The almighty marathon

Chris and I have been watching a lot of The Biggest Loser lately. It's reality trash, we know, but it's fun t watch something that reinforces our daily struggle with diet and exercise, and he also really likes to watch people cry and vomit. So far we have seasons two and ten under our belt, and right now we're watching both the current season as the episodes are uploaded to the internet, and nine.

Besides the obvious, "Wow, season two was so much more helpful (back then, the show aired the parts where the trainers talked to the contestants about nutrition, and not just to plug Subway) and realistic than season ten!" we both have a problem with the recent trend of "The Biggest Loser Marathon," a goofy way for the producers of the show to cram more human drama and pictures of sweating fatties into the season before it ends.

This is a spoiler for the season we're watching now. Shh, don't tell me
what's happening, I'm trying to squint and not see anything!

Our problem is that, as we understand it, the goal of weight-loss is not something you can do effectively while also training for a massive, grueling run. I mean, running marathons demands an intake of thousands of calories, right? And repetatively working the body in the same way will cause wear and tear on the joints while training, right? Especially for contestants who are still overweight? And a lot of the time for these contestants could be better spent building up muscle which will work to burn up calories as they close in on their goal, right?! Okay, I need to calm down.

The thing that bugs me is that, for a show that works so hard to have these dramatic, unbelievable transformations in its contestants, The Biggest Loser's producers should recognize that this unnecessary challenge at the end is hindering its participants' weight loss. Blerg. It's fun to watch people who came into the challenge weighing 400 pounds finishing a mind-boggling 26.2 miles, but it just doesn't seem consistant with the aim of the show, which incorporates overall physical fitness, but uses black and white, concrete pounds lost to determine winners and losers. Who are referred to as "losers" and "not losers" respectively. I never said the show made any sense.

Don't take my word for it, though. Here's the thoughts of someone who has completed her weight-loss journey, run multiple marathons, and also has a problem with this aspect of the show: You Don't Have to Run a Marathon.