Former "American Idol" winner Ruben Studdard joins new season of "Biggest Loser"

Ruben Studdard is confident on Biggest Loser | Mail Online

?Biggest Loser? season 15 premiere recap: We?ll have the Ruben - National weight loss | Examiner.com

Former American Idol winner Ruben Studdard has joined the 15th season of The Biggest Loser, making him the first celebrity contestant to participate on the show. Weighing in at 462 pounds, he is the heaviest contestant this season. Since winning American Idol ten years ago, in 2003, he continued to struggle with his weight, and he does not want his career cut short by his health issues. He is on the red team, and is trained by Dolvett Quince.

The first episode of the new season premiered last night, and a new feature this year is the "trainer's save," in which, if a contestant falls below the red line, the trainer may save them once. It was used last night, as Jillian's white team lost the weigh-in, and she decided to use it to save the member of her team that fell below the red line.

The new season premiered last night, and I wonder if "Big Ruben" can win this show like he did before with American Idol ten years ago.

Celebrity?

Career?

*giggles* He fell into oblivion just like every other American Idol winner minus Carrie Underwood & Kelly Clarkson.

I was gonna comment about Adam Lambert but he didn't win so ha. He's fronting for queen lately

rofl yeah. Wasn't that the season Kris Allen won? My sister knows his wife, and I didn't see the finale 'cuz AI is st00pid now and it's boring. But my fav. morning radio show was talking about it and they said that Kris didn't look to happy that he won.

'Cuz it's almost always the runner ups (or even people in the top 10 sometimes) that have better careers. XD

Best of luck to Ruben on his weight loss journey.

He's trying to do something that will impact his life for the better. Can't fault him for that. Sorry to say I won't be joining the bad joke wagon.

I'm rooting for him. I think he's adorable.

Good luck to everyone who has decided to make their long-term health a priority at the expense of their privacy and dignity; I think that they are quite brave. I'd argue that Mr Studdard shows even more courage in presenting himself to the nation as a "big loser" a decade after he was voted an "American Idol". I'm sure he didn't "fall into oblivion" in regards to his friends and family, and certainly hasn't in regards to his own aspirations.

I consider The Biggest Loser a form of torture porn. I seriously doubt it's healthy to take sedentary, obese people with a myriad of health problems and make them suddenly do excessive, intense exercise for hours every day - that actually sounds like a recipe for multiple injuries. On the other hand, it's nice to show that weight loss and lifestyle changes in general take discipline and hard work, and it may just be that the "real" workouts are edited out, although I am skeptical. Between the bullying tactics, emphasis on numbers as an indicator of health/success and extreme levels of transparency and accountability in contestant behaviour, there have to be some mind games and anxiety that accompany the "weight loss journey". Normal, or even "just not extremely high" rates of weight loss are treated like failure.

I do wonder what the "relapse" rate is once these people are back juggling the demands of work/family in a real environment where they don't have professional athletes as personal trainers and no one is monitoring what they are eating. Hmm.

I don't have any links, but I've read a couple of accounts of contestants on the show and how they faced a lot of physical abuse (through over-work) and mental abuse from the trainers on the show.

I saw a commercial for this during the Broncos game. Why is a fat guy joining a weight loss program a big deal?

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Originally Posted by Calliope

I do wonder what the "relapse" rate is once these people are back juggling the demands of work/family in a real environment where they don't have professional athletes as personal trainers and no one is monitoring what they are eating. Hmm.

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My understanding is that most participants and winners of the show go right back into old habits because they can't maintain a lifestyle of working out 6 hours a day and gain most or all of the weight back. I read an article or something about it a few months ago.

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Originally Posted by fire_of_avalon

My understanding is that most participants and winners of the show go right back into old habits because they can't maintain a lifestyle of working out 6 hours a day and gain most or all of the weight back. I read an article or something about it a few months ago.

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There are even more reasons behind it than that if what little nutrition advice they give on the show and the products they're paid to shill are any indication.

But true, these people didn't get where they are because they had an abundance of willpower when back home and with family and friends.

Usually the thing with Biggest Loser contestants, or at least, this is my belief..

If that person is obese, chances are, the family is struggling with general health and weight issues as well. I'm not saying this is always the case. I could probably even be way off base, but it's been so long since I've watched the show, I can't remember.

If one person is trying to better their health, then those closest have to get involved as well. Otherwise, it's just setting up for failure. Yes, I'm a firm believer in this. Being active together, making healthy choices together. That's what keeps the momentum going.

Like with the bf and I.. I try my damnedest to eat healthy - low carb, low sodium, mostly veggies, but we can't afford to have 2 separate dietary requirements. He actually -needs- to eat a lot of all of that stuff, and sure, I can get away with putting extra veggies into everything (and I always do), but it's hard cooking 2 separate meals everyday for us. Like I've said before, I snack around on stuff throughout the day anyway - and especially whatever I'm cooking, but it adds up and stuff.

Anyway. That one chick Ally kept the weight off - she has her own health show on some oddball channel that I never knew existed (that we got via antenna lol)..

And that other girl.. I can't remember her name, but she was in the WWE Diva training camp when a stunt went wrong and she broke her back or something. She didn't win, but she had the most dramatic change out of all of the contestants that season.

Ruben Studdard was eliminated on this week's episode, so he won't be the biggest loser.

It just occurred to me that Ruben is also the name of a sandwich :(

He did terribly. Prediction: By the finale he's lost no more than 70 pounds.

He did not appear to be terribly invested in his performance, I agree.

I think that Olympic chick my pull it out of her ass and win.

Her or Hap.

very apt description Nicky, torture porn is a great term for it

i can't watch torture movies and i can't watch this

I can't watch torture crap, but I love watching people get fit! It almost half makes me want to do it! But then I eat ice cream while I watch it.

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He was recently, officially, eliminated last week, so he won't be the Biggest Loser. He was previously "eliminated" in a voided elimination because Jillian gave her team supplements.

He did a trout job. Absolute trout. He'll still be ginormous at the finale.

'The Biggest Loser' Finale: Winner Loses Nearly 60 Percent Body Weight

The winner of this season was Rachel Frederickson, who lost a record-breaking 59.62% of her body weight, going from 260 pounds to 105 pounds, effectively making her underweight.

As for Ruben Studdard, he lost 119 pounds, or 25.76% of his body weight, going from 462 pounds to 343 pounds. Not bad in terms of raw numbers, but in percentages, he could have done better.

While this show is good in that teaching people to exercise and eat healthy is a good thing, I can't help but think that it rewards overweight people by giving them fame and fortune for doing something most of us do naturally (as in, not be fat). Is there any evidence of people purposefully gaining weight in order to go on this show or are the contestants vetted thoroughly enough so that it doesn't occur?

This show doesn't teach people to exercise and be healthy, it teaches people to overexercise unsustainably and unrealistically, eat processed foods, and that "losing the highest percentage of weight loss" takes priority over all other aspects of health. This isn't a benevolent lecture on wellness and acceptance, it's a marketing ploy to sell exercise equipment, and merchandising and advertising tie-ins. The trainers shame contestants for being fat, being tired, sustaining injuries, exercising so much that they vomit (which isn't enough) - and encourage behaviours like exercising even more and fasting to the point of dehydration when anticipating weigh-ins.

"Most of us" are not fat - but "most of us" here are lucky enough to have access to fresh ingredients, the time to prepare them, the physical ability and time available to exercise. If you're rushing from one job to another or scheduling your day around public transit, maybe a smoke and a candy bar or a Big Mac Combo is the best you can do. Not everyone on food stamps can rush out and stock up on Subway sandwiches and Jimmy Dean's turkey breasts. Obesity compounds physical ailments, yes - but that just makes it more difficult to summon the energy to change them. If you seriously think that there are people out there gaining weight specifically so that they can be chosen for a TV show that further removes their ability to work and earn money in the short term then I don't even know what to say.

The show doesn't give "overweight people" "fame and fortune", either. I would wager the majority of them don't get public speaking or fitness guru engagements - and even if they do, that's hardly millions of dollars. How much money do you think the winner actually gets to keep? Someone with that many health problems is pretty likely to have some hefty medical bills to take care of, as well as things like wages they missed out on for the duration of the show, and other life expenses.

I watched the finale (having not watched since the beginning of the season) and it was atrocious, it was like watching an overzealous cult meeting. Like a sideshow or a circus, the garishly lit close-ups of the obese contestants (who in their photos aren't allowed to smile or even wear a t-shirt) contrasted with the heavily made up and slimmed down contestants who almost all, shockingly, managed to look disappointed with their final mammoth efforts on the scale. I hope that they are happy, but I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't, despite the carefully prepared soundbites. I'm surprised that the winner didn't have a heart attack, but I'm sure whenever that happens it will make for good ratings.

I get the criticism for the show, but it's hard to be cynical about it when you see a guy go from struggling to get into bed with his sleep apnea mask to participating in a rodeo. These people go from being sick to being athletes. Yes, it's on a game show, so aspects of it are smurfed up, but I'm not sure of another setting that affords the kind of opportunity to just power through the transformation from obese to fit while showing other people that changing your life like that is possible.

You said yourself you didn't watch the show, Nicky, so you didn't see them with medical professionals and how they adjust work-outs for injuries. Yeah, they dehydrate before weigh-ins; it's a competition, after all.

There is shame in being that big. Being morbidly obese means you are sick. Many of the contestants still aren't "slim" at the finale, but they still get cheers and praise and told how wonderful and healthy they look because they are much healthier. The show does a lot of charity and has developed a lot of programs to promote fitness. Yeah, it's a money-making machine, but that doesn't make the fitness they promote less valuable.

Tumi was my favorite this year and I didn't expect her to win, but she did (the at-home prize) and looked amazing. Like a gazelle. It was great watching Rachel blossom, and she probably went a little far in getting down to 105, but she had big guys to compete with so I can't really blame her. I really didn't expect Bobby or David to look quite that good at the finale; I wasn't sure who was going to win once I saw all of them.

Ruben is still obese, but he did better than I thought. Tumi's still my favorite though.

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Originally Posted by Calliope

How much money do you think the winner actually gets to keep? Someone with that many health problems is pretty likely to have some hefty medical bills to take care of, as well as things like wages they missed out on for the duration of the show, and other life expenses.

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If your country had less smurfed up tax laws and a cost of living that isn't insane in a lot of places, the winner would do a lot better I'd guess.

I said I didn't watch the show, Amanda, but having watched other seasons I know they periodically sit down with the doctor and evaluate their progress. That doesn't change that it's unhealthy and unrealistic to so rapidly embrace such a regimen.

There is shame in being that big, but unfortunately it seems there is shame in being as small as Rachel Frederickson, too. It's a pity that there are people demanding she be stripped of her prize, or otherwise generally shaming her for deciding to do exactly what the show promotes and win the competition. I guess I'm not surprised, but it's tiring that even when they win, the contestants are still the subject of such outrage and criticism.

They have 24 hour access to medical care. Sure, every day they drop weight that fast is unhealthy, but every day they spend being obese is unhealthy. Either way their body is strained; might as well get to the healthy zone as quickly as you can, while entertaining and inspiring people and potentially winning money.

I think it's reasonable for people to criticize her weight, being that fitness is the focus of the show. She looks small enough that it's a little concerning. But it's a competition, she won, and she'll probably put a little weight back on now. Whatever. I like dollars.

If fitness was the focus of the show, why doesn't the prize go to whoever can run the fastest/lift the most weight/do X number of reps relative to their finishing body composition?

Because we Americans are of simple mind. You're talkin' lots of math talk there, hoss.

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Originally Posted by Calliope

If fitness was the focus of the show, why doesn't the prize go to whoever can run the fastest/lift the most weight/do X number of reps relative to their finishing body composition?

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The average person watching the show or trying to lose weight themselves doesn't understand such goals. They just understand a number on a scale.

I agree with you though, I'd rather see them get to the end and actually compete in some meaningful competition covering a range of different athletic skills to see who has improved the most. That's the sort of fitness people should be paying attention to. Weight can be part of measuring health, but it's far from the be all, end all measure.

A athletic fitness challenge would definitely be a much better goal. A lot of the 'reward' challenges are fitness based so that's good, but at the end of the day it comes down to that % weight lost. I think there was another weight loss show where the goal was a fitness test, wasn't there?

I seem to remember my mom watching one at some point that had them do a fitness test at the start and at the end to see the improvement. But they still ended on a weigh in so you may be thinking of something else.

Indeed, the format of the show is very unrealistic. They work out for 6 hours a day with very little food. That is why they drop a lot of weight in a week, especially in the first week. There is another show on ABC, entitled Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition, in which the depictions of weight loss are much more realistic, with the only difference being the presence of cameras to document the progress.

I also found out that the antithesis of The Biggest Loser is a show entitled Man vs. Food, which aired from 2006 to 2010 on the Travel Channel, and featured a man named Adam Richman overindulging and participating in various mass quantity and/or extremely piquant (spicy) eating challenges.

Going back to weight loss, I've seen infomercials for exercise programs that these obese contestants are better off doing. P90X and Insanity are pretty extreme workouts, but even those are still somewhat more realistic than being on The Biggest Loser.