'The Biggest Loser' misses the mark

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Something just ain’t right about “The Biggest Loser”.

The show ALWAYS makes me bawl my eyes out. Every time. Never fails.

I cry when they air the first show of the season, when people we can all identify with stand on the scale and say they want to lose weight for their kids or their fiance or their dog.

Interestingly, they never say they want to lose weight for themselves.

Anyway ...

Then, three weeks in, someone loses 25 pounds in one week — not kidding. Here come the water works.

Shouldn’t this show inspire?

I should feel motivated to go out and do something, like the theme song suggests: “What have you done today to make you feel proud?”

Instead, I feel drained. I feel like crying.

At first I told myself it was because I was so happy for the contestants. These were tears of joy.

They were doing something about their unhealthy ways.

Now I know better. I actually feel sorry for them.

I know what it’s like to feel like the only way to win the weight loss battle is working out five hours a day.

I’ve tricked myself into thinking I had to eat fewer than 1,000 calories a day — no fat, no sugar, no carbs, no mistakes.

I tried ignoring all the temptations by ignoring them and isolating myself (I used my apartment, people on the show use The Biggest Loser Ranch) only to find they never go away. All those approaches failed.

The best way to become your own Biggest Loser is to make life changes, changes that are actually imaginable and realistic.

I don’t know about you, but in my reality a 30-minute workout is all I can squeeze in and sometimes a doughnut or candy bar just sounds darn good.

So I eat one. I skip a workout every once in a while.

Then I get back on track because I know that’s what happens in the real world.

I know the show inspires a lot of people. That’s great. But don’t let it trick you.

Just keep this in mind: I read a news story about a former contestant who — surprise — left the show and was struggling mightily with her weight.

She told the reporter that she and other ranch members were doing a promotional spot for milk and how it should be part of a balanced diet.

The second the cameras were off, she said trainers yelled at contestants to spit out the milk; it would ruin everything.

Oh, please sign me up for that.

NOT!

The people on “The Biggest Loser” think working out the hardest, staying at the gym the longest and eating the healthiest is the only answer.

It’s not. I know that now. That’s enough to make me cry tears of joy.

Tags: biggest loser, community, lifestyle, weight, loss, jen, cullen