Yup! And to fuel and reinforce our own toxic relationships with food and our bodies. Like I already had a restrictive ED before I got into this show as a teenager, but once I discovered this it and others like it I was addicted. I spent many a night watching it while scrolling through my incredibly toxic tumblr feed to keep myself "on track".
As someone with a few curvier sized family members, this makes me so incredibly sad. I got into quite a few fights with assholes growing up who laughed and picked on my sister. I can't imagine that happening to someone on a national scale.
I remember watching this show with my mom when I was like 11 and feeling very hyper-aware & anxious about my weight for the first time in my life. The constant fat-phobia that was so prominent in early 2000s TV shows was definitely a major driving force that lead to my body dysmorphia & disordered eating as I got older. And sadly, I’m not the only one.
yknow what sucks? when people think an overweight person just existing is promoting an unhealthy lifestyle. like they arent even allowed to live anymore.
Fat person can be eating fruits and people will say it's still promoting un healthy lifestyle but skinny one's are only called un healthy when you see them eating 800 kcal a day...
That's one reason why my fear of outdoors became so bad. I was convinced I was too fat and too ugly to even be outside. I was at my lowest when my weight was the smallest.
I know right. Me taking a picture of my belly rolls in my bikini at the beach is promoting death and diabetes in a society where doing drugs and smoking is cool. But that's not fatphobia huh
Don’t forget that capitalism itself requires everyone to be unhappy so as to keep us all spending money on the fake ways we are sold to be happy! Fat phobia is the most blatant and obvious example of this but there are lots of these systems - in this culture you are REQUIRED to exist in a constant state of war with your own body so as to accept the never-ending (and constantly changing) train of “solutions” being sold. We are then told this about “health” and for our own good which is laughable as the advertising techniques are designed to make us feel sh*t!
Another stupid part of this show is that by making weight loss into a competition, it doesn’t acknowledge that everyone’s body is different and is going to progress at different speeds, even if they’re eating and working out exactly the same amount.
Yes, and even for people who feel changing their body composition is very important, weight doesn’t tell everything. Muscle is more dense than fat and so many people who alter their diet and work out more reach a point where despite their body composition changing, their weight stagnates or even goes up. Prizing weight above all else would make this seem bad, when it really suggests improved fitness. To compound this, fast weight loss and serious calorie restriction brings on muscle loss, which makes working out more difficult and slows metabolism. It’s simply not an effective approach.
@@asotm1858 I was a plus size teen in the 2000s. It was a terrible time. If the people in your family or on your TV didn't tell you you were too fat to be awarded dignity, the sizes in clothing stores did.
Absolutely! I hate that I grew up in that that era! It really messed me up. Well, I would probably have ended up messed up anyway, but that culture absolutely brought out the worst. I hope that the new generation will have a better experience because there is more awareness these days… but I am also worried that they could fall prey to even more insidious content recommended to them by algorithms 😣
Miss Trunchbull's goal with the cake, was to paint Bruce Bogtrotter as the gluttonous pig that stole her cake. So it's the same principal with the temptation foods, make Biggest Loser contestants look like gluttonous pigs, but with the knowledge that the Biggest Loser contestants were starved, it makes Miss Trunchbull's cake stunt look tame.
@@Genin99 i didnt even thought that they are starving and also are being abused constantly, if those are their comfort foods its something they would want emotionally and physically
I used to watch this religiously with my mom when she was trying to lose weight. I didn't realize it could have impacted me and influenced my eating disorder the way it has. Also, thanks so much for pointing out how bad it is to eat under 1000 calories a day. I see it glorified a lot and I find it really disturbing.
The under 1000 is absolutely appalling! My heart goes out for you, I know it's not easy, but I agree it definitely has a lasting impact. It's unfortunate that exploting someone's struggles for TV can negatively impact so many people. You are worthy of love and care!❤❤
In high school/college when I was really struggling with an ED, I used to watch these shows religiously to give myself motivation to not eat for longer. Smh, these shows were so toxic to so many young people
The mid 2000’s was a terrible time to be an overweight teenage girl. Not only because of the diet culture, but also because of the utter lack of clothing for plus size teens. Seeing how available cute plus size clothes are now makes me envious, I would have loved to be able to dress like I do now at the same size I was in high school instead of my 2000’s teenage wardrobe of exclusively jeans and unisex tees.
same here. I still remember being 11 years old and almost breaking down in an old navy because I didn't fit in any of the kids/preteen sized jeans--ones that fit me just *didn't exist*. My wardrobe consisted of sweatpants as a kid because jeans weren't as stretchy and forgiving for big hips and thighs like they are now
@@Mcwollybob I should clarify, I'm a small fat, able to afford shipping, and I live in America in a city which affords me a lot more choice than others. Target has a plus size section with some cute choices and extended sizes in regular lines like Wild Fable, Old Navy just expanded their selection in store, now I have a Torrid within fifteen minutes of me. Heck they've revived dELiA*s and they carry plus size options, something teen me could only dream of. Plus size selection is still really slim though, but it should say something about how little choice there was in the 2000's that I am impressed with the choices that we have now.
I still remember buying the biggest size of basketball shorts I could find at Limited Too and them still not fitting me. Sure didn't help that kids were already bullying me for being fat (well also because I was "weird" but that's a whole other can of societal issues)
My step-auntie was on the biggest loser and according to my mum the show made it out like she was having an affair with one of the other married contestants when in reality they were all on friendly terms. When my mum posted about this on Facebook she got a lot of hostile replies saying she couldn’t know what was going on and that she was just lying for clout or whatever Despite being, you know, her sister
At one point, almost at my worst (around 110lbs and 5'11"), and remember getting a jealous comment from a guy when I was shirtless, "I've never had a body like that..."...I was literally on the verge of death I was that thin and ended up hospitalized shortly thereafter. The guy was barely overweight, and you could tell he wished very badly that he wasn't to the point that looking skeletal like I did at the time was more desirable. It was strange, as I felt for him, but also felt invisible, as nobody ever sees the constant health issues I deal with are directly related to my ED. Being thin isn't fun. Being healthy probably is, I wouldn't know. There is zero reason to judge anyone for their weight. Go make fun of abusers or something, or at least someone who actually deserves it. We just need to stop exploiting people under the guise of entertainment PERIOD. It's gross.
@@klsi8129 actually I can't confirm that. The last time I dropped weight alot of people commented on that too, saying I looked sick or even asked if I'm eating properly. I mean yeah, there are still people talking about you like you're body goals but actually I can't blame them. Before the first time I dropped to underweight I also wished to have that type of body. I didn't knew what it takes to get and stay there Edit: and I really think media plays a huuuge role here. Being skinny or underweight is still glorified. (At least if it's ain't TOO skinny) ((we just can't win))
I was in a similar situation (but not quite as tall as you, and not disordered, it was due to puberty onset food intolerances), and it was so hard to gain weight for my health, because of how shows like this demonize any kind of weight/body change that isn't getting smaller. But I was unhealthy, I was starting to have issues, and thankfully what actually helped me was my doctor telling me to add a spoonful of coconut or avocado oil to my protein shakes so I could get that healthy fat, and the extra calories. I felt so much better, after doing that for a few months, and while I still struggle with a lot of things, I've started to be okay with my body changing, and embrace the opportunity to make myself new clothes that fit right (still can't fit most pre-made stuff), and try new things that I couldn't do before.
I think another aspect that goes unmentioned a lot we should all try to be more open about is that men also struggle a lot with self-image. But if they talk about it, they should "get over it" because it's not "masculine."
also: if this was about health, it wouldn't be the kind of reality show where every week someone has to leave. like they could do a show where a bunch of people lose weight, but they make people leave early, cutting them off in the middle of the process even though they were motivated, like how is that benefiting anyone's health
tbh considering how vile this show is, I think actually making the people leave early is better for their health than spending another couple of months exercising until they pass out every day :,)) but of course that's not how the hosts see it
Which, if anyone is curious, the Average dress size in the US is 16. So people who need more than an XL aren’t outliers, they’re literally the average. Just saying.
In my country Algeria they recreated this show but it’s called “ the star winner” in Arabic and it’s not like the biggest loser at ALL. There is no drama and contestants would do challenges at times and other days it would be working out and they r not pressured and yelled at and they give them food and sometimes teach them how to cook good foods do not starve them and the contestants that have to leave will come back at the end and show their own progress at home and overall make it a fun and happy experience. So I’m glad my country’s version isn’t as agressive and reality showy as the original, cuz they actually do care for the health of the contestants.
Omg, While I was watching this videos I wondered why they had to make it so extreme and dangerous when a wholesome show where they actually teached people how to be healthy would be watched and even better because you wouldn't alienate fat people. Thanks to you I know that somewhere in the world someone did that hahaha.
@@catarcela1997 definitely! i hope that other versions of the show in different countries do the right thing and not copy the original and actually care for the contestants health.
@@ANNEMARIE.K236 No he visto cuestión de peso pero ahora me dan ganas de verlo psra comparar jajs. En Chile también tuvimos una versión creo pero ya ni me acuerdo como se llamaba
It's a shame that in Germany the show is still running. I never watched a whole episode, but from clips I saw and articles I read it looks similar to the original. Medical and nutritional experts have criticised the show for years know - and it's still on one of the national TV channels. They really only care about making money.
@@ANNEMARIE.K236 sí pero eran igual de boludos que estos, la premisa era la misma: si no bajas tal cantidad de kilos durante la semana estás eliminado y listo, y encima les ponían remeras con los kilos iniciales. Después tenían al día del permitido, y ahí caían en el error de hacer ver a la comida chatarra como lo peor de la vida y algo que se "permite" solamente si te "portaste bien" durante toda la semana, que algo normal, cosa rara que hayan permitido los doctores y nutricionistas. Y aparte de todo eso, estaba la forma en la que armaban el show, como por ejemplo con Luisito que siempre volvía porque no podía seguir con el "tratamiento", como le pasó a muchos participantes que después del bypass recaian. Y el caso más extremo que fue el de maxi, que se murió de sobrepeso, probablemente por factores del programa que contribuyeron a eso. Obviamente CDP no fue lo peor de lo peor porque todos eran buena onda, y si había una que otra cosa buena que salía del show, etc. Pero no se puede negar que lo que hacían estaba mal manejado o que al menos lo hacían para beneficiarse con el rating y el autoestima/la enfermedad de los pacientes, el público y la cultura de ese momento
i actually think it’s important to have “skinny” people addressing the unhealthy messages and practices surrounding bodies and food. unhealthy cultural ideas affect us all. and if “fat” people are the only ones talking about these issues, then ignorant people can more easily dismiss the conversation based on superficial judgements.
this is really encouraging to cuz I could write multiple think pieces about how utterly Fucked 90s/2000s diet culture and fatphobia was but I always fear overstepping because I've never been overweight ever and was actually underweight for a while at one point 😓
I don’t think so. The whole thing really just comes off as condescending no offense to Jordan. That’s honestly like saying it’s important to have white folks address racism and racist problems. Cause if people of color are the only ones talking then ignorant people can dismiss the conversation. Like why do people only listen when its the folks with societal advantage saying it. No hate to this video ofc, but it has been something in the back of mind
@@sasori_lover_121 i completely understand where youre coming from. i think its important to address that the person/people who mention this are not saying they like or agree with the way people view fat people,or black people in your example. they are pointing out how people who are bigoted or judgemental will not want to listen to the people they are bigoted against. i hope im not seeming rude here,just trying to point it out :]
@@sasori_lover_121 Why do people only listen to privileged people? It’s because think that theyre making excuses for their own characteristics. Also are privileged people supposed to not talk about it, pretend that nothing is wrong? No, there is no other way to combat these issues if we don’t let people who benefit from the privileges they have address it and bring attention to it as a society.
@@sasori_lover_121 ideally, people would just listen to marginalized groups' experiences. but unfortunately many people only take these issues seriously if talked about by someone who isn't personally affected. men talking about misogyny are listened to more because people believe women who adress it are just overly sensitive, same with racism, fatphobia etc. obviously people affected by those issues should be centered in those conversations but it can definitely help if other people speak out as well (especially looking at it from an emotional labor perspective. as a queer person having to constantly defend my very existence and identity can be exhausting. I appreciate it when cishet people with no personal stakes involved in the stituation criticise homo- and transphobia)
it’s actually insane how ppl body shame lizzo when she eats healthy, works out everyday and if you’ve seen her perform SHE HAS STAMINA. it’s just fatphobia. and even if she didn’t workout or eat healthy she’s still valid.
also it's funny how people say that she's "promoting" a certain lifestyle when she's literally just living her life and being happy with herself like??
Especially when so many song writers write about binge drinking, doing drugs, and smoking. How are they not promoting an unhealthy lifestyle but Lizzo is when she mostly writes songs about self love and relationships?
I had the biggest looser wii game, my wii fit board already thought I was overweight (because it’s a wii fit board). My mum thought that it was going to be a great way to stay in shape but after she got digitally shouted at whilst doing some light exercise, the game was shelved and never used again.
I went from high end of Wii Fit's normal range, to underweight over the course of a few years due to health issues and height spurts, and at least Wii Fit has the option to set higher goal weights and helps you focus on building muscle, the idea of using BMI still isn't a good one, and it can mess with you. I still like the Wii Fit U version just to help with guided exercises, and it seems to focus more on doing things with a guide, rather than trying to focus on weight.
I used biggest loser as motivation to lose weight after living through 2000's diet culture and the Tumblr thinspo era. The damage this show did under the guise of caring for my health is ridiculous. I used to talk to myself in the same bullying way the trainer's did to contestants to motivate myself to lose weight in the most drastic and unhealthy ways. I recently did a full health screening and absolutely EVERYTHING but my BMI and fat% is in the healthy range but I've spent my entire life feeling like my body is falling apart because the world refuses to believe that fat doesn't equal unhealthy. I'm probably going to battle ED's and body dismorphia my entire life.
Was scrolling through comments and just wanted to type that I see you. I can't imagine the struggle but I hope day by day you can feel happy and strong in your body's health, and all the great things it can do 😊
I resonate with this so much. I did a similar thing - I would exercise while watching it and told myself that if they could exercise like that than I should be pushing myself too. I thought Jillian was obviously right about everything she said. I feel sad for my younger self that I was so obsessed with weight and look rather than the things my body could do and what it gave me. That diet culture seriously affected my unconscious thoughts and it's so difficult to heal.
@@catherinetomlinson1807 It starts to feel like you're just giving yourself the necessary 'tough love' to get yourself to a place where you'll finally be accepted and be able to live your best life. I didn't used to see anything wrong with the way Jillian treated people, I even remember looking down on anyone who couldn't finish an exercise or threw up etc. I'm not going to blame this show for all my problems but it's a large contributor to the way I treat my body. I wish us all the best in dismantling all the internalised fatphobia and hope that one day we can see ourselves as worthy regardless of how our bodies look 💙
Am a survivor of that same culture and era, now looking back at all the pressure there was for us teen girls back in the day; as an adult I notice the huge damage it made not only to me but to many other youngsters in the audience.
the thing about lizzo just grinds my gears because, like, lizzo in particular is an INCREDIBLE example of health at any size. she is very active, eats an incredibly balanced diet (she's also a vegan which isn't necessarily healthier than not being vegan but a lot of vegan food is pretty nutritionally rich), basically does everything "right", and she is STILL not skinny. people who say that lizzo of all people is "promoting unhealthy lifestyles" are just willfully ignorant at this point. also? also?? fat people EXISTING in public, regardless of our health status (i'm fat and chronically ill so health will never be my reality regardless of my weight), isn't "promoting" anything! i'm just vibing, bro! my existence isn't going to convince anybody to somehow "become unhealthy" whatever that means!
purposefully making them eat food they like while mentally terrorizing them sounds like a solid strategy to make them turn them into fear foods (an ed thing where you're irrationally terrified of a specific food). i wouldn't wish that on anyone.
My mom always makes passive aggressive comments about my weight and my eating habits. Like when I order pizza the night before she'll be "talking to herself" saying 'tea is good for burning fat. I would never eat that; too much meat/cheese is bad.' Last month she looked at my stomach and offered to buy "special underwear to slim my waist". Her stomach is bigger than mine!
I'm so sorry that your mother treats you that way :( it's totally unacceptable to make a pass at your own kid like that. Jordan Theresa actually has another video called "mommy issues" where she talks about how mothers take their own insecurities out on their daughters. you don't deserve that! I hope you can live happily despite what that lady thinks. 🥺❤️
Five years ago I was 12 years old and 180 pounds. Some of my classmates used to always make me hate the way I looked. I thought nobody could love me the way I was, so I lost like 50-70 pounds in a few months. I made my parent's life hell because I passed on the fatphobia I was receiving. Over the course of 2 years I slowly put on most of that weight, and this year I found out I had a thyroid condition that slowed my metabolism down, which is why I was obese. The ridiculous amount of emotional abuse and humiliation that was inflicted on me, and the fact that it was all over some stupid thyroid condition is laughable. My experience isn't even the worst out of the people I know. I'm thankful for this video and the way that the culture is changing with Lizzo and such.
I can completely relate, but my condition is PCOS. My self esteem for most of my life was basically zero because everyone around me called me fat and lazy as if it was my fault, when in reality I had a medical condition that made me fatter than my friend who literally ate more than I did. This is why people need to stop judging people because of their weight, because they don’t know what is causing someone’s weight issues. Fat is often a symptom, not the cause, of underlying health problems. To blame the person as if having a medical condition is somehow a moral failing is crazy to me. Nobody shames someone for having cancer, so why would you shame someone for having a thyroid condition or PCOS? Anyway I hope you know your value isn’t dependent on your weight. You are so much more than your weight. I hope you’re doing better now.
I only recently understood how bad 2000's diet culture and the effect of the biggest loser really were. Growing up on the slightly overweight side (I still always fit into straight sizes but I'm also short) I remember seeing the show and thinking that was the only way one could loose weight and with different factors such as any celebrity above a size 6 getting called fat, being bullied etc I developed an eating disorder . A few weeks ago I met with a girl I went to school with between ages 10 and 17 and she also admitted that she very badly struggled with bulimia and anorexia during that time and told me another girl from our class struggled with the same things. Out of 6 girls 3 had Ed's that we know of. And all of us had very warped views of our bodies and excessive exercise being necessary. It's sad to think that a lot of our generation is completely messed up because of a culture and TV shows that drilled in our brains that more that 1200kcal per day will make you fat
Not just drilling into people's brains that it "will make you fat", but that that's a bad thing to begin with. A horrific thing no one should be, according to them.
Yeah... having come of age in the '00s, I find it very concerning to see younger generations pursuing the looks of that era. So many of the fashions popular back in the early to middle part of the decade were designed to flatter only a tall, narrow frame. For example, low-rise jeans and cropped camisole tops.
Maybe we could just.... celebrate all people rocking low rise jeans regardless of their body? Get rid of the beauty standard instead of the fashion? I don't have a perfectly flat stomach but I just love low rise jeans and feel most comfortable in them lol
@@msadams224 but often you can’t even get these styles in larger sizes, not in the same shops at least. if they’re offered at all sometimes the larger sizes are only sold online, which rules them out for many shoppers, and/or they might be more expensive than the versions for smaller people.
I was already underweight and this show fueled my negative ed thoughts and behaviors, I think despite weight or body shape it's a a struggle that is very real. It's terrible the abuse everyone went through on the show and how everyone was affected. I idolized Gillian because she fed the Ed monster in my brain. So many people (viewers) have been affected as well. I know it was one of the trigger shows for many. Thank you for talking about the reality of this!! ❤❤ I think diet culture was such a HUGE thing in 2000's I was born in '93. Super anxiety provoking at the time, diet culture will always be here but commentary talking about normal bodies is so important.
Back in the day when my ed was really bad, I tried to watch this horrific show to trigger myself but even then I could hardly watch five minutes of the contestants being abused liked that... My heart goes out to everyone who was affected by this, especially the contestants
I'm so glad people are starting to be more accepting. There's still a LONG way to go until we can stop making fun of people for their body, not even just about the weight. Things like cellulite, wrinkles, scars etc... It's insane how early it starts too? I remember when I was in 4th grade that everyone would make fun of a chubby girl in my class just because she was the only one that is on the "fat" side. I didn't know better as a kid and honestly feel horrible thinking back, especially now that I'm also considered FAT. I've had a guy straight up tell me that I can't lose the weight and be skinny because I'm just being a pig and not working out hard enough, although he barely knows me and didn't know my medical history that has been contributing to a difficult weight loss journey. It's insane how quick we are to judge
im so sorry u had to go thru that, i hope u get better, i am considered fat/midsize as well and ppl r so judgmental and mean and inconsiderate for no damn reason, it annoys me that fatphobia is taught and accepted by parents, ppl, society, teachers in the name of “health” when u don’t know what the person is going thru either physically or mentally!
It’s so crazy how some people’s first response to seeing a person who’s overweight is to shame them or feel disgust/anger towards them. I feel like shaming fat people is almost a sort of coping mechanism for some people because they themselves have deep rooted insecurities about their own body image. It’s like seeing a fat person triggers an anxiety response in them because it forces them to confront their own personal fear of being perceived as “fat”.
I literally remember having to calculate our BMI in phys ed (we stood in line to weigh ourselves in a “private room” but you could easily read the scale from the doorway), and then having to write down our goal BMI for the semester, and your grade was partially tied to how close you came to that goal. And it was years and years before anyone even told me that was fucked up, and by then the damage was kind of already done.
Yeah we started doing that in first and second grade where I live (6-8 years old) and we were all in a line in the gym so literally the whole class could read the huge numbers on the digital scale. Genuinely torture.
I heard someone talk about curly vs straight hair when I was a kid and complaining about my wavy hair, and they said, "you always want what you can't have," and body types seem to be the same thing. I used to wish I was more curvy, while the curvy girls in school wished they were more flat. But you know what a bit part of it is? Clothes. Neither of us could fit in popular clothes since they were made for something in between. Thin, but still wider hips than mine, and not being flat chested, but also not being a size F. I hope one day we can emphasize feeling good over fitting beauty standards, and have people find clothes that fit them, rather than trying to fit them into clothes.
i'm glad you said that about the term "morbidly obese." People often think that since it's a medical term, it's what you should use and apply to any stranger, but like that term is SO loaded and honestly has been used in horrible ways.
You should consider looking at the swan and/or bridalplasty. They are reality tv shows that focused around plastic surgery and I think you could have a really great take on it. They are early 2000s shows but they are so interesting.
Bridalplasty is such a trip of a show, it really sits in this weird space of 'how the hell was this ever made, it's disgusting' and 'this show is amazing, I can't look away'. I believe I watched it on Hulu or something back in college years ago and remember how heavilly one woman got the villan edit and I believe ended up losing in the end? That's one show I'll never forget about.
So my mom was actually on the Biggest Loser (an Atlanta localized version at least) around 10 years ago and I remember a lot of the things that happened during that time. For one, it’s very hard to forget the Weight Watchers. They put her on a strict diet of them and gave her enough for the show and I believe a month after the show stopped as well. She was also very much rationed on how many calories she could eat as well but I’m not sure if that was the show or the product’s fault. I do know, however, that she often stressed about calorie counts to an unhealthy degree for years after the show. She also completely gained the weight back and then some. She personally blamed the whole metabolism thing but she also had a problem with binge eating and an addiction to Coca-Cola that was never addressed by the show. Nowadays she’s been trying and failing to lose the weight and stop drinking Coke because of her health and the pressure the fat is putting on her internal organs. She also worked out a lot at home, though I couldn’t tell you how much since I don’t remember if she was taking any classes during the time. She never passed out or anything at home though, but that might have to do with the ventilation. I do remember that she had to often drive to the gym where she’d meet with her personal trainer though. They also swung by the house occasionally during the show but my mom never let me meet them. I should also have mentioned that she wasn’t at some big house with everyone, she had to take care of my brother and I. She was also very stressed and had a short temper at the time, though that might’ve had to do with school as well. I can’t say anything about the challenges or anything that happened on the actual set because she just kept my brother and I far away from the show, never even letting us watch it. I also have tried to find the season online to no avail since it was apparently only aired locally. Oh yeah and she got second I believe.
I'd like to add something helpful I learned in eating disorder treatment. there's no such thing as "bad food" or "unhealthy food" , it's more about balance. like eating your veggies before desert™ sort of thing. as long as you're getting nutrition, that's enough. it's all about finding what you like and have access to amongst the different food groups and then balancing it,, and with all the different kinds of alternatives there are these days, it's more possible than ever to find that variety and be able to enjoy it 🎺🦐 and of course labeling entire food groups as "bad" or "junk food" etc. is quite classist ,,as was mentioned 😳😳
Recently my countrys national tv-channel made a documentary about weight and weight-loss hosted by a radio host where they also interviewed a former biggest loser-participant who very candidly explained how much biggest loser fucked up his life (he's thankfully healing from the experience). The conclution to the tv show was that weight and body is extremely complex and all you can do is do your best.
@@gabe6851 it's called "eit feitt liv" (direct translation: a fat life). I don't know if it's internationally available tho, or if there's subtitles as it's in Norwegian
As a fat person myself I really appreciate these videos and your comments towards the end of this one in particular. Fat phobia runs so deep in our society that’s it’s really heartening to hear thin people calling it out, especially thin people who have not been directly affected by it but can see it for what it is!
Also your comments about this tv show using “health” as the excuse for bullying behaviour (“laughing at fat people”) show a lot of insight. I appreciate that a person with a “thin” body who could easily opt in to the false narrative (as many do, to make themselves feel better about their otherwise not great lives) has seen through that bs narrative and rejected it. Unfortunately far too many people still feel entitled to treating others in nasty, bullying, degrading and abhorrent ways while using the excuse “it’s for your own good!!” to justify their sh*tty behaviour. Fat people have to live with this disgusting and damaging hypocrisy every day.
exactly!! I'm also a fat person and those comments at the end made me tear up a little. I'm so happy there's thin people willing to call out what's happening when it'd be so easy for them not to. I hope people listen.
I would be very interested to hear you speak further about supersize vs super skinny since it shamed both overweight and underweight people, many with eating disorders and trauma that was brushed aside, humiliated contestants about their eating habits and forced them to watch while someone else tried to consume it. Like the biggest loser it was just so uncomfortable yet fascinating and was criticised for triggering people with eating disorders.
I always thought they should talk about why their diets were do extreme. Occasionally you'll get a really nice pair who will talk to each other about their issues and become supportive friends.
my 'bmi' has always categorised me as 'overweight' even though i was active as a child. i walked, i ran, i participated in pe and all that sutff, but i was made to be ashamed of my looks and that pushed me away from sports entirely. im so tired of not being taken seriously. i've literally been told to lose weight if i want to be a 'real man' (im trans)
i remember when my teacher talked abt how contestants gained weight back after the show they always framed it as "they didn't have the self control once they lost the external motivation" and hearing that it was physically impossible for them to continue that weight rlly makes that stuff even worse to think abt
I went to the Biggest Loser Resort in Malibu, California for two weeks in 2013. Positives: we went for a hike everyday and I loved that. I did a mini-triathlon and that was really cool. Negatives: literally everything else. I definitely gained back more weight over the next few years. Fast forward and I’ve finally learned the key to health: sleep well. Hydrate. Exercise (including strength training and weight lifting) and eating what works for your body. There’s almost eight million bodies on this planet-there’s no perfect one. If your brain is a reliable narrator, listen to it. If your brain is an unreliable narrator, find a trusty interpreter (like a therapist). Jordan, don’t apologize for not being obese. You handled a sensitive topic with grace and that’s all that matters.
Now that you mention it… as I said on my comment on part 1, I'm from Argentina, and "Cuestión de Peso" was obviously a local spin-off of the Biggest Loser... but worse. They went to the contestants houses and they checked their fridges and televised their house, their lives, their family and friends were also interviewed by the staff. And even worse, there wasn't any personal trainers, there was just a panel of people giving their opinion and insulting them as if they were NOT people with feelings. But, as well, it was a big ass promotion for Cormillot products (the brand of a famous "nutritionist" in Argentina) and shit like that.
@@Nocturnalux Yeah, like this was awful but they made it so lighthearted and entertaining that it didn't feel like that at all. It was just using fat people as a way of comedy, y'know?
Jordan i’ve got to say usually I am easily triggered by weight talk but I need to acknowledge what a safe haven your channel has become for me. The way you approached this topic was very respectful and very much appreciated ❤
thank u for making this video !!!! watching biggest loser was so traumatizing to me as a fat kid that i kind of forgot about it lmao, but this explains why i was 13 thinking i had to run on the treadmill for at least 4 hours a day
this show makes me think of another show, the series supersize vs superskinny. They would essentially take two people with eating disorders (they called it “severe diets”) and forced them to switch eating habits. There was no support and a ton of shaming from family members which I’m sure did nothing but traumatize the people featured. I barely remember most of it, but I would watch it when I was in the midst of obsessive calorie counting to “motivate” me to keep cutting back. I remember a woman on the show who only drank tea, about 5 cups a day. she ate little to nothing and I wished so bad that someday I could have that much “self control” to get to that point . Unsurprisingly it aired around 2008. It just sickens me to see these shows existing. I realize now how much they affected me on a conscious and subconscious level.
The only reality show that managed to do it right was Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food and the US version Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. In both versions Jamie Oliver asked the question "why do people have bad eating habits?" Since he's a chef Jamie Oliver was able to help with the most common answer to that question, not knowing how to cook.
I just watched some of that one it’s just the like “the health conscious Marie” NO ITS AN EATING DISORDER. They at least acknowledged that both sides were unhealthy but they can’t recognize disorder when they’re staring them in the face.
You can also say class 3 obesity! Morbidly obese is no longer used in official classification. It still frontloads obesity, but it’s certainly easier on the ear
This just boggles my mind. My mom and I religiously watched the biggest loser when I was little due to my mom trying to lose weight at the time. i definitely believe watching this as a child, led to the development of my own eating disorders in adolescence. I even became OBSESSED with working out. Very very damaging, and I'm glad you made these videos to bring this back to light.
Can I just say that, as an overweight person myself, and although I appreciate you addressing the fact that you, yourself, I guess you could say is accepted as standard size, there was no part in this video where I had felt you were saying anything in a patronizing way towards people whom are overweight or those with body issues in general..There are people out there though who are in that small pool of accepted beauty standards who try to convey body positivity but it comes out as a demand instead like "You SHOULD love yourself because I love myself..why would it be so hard for you to do?" And it's like..look man, don't tell me how to feel when I torment myself daily trying to be your size?" Its tone deaf as hell.. The way you come across to me, however, is "We all should be able to love ourselves but we don't and this is why" and I personally think you were absolutely appropriate about it. I enjoy your commentary very much. Thanks!!
Thank you for this comment, it’s helpful to know that this video is a good example of how to be supportive of my friends with the way I talk. I love them a lot!!! But I know I need to be aware of things I’ve never experienced to actually show that I do, so I really appreciate your perspective. I hope you’re doing well!
I literally had the biggest loser wii game and I would play it everyday cause I was so scared of being "fat" one day even though now I am technically obese but I am a size small, it really goes to show how horrible that show ruined so many peoples body image.
@@ZhariyaAleice It sounds like you’re my body type “pear shaped.” We get called obese with BMI even when we’re fit because it doesn’t take into account body proportions so we can have a tiny waist, fit size small shirts but have big butt and hips that are bigger than a size 6 and we’re still “obese” according to BMI, which is why BMI is bullshit.
as someone who has always been overweight and had their family use shows like these to try and scare me into losing weight as a child, watching you shed light on how unrealistic and damaging this show is felt like a warm hug
Just gotta say, if you want to work with a personal trainer, make sure they show you they have a current credential - cuz someone on this tv series didn't have one at the time this show was being made.
You're fine, sweetie, I'm an older women who started dieting at age 10. It's a mess. I thought you covered this particular lunacy with care and compassion. You did good.
I just opened youtube and seeing this video made me smile because I was really excited for the second part. The topic is deep but not too dense so I dont "procrastinate" watching the video for a moment where I think I am more able to concentrate more 😅😊 Just great work! 💗
Watching this pre-thanksgiving meal is actually really helpful for just giving myself a break and not feeling guilty about just enjoying eating. Diet culture is bullshit.
as a fat girl myself, i just wanted to say thank you for these videos. it’s not often enough that i see thin people call out fatphobia or bother to do this much research & care into being allies. i’ve been watching your videos for a while now, and it makes me happy to see you come through with such insightful support and education. and the biggest loser definitely deserves more criticism than it gets, so THANK YOU for calling this out in specific- looking back, i know watching this show growing up contributed to my eating disorder.
Sometimes I forget what the 2000s was like because I was very young at the time so I wasn’t going through puberty through it, thank god. And then recently I just decided I wanted to watch Devil Wears Prada with my friend and the whole time we were just horrified cause they spend half the movie body shaming Anne Hathaway, who was pretty skinny, and they called her “6” instead of her name just to point out her size. Never remembered that part of the movie but fat-shaming and diet culture was jsut a casual topic in the 2000s
I remember when TBL was huge, I was very young and I as a child I was always a bigger kid. I would see the commercials, the magazines, the trainers, it’s stupid skinny “propaganda” that continuously told me, about 8yrs old that i’m unhealthy, im fat, that a skinny person is inside of me waiting to get out, etc. This show single handledly kickstarted my self esteem and self image issues. this show made me aware of my weight and i have been struggling with it and my unhealthy relationship with food. i’m glad my grandmother never let me watch the show, but it still had its affects along with the whole skinny culture of the 2000s.
I got so emotional at the end part of your video, I have genuinely never seen someone empathise so much about this and understand how badly it affects us, I’ve been fat all my life and am a couple years younger than you so mostly grew up without any body positivity at all, it means so much to actually see examples where people (especially people who haven’t experienced it) understand the real impact and pain and side effects that is caused by fatphobia, and every single point you made in both videos were so spot on they were really good
Trendy body shapes are unattainable naturally. I remember watching a video about the slim-thick body, but I can't remember whether it was a Khadija Mbowe video or a Lorry Hill video. Someone commented with the input from a historical costumer perspective: back when the ideal silhouette was a kind of hourglass slim-thick attained with layers and padding, people understood that wasn't what those bodies looked like underneath all their clothes. Now we have people in fewer layers of clothing, or posing in bikinis or whatever, with impossibly flat stomachs and whatever else is trendy at the time (the flat stomach seems to be the thing in common despite the otherwise drastic differences between Heroin Chic and Slim-Thick), and they look that way due to photo editing and/or surgery. I'm also trying to put together in my mind instances where the books I read around age 10 criticized the trendy bodies in passing, but not in a super in-depth way. -The Name of This Book is Secret has minor antagonist celebrities (I think they're pop stars? idk it's been a while and I need to reread the book and the rest of the series) the Skelton sisters, who are so skinny that the protagonists think they look like skeletons. If that series were released during the late 2010s instead of the late 2000s, the Skelton sisters would have slim-thick bodies instead of heroin chic bodies, and I guess the protagonists would sit there wondering how their waists can be so much smaller than the rest of them (to put it politely--these are, like, 11-year-olds in a middle-grade series, so editors and publishers wouldn't allow them to straight-up say, "Why are their boobs and butts so big but their waists are so tiny?"). -The first book of the Uglies series (which is a dystopia with government-mandated cosmetic surgery and kids brainwashed into thinking a specific beauty standard is "just science" and has "thousands of years of evolution" backing it) has a scene where the protagonist is looking through fashion magazines from the 2000s and marveling at what people in the past thought was pretty. She sees one model who she thinks has the prettiest face, but her body is way skinnier than the Committee of Morphological Standards would approve of.
after I recovered from my ED, I gained nearly 100 pounds. your body FIGHTS to gain weight because it’s afraid of starvation. it took over a year but my body is finally getting healthy again. starvation MESSES your body up so much more than you can even imagine
As someone who's struggled with my weight my entire life, thanks for being an ally. I've never heard such an unaccusatory view from the outside in of the struggle with weight loss. Jordan Theresa, you truly are body positive.
Honestly, I think my parents and myself are to this day are dealing with psychological effects of watching this show. It's... sad seeing people around me (and others) viewing their lives through that reality show lens.
As someone who calorie restricted SEVERELY for years can confirm. At one point, to maintain weight loss, I was eating 800-1000 calories, plus 2 hours of exercise per day ie high impact aerobics, weights, and walking everywhere For sure, it worked. I lost weight. BUT my appetite came back with a vengeance, I gained it all back, I was fatigued and hungry for years. YEARS after that. Makes you think That as a species, we have to being doing something wrong, right? Like, animals don’t do this nonsense to maintain healthy weight and be fit and healthy. Eat fruits and veg, sleep enough, drink water, exercise appropriately. Please don’t do what I did.
my mom and I watched the biggest loser when I was little. we both had eating disorders. it’s part of the multiple things that has driven me to use extremist methods to achieve weight loss under the guise of trying to achieve perfect health in my past.
a while ago i remembered about this show and thought how fucked up it was. i watched it when i was very little and have never forgot about it, i remember the trainer in particular, she was so abusive!! thank you so much for this analysis, its wonderful to see some critical view of this.
What you said in the rerecorded part made me tear up. Thank you so much for being aware, understanding our pain, acknowledging your privilege and talking about this. Thank you for using the voice you have as a straight sized person. Thank you so much.
This is amazing. I can’t underline it enough, we need people who look like you to speak on it. In the same way that we as whire people need to speak up on racism, skinny people are needed to fight fat phobia
Always been aware of this f***ing awful milestone of 'reality' TV, thank you for watching it so I don't have to. My baby momma has always been 'obese' (since her teens certainly) and it never took away from her health, attractiveness or confidence. Fat shaming and the cult of thin have done so much damage - I'm so glad you've shone a light here with another great video. (Extra points for your compassion and sensitivity on this issue).
tw: mentions of EDs, fatphobia, and also parental loss (also i ramble lmao) haven't finished the video yet, but the point you make at around 7:12 on how it affects its viewers really hits home for me. my parents (though i blame my mom more >.>) used to let my brother and i watch this show as kids (like 7-8 probably?). neither of us have ever been "fat," and while i don't know what his experience has been like, i know i personally still (at 24) have a lot of internalized fatphobia that i am trying to unlearn, as well as a whole eating disorder centered AROUND a fear of being fat. i have very little doubt that watching this show as a kid played a role in all this, especially combined with my mom's language about fat people (particularly my dad who was overweight, and the way she STILL talks about it even now (and maybe even *especially*) that he's gone). vilifying them and being scared to be fat was SO normalized for us...
also ur outro made me tear up hahahah but it's so refreshing to hear someone say they sympathize with the pain that being fat can put you through instead of essentially writing it off bc so many people believe that if you're fat you deserve ridicule. thank you for approaching this with compassion 💕
Yet another great and informative video! Fatphobia really is some of the most insidious hatred I've ever experienced, especially because so many people do gloss over it with a "oh but they're just concerned about your health". Like, please tell me what shouts "I want you to be healthy" about having someone throw an open drink at me and my date shouting shit like "fat c*nts"
I’ll always remember when my mum told me age 18 size uk12 and my anorexic sister that we should do “supersize vs super skinny”. Media and entertainment have so much power over the thoughts and opinions of regular people.. During my 20s I became are UK size 18 and it’s been difficult to experience how peoples perceptions change and how you are generally less respected as a bigger person in almost every aspect of life. Due to a number of factors I haven’t been able to reduce my weight lower, and have been Working on accepting my bigger body. I hope that one day I will be able to become healthier, however I also hope that fat phobia continues to be addressed in the wider media in the next few years so that people are treated with the same respect no matter their size. Health is an extremely personal thing and the only people that have any rights to comment or advise are health professionals that are personally involved in our care (and even they have a lot of unlearning to do!)
I remember how my friend’s mom did a biggest loser challenge at work. Literally nothing sounds worse than constantly judging and being judged about how much weight you’ve lost at work. The constant envy of anyone who lost more than you and how much you hate yourself
I grew up watching these shows because I was young and my mom was obsessed with them. We were both overweight and my mom was forcing me to diet with her when I was 13 and on. She would point to the people throwing up and crying on TV and tell me that if I didn't listen to her and lose weight I'd end up that big and sad too, which was dramatic as hell. So these types of shows just make me sad for all the people that truly fell for their messaging because even though my mom tried I always saw it as a disgusting was to shame people for situations that weren't wholly their fault in the first place, and it still messes with my body image to this day.
i was born in 1997 so i had a very similar experience to you growing up in terms of being young and seeing 2000s diet culture promoted everywhere. i never watched the biggest loser but i have such distinct memories of like standing at a grocery checkout or reading a magazine at the hair salon and seeing constant photos of contestants with their dramatic weight losses and feeling like i could never let myself look like their "before" photos. i am glad we've progressed past that but i do agree that the current ideal body type isn't any more attainable or healthy than the super skinny 90s & 2000s standard
To add some context. It's very true that we do have a major obesity epidemic in the U.S, especially when you look at shows like My 600lb Life. People erroneously thought in the 2000s that we could remedy the obesity problem in America by having the fitness community push forth this shaming culture about obesity. Surprise surprise, it didn't work. It made the obesity problem ten times worse and the people who bought into that toxic diet culture ended up developing serious eating disorders and body dysmporphia.
My mom would watch this all the time, also she read lots of magazines in the 2000, she never loved/ loves her body and always says she wants to be skinny, then she also pokes fun at me for not being as skinny as she is but also she is way smaller then me, so much internalised fatphobia, it hard to deal with al off it. How things are pushed so much in or brains its scary..
i have spent my entire day off binge watching your videos and i don’t regret a second. your contents obviously well thought out and amazingly executed, im obsessed❗️
I used to watch this show with my family. And we never watched it to laugh at people, but to cheer them on to lose weight. As a child, I genuinely thought the show was to root for people to lose the weight.
As a HOMESCHOOLED kid growing up in the early 2000s with very strict parents, i still was a target for those diet culture ads and subliminal marketing. The People Magazine headlines alone?? I saw them in two places; when my siblings and I went to the public library, I snuck them into a corner to flip thru. OR I saw them in line to checkout at the grocery store with my parents. Even so, they and other 2000s fatphobia invaded my brain and they were so impactful. Very bad for my preteen brain. And SCRIPTED fiction shows were just as bad (I.e. Glee, Secret Life of an American Teen, Vampire Diaries, etc). Thank you for this video, as someone struggling with self-love at age 25 this is a reminder that I should face and overcome the harm this culture did to my self-esteem. I can heal and grow from that, and this video was a positive influence in that journey 💖
During health class my freshman year, we were forced to watch this show because it gave an example to what we were to avoid looking like. At first I did not think of how fatphobic and ignorant it was, however as time progressed and quizzes were given out on the topic of this show I began to feel uncomfortable. How does the Texas public school system get away with this? How is watching this show educational to a bunch of 14 year olds? (We would also we weighed in that class for the reason of comparing ourselves to those on the screen before us.)
Growing up in the 2000s was hell, shows like this and the constant anti-fatness lead me to a lot of disordered eating and just thinking I was this disgusting monster which makes me laugh now because I was not even close to being anything but straight size. It was because I wasn’t perfectly toned etc because I was in my teens oof. And just knowing how bad me and my sister were affected, I can’t imagine how bad it was for actually fat people in that culture, one of my best friends for instance was always overweight through childhood and they got shit on a lot and it always broke my heart..thanks for making these videos.
To be honest, you have no need to disclose your privilege. I’ve been morbidly obese nearly my entire life. Everything that you talked about was with such Grace and compassion. You are the first person on UA-cam (or any platform) who is not subject of fat shaming and who speaks to value us as humans and make us feel worth something to society. I could have cried while you talked about how disgusting this show was (which I auditioned for!) and how nothing makes us bad human beings. Online is a very dark and negative place when you’re fat, even on HAES platforms as they’re taken over by trolls. I subscribed because I value you for valuing us-and all humanity. Thank you so much for being you.
God I remember watching the biggest loser as a kid and seeing those magazines in the grocery store. I'm still having to work through the mental effects of that bs time
I remember in high school, seeing a post on Facebook saying that people over 150 pounds were cows and shouldn’t wear bikinis. At that time, I felt proud that I was under 150, but when I crossed that line, I remember the absolute devastation. As I really progressed into adulthood, even though I do struggle with it still, I recognize that my body is evolving naturally. My metabolism is different. I appreciate all of the videos of people talking about these hard topics.
“These shows exist so that people can laugh at fat people, under the guise of health” you absolutely nailed it.
Yup! And to fuel and reinforce our own toxic relationships with food and our bodies. Like I already had a restrictive ED before I got into this show as a teenager, but once I discovered this it and others like it I was addicted. I spent many a night watching it while scrolling through my incredibly toxic tumblr feed to keep myself "on track".
Spot on
As someone with a few curvier sized family members, this makes me so incredibly sad. I got into quite a few fights with assholes growing up who laughed and picked on my sister. I can't imagine that happening to someone on a national scale.
I remember watching this show with my mom when I was like 11 and feeling very hyper-aware & anxious about my weight for the first time in my life. The constant fat-phobia that was so prominent in early 2000s TV shows was definitely a major driving force that lead to my body dysmorphia & disordered eating as I got older. And sadly, I’m not the only one.
Fr
yknow what sucks? when people think an overweight person just existing is promoting an unhealthy lifestyle. like they arent even allowed to live anymore.
Yes , I knew "fat" (Chubby) people who were more healthy than skinny one's and they still were forced to think that they are unhealthy
Fat person can be eating fruits and people will say it's still promoting un healthy lifestyle but skinny one's are only called un healthy when you see them eating 800 kcal a day...
That's one reason why my fear of outdoors became so bad. I was convinced I was too fat and too ugly to even be outside. I was at my lowest when my weight was the smallest.
I know right. Me taking a picture of my belly rolls in my bikini at the beach is promoting death and diabetes in a society where doing drugs and smoking is cool.
But that's not fatphobia huh
Don’t forget that capitalism itself requires everyone to be unhappy so as to keep us all spending money on the fake ways we are sold to be happy! Fat phobia is the most blatant and obvious example of this but there are lots of these systems - in this culture you are REQUIRED to exist in a constant state of war with your own body so as to accept the never-ending (and constantly changing) train of “solutions” being sold. We are then told this about “health” and for our own good which is laughable as the advertising techniques are designed to make us feel
sh*t!
"what stage of capitalism is this" needs to be memed
Do it!
It is, it’s just uncommon
The terminal stage
Another stupid part of this show is that by making weight loss into a competition, it doesn’t acknowledge that everyone’s body is different and is going to progress at different speeds, even if they’re eating and working out exactly the same amount.
especially for people with female bodies as those tend to store more fat and tend to lose weight much slower
Yes, and even for people who feel changing their body composition is very important, weight doesn’t tell everything. Muscle is more dense than fat and so many people who alter their diet and work out more reach a point where despite their body composition changing, their weight stagnates or even goes up. Prizing weight above all else would make this seem bad, when it really suggests improved fitness.
To compound this, fast weight loss and serious calorie restriction brings on muscle loss, which makes working out more difficult and slows metabolism. It’s simply not an effective approach.
Say it louder to the people in the back. 🗣🗣🗣🗣. This is the productions fault for allowing this to go on.
They should have been checking their body fat %
I live in northern europe and its maybe because of my ancestors that its very hard to lose weight.
The early 2000s were such a scary time for body image.
yup. I often wonder if, would I be a teen today, instead of the 2000s, my binge eating disorder would've never gotten to this level. :(
No kidding...one of my first memories is attending a Weight Watchers meeting
Oh yeahh, especially with the whole “heroin chic” thing
@@asotm1858 I was a plus size teen in the 2000s. It was a terrible time. If the people in your family or on your TV didn't tell you you were too fat to be awarded dignity, the sizes in clothing stores did.
Absolutely! I hate that I grew up in that that era! It really messed me up. Well, I would probably have ended up messed up anyway, but that culture absolutely brought out the worst. I hope that the new generation will have a better experience because there is more awareness these days… but I am also worried that they could fall prey to even more insidious content recommended to them by algorithms 😣
Eating "temptation food" as a punishment reminds me of Miss Trunchbull from Matilda
Yes it does! 😮 Oh that is so messed up....
Miss Trunchbull's goal with the cake, was to paint Bruce Bogtrotter as the gluttonous pig that stole her cake. So it's the same principal with the temptation foods, make Biggest Loser contestants look like gluttonous pigs, but with the knowledge that the Biggest Loser contestants were starved, it makes Miss Trunchbull's cake stunt look tame.
@@Genin99 i didnt even thought that they are starving and also are being abused constantly, if those are their comfort foods its something they would want emotionally and physically
That scene put me off chocolate cake for a couple years!🤢
Yeah her torturing Bruce Bogtrotter (who is fat) by making him eat the cake she shamed him for eating.
I used to watch this religiously with my mom when she was trying to lose weight. I didn't realize it could have impacted me and influenced my eating disorder the way it has.
Also, thanks so much for pointing out how bad it is to eat under 1000 calories a day. I see it glorified a lot and I find it really disturbing.
The under 1000 is absolutely appalling! My heart goes out for you, I know it's not easy, but I agree it definitely has a lasting impact. It's unfortunate that exploting someone's struggles for TV can negatively impact so many people. You are worthy of love and care!❤❤
In high school/college when I was really struggling with an ED, I used to watch these shows religiously to give myself motivation to not eat for longer. Smh, these shows were so toxic to so many young people
i had the exact same experience
My exact thoughts watching this
no fr. my mom was always trying the diets trends of the 2000s and now i too have an ED. crazy how its effected me today, 15+ years later.
The mid 2000’s was a terrible time to be an overweight teenage girl. Not only because of the diet culture, but also because of the utter lack of clothing for plus size teens. Seeing how available cute plus size clothes are now makes me envious, I would have loved to be able to dress like I do now at the same size I was in high school instead of my 2000’s teenage wardrobe of exclusively jeans and unisex tees.
same here. I still remember being 11 years old and almost breaking down in an old navy because I didn't fit in any of the kids/preteen sized jeans--ones that fit me just *didn't exist*. My wardrobe consisted of sweatpants as a kid because jeans weren't as stretchy and forgiving for big hips and thighs like they are now
Where are you finding readily available plus size clothing? c': It's still almost nonexistent.
@@Mcwollybob I should clarify, I'm a small fat, able to afford shipping, and I live in America in a city which affords me a lot more choice than others. Target has a plus size section with some cute choices and extended sizes in regular lines like Wild Fable, Old Navy just expanded their selection in store, now I have a Torrid within fifteen minutes of me. Heck they've revived dELiA*s and they carry plus size options, something teen me could only dream of. Plus size selection is still really slim though, but it should say something about how little choice there was in the 2000's that I am impressed with the choices that we have now.
I still remember buying the biggest size of basketball shorts I could find at Limited Too and them still not fitting me. Sure didn't help that kids were already bullying me for being fat (well also because I was "weird" but that's a whole other can of societal issues)
Mid 2000s was like 'you're over size 12? So you want a shapeless butterfly t-shirt and boot cut jeans, got it'
My step-auntie was on the biggest loser and according to my mum the show made it out like she was having an affair with one of the other married contestants when in reality they were all on friendly terms. When my mum posted about this on Facebook she got a lot of hostile replies saying she couldn’t know what was going on and that she was just lying for clout or whatever
Despite being, you know, her sister
Who is this in reference to? Only one person comes to my mind with that description.
@@abbyrose6660 I think so, I was only young when I watched it so I can't remember much
@@chloeduncombe-shafto7074 is this in response to my initial reply asking if it was amy from s3?
lol "Only I, a viewer of a highly edited reality tv show with a villian edit, could know the truth about a stranger!"
@@abbyrose6660 maybe you should respect her privacy?
At one point, almost at my worst (around 110lbs and 5'11"), and remember getting a jealous comment from a guy when I was shirtless, "I've never had a body like that..."...I was literally on the verge of death I was that thin and ended up hospitalized shortly thereafter. The guy was barely overweight, and you could tell he wished very badly that he wasn't to the point that looking skeletal like I did at the time was more desirable. It was strange, as I felt for him, but also felt invisible, as nobody ever sees the constant health issues I deal with are directly related to my ED. Being thin isn't fun. Being healthy probably is, I wouldn't know. There is zero reason to judge anyone for their weight. Go make fun of abusers or something, or at least someone who actually deserves it. We just need to stop exploiting people under the guise of entertainment PERIOD. It's gross.
Exacly when people see fat person they fat shame her "for their good" but when skinny person is ill no one gives a F**k
@@klsi8129 actually I can't confirm that. The last time I dropped weight alot of people commented on that too, saying I looked sick or even asked if I'm eating properly. I mean yeah, there are still people talking about you like you're body goals but actually I can't blame them. Before the first time I dropped to underweight I also wished to have that type of body. I didn't knew what it takes to get and stay there
Edit: and I really think media plays a huuuge role here. Being skinny or underweight is still glorified. (At least if it's ain't TOO skinny) ((we just can't win))
@@moldy_fettuccine it's okay we have different experiences
I was in a similar situation (but not quite as tall as you, and not disordered, it was due to puberty onset food intolerances), and it was so hard to gain weight for my health, because of how shows like this demonize any kind of weight/body change that isn't getting smaller. But I was unhealthy, I was starting to have issues, and thankfully what actually helped me was my doctor telling me to add a spoonful of coconut or avocado oil to my protein shakes so I could get that healthy fat, and the extra calories. I felt so much better, after doing that for a few months, and while I still struggle with a lot of things, I've started to be okay with my body changing, and embrace the opportunity to make myself new clothes that fit right (still can't fit most pre-made stuff), and try new things that I couldn't do before.
I think another aspect that goes unmentioned a lot we should all try to be more open about is that men also struggle a lot with self-image. But if they talk about it, they should "get over it" because it's not "masculine."
also: if this was about health, it wouldn't be the kind of reality show where every week someone has to leave. like they could do a show where a bunch of people lose weight, but they make people leave early, cutting them off in the middle of the process even though they were motivated, like how is that benefiting anyone's health
It's preposterous.
tbh considering how vile this show is, I think actually making the people leave early is better for their health than spending another couple of months exercising until they pass out every day :,)) but of course that's not how the hosts see it
Which, if anyone is curious, the Average dress size in the US is 16. So people who need more than an XL aren’t outliers, they’re literally the average. Just saying.
In my country Algeria they recreated this show but it’s called “ the star winner” in Arabic and it’s not like the biggest loser at ALL. There is no drama and contestants would do challenges at times and other days it would be working out and they r not pressured and yelled at and they give them food and sometimes teach them how to cook good foods do not starve them and the contestants that have to leave will come back at the end and show their own progress at home and overall make it a fun and happy experience. So I’m glad my country’s version isn’t as agressive and reality showy as the original, cuz they actually do care for the health of the contestants.
Omg, While I was watching this videos I wondered why they had to make it so extreme and dangerous when a wholesome show where they actually teached people how to be healthy would be watched and even better because you wouldn't alienate fat people. Thanks to you I know that somewhere in the world someone did that hahaha.
@@catarcela1997 definitely! i hope that other versions of the show in different countries do the right thing and not copy the original and actually care for the contestants health.
@@ANNEMARIE.K236 No he visto cuestión de peso pero ahora me dan ganas de verlo psra comparar jajs. En Chile también tuvimos una versión creo pero ya ni me acuerdo como se llamaba
It's a shame that in Germany the show is still running. I never watched a whole episode, but from clips I saw and articles I read it looks similar to the original. Medical and nutritional experts have criticised the show for years know - and it's still on one of the national TV channels. They really only care about making money.
@@ANNEMARIE.K236 sí pero eran igual de boludos que estos, la premisa era la misma: si no bajas tal cantidad de kilos durante la semana estás eliminado y listo, y encima les ponían remeras con los kilos iniciales. Después tenían al día del permitido, y ahí caían en el error de hacer ver a la comida chatarra como lo peor de la vida y algo que se "permite" solamente si te "portaste bien" durante toda la semana, que algo normal, cosa rara que hayan permitido los doctores y nutricionistas. Y aparte de todo eso, estaba la forma en la que armaban el show, como por ejemplo con Luisito que siempre volvía porque no podía seguir con el "tratamiento", como le pasó a muchos participantes que después del bypass recaian. Y el caso más extremo que fue el de maxi, que se murió de sobrepeso, probablemente por factores del programa que contribuyeron a eso. Obviamente CDP no fue lo peor de lo peor porque todos eran buena onda, y si había una que otra cosa buena que salía del show, etc. Pero no se puede negar que lo que hacían estaba mal manejado o que al menos lo hacían para beneficiarse con el rating y el autoestima/la enfermedad de los pacientes, el público y la cultura de ese momento
i actually think it’s important to have “skinny” people addressing the unhealthy messages and practices surrounding bodies and food. unhealthy cultural ideas affect us all. and if “fat” people are the only ones talking about these issues, then ignorant people can more easily dismiss the conversation based on superficial judgements.
this is really encouraging to cuz I could write multiple think pieces about how utterly Fucked 90s/2000s diet culture and fatphobia was but I always fear overstepping because I've never been overweight ever and was actually underweight for a while at one point 😓
I don’t think so. The whole thing really just comes off as condescending no offense to Jordan. That’s honestly like saying it’s important to have white folks address racism and racist problems. Cause if people of color are the only ones talking then ignorant people can dismiss the conversation. Like why do people only listen when its the folks with societal advantage saying it. No hate to this video ofc, but it has been something in the back of mind
@@sasori_lover_121 i completely understand where youre coming from. i think its important to address that the person/people who mention this are not saying they like or agree with the way people view fat people,or black people in your example. they are pointing out how people who are bigoted or judgemental will not want to listen to the people they are bigoted against. i hope im not seeming rude here,just trying to point it out :]
@@sasori_lover_121 Why do people only listen to privileged people? It’s because think that theyre making excuses for their own characteristics. Also are privileged people supposed to not talk about it, pretend that nothing is wrong? No, there is no other way to combat these issues if we don’t let people who benefit from the privileges they have address it and bring attention to it as a society.
@@sasori_lover_121 ideally, people would just listen to marginalized groups' experiences. but unfortunately many people only take these issues seriously if talked about by someone who isn't personally affected. men talking about misogyny are listened to more because people believe women who adress it are just overly sensitive, same with racism, fatphobia etc. obviously people affected by those issues should be centered in those conversations but it can definitely help if other people speak out as well (especially looking at it from an emotional labor perspective. as a queer person having to constantly defend my very existence and identity can be exhausting. I appreciate it when cishet people with no personal stakes involved in the stituation criticise homo- and transphobia)
it’s actually insane how ppl body shame lizzo when she eats healthy, works out everyday and if you’ve seen her perform SHE HAS STAMINA. it’s just fatphobia. and even if she didn’t workout or eat healthy she’s still valid.
also it's funny how people say that she's "promoting" a certain lifestyle when she's literally just living her life and being happy with herself like??
@@isa-gu1ix exactly like let the woman live!!!
@@meuliaisacoolgirl you’re so right she’s not a product she’s a human being
I'd like to see that horrible Jillian try to play the flute as well as Lizzo does.
Especially when so many song writers write about binge drinking, doing drugs, and smoking. How are they not promoting an unhealthy lifestyle but Lizzo is when she mostly writes songs about self love and relationships?
NO WAY I literally just finished part 1. Good timing haha
literally same!!!! i just gasped when i saw this upload LOL
SAME I JUST WATCHED IT THIS MORNING 😅😅
ua-cam.com/video/0rxtL3uTl7s/v-deo.html
@@choicethetaurus Probably the last Time I click on a random link....Ngl this was kinda good
Same!!
I had the biggest looser wii game, my wii fit board already thought I was overweight (because it’s a wii fit board).
My mum thought that it was going to be a great way to stay in shape but after she got digitally shouted at whilst doing some light exercise, the game was shelved and never used again.
I went from high end of Wii Fit's normal range, to underweight over the course of a few years due to health issues and height spurts, and at least Wii Fit has the option to set higher goal weights and helps you focus on building muscle, the idea of using BMI still isn't a good one, and it can mess with you. I still like the Wii Fit U version just to help with guided exercises, and it seems to focus more on doing things with a guide, rather than trying to focus on weight.
I hated that stupid board :( it always went OOF when people step on it
good mum.
@@linny516 bro I forgot about that, you just unlocked a painful memory from my past.
The fact that the biggest loser ruins the contestants' metabolisms too...
I used biggest loser as motivation to lose weight after living through 2000's diet culture and the Tumblr thinspo era. The damage this show did under the guise of caring for my health is ridiculous. I used to talk to myself in the same bullying way the trainer's did to contestants to motivate myself to lose weight in the most drastic and unhealthy ways. I recently did a full health screening and absolutely EVERYTHING but my BMI and fat% is in the healthy range but I've spent my entire life feeling like my body is falling apart because the world refuses to believe that fat doesn't equal unhealthy. I'm probably going to battle ED's and body dismorphia my entire life.
Was scrolling through comments and just wanted to type that I see you. I can't imagine the struggle but I hope day by day you can feel happy and strong in your body's health, and all the great things it can do 😊
I resonate with this so much. I did a similar thing - I would exercise while watching it and told myself that if they could exercise like that than I should be pushing myself too. I thought Jillian was obviously right about everything she said. I feel sad for my younger self that I was so obsessed with weight and look rather than the things my body could do and what it gave me. That diet culture seriously affected my unconscious thoughts and it's so difficult to heal.
@@catherinetomlinson1807 It starts to feel like you're just giving yourself the necessary 'tough love' to get yourself to a place where you'll finally be accepted and be able to live your best life. I didn't used to see anything wrong with the way Jillian treated people, I even remember looking down on anyone who couldn't finish an exercise or threw up etc.
I'm not going to blame this show for all my problems but it's a large contributor to the way I treat my body.
I wish us all the best in dismantling all the internalised fatphobia and hope that one day we can see ourselves as worthy regardless of how our bodies look 💙
Am a survivor of that same culture and era, now looking back at all the pressure there was for us teen girls back in the day; as an adult I notice the huge damage it made not only to me but to many other youngsters in the audience.
How does the fat percentage and all that work- I'm classified as overweight in BMI. But like I don't think I am I think my womanly curves add a lot
the thing about lizzo just grinds my gears because, like, lizzo in particular is an INCREDIBLE example of health at any size. she is very active, eats an incredibly balanced diet (she's also a vegan which isn't necessarily healthier than not being vegan but a lot of vegan food is pretty nutritionally rich), basically does everything "right", and she is STILL not skinny. people who say that lizzo of all people is "promoting unhealthy lifestyles" are just willfully ignorant at this point.
also? also?? fat people EXISTING in public, regardless of our health status (i'm fat and chronically ill so health will never be my reality regardless of my weight), isn't "promoting" anything! i'm just vibing, bro! my existence isn't going to convince anybody to somehow "become unhealthy" whatever that means!
purposefully making them eat food they like while mentally terrorizing them sounds like a solid strategy to make them turn them into fear foods (an ed thing where you're irrationally terrified of a specific food). i wouldn't wish that on anyone.
It's Anorexia and Bulimia inducing.
@@Genin99 yeah, i was just being more specific to what part of it but i agree
My mom always makes passive aggressive comments about my weight and my eating habits. Like when I order pizza the night before she'll be "talking to herself" saying 'tea is good for burning fat. I would never eat that; too much meat/cheese is bad.' Last month she looked at my stomach and offered to buy "special underwear to slim my waist". Her stomach is bigger than mine!
I'm so sorry that your mother treats you that way :( it's totally unacceptable to make a pass at your own kid like that. Jordan Theresa actually has another video called "mommy issues" where she talks about how mothers take their own insecurities out on their daughters. you don't deserve that! I hope you can live happily despite what that lady thinks. 🥺❤️
She is probably un happy with herself so she is toxic to you
Same my mom makes such comments on my body.
But they sound so horrible.
@@daisymilks thank you
My grandmother has the same energy. Their comments say way more about them than either of us
Five years ago I was 12 years old and 180 pounds. Some of my classmates used to always make me hate the way I looked. I thought nobody could love me the way I was, so I lost like 50-70 pounds in a few months. I made my parent's life hell because I passed on the fatphobia I was receiving.
Over the course of 2 years I slowly put on most of that weight, and this year I found out I had a thyroid condition that slowed my metabolism down, which is why I was obese.
The ridiculous amount of emotional abuse and humiliation that was inflicted on me, and the fact that it was all over some stupid thyroid condition is laughable. My experience isn't even the worst out of the people I know.
I'm thankful for this video and the way that the culture is changing with Lizzo and such.
I can completely relate, but my condition is PCOS. My self esteem for most of my life was basically zero because everyone around me called me fat and lazy as if it was my fault, when in reality I had a medical condition that made me fatter than my friend who literally ate more than I did. This is why people need to stop judging people because of their weight, because they don’t know what is causing someone’s weight issues. Fat is often a symptom, not the cause, of underlying health problems. To blame the person as if having a medical condition is somehow a moral failing is crazy to me. Nobody shames someone for having cancer, so why would you shame someone for having a thyroid condition or PCOS? Anyway I hope you know your value isn’t dependent on your weight. You are so much more than your weight. I hope you’re doing better now.
I only recently understood how bad 2000's diet culture and the effect of the biggest loser really were. Growing up on the slightly overweight side (I still always fit into straight sizes but I'm also short) I remember seeing the show and thinking that was the only way one could loose weight and with different factors such as any celebrity above a size 6 getting called fat, being bullied etc I developed an eating disorder . A few weeks ago I met with a girl I went to school with between ages 10 and 17 and she also admitted that she very badly struggled with bulimia and anorexia during that time and told me another girl from our class struggled with the same things. Out of 6 girls 3 had Ed's that we know of. And all of us had very warped views of our bodies and excessive exercise being necessary. It's sad to think that a lot of our generation is completely messed up because of a culture and TV shows that drilled in our brains that more that 1200kcal per day will make you fat
Not just drilling into people's brains that it "will make you fat", but that that's a bad thing to begin with. A horrific thing no one should be, according to them.
I have *always* said, what you do to lose weight is what you will need to do to maintain that loss. That’s why extreme dieting fails!
Diets do not work long term. All of them.
Love the resurgence of 2000s style but the body ideals slowly being carried to current trends are scaring me
Low-rise pants have a very detrimental effect on women because any sort of muffin top was viewed so negatively even though it's natural 😬
Yeah... having come of age in the '00s, I find it very concerning to see younger generations pursuing the looks of that era. So many of the fashions popular back in the early to middle part of the decade were designed to flatter only a tall, narrow frame. For example, low-rise jeans and cropped camisole tops.
Maybe we could just.... celebrate all people rocking low rise jeans regardless of their body? Get rid of the beauty standard instead of the fashion? I don't have a perfectly flat stomach but I just love low rise jeans and feel most comfortable in them lol
@@julietsteed6474 I agree!!! If you have muffin top, just size up! We need to get over obsessing about the number on the tag.
@@msadams224 but often you can’t even get these styles in larger sizes, not in the same shops at least. if they’re offered at all sometimes the larger sizes are only sold online, which rules them out for many shoppers, and/or they might be more expensive than the versions for smaller people.
The fact that I used to watch this show when I was younger and thought it was so normal.... smh.
I was already underweight and this show fueled my negative ed thoughts and behaviors, I think despite weight or body shape it's a a struggle that is very real. It's terrible the abuse everyone went through on the show and how everyone was affected. I idolized Gillian because she fed the Ed monster in my brain. So many people (viewers) have been affected as well. I know it was one of the trigger shows for many. Thank you for talking about the reality of this!! ❤❤ I think diet culture was such a HUGE thing in 2000's I was born in '93. Super anxiety provoking at the time, diet culture will always be here but commentary talking about normal bodies is so important.
Back in the day when my ed was really bad, I tried to watch this horrific show to trigger myself but even then I could hardly watch five minutes of the contestants being abused liked that... My heart goes out to everyone who was affected by this, especially the contestants
I'm so glad people are starting to be more accepting. There's still a LONG way to go until we can stop making fun of people for their body, not even just about the weight. Things like cellulite, wrinkles, scars etc... It's insane how early it starts too? I remember when I was in 4th grade that everyone would make fun of a chubby girl in my class just because she was the only one that is on the "fat" side. I didn't know better as a kid and honestly feel horrible thinking back, especially now that I'm also considered FAT. I've had a guy straight up tell me that I can't lose the weight and be skinny because I'm just being a pig and not working out hard enough, although he barely knows me and didn't know my medical history that has been contributing to a difficult weight loss journey. It's insane how quick we are to judge
im so sorry u had to go thru that, i hope u get better, i am considered fat/midsize as well and ppl r so judgmental and mean and inconsiderate for no damn reason, it annoys me that fatphobia is taught and accepted by parents, ppl, society, teachers in the name of “health” when u don’t know what the person is going thru either physically or mentally!
It’s so crazy how some people’s first response to seeing a person who’s overweight is to shame them or feel disgust/anger towards them. I feel like shaming fat people is almost a sort of coping mechanism for some people because they themselves have deep rooted insecurities about their own body image. It’s like seeing a fat person triggers an anxiety response in them because it forces them to confront their own personal fear of being perceived as “fat”.
it's more than "making fun of" fat people. it's constant, inescapable, socially accepted discrimination.
I literally remember having to calculate our BMI in phys ed (we stood in line to weigh ourselves in a “private room” but you could easily read the scale from the doorway), and then having to write down our goal BMI for the semester, and your grade was partially tied to how close you came to that goal. And it was years and years before anyone even told me that was fucked up, and by then the damage was kind of already done.
That's so terrible, it's so fucked that they made y'all do that
@@chewnotchw3 right???
Yeah we started doing that in first and second grade where I live (6-8 years old) and we were all in a line in the gym so literally the whole class could read the huge numbers on the digital scale. Genuinely torture.
I heard someone talk about curly vs straight hair when I was a kid and complaining about my wavy hair, and they said, "you always want what you can't have," and body types seem to be the same thing. I used to wish I was more curvy, while the curvy girls in school wished they were more flat. But you know what a bit part of it is? Clothes. Neither of us could fit in popular clothes since they were made for something in between. Thin, but still wider hips than mine, and not being flat chested, but also not being a size F. I hope one day we can emphasize feeling good over fitting beauty standards, and have people find clothes that fit them, rather than trying to fit them into clothes.
i'm glad you said that about the term "morbidly obese." People often think that since it's a medical term, it's what you should use and apply to any stranger, but like that term is SO loaded and honestly has been used in horrible ways.
apparently it's not even used medically anymore
@@colorbar.s my mom’s gynecologist still uses it :/
You should consider looking at the swan and/or bridalplasty. They are reality tv shows that focused around plastic surgery and I think you could have a really great take on it. They are early 2000s shows but they are so interesting.
Yes! Or the Extreme Makeover show
Omg… I STILL cannot believe how many seasons The Swan was even allowed to be on the air…let alone greenlit! ITS HORRIFYING!
@@dancerbabe02 the 2000s were a wild time
Bridalplasty is such a trip of a show, it really sits in this weird space of 'how the hell was this ever made, it's disgusting' and 'this show is amazing, I can't look away'. I believe I watched it on Hulu or something back in college years ago and remember how heavilly one woman got the villan edit and I believe ended up losing in the end? That's one show I'll never forget about.
So my mom was actually on the Biggest Loser (an Atlanta localized version at least) around 10 years ago and I remember a lot of the things that happened during that time.
For one, it’s very hard to forget the Weight Watchers. They put her on a strict diet of them and gave her enough for the show and I believe a month after the show stopped as well. She was also very much rationed on how many calories she could eat as well but I’m not sure if that was the show or the product’s fault. I do know, however, that she often stressed about calorie counts to an unhealthy degree for years after the show.
She also completely gained the weight back and then some. She personally blamed the whole metabolism thing but she also had a problem with binge eating and an addiction to Coca-Cola that was never addressed by the show. Nowadays she’s been trying and failing to lose the weight and stop drinking Coke because of her health and the pressure the fat is putting on her internal organs.
She also worked out a lot at home, though I couldn’t tell you how much since I don’t remember if she was taking any classes during the time. She never passed out or anything at home though, but that might have to do with the ventilation. I do remember that she had to often drive to the gym where she’d meet with her personal trainer though. They also swung by the house occasionally during the show but my mom never let me meet them.
I should also have mentioned that she wasn’t at some big house with everyone, she had to take care of my brother and I. She was also very stressed and had a short temper at the time, though that might’ve had to do with school as well.
I can’t say anything about the challenges or anything that happened on the actual set because she just kept my brother and I far away from the show, never even letting us watch it. I also have tried to find the season online to no avail since it was apparently only aired locally.
Oh yeah and she got second I believe.
I'd like to add something helpful I learned in eating disorder treatment. there's no such thing as "bad food" or "unhealthy food" , it's more about balance. like eating your veggies before desert™ sort of thing. as long as you're getting nutrition, that's enough. it's all about finding what you like and have access to amongst the different food groups and then balancing it,, and with all the different kinds of alternatives there are these days, it's more possible than ever to find that variety and be able to enjoy it 🎺🦐 and of course labeling entire food groups as "bad" or "junk food" etc. is quite classist ,,as was mentioned 😳😳
Recently my countrys national tv-channel made a documentary about weight and weight-loss hosted by a radio host where they also interviewed a former biggest loser-participant who very candidly explained how much biggest loser fucked up his life (he's thankfully healing from the experience). The conclution to the tv show was that weight and body is extremely complex and all you can do is do your best.
Do you happen to know the name of the documentary series?
@@gabe6851 it's called "eit feitt liv" (direct translation: a fat life). I don't know if it's internationally available tho, or if there's subtitles as it's in Norwegian
As a fat person myself I really appreciate these videos and your comments towards the end of this one in particular. Fat phobia runs so deep in our society that’s it’s really heartening to hear thin people calling it out, especially thin people who have not been directly affected by it but can see it for what it is!
Also your comments about this tv show using “health” as the excuse for bullying behaviour (“laughing at fat people”) show a lot of insight. I appreciate that a person with a “thin” body who could easily opt in to the false narrative (as many do, to make themselves feel better about their otherwise not great lives) has seen through that bs narrative and rejected it. Unfortunately far too many people still feel entitled to treating others in nasty, bullying, degrading and abhorrent ways while using the excuse “it’s for your own good!!” to justify their sh*tty behaviour. Fat people have to live with this disgusting and damaging hypocrisy every day.
exactly!! I'm also a fat person and those comments at the end made me tear up a little. I'm so happy there's thin people willing to call out what's happening when it'd be so easy for them not to. I hope people listen.
big yikes to toxic reality shows
I would be very interested to hear you speak further about supersize vs super skinny since it shamed both overweight and underweight people, many with eating disorders and trauma that was brushed aside, humiliated contestants about their eating habits and forced them to watch while someone else tried to consume it. Like the biggest loser it was just so uncomfortable yet fascinating and was criticised for triggering people with eating disorders.
I always thought they should talk about why their diets were do extreme. Occasionally you'll get a really nice pair who will talk to each other about their issues and become supportive friends.
I'm not gonna watch thus episode because of my ED, but your videos are always amazing and I wanted to give you some love 💕 your doing great!
glad to see youre looking after yourself! :) i hope you have an amazing day
I don't blame you, Biggest Loser is an ED inducing show. I've even heard of an eight year old, who developed Anorexia from watching that show.
my 'bmi' has always categorised me as 'overweight' even though i was active as a child. i walked, i ran, i participated in pe and all that sutff, but i was made to be ashamed of my looks and that pushed me away from sports entirely. im so tired of not being taken seriously. i've literally been told to lose weight if i want to be a 'real man' (im trans)
i remember when my teacher talked abt how contestants gained weight back after the show they always framed it as "they didn't have the self control once they lost the external motivation" and hearing that it was physically impossible for them to continue that weight rlly makes that stuff even worse to think abt
Yes!! The tone was always like “they should be ashamed!” But they were set up for failure …
I went to the Biggest Loser Resort in Malibu, California for two weeks in 2013. Positives: we went for a hike everyday and I loved that. I did a mini-triathlon and that was really cool. Negatives: literally everything else. I definitely gained back more weight over the next few years. Fast forward and I’ve finally learned the key to health: sleep well. Hydrate. Exercise (including strength training and weight lifting) and eating what works for your body. There’s almost eight million bodies on this planet-there’s no perfect one. If your brain is a reliable narrator, listen to it. If your brain is an unreliable narrator, find a trusty interpreter (like a therapist).
Jordan, don’t apologize for not being obese. You handled a sensitive topic with grace and that’s all that matters.
Yes. I really can’t emphasize enough, if you’re able to work on giving yourself more sleep, that can make a huge impact on your life.
Now that you mention it… as I said on my comment on part 1, I'm from Argentina, and "Cuestión de Peso" was obviously a local spin-off of the Biggest Loser... but worse. They went to the contestants houses and they checked their fridges and televised their house, their lives, their family and friends were also interviewed by the staff. And even worse, there wasn't any personal trainers, there was just a panel of people giving their opinion and insulting them as if they were NOT people with feelings. But, as well, it was a big ass promotion for Cormillot products (the brand of a famous "nutritionist" in Argentina) and shit like that.
That's insane!
I watched the Australian version of the show and it was immensely awful, in some ways perhaps even worse than the American one.
@@Nocturnalux Yeah, like this was awful but they made it so lighthearted and entertaining that it didn't feel like that at all. It was just using fat people as a way of comedy, y'know?
Seriously the red hair looks SO GOOD ON YOU!!!!
Jordan i’ve got to say usually I am easily triggered by weight talk but I need to acknowledge what a safe haven your channel has become for me. The way you approached this topic was very respectful and very much appreciated ❤
Same, this is the only 30+ weight talk that didnt make me nearly slip into another ed
I’m glad TBL is in its flop era
thank u for making this video !!!! watching biggest loser was so traumatizing to me as a fat kid that i kind of forgot about it lmao, but this explains why i was 13 thinking i had to run on the treadmill for at least 4 hours a day
this show makes me think of another show, the series supersize vs superskinny. They would essentially take two people with eating disorders (they called it “severe diets”) and forced them to switch eating habits. There was no support and a ton of shaming from family members which I’m sure did nothing but traumatize the people featured. I barely remember most of it, but I would watch it when I was in the midst of obsessive calorie counting to “motivate” me to keep cutting back.
I remember a woman on the show who only drank tea, about 5 cups a day. she ate little to nothing and I wished so bad that someday I could have that much “self control” to get to that point . Unsurprisingly it aired around 2008. It just sickens me to see these shows existing. I realize now how much they affected me on a conscious and subconscious level.
The only reality show that managed to do it right was Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food and the US version Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. In both versions Jamie Oliver asked the question "why do people have bad eating habits?" Since he's a chef Jamie Oliver was able to help with the most common answer to that question, not knowing how to cook.
I just watched some of that one it’s just the like “the health conscious Marie” NO ITS AN EATING DISORDER. They at least acknowledged that both sides were unhealthy but they can’t recognize disorder when they’re staring them in the face.
You can also say class 3 obesity! Morbidly obese is no longer used in official classification. It still frontloads obesity, but it’s certainly easier on the ear
I have heard that the O word is a slur. Should I still say it in this context (class 3…)? I’m writing an essay about fat phobia and EDs
obese isn't a slur
This just boggles my mind. My mom and I religiously watched the biggest loser when I was little due to my mom trying to lose weight at the time. i definitely believe watching this as a child, led to the development of my own eating disorders in adolescence. I even became OBSESSED with working out. Very very damaging, and I'm glad you made these videos to bring this back to light.
Can I just say that, as an overweight person myself, and although I appreciate you addressing the fact that you, yourself, I guess you could say is accepted as standard size, there was no part in this video where I had felt you were saying anything in a patronizing way towards people whom are overweight or those with body issues in general..There are people out there though who are in that small pool of accepted beauty standards who try to convey body positivity but it comes out as a demand instead like "You SHOULD love yourself because I love myself..why would it be so hard for you to do?" And it's like..look man, don't tell me how to feel when I torment myself daily trying to be your size?" Its tone deaf as hell..
The way you come across to me, however, is "We all should be able to love ourselves but we don't and this is why" and I personally think you were absolutely appropriate about it. I enjoy your commentary very much. Thanks!!
I 2nd this comment, your tone was great and understanding not patronising!
Thank you for this comment, it’s helpful to know that this video is a good example of how to be supportive of my friends with the way I talk. I love them a lot!!! But I know I need to be aware of things I’ve never experienced to actually show that I do, so I really appreciate your perspective. I hope you’re doing well!
I literally had the biggest loser wii game and I would play it everyday cause I was so scared of being "fat" one day even though now I am technically obese but I am a size small, it really goes to show how horrible that show ruined so many peoples body image.
If you don't mind my asking, how are you obese and still a size small? I'm a little confused. And if you don't want to answer, that's okay too!
@@andreab9729 oh it’s because of how my body is proportioned im 5’5 and 180lbs but my pants size is around a 6 or 7 cause of my butt lmao
@@ZhariyaAleice It sounds like you’re my body type “pear shaped.” We get called obese with BMI even when we’re fit because it doesn’t take into account body proportions so we can have a tiny waist, fit size small shirts but have big butt and hips that are bigger than a size 6 and we’re still “obese” according to BMI, which is why BMI is bullshit.
I think you mean you’re overweight.
@@kilimanjaro5537 well, my doctor told me i am medically obese lmao
as someone who has always been overweight and had their family use shows like these to try and scare me into losing weight as a child, watching you shed light on how unrealistic and damaging this show is felt like a warm hug
you got this !! your family will regret it one day
Just gotta say, if you want to work with a personal trainer, make sure they show you they have a current credential - cuz someone on this tv series didn't have one at the time this show was being made.
You're fine, sweetie, I'm an older women who started dieting at age 10. It's a mess. I thought you covered this particular lunacy with care and compassion. You did good.
I just opened youtube and seeing this video made me smile because I was really excited for the second part. The topic is deep but not too dense so I dont "procrastinate" watching the video for a moment where I think I am more able to concentrate more 😅😊
Just great work! 💗
Watching this pre-thanksgiving meal is actually really helpful for just giving myself a break and not feeling guilty about just enjoying eating. Diet culture is bullshit.
You weren’t lying when you said that wait would be short
as a fat girl myself, i just wanted to say thank you for these videos. it’s not often enough that i see thin people call out fatphobia or bother to do this much research & care into being allies. i’ve been watching your videos for a while now, and it makes me happy to see you come through with such insightful support and education. and the biggest loser definitely deserves more criticism than it gets, so THANK YOU for calling this out in specific- looking back, i know watching this show growing up contributed to my eating disorder.
Sometimes I forget what the 2000s was like because I was very young at the time so I wasn’t going through puberty through it, thank god. And then recently I just decided I wanted to watch Devil Wears Prada with my friend and the whole time we were just horrified cause they spend half the movie body shaming Anne Hathaway, who was pretty skinny, and they called her “6” instead of her name just to point out her size. Never remembered that part of the movie but fat-shaming and diet culture was jsut a casual topic in the 2000s
I remember when TBL was huge, I was very young and I as a child I was always a bigger kid. I would see the commercials, the magazines, the trainers, it’s stupid skinny “propaganda” that continuously told me, about 8yrs old that i’m unhealthy, im fat, that a skinny person is inside of me waiting to get out, etc. This show single handledly kickstarted my self esteem and self image issues. this show made me aware of my weight and i have been struggling with it and my unhealthy relationship with food. i’m glad my grandmother never let me watch the show, but it still had its affects along with the whole skinny culture of the 2000s.
I got so emotional at the end part of your video, I have genuinely never seen someone empathise so much about this and understand how badly it affects us, I’ve been fat all my life and am a couple years younger than you so mostly grew up without any body positivity at all, it means so much to actually see examples where people (especially people who haven’t experienced it) understand the real impact and pain and side effects that is caused by fatphobia, and every single point you made in both videos were so spot on they were really good
Agreed - I’m impressed!
Trendy body shapes are unattainable naturally. I remember watching a video about the slim-thick body, but I can't remember whether it was a Khadija Mbowe video or a Lorry Hill video. Someone commented with the input from a historical costumer perspective: back when the ideal silhouette was a kind of hourglass slim-thick attained with layers and padding, people understood that wasn't what those bodies looked like underneath all their clothes. Now we have people in fewer layers of clothing, or posing in bikinis or whatever, with impossibly flat stomachs and whatever else is trendy at the time (the flat stomach seems to be the thing in common despite the otherwise drastic differences between Heroin Chic and Slim-Thick), and they look that way due to photo editing and/or surgery.
I'm also trying to put together in my mind instances where the books I read around age 10 criticized the trendy bodies in passing, but not in a super in-depth way.
-The Name of This Book is Secret has minor antagonist celebrities (I think they're pop stars? idk it's been a while and I need to reread the book and the rest of the series) the Skelton sisters, who are so skinny that the protagonists think they look like skeletons. If that series were released during the late 2010s instead of the late 2000s, the Skelton sisters would have slim-thick bodies instead of heroin chic bodies, and I guess the protagonists would sit there wondering how their waists can be so much smaller than the rest of them (to put it politely--these are, like, 11-year-olds in a middle-grade series, so editors and publishers wouldn't allow them to straight-up say, "Why are their boobs and butts so big but their waists are so tiny?").
-The first book of the Uglies series (which is a dystopia with government-mandated cosmetic surgery and kids brainwashed into thinking a specific beauty standard is "just science" and has "thousands of years of evolution" backing it) has a scene where the protagonist is looking through fashion magazines from the 2000s and marveling at what people in the past thought was pretty. She sees one model who she thinks has the prettiest face, but her body is way skinnier than the Committee of Morphological Standards would approve of.
after I recovered from my ED, I gained nearly 100 pounds. your body FIGHTS to gain weight because it’s afraid of starvation. it took over a year but my body is finally getting healthy again. starvation MESSES your body up so much more than you can even imagine
As someone who's struggled with my weight my entire life, thanks for being an ally. I've never heard such an unaccusatory view from the outside in of the struggle with weight loss. Jordan Theresa, you truly are body positive.
Honestly, I think my parents and myself are to this day are dealing with psychological effects of watching this show. It's... sad seeing people around me (and others) viewing their lives through that reality show lens.
Everytime I hear you saying your intro it calms me down instantly
As someone who calorie restricted SEVERELY for years can confirm. At one point, to maintain weight loss, I was eating 800-1000 calories, plus 2 hours of exercise per day ie high impact aerobics, weights, and walking everywhere
For sure, it worked. I lost weight. BUT my appetite came back with a vengeance, I gained it all back, I was fatigued and hungry for years. YEARS after that.
Makes you think That as a species, we have to being doing something wrong, right? Like, animals don’t do this nonsense to maintain healthy weight and be fit and healthy.
Eat fruits and veg, sleep enough, drink water, exercise appropriately. Please don’t do what I did.
my mom and I watched the biggest loser when I was little. we both had eating disorders. it’s part of the multiple things that has driven me to use extremist methods to achieve weight loss under the guise of trying to achieve perfect health in my past.
a while ago i remembered about this show and thought how fucked up it was. i watched it when i was very little and have never forgot about it, i remember the trainer in particular, she was so abusive!! thank you so much for this analysis, its wonderful to see some critical view of this.
What you said in the rerecorded part made me tear up. Thank you so much for being aware, understanding our pain, acknowledging your privilege and talking about this. Thank you for using the voice you have as a straight sized person. Thank you so much.
This is amazing. I can’t underline it enough, we need people who look like you to speak on it.
In the same way that we as whire people need to speak up on racism, skinny people are needed to fight fat phobia
Always been aware of this f***ing awful milestone of 'reality' TV, thank you for watching it so I don't have to.
My baby momma has always been 'obese' (since her teens certainly) and it never took away from her health, attractiveness or confidence. Fat shaming and the cult of thin have done so much damage - I'm so glad you've shone a light here with another great video.
(Extra points for your compassion and sensitivity on this issue).
omg i’m so excited to watch this !
tw: mentions of EDs, fatphobia, and also parental loss (also i ramble lmao)
haven't finished the video yet, but the point you make at around 7:12 on how it affects its viewers really hits home for me. my parents (though i blame my mom more >.>) used to let my brother and i watch this show as kids (like 7-8 probably?). neither of us have ever been "fat," and while i don't know what his experience has been like, i know i personally still (at 24) have a lot of internalized fatphobia that i am trying to unlearn, as well as a whole eating disorder centered AROUND a fear of being fat. i have very little doubt that watching this show as a kid played a role in all this, especially combined with my mom's language about fat people (particularly my dad who was overweight, and the way she STILL talks about it even now (and maybe even *especially*) that he's gone). vilifying them and being scared to be fat was SO normalized for us...
also ur outro made me tear up hahahah but it's so refreshing to hear someone say they sympathize with the pain that being fat can put you through instead of essentially writing it off bc so many people believe that if you're fat you deserve ridicule. thank you for approaching this with compassion 💕
It's true, too many ppl get kicks from fat shaming others. It's disgusting really. All kinds of body shaming.
Yet another great and informative video! Fatphobia really is some of the most insidious hatred I've ever experienced, especially because so many people do gloss over it with a "oh but they're just concerned about your health".
Like, please tell me what shouts "I want you to be healthy" about having someone throw an open drink at me and my date shouting shit like "fat c*nts"
I’ll always remember when my mum told me age 18 size uk12 and my anorexic sister that we should do “supersize vs super skinny”. Media and entertainment have so much power over the thoughts and opinions of regular people.. During my 20s I became are UK size 18 and it’s been difficult to experience how peoples perceptions change and how you are generally less respected as a bigger person in almost every aspect of life. Due to a number of factors I haven’t been able to reduce my weight lower, and have been Working on accepting my bigger body. I hope that one day I will be able to become healthier, however I also hope that fat phobia continues to be addressed in the wider media in the next few years so that people are treated with the same respect no matter their size. Health is an extremely personal thing and the only people that have any rights to comment or advise are health professionals that are personally involved in our care (and even they have a lot of unlearning to do!)
your comment section is such a safe space for me. it comforts me that there are that many good people around
I remember how my friend’s mom did a biggest loser challenge at work. Literally nothing sounds worse than constantly judging and being judged about how much weight you’ve lost at work. The constant envy of anyone who lost more than you and how much you hate yourself
I grew up watching these shows because I was young and my mom was obsessed with them. We were both overweight and my mom was forcing me to diet with her when I was 13 and on. She would point to the people throwing up and crying on TV and tell me that if I didn't listen to her and lose weight I'd end up that big and sad too, which was dramatic as hell. So these types of shows just make me sad for all the people that truly fell for their messaging because even though my mom tried I always saw it as a disgusting was to shame people for situations that weren't wholly their fault in the first place, and it still messes with my body image to this day.
I'm so in love with your looks!
The sensitivity in which you tackle this subject is incredibly admirable. Thankyou.
i was born in 1997 so i had a very similar experience to you growing up in terms of being young and seeing 2000s diet culture promoted everywhere. i never watched the biggest loser but i have such distinct memories of like standing at a grocery checkout or reading a magazine at the hair salon and seeing constant photos of contestants with their dramatic weight losses and feeling like i could never let myself look like their "before" photos. i am glad we've progressed past that but i do agree that the current ideal body type isn't any more attainable or healthy than the super skinny 90s & 2000s standard
To add some context. It's very true that we do have a major obesity epidemic in the U.S, especially when you look at shows like My 600lb Life. People erroneously thought in the 2000s that we could remedy the obesity problem in America by having the fitness community push forth this shaming culture about obesity. Surprise surprise, it didn't work. It made the obesity problem ten times worse and the people who bought into that toxic diet culture ended up developing serious eating disorders and body dysmporphia.
My mom would watch this all the time, also she read lots of magazines in the 2000, she never loved/ loves her body and always says she wants to be skinny, then she also pokes fun at me for not being as skinny as she is but also she is way smaller then me, so much internalised fatphobia, it hard to deal with al off it. How things are pushed so much in or brains its scary..
It’s always a good day when Jordan uploads!! 😍 love this series! ❤️
Your empathy & understanding is so comforting.
i have spent my entire day off binge watching your videos and i don’t regret a second. your contents obviously well thought out and amazingly executed, im obsessed❗️
I used to watch this show with my family. And we never watched it to laugh at people, but to cheer them on to lose weight. As a child, I genuinely thought the show was to root for people to lose the weight.
Thanks for making this! Fat phobia is so 2000-and-late!
As a HOMESCHOOLED kid growing up in the early 2000s with very strict parents, i still was a target for those diet culture ads and subliminal marketing. The People Magazine headlines alone?? I saw them in two places; when my siblings and I went to the public library, I snuck them into a corner to flip thru. OR I saw them in line to checkout at the grocery store with my parents. Even so, they and other 2000s fatphobia invaded my brain and they were so impactful. Very bad for my preteen brain. And SCRIPTED fiction shows were just as bad (I.e. Glee, Secret Life of an American Teen, Vampire Diaries, etc).
Thank you for this video, as someone struggling with self-love at age 25 this is a reminder that I should face and overcome the harm this culture did to my self-esteem. I can heal and grow from that, and this video was a positive influence in that journey 💖
During health class my freshman year, we were forced to watch this show because it gave an example to what we were to avoid looking like. At first I did not think of how fatphobic and ignorant it was, however as time progressed and quizzes were given out on the topic of this show I began to feel uncomfortable. How does the Texas public school system get away with this? How is watching this show educational to a bunch of 14 year olds? (We would also we weighed in that class for the reason of comparing ourselves to those on the screen before us.)
Queen of citing sources!!! 😍😍😍
Growing up in the 2000s was hell, shows like this and the constant anti-fatness lead me to a lot of disordered eating and just thinking I was this disgusting monster which makes me laugh now because I was not even close to being anything but straight size. It was because I wasn’t perfectly toned etc because I was in my teens oof. And just knowing how bad me and my sister were affected, I can’t imagine how bad it was for actually fat people in that culture, one of my best friends for instance was always overweight through childhood and they got shit on a lot and it always broke my heart..thanks for making these videos.
To be honest, you have no need to disclose your privilege. I’ve been morbidly obese nearly my entire life. Everything that you talked about was with such Grace and compassion. You are the first person on UA-cam (or any platform) who is not subject of fat shaming and who speaks to value us as humans and make us feel worth something to society. I could have cried while you talked about how disgusting this show was (which I auditioned for!) and how nothing makes us bad human beings. Online is a very dark and negative place when you’re fat, even on HAES platforms as they’re taken over by trolls. I subscribed because I value you for valuing us-and all humanity. Thank you so much for being you.
God I remember watching the biggest loser as a kid and seeing those magazines in the grocery store. I'm still having to work through the mental effects of that bs time
I remember in high school, seeing a post on Facebook saying that people over 150 pounds were cows and shouldn’t wear bikinis. At that time, I felt proud that I was under 150, but when I crossed that line, I remember the absolute devastation. As I really progressed into adulthood, even though I do struggle with it still, I recognize that my body is evolving naturally. My metabolism is different. I appreciate all of the videos of people talking about these hard topics.
the 2000s were insane!! I still can't wear mid or low rise jeans without analyzing myself in the mirror
leaving this comment before watching the entire thing because i NEED TO TELL YOU THAT YOUR HAIR LOOKS SO GOOODDDDDDDDD 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥