Biggest Loser: Too Far?

As Rachel Frederickson, age 24, stepped on stage at NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” finale, some people wondered if she had gone too far.

“The Biggest Loser” is known for dramatic weight losses in short amounts of time. Most winners lose more than 50% or more of their body weight, but Frederickson appeared extremely thin.

Rachel Fredrickson lost 155 pounds over the course of the season. Going from 260 pounds to 105 pounds, losing 59.62% of her body weight. Only being 5 feet, 5 inches tall, that puts her body mass index (BMI) at 17.5. The National Institutions of Health stated that anyone under 18.5 BMI is considered to be underweight.

Frederickson’s dramatic weight loss left social media buzzing. One woman wrote “Are you kidding? Rachel looks anorexic! She has gone from one extreme to the other!” Other posts calling Frederickson “frail” and said she seemed “dizzy” and “disoriented” on stage.  “I’m saddened that my 13-year-old daughter watched as you were rewarded for doing that to your body,” one woman said.

As of Wednesday Rachel Frederickson had not responded to any of the comments out on social media.

One trainer, Jillian Michaels, commented on the behalf of her and other trainer Bob Harper saying ,“Bob and I want to take a moment to congratulate all of the BL contestants on their hard work. We’re not comfortable commenting on Rachel’s journey because (we) weren’t her trainers and weren’t given an opportunity to work with her at any point. Any questions about the contestants on the Biggest Loser should be directed to the show’s producers.”