My weight loss journey / Rachel of the Biggest Loser

I'm having success with my weight loss.  I've lost 16 pounds since the middle of October which is about a pound a week.  I think I have about 26 pounds to go; so, if I keep up the pound a week pace, I should be at my healthy weight by Scott's birthday.  

The bad news here is that I've officially become too small to use Gwynnie Bee.  Sad.  (I found a replacement service which I'll talk more about at some point.)

Here's the other bad news.  I hate the fact that I am focusing on my weight right now when I live in a country that is obsessed with weight in an unhealthy way.

As The Biggest Loser likes to say, "obesity is an epidemic in America."  To that, I would add that the opposite of obesity is also an epidemic.

For the past few months, I've been watching Season 15, and have loved seeing the contestants' healthy transformations both with their emotional issues and with their diet and exercise issues.  I was solidly in team Rachel.  She was fit and athletic with a kind heart.  Here's a picture of Rachel when she started on the show at 260 pounds and at makeover week when she weighed 150 pounds.  She's 5'4".  At 150 pounds, I thought she looked beautiful.  I thought that maybe she could lose another 10 pounds or so, but I didn't think that she would be able to win the finale because her competition had so much more weight to lose than she did.

Imagine my surprise when a strikingly gaunt Rachel appeared on stage at the Finale.  She looked unhealthy.  When she weighed in, it was revealed that she weighed 105 pounds.


I am not a nutritionist.  I'm not a doctor.  I'm not a financial planner.  Maybe she did this in a completely healthy way and there's nothing to worry about.  Maybe her methods weren't entirely healthy, but she wanted to win $250,000, so it was worth it to go a bit overboard. 

But, oh my goodness people, what message are we sending?  This does not appear to be healthy.  This should not be viewed as success. 

It seems to me that she traded one disorder for another.  At 260 pounds, she used food for comfort and didn't exercise at all.  Now, at 105, she uses her control over food for comfort, and exercises obsessively.  Her behaviors are still problematic.  They are just differently problematic.  I hope her journey is not yet done.