be very afraid to do that much.

Back and Knee Injuries ?
If you watch them in the gym you will see Jillian stand on their knees when they are doing like a squat against the wall or on their backs piggyback as they run. Ok she is like 125 lbs but still... if they weight 200 to 400lbs the extra pounds seem like a very bad idea. espically seeing them attempt to run with her on their back

How the heck ????
Kia, or some similar name, was like 220 lbs and able to lose 20lbs in a week. How ? Or a guy who can lose 25 lbs in a week. Cant be safe to do that. Im sure is good for ratings tho

Setting up for a binge ?
If you research their diets it is a low cal low fat fresh foods diet. Jillian and Bob have different plans but similar. they have a set calorie level with computers all over to enter their foods and an arm meter to show their heart rates. Yet, both plans have a binge day. One day a week they can have or order anything. There are no exceptions. They still exercise that day but can eat pizza, candy, ice cream etc. Wouldnt it be easier to skip the pig out day ? they are separated from that type of food anyway so not tempted.

Kia, or some similar name, was like 220 lbs and able to lose 20lbs in a week. How ? Or a guy who can lose 25 lbs in a week. Cant be safe to do that.

That's actually possible. When you kick-start weight loss, you lose huge amounts of weight immediately in water-weight. I was at 145 and I lost ~5 pounds in my first week, that's 3.5% of the body weight. 20 lbs for someone who is 220 is about 9% of the body weight which is high, but from your description they are doing boot-camp type training.

I cannot comment on health issues, but I know that in Jillian's book she comments very strongly on watching for any signs of unwellness, so I am sure the participants go through rigorous teaching session on recognising exhaustion and any warning signs of when to quit. She is also very much into controlling the hours of the workouts and the rest days. I don't think that the show concentrate on those, since a rest day would probably be boring, heh.

As for lifting someone on your back, heh, when I was in my early teens, our coaches regulary sat on our backs (that's adult coaches) to increase our flexibility. When the weight is evenly distributed, a-la backpack, you can lift half your weight and walk or run under it. I hiked with 20 kg while weighing aroung 55 as a teen, and it is not a restful stroll, but perfectly doable.

My understanding is that the BL is a very extreme program, and not for 'do it at home' kind of thing. On our own, we do gentler training and stuff.

I have nothing good to say about the Biggest Loser. I admire what they're trying to do, but I think that it does nothing good for it's contestants or the people at home watching.

Do you want to know how they lose so much weight? They starve themselves. Please, go look up interviews with former cast members. Not only have the gained weight back (some have gained ALL of it back), some of them claimed that they remained on fluid diets due to the pressure put on them to lose those huge numbers. This doesn't mean that everyone has done that or that some contestants haven't been successful, but I believe MSNBC did a study about it and found that the Biggest Loser is not a quick fix for weight loss as it claims to be.

Also, they seem intent on humiliating fat people. As if they haven't been humiliated enough! Those silly contests where they have to face their "cravings" and they always have butt loads of cake and other goodies... Because we all know fat people just LOVE cake, right? What a load of crap. There are plenty of fat people who can't stand sweets. What a rude stereotype.

As far as exercise, I also believe that is unhealthy. My friend went to a REAL fitness trainer and he had her start slow so as not to injure herself - ESPECIALLY her knees. And I'm sorry, but Jillian is a b*tch. How can you expect to motivate people by belittling them? You catch more flies with honey, you know? Maybe that's why everyone gains the weight back when they leave the show - the Biggest Loser only taught them how to lose weight while people were shouting in their face, making them exercise 10 hours a day and never eat.

Sorry if I'm coming across as bitter here, but I think the Biggest Loser is just a gimmick. Some people try to GAIN WEIGHT to try out because they get turned away if they're not big enough. This is a reality TV show that's no more "real" than those silly dating shows. It's all about ratings, not about helping people.

EDIT: Here's at least one link with some news on where contestants are now. They try to portray it in a positive light, but their current weight numbers tell a different story in comparison to their final show weight... Where are the 'Biggest Losers' now? - 'Biggest Loser' on TODAY

Sorry to double post, but here is a very grim interview with Ryan Benson, who I believe was a winner at The Biggest Loser:

What I now know is that the show was just a quick fix for me. …I wanted to win so bad that the last ten days before the final weigh-in I didn’t eat one piece of solid food! If you’ve heard of “The Master Cleanse” that’s what I did. Its basically drinking lemonade made with water, fresh squeezed lemon juice, pure maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. The rules of the show said we couldn’t use any weight-loss drugs, well I didn’t take any drugs, I just starved myself!

Twenty-four hours before the final weigh-in I stopped putting ANYTHING in my body, liquid or solid, then I started using some old high school wrestling tricks. I wore a rubber suit while jogging on the treadmill, and then spent a lot of time in the steam room. In the final 24 hours I probably dropped 10-13 lbs in just pure water weight. By the time of the final weigh-in I was peeing blood.

Was this healthy? Heck no! My wife wanted to kill me if I didn’t do it to myself first. But I was in a different place, I knew winning the show could put us in a better place financially and I was willing to do some crazy stuff. All this torture I put myself through has had no lasting effects on me (that I know of) and at the time it was sort of a fun adventure for me – but I am sure it reeked havoc on my system.

In the five days after the show was over I gained about 32 lbs. Not from eating, just from getting my system back to normal (mostly re-hydrating myself). So in five days I was back up to 240 – crazy!

So obviously they don't monitor the physical or mental health of their contestants very closely...

Yep, definetly sounds like 'don't do it at home' plan But then again, a lot of folks go onto starvation diets (aka cleanses) for no monetary reward at all, lol.

Jillian has a few personalities, all of them intense, on her DVDs. I find her attitude helpful in all her releases I have with the exception of the 1st level of the Shred. She is a former fat kid herself, so that's probably what she felt she needed in her childhood to break bad habits and become super-fit, so she uses it on the others, first the stick, than the honey. I definetly find her jibes timely in places on her DVDs. But I am neither seriously over-weight, nor would I ever push through if I feel that something is wrong with my body.

Yeah, I guess we just have to remember that the Biggest Loser is first and foremost a television show that is meant to earn ratings, not provide healthy weight loss tips.

I think that Jillian would be a more effective trainer for people who had less weight to lose and are already on their way there...but she may discourage others. I guess it depends on the individual, but I don't think she is portrayed in a very flattering light on that show.

Well that was interesting. I looked at all the updates. thanks for the link
all in all, except for the year 1 guy, Id say they were successful at keeping it off. I agree the show is a show not a true-life thing. Plus if you were inclined to any eating disorders Im sure the show would bring that out. if you were a contestant that is.