151 The Biggest Loser Netflix Documentary - What Can We Learn?

A special guest episode with my sister Krista Olsen in which we explore the Netflix doc: Fit for TV - the reality of the biggest loser. We examine this show from our current vantage point - what it tells us about the cultural narrative about weight and weight loss that we were in at that time (2004 - 2016).

We get into the weeds on our personal impact and speculate the broader impact; In what ways was this show harmful and in what ways was it helpful? 

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IG: @lil_inbetween

Email: krista.yourcoach@gmail.com

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Transcript

This transcript was auto-generated, please forgive any weirdness.

Paula: I have a special person on the podcast today, and I don't normally do this, so I think other than having clients on, this is the only like guest spot that I've ever done and I'm super excited because this is my sister, my one and only sister. Her name's Krista. So for those of you maybe who have listened to the podcast for a while, you'll know that I've mentioned her a few times, but Krista and I are very close.

We don't live in the same city, but we've. Always been, I think super close and, uh, had a great relationship. And so I talked to her on the regular, she's essentially my informal coach. Um, and we thought it would be really fun to talk about a very topical thing that's going on right now, which is a documentary on Netflix about the Biggest Loser.

And we both watched it. Not all of the episodes, but you probably did too, because I don't know what the stats are, but it was millions and millions of people that tuned into this show. And so that's what we're gonna be talking about today. It's called Fit for tv, the Reality of The Biggest Loser. This is gonna be very informal.

Okay, so this we're, it is not gonna be a lot of teaching. There will be some, because there's things that came out in the show that we're gonna be talking about, and so I think. We both will have thoughts on that, kind of our personal opinions on really how this played into the cultural narrative about weight, weight loss at that time.

The show ran from 2004 to 2016. And then we're also gonna be talking about some personal impact that had on us and we speculate about the broader impact. So what ways was this show harmful? Uh, potentially. And in what ways was it helpful? So we are not here to criticize. Anybody on the show, like there has been a lot of talk about personalities and all of that.

We're not gonna talk about that today. That's not what this is about. This is more just about what was the impact, what, how might this have shaped for you, for you to reflect? And that if you watch it, if you haven't watched it, that's totally fine. I think you'll still get something from this. And if you have, I hope that this will be really validating.

So that was a lot of me talking. Why don't I just pass the torch over to Krista, and Krista can just tell you a little bit about herself, who she is, a little bit about her life, so you get a sense of. Who you are listening to. Okay. 

Krista: Hi everyone. Um, thank you Paula, for having me on your podcast. Yeah. I'm Paula's sister, her younger sister, and I recently just turned 40 and I've got two kids under four years old live in Calgary.

So, yeah, we don't live in the same city, but we talk every day. And, um, we were talking about this show and the Netflix episode and Paula suggested that we have a conversation on the podcast and I thought that would be great, um, because I have a lot of thought. I learned some stuff and it really challenged my own thoughts about my body, about watching the show, about the narratives that they set up.

So I'm looking forward to today's conversation. 

Paula: Yeah. Great. Okay, thank you. Let's, first, let's talk about some of the things that we noticed that we are maybe personally a little bit critical of, or that we think are harmful. And then we'll end on a high, we'll end on what was helpful and what we can take away in terms of inspiration or anything like that.

So I'll just share my first thing and then we can just talk about it. So my first point is really. When I watched this three part documentary on that show was how they emphasized exercise for fat loss. That is such, I think, a myth or something that I, in all my twenties, I always thought if I could just run. I think running 45 to 60 minutes every single day with maybe one day off thinking that, well, that justifies anything that I can eat. I can pretty much eat like whatever I, not whatever I want. But I just thought, well, as long as I'm working out or as long as I'm running. And they really emphasized that on the show.

It was all about working out. And Bob Harper, one of the trainers, he even says, he says, we know it's about diet. When it comes to fat loss, we know it's about diet, but that's not interesting to watch. And there's this, I think what the documentary really shows is the difference between what is helpful in reality for people and how this was really a TV show and where that that crossover was where the tension is.

Krista: Yeah, well, even the doctor who was on the show, that's how he got in involved in the show was they came to him and he said, I work for a football team and we can't, these linebackers or whatever their position were, they're eating so much and we can't keep weight on them because of the exercise component.

So that. Laid the framework for how they were going to make these contestants exercise, which is a totally unrealistic expectation of a quote, normal person who has a full-time job and a family and a social life. To have to exercise like a professional, it's unrealistic. And then, like you said, it's a show, so they took it to the entertainment level.

Let's make them fall off the treadmill for the watcher at home. You know, 10 years ago you're thinking, oh, I have to do that. They've got a hundred pounds to lose. What if I have, you know, half that or even less, like how much am I gonna have to work out then it's gonna be even harder. 

Paula: Yeah. And that was the thing that a lot of the people that were on the show that were interviewed, that they said was, I couldn't continue to work out like that.

Krista: Yeah. Like, I just couldn't keep that up and like, it's not sustainable. But yet that's what we were told, oh, we have to just have these grueling workouts. No pain, no gain. We have to exercise two hours a day or else what's the point? We're not gonna make any progress. It was like exercise was being used as punishment because these people had extra weight on their body.

Paula: Yeah, and we can get into that because I think that's another huge thing that stands out. Like when I went to the documentary, I was like in tears. That one woman, I don't, I don't remember her name. She was a brunette and she was the one who she had to leave at the beginning. Uh, did the race to qualify?

Krista: 'cause she, 'cause she died on the beach. She had to leave. Yes. Yeah. 

Paula: Yeah. And went to the hospital and then stayed on the, because she was so determined, you know, now the people looking back are reflecting and saying, it was as if, because I was in an overweight body, they could treat me less than human. Yeah.

And that was like so heartbreaking. Like they could yell at them. They didn't listen to them when they said, I actually physically can't do this thing. 

Krista: Yeah. And in fact, made them do things that they physically couldn't do to like embarrass them or humiliate them and to almost. Reinforce the thoughts they were already having about themselves.

Instead of saying, you're here, we'll take care of you. We're gonna start from, go on rebuilding who you are in the, in a really good way. Yeah. They're like, oh, you're being abused at home. Oh, you hate your life. Oh, this and this, and this is bad for you. Well, we're just gonna. Have that in the same kind of way.

It's just gonna be on a show in front of millions of people. I mean the, the one woman, that same woman who you're talking about, she says that I was so determined to get back on the show because my life at home, I was already getting yelled at. I was already living in fear. I was already being abused, essentially.

Paula: Let's talk about the food. I didn't watch all of the seasons, but I really stopped being invested in the show when it felt like it was a commercial for Subway, or it felt like it was a commercial for low fat dairy. That is when I was like. You know what? I'm not as emotionally invested in this anymore and I think I stopped watching, but let's talk a little bit about the diet.

So basically what I, and tell me if you got something different, but what I understood is the doctor said the male should be eating around, give or take 2000 calories and females should be eating around 1200 calories, give or take. I get how people want to. If you're overeating and you really have no information about nutrition, I get the appeal of being like, okay, well it's a numbers game and I just need to eat this amount in terms of numbers and then work out this amount.

Like that's very appeal appealing, I think, for a lot of people because it feels. Certain, and it feels secure and it feels like a guarantee. 'cause it's like a math equation. Mm-hmm. I think the problem is like our bodies are not a math equation and there's so many other variables and factors, especially for women who at different times of the month need different nutrition and they're able to use their bodies in different ways.

So we all know there's some days where we just don't have it in the tank, and so those days are better too. Practice on technique. If you're into some sort of technical kind of fitness or stretching or just relaxing or like restoring your nervous system, or there's other days where you're like, wow, I feel like I could work out for like an hour.

And like do heavy weight. I have days that I know are gonna be a bit tougher, so like 14 to 17 or 18. Those days are typically lower days in terms of my mood and all of that. So I just arrange my schedule accordingly and factor that in when I'm thinking about my eating or my fitness. But even then.

Sometimes it's like I have a month and it's like, oh, actually I didn't even notice those days. So I do think it's so individual because it's based on not math, it's really based on our own, like so many variables. 

Krista: That's the general theme of the whole show is don't trust your body, don't listen to yourself.

Here's a very simple calories in, calories out explanation from a doctor, from a trainer who has a six pack. Listen to me, don't listen to yourself. Yeah. 

Paula: Yeah. Which I think also is, you know, 'cause I work with a lot of clients and it's trying to reprogram because a lot of times they just don't trust themselves.

That hasn't worked in the past, but I don't know what else to do. And so it's really about rebuilding that connection with their self of, okay, does this seem reasonable in terms of how to eat? So that's why I'm always saying like it's, we want it as simple as possible. Eat only when you're hungry. Stop at enough.

Choose foods that serve you. And how can we start to trust your own decision making and so that it feels empowering. Imagine how like disempowered they would've felt.

Krista: And some of them talk about that. Some of them had injuries and they just felt like no one would listen. It didn't matter. Don't listen to your body.

What do you know? Look, you've got 200 extra pounds on your body. Yeah. And it's like, how do you. Cultivate the trust so that you can honor yourself and meet yourself where you're at with, like you said, those, all those variables that show up in our lives. Yeah, and I think that they did, like every, I think everyone was.

Paula: Upon looking back, they acknowledged that, like they all said, listen, this is what's a TV show. And yes, it, we did not address the reasons why they put on the weight in the first place. Like that was not what the show was about. The show was about seeing people push themselves to their limit. And so you're, you identify with them on some level and you're rooting for them and you're seeing them do these different challenges and stuff, but we're not gonna address the reasons why they put the weight on the first place.

And so that was a big criticism of the show because they didn't address it after these, you know, people went home either. And then I felt so bad for them because there, there's that one gentleman said, I forget, I can't think of his name, but that one guy said he actually won it. Mm-hmm. And he said.

There's the shame of being a failure after being a success. They weren't given the tools. They didn't know the tools, and then there's all the shame of, of course, they're like, of course they're gonna gain the weight back. Half of those people that they interviewed that were on the show are now on weight loss drugs.

Why? Because they still haven't, they still don't know. How to do it any other way. Like I don't judge them at all. It's like, oh, you, you don't know how to reduce. What I always talk about is over desire for food. Mm-hmm. You simply want more food than your body needs, so you eat more and then you're in a bigger body than you need.

So of course, if you don't know how to bring that over desire down to a natural desire, of course you're gonna like go on a show like that. As they said, we thought it was my, like my only hope. Was to get on the show. That's why they made those crazy videos. And they like went to all those extremes to get on because they really thought it was their only hope.

After the show. No new skills or resources. Mm-hmm. So what do they do? They're like, well, if I feel like if I can afford it and I feel like it's worth the risk, then of course they're gonna do some sort of weight loss drugs. Of course. Right? Because it matters to them. They care about it. 

Krista: Yeah, and I think the weight loss drugs, it, it mimicked exactly kind of the, the theory of the show.

Low calories, get rid of the food noise. And when you're contained on the ranch and you're just wearing the same thing every day, you've got your uniform, you've got your trainer yelling in your face, you've got your pressure of the show that's really gonna cut that food noise, isn't it? You've got such a big distraction to, to replace that.

The guy you're thinking of is Danny and I love, I love he lost 240 pounds in, what did he say? Six months on the show. It's like, it's insane time and I love that he showed up for the Netflix show, having gained back nearly all the weight. I think he said he was 10 pounds, maybe 10 pounds less than when he went on the show.

And he made some really good, um, comments near the end of this show in the last episode that I really appreciated. Mm-hmm. Should we get into that now or? Sure. Yeah. Go for it. So, he is married and he's got kids and, you know, he's sitting there and I mean, the angle of the camera and everything. You're just, you're really, you're really seeing all of him.

And he says. I have a good life. I've done some great things. I've accomplished things. I've got a good family. And then he said, but clearly I have some stuff to learn and so does my wife. We both need to learn some things. He said something like that. Mm-hmm. And I just thought, wow, that's the biggest gift of all because you've got it.

He was, he seemed genuinely happy with many areas of his life and he realized. But I have some more learning to do, some deeper learning. It isn't just about I got to eat less and exercise more. Like he didn't say that. 

Paula: Can you imagine, like, I think, and he even said it, maybe you just said it now, is he was hesitant to go on the show at first because of course, right?

Because people are gonna say, oh wow, like you gained all that weight back. But it sounds like he was able to like move through that and he's not carrying a lot of shame. How he's transformed that or transmitted that is. Oh, I still have the things to learn. This is not like something, so shame is always there's something bad about me.

He's moved through that to a certain level where one, he was able to show up on the documentary. Mm-hmm. And two, he's seeing it as like, and that's what I always talk about, which is like a skillset. It's just a skillset that you need. Yeah, yeah, exactly. But there was, speaking of that, like there was so much fat shaming on the show.

So going back to the cultural narrative of, this was the time again, lemme just double check. This was the time of 2004 to 2016. So this time in history, right, it was very, it was akay to make fact jokes. It was. We were seeing them and some of the scenes I either didn't see or totally forgot where they're really humiliating, like them running with like donuts and stuff in their mouths and like they're having to do challenges where they can, they have to move the food around, but they can't use their hands.

Like this is like ridiculous. 

Krista: Truly, that's a good word for it, because they're showing these people carry donuts and cakes and candies from one table to another table using only their mouths. Like, think of the cultural narrative that that's upholding creating, that's teaching them nothing. It's to embarrass them.

It's to say, Hey, here's some people in bigger bodies and we can use them for our entertainment. Mm-hmm. And oh, it's just, it's watching it now. I'm. I'm trying to think like when I watched it that many years ago, like what was I thinking then? Like, did I have the same reaction? I don't think I had the same reaction that I did seeing this present day.

Paula: I think for me personally, I definitely think those made me uncomfortable. Those scenes made me uncomfortable and I didn't sit right with me then. But I also was very much on side with the trainers, so like I was really giving the trainers the benefit of the doubt. So when they yelled. I, it wasn't like I, I wasn't a hard no on that.

I was like, well, I don't know. I mean, maybe that is what it takes. Like maybe this is kind of what they do in the Army, isn't it? Like, it's a little bit like, well, like maybe that's the way. And I remember, so I did, maybe you remember when we lived in Vancouver, I did that bootcamp for a little bit. Like I was never a fitness instructor, but I started a group.

With women who and I would lead these bootcamp workouts. Right. Well, I guess I described it as a bootcamp, but it wasn't really a bootcamp because my style was never like that. And you were yelling at people on the beach with a whistle in your mouth. So, so my style was never like that. And I had this one woman who was like a friend of a friend who came and she was like, I just need you to yell at me.

Like, I really need you to get in my face and be like a Jillian Michaels. And I was like, I'm so sorry, but like I just, this is not gonna be, it might work for you, but that is not my style. You gotta find some other bootcamp. So like there was a little part that was like, oh, this is how you get people to change.

It is just kind of an interesting thing. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but I'm just saying when I watched the show, I was much more open to that and now when I see it. And especially when you hear from some of the participants now, it sounds like some of the participants, they got a ton out of it.

Like those sisters. Yeah. And they, they were like, this is the best thing that ever happened to us. And that one woman like named her child Harper. Mm-hmm. Right. So it's like mm-hmm. For sure. Some of what the trainers did, worked for some people, but I just know for me, when I watch it now, I think, oh. That's not cool.

Krista: Bob and Jillian did not have the skills, I believe, required to be in the position of authority that they were in as trainers as being there emotionally and psychologically for these people. And that woman, uh, what was her name? She ended up running the marathon with Bob. Yeah, you're right. She named her son Harper after him, and she says, you know, we've remained lifelong friends.

I wonder if she got the same treatment as someone like Joelle got, who? Bob, in my opinion, verbally abused her at the gym, and she tried to set the boundary. She tried to say no, she got yelled at, and then it was just a horrible, horrible thing to watch. Totally they, those women I'm sure had completely different experiences of him.

Paula: Yeah. They had completely different experiences. And when you, and I think when I probably watched it then I probably saw, I probably agreed with kind of the group think and saw Joelle as a prom problem. Like she's just not trying hard enough or whatever. And now it's like totally flipped. Now I'm like, wow, would I have had the…Self-determination, the self-esteem to be able to push back, to be able to like stand up for myself and the whole group is, plus the trainer is like, turning on you. I, I just, I see her so differently. I see her as like being very strong. I saw her as incredibly strong.

Krista: Yeah, that whole dynamic, that vacuum was such a difficult situation.

Paula: Okay. One thing I also wanted to, okay, so two more things that I think we should talk about. One is, okay, everyone, when they think of Biggest Loser, if you followed it at all, you remember that shocking. I put in quotation mark, scene of Rachel who comes out. And I think, did she, she ended up winning, right?

Mm-hmm. Did she win? 

Krista: Yeah.

Paula:  And she had lost the most weight and she was very like, she was quite slim. They show Bob and Jillian's reaction and like they're shocked. Mm-hmm. And so there's all of this. Oh, she took it too far. Mm-hmm. And I think that was well represented by someone who spoke up and said.

No, she just got the message. Mm-hmm. And I thought that was so like, yeah, like it's like fat shaming and then thin shaming on the other side. It's like, oh, we have to just fit somehow in this perfect middle ground that you have decided. Mm-hmm. And it's, this is exactly what you created Danny, that guy Danny said he went on the master cleanse 10 days before the get shamed in the same way.

But he probably did the exact same thing that Rachel did. Yeah, and so it was nice to have somebody who would like advocate for her because man, she was just ripped to shreds after that happened.

Krista: Yeah, she was playing the game and that is what they defaulted and said, it was just a game. It was just a show like, stop pointing fingers at us.

For like all these negative criticisms we're receiving now. Okay. Well Rachel, she plays the game. She plays it hard. She comes out there looking very depleted, underweight to everybody. Everyone's shocked. Jaws on the floor and it's like, you're surprised. Yeah. You're surprised. This has made a billion dollars this franchise.

It's a game. It's a show. That's what you've been saying all along. Yeah, she just played it. But you're right. It's like, oh, now she's too skinny. Well, let's get her on the next show of whatever that's gonna be. Yeah, exactly. Yes. 

Paula: Okay. The other thing that I thought we definitely should mention, because I think this is kind of something, when I was watching it, I was like, oh, what is this about?

When they talk about that New York, I think it was a New York Times article or something that came out that said, this show wrecked people's metabolism. And so I'm thinking, okay, if people are watching this, they're gonna be like. Is that possible? Like, can you wreck, can you permanently wreck your metabolism?

And so I thought we would talk about that because people I'm sure are wondering, and I just wanna say that a hundred percent, it is not possible to permanently wreck your metabolism. But we can talk about it. But I, I'll mention, I should have mentioned this in the beginning, but you do have some coach training in holistic nutrition.

So I just wanna say this. To anybody who's listening who's like, well, what's her background? Krista has a lot of education in this, but also life experience, like living super healthy life. But do, is there anything that you wanna say about that before I go a little bit deeper into what does it mean, how, what are they talking about there?

Krista: Yeah. I'm glad you brought that up because I made a note of that. I thought it was really interesting point because immediately when the New York Times had offered this as a reason to why these people were gaining weight, it was like, oh, this is my scapegoat. That must be it. I'm ruined forever. Look at my body failing me again.

Mm-hmm. And I, I immediately thought the metabolism is a very complicated individual thing. And the New York Times basing this off of. What was it like 10 people? They get 12 or something. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's really not the end all, be all. It really isn't an indicator of much. We know that there's so much more to the story than just, uh, you went on the show, you ate very little, you exercised a lot in a very short period of time, and now your metabolism is ruined. It doesn't work like that. 

Paula: No. So I wanna talk a little bit about this. So this will be like the teaching part of it, because. I think it's important to understand, especially for anybody who has done severe dieting in the past or has been lifelong on a yo-yo diet, is that, and I have people that say, my body works against me, or I think my metabolism is like ruined or erected or something.

And so I just wanna talk about that when you repeatedly like lose weight and then gain weight. And in my program, what I talk about a lot is becoming, changing your body so that it becomes metabolically flexible, meaning. When you eat something, your body's gonna know how to respond. It's gonna use it efficiently and.

This can be somewhat damaged if you are dieting over and over and over again. So this is when you're like not eating anything. You lose some weight and then you can't stick with it. And then so you're overeating and you go into this cycle. So what happens is your metabolism, it temporarily gets a bit messed up, and so that is fixable, but here's what happens.

So one, mm-hmm. Is with every diet that you do, your body becomes more efficient at. Holding onto energy just basically means your body doesn't wanna let go of the fat. What happens is you're resting metabolic rate, it drops to match your new body size. So you're at 1200, your body's exerting this amount of energy, they're gonna drop to match.

Then if you overeat, then your metabolism doesn't rise to that because it's not metabolically flexible. So what's gonna happen is your body is gonna store it. Especially if you've lost muscle mass. I did the master cleanse like a few times. I didn't realize that when I was doing that, I was like burning through my muscle.

Mm-hmm. So yeah, I lost 10 pounds, but what was it? It was probably five pounds of water and five pounds of muscle. Lean muscle. Right. It was like, oh, not, but I just thought like, this is what you're, this is the way to go. Like I didn't know any other way. That's the metabolism part. The second thing that happens is hormone disruption.

So this is talking about hormones like leptin, which makes you feel like you're satiated and ghrelin, which makes you feel like you're hungry. Those get wonky. So when clients work with me, I refer to this as physiological over desire. So their body wants more food than they need. Their hormones are basically dysregulated, so they're overly hungry and they can't get full.

When we chronically diet, we need to, we develop dysregulated hormones and what I call physiological over desire. 

Krista: Yeah. I have experience with that. When I was really restricting, I was, um, following medical medium. I was drinking a lot of celery water. I was. Really afraid of foods. I wasn't eating any dairy eggs, like I don't wanna trigger people, but I was just really cutting out anything that I thought was bad for my skin was creating acne.

'cause I had bad skin at the time and were toxic to my body. I was really afraid of food being toxic and when I came out of that, I, and I'd been training for the half marathon at the time, so I was hungry. And in order to kind of find balance, again, I swung in the other other direction, over desire for food.

That food noise was all consuming and I could eat a massive amount of food, and I did. And I ended up gaining like 15 pounds in a short period of time. And it did balance out for me based on what I, I know of nutrition and like things that I was doing for my mental health at the time. But I really did feel that.

A complete swing of my body. It was like my body and mind was talking to me differently. Yeah, yeah. Because it was like, I was so hungry and I was so, my over desire to, to get some food into my body and to, and to like mentally, psychologically, emotionally, it's like to allow for me to eat and enjoy food.

The most enjoyable foods are things like for me, with cake and donuts and those high calorie things, so yeah. Yeah, I definitely have felt that the metabolism is, is adaptable. That's what it does. It's an expert at adapting, so it will adapt after a while. If you're eating 600 calories a day and you're burning all this energy and you've reduced your body weight, size, your metabolism is gonna respond and adapt to those inputs.

But if you change those inputs, of course it's gonna take a little while to adapt. To get to know the new formula. Get to know the new system. But even for me, like having just a really basic knowledge of health and metabolism and, and all that, right? I got triggered as soon as they started saying the metabolism, look what happened when you ate low calories and you burned.

I thought, oh my God. Like I don't wanna ruin my body. I don't wanna ruin my precious metabolism. Right. Like Totally, yeah.

Paula: It's interesting too how easily or susceptible we are to getting triggered in that way of like into the fear. And I still, it still happens for me too, where I like will find out some new information or somebody says something that contradicts something else that I heard from someone who I thought was really credible.

And I think, wait a second. And that's why I think it's so important to one, be flexible. With what your strategy is, so you get to change your strategy. Two is trust your body. Knowing that your body, as you said, will adapt and you can work with your body and you can learn to listen to your body more. And you can try things.

You are not, just because you're trying fasting doesn't mean you have to stick with fasting your whole life. Or you change or you change it up in some way. Um, but I think it's more of strategic thinking versus, oh, fasting is my strategy, or keto is my strategy, or this is my strategy. Like we, I think we just need to be less tied to the strategy and more invested in strategic thinking.

What works for my body? Like what works for my body is not gonna work for your body. But there might be some. Themes or some things that we could share like, oh, following the natural rhythms of our cycles, this makes sense to me. I'm gonna implement this. But maybe fasted cardio, not so much like things are just going to vary based on your body, based on where you're at in life and based on your preferences, frankly.

Krista: So do you think having like a strong practice or habits that bring you back to yourself, bring you back to like your intuition? Like, is that kind of what you do? Like you hear something in that world, oh, your metabolism's ruined. You get triggered. It's like, how do you cut that off? How do you say, thanks for the information.

Now I'm gonna take a deep breath and go back into what I know what my journey Like Almost like bringing you home a little bit. Yeah. Because that's what I, I had to do. Yeah, I didn't check myself. 

Paula: Yeah. How did you get out of it? Because you talked about like the medical medium and I remember that. I remember, I think you came to visit me one time. Eggs was a big no no. You wanted some, and I think you really wanted eggs. And I remember you being like really torn about having an egg or something, and then you were like, because you were out of your usual environment and I think you were maybe with me and Lucas, I think you were a little bit more like.

Oh, you know what? I think I'm just gonna have one egg. I, I don't think it's gonna be that big of a deal, right? Like there was a little bit of penetration in that structured thinking, but how do you think you navigated outta that? 

Krista: So, yeah, it was exactly that. It was, I was on vacation, so you're always a little bit more relaxed from your.

My rigid routine, um, I was with you, it was like a safe place. We had gone for a beautiful walk through that pathway up to like a farm stand and paid a little box, $5 for these eggs that some chickens up the road had just hatched. Like it's a pretty idyllic situation. And yeah, we walked back and we scrambled up these eggs and they looked amazing. And I just, I wanted them, like that human, that like real part of me was like, I want that. And I had a ton of food, mind drama, eating them. But there was just that little flicker of something in my head that was like, no, this is good for you. This is what is healthy. I just kind of clung to that and it built from there, and then I could move on to dairy.

It took a long time for me to accept dairy, but it was the same thing with dairy. It was like knowing that I wanted it, my intuition wanted it, I, and it would be good for my body, and I just, I clung to that little. Nugget of, it'll be okay. I also used a lot of neural pathway, like NLP think it's called.

Yeah. Uh, I used that to bring down my anxiety, create new pathways about stuff. Through that experience with being so rigid and restrictive with food was I learned that I'm just trying to control my anxiety essentially. And so me having some better sayings to myself like, it's okay, you can always adjust, always change your mind tomorrow.

Try it once and then see kind of like gentler language on myself, allowing myself a little bit more wiggle room. And I had this boss who. Just I did not like. And he basically drew a cross on a piece of paper and said, there are four types of people in the world. And yeah, one was like observer, one was rule follower, one was, I don't even know, I can't remember.

And one was a rebel. And he said, you're over here as like you follow the rules and I'm over here and I'm a rebel. And he was. Teaching me this, if that's what you wanna call it, as though like he were better than me and I just thought, you're probably right. 'cause I'm super triggered right now that I am such a rule follower.

I'm such a perfectionist. I can't ever make a mistake. So when I was going through with the food stuff, I kind of leaned into. Yeah, I'll mess up. I can be a rebel. I kind of liked that. I, I cracked open the door of doing it wrong and getting it wrong and, and by many ways I probably did. I mean, eating a whole bag of twizzlerss that's rebellious, but it's not the rebellious I wanted to be.

So it was a lot of playing around with what really felt good. 'cause it felt good to rebel and be like, I'm just gonna eat a big bag of twizzlerss. Then I didn't feel very good physically, and I was like, okay. You know, that just wasn't right for me. 

Paula: The biggest rebels are those body positivity women. The biggest rebels are like, you know what? I'm gonna push back on those standards of beauty and that I, we were all indoctrinated in and be like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna love my body, even though. It's at this size. Mm-hmm. Even though, right? Even though maybe I'm 10 pounds, 15, 60, a hundred pounds more than I would like to be. Even if you wanna release weight, it doesn't mean you don't love and accept your body.

The more you can do that, I think that's truly the rebellious act. So we, you can say, you know what, I'm rebelling against everyone who wants to keep me small and make me hate my body. I'm just gonna rebel against that. As you say, like eating a bag of Twizzlers is not gonna make me feel good, so I don't have to like be potty positive and eat Twizzlers.

I can be body positive and eat in a way that's gonna allow my body to release fat too, if that's what I desire. Balancing that, like navigating that, like for me, that it would be the ultimate. Form of freedom. Mm-hmm. Where I feel free with food, but I also feel like I'm not gonna be ashamed about my body anymore.

Mm-hmm. I'm not gonna talk negatively about my body, and I think that is like the true rebellion and the true power. Mm-hmm. So last thing, just to circle back on that metabolic flexibility, of course you can restore it. So how you restore it is by gaining muscle, balancing your nervous system. Krista talked about the tapping.

That can be a great anything to reduce your anxiety and eating a balanced diet. Okay, so especially for women, I know there's a big high protein, high fat thing right now, but women like we need, and I don't specialize in nutrition in any way, but I know that in general. We need carbohydrates. So in general, what I say is it's gonna be personalized to you and what ratios, but in general, balanced diet is going to restore that metabolic flexibility.

Let's loop back to what was helpful about the show. My list is shorter, but I do have a couple of things that I think that we can take away from the show. But let's start with you. What do you got? Yeah, yeah. My list is definitely shorter as. Well, but the first one I put down was I think it did inspire millions of people to get up and do something for themselves, and that's, I think why people watched it.

Krista: It was inspiring. It's always inspiring to see people who, they're struggling with something and they are willing to work for it. Yeah, and you know what? Yeah, it was a show. Yeah. These people were running themselves off a treadmill and vomiting out the window, but it showed people in obese, people in bigger bodies doing some pretty amazing things with their body on national television, and 10 million people were watching the finale, and I thought, that's cool.

That's really cool. Teamwork. People kick an ass. People doing things with their body they had never thought they could do. And I just think that's inspiring to anybody. I don't care if you're a professional athlete or. A 700 pound person. I think that's inspiring.

Paula:  Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I, I agreed, I I put the same thing because some of those people were true athletes.

Krista: Yeah. They were. They were like, they really were, it kind of made you wanna get up and like, go move your body, go do something. Totally. Yeah.

You're seeing people in all shapes and sizes, like moving their bodies and being physically active and working hard, and it's so motivating to watch. So motivating. I guess one last point is that, you know, some contestants did keep the weight off and they went on to achieve really amazing things in their life.

Like speaking of the woman who stayed close with Bob the Sisters. Mm-hmm. She went and ran the New York City Marathon with Bob, and that is. A major accomplishment. I mean, props to her. That's incredible. 

Yeah. So it certainly did help some people. 

Paula: Yeah. And sometimes I think, like I noticed this with clients who just honestly just sign up for coaching.

This is not saying you have to sign up for coaching, but it's just saying that when you in your mind, make that declaration to yourself. And to somebody else, which you do by going on a show like that, you're making a significant statement to the world and to yourself, this matters and I'm gonna work for it.

And sometimes I think something clicks in your brain, then you show up in that way. Lots of times I work with clients who have said to me, listen, I listen to the podcast for a very long time and now. Because I've made this decision and I'm, everything's on the line, like I'm working for it, we're working together.

I signed up. It's clicked. It's clicked, and I'm doing it and I'm seeing the results. And it's like, whether it's that or it's something else, there's just something that clicks. Mm-hmm. And I just wonder if for those people, that was their moment.

Krista: Okay. So for her, the sister who named her son Harper, after Bob, they remained friends.

They ran the New York City Marathon. How much of that clicking for her was that he bonded with her? No doubt. That's wonderful. How much of that was like him seeing her in that future self and believing it and rooting for her and coaching for her and seeing her? Here's Bob, this successful guy with a six pack, good looking, charismatic, and he's looking at her and he's like, you are awesome.

You can do it. I know you can. Yeah. So that coach relationship, like how key and how important is that? 

Paula: What, what I have heard is that, and I don't know if this is true, but the number one indicator of somebody's success is not the program, but it's the relationship that they have. Mm-hmm. Whether it's the therapist or the coach, it's the Investment in the relationship. It's the rapport that is what secures the success, which I find is so interesting. 

Krista: Yeah, I can believe it because going back to when I was super restrictive to, when I came out of that, I did have somebody who I felt like understood me and they had, I, I believed them. I trusted in them fully and what they were saying, and that is who really helped me start to open the door to a new possibility and, and let, let a different truth in for myself and let me have some different beliefs and everything.

Yeah. And it really was, it was for that person. Who's the person, my natural path at the time. And I, she made me do a food journal and she was a bit shocked and I thought she was gonna give me a glowing review because I was the epitome of health. I thought there's nothing to work with here. And she looked at it and was a bit like, this is just not enough.

It's not balanced. You're training for a half marathon. You should be eating double and you need to be adding this in. And I, I made a comment that like I was really. Craving a donut. And she literally said, then have a donut. And I said, no, I can't have a donut. Like, are you crazy? Like the flour, the gluten, it's poison.

And she just was like, have the donut. Yeah. And she really helped me kind of snap out of it and I, again, I trusted her. I felt like she was really a heart-centered person. Mm-hmm. This was her field of expertise, you know, and I, so I trusted her and she cracked open that door, and that's what helped was the relationship to these people.

Cool. I don't know where, like what would've happened if I hadn't had that. Right. So I think it is important to have mentors, coaches, people. Yeah. Okay. Well, speaking of which, okay, so you are in the process of building up your coaching practice. Yeah, and so I have a special invitation for those of you who are listening to the podcast and you're still with us, which is amazing.

I think this is gonna be a long one. Mm-hmm. Even after the editing, which is if you are interested in seeing what coaching is like, whether you've never tried coaching or it's been a little while, and you're thinking, oh, okay, it might be fun to work with somebody. On something. I just want something to be better, whether that is your nutrition, whether you just feel like you're in a little bit of a slump and you just feel some sort of dissatisfaction or something like that.

I have a super exciting invitation for you if you are interested in working with Krista. She is extending an invitation to. One-on-one sessions with her. You guys can sort out all of the details and in exchange for the coaching that you receive, if you would be so kind as to give her a testimonial, what she'll do is just send you a quick little survey and then you can, it'll take like five, 10 minutes tops so that she can use it to build up her coaching practice.

So I know that my testimonials from my client stories to the testimonials on my website. We just wanna see. What other people have experienced, so it's very valuable for her. And the coaching I know would be very valuable for you because I know Krista so well and she's just a natural at this. She also has training and has been a coaching client herself for many years, so I would encourage you to reach out to her.

I'm going to put a couple of links, her email address and her Instagram in the show notes of this episode so that you can contact her. But if you wanna go to Instagram right now and send her a little message. Her Instagram account is Lil InBetween. That's @lil_inbetween Okay, so that is our episode for you.

I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you got something out of it. It helped things. Click into place. You understand you're not, your metabolism is not wrecked. And I hope it was like interesting and fun for you to listen to our take on The Biggest Loser, because I think for many people we watched it and it had an impact and now we get to see it from this place, from being that much older, wiser, having lived experience.

And we can have, as you mentioned, like a lot of compassion for. Why we may have struggled in the ways that we've struggled. 

Krista: Yeah. Well, thank you so much for having me on. This was a lot of fun. 

Paula: Yeah, it was super fun. Okay, great. Okay, awesome. Well, that was a wrap. That's where we're gonna, we're gonna end it.