Anyone who watches reality television knows that it isn’t all real, after all, whether it’s Loser, Housewives, or Hills, they still have a story to tell and a show to produce. But it’s one of those things that no one talks about. Until now.James Garrison, a participant in Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition‘s first season earlier this year, is calling himself a whistle blower and exposing what he describes as mistreatment of the shows participants.
“You read it here first… The Biggest Extreme Makeover Loser WhistleBlower,” said Garrison at the end of a nearly 2000-word diatribe against Extreme Makeover’s producers and cast, calling out by name JD Roth (the man also behind Biggest Loser) and the show’s trainer Chris Powell.
In our interview with James after his episode aired he described health problems he was having as, he says, a result of his rapid weight loss, which meant losing 313 pounds in 365 days. This month he had another rush to the hospital which resulted in the removal of his gall bladder. It got him thinking.
“Well it took another near death stay in the hospital, my second in a year, to realize exactly what I was promoting. Yes, I lost 313lbs in one year on ABC’s Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition, but should you? The answer is no. No one should lose that much weight that fast and if anything I am proof positive as to why its not a good idea. Those are unrealistic expectations that in reality are more harmful than good,” is the statement Garrison wrote in the blog post that started it all.
He says that post was also followed up by personal emails to Roth and Powell, explaining his health problems, the $50,000 in hospital bills from the past year, and asking for help with it all, which he says were ignored.
“I guess what is hard to understand is, after emailing JD. Roth and Chris Powell asking for assistance with my medical and over $50,000 in hospital bills I was ignored.”
Now that the cast list has been revealed for season 13 of ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, weight loss talk is in full swing.
Each season there is speculation of who might lose significant weight while on the show, and this time around, Rob Kardashian is putting his own hat in the ring. He wants to use his time on the show to get into great shape. When talking about his decision to sign on with the hit TV show, he said, “You probably wouldn’t know it, but I’m the most insecure and overweight I’ve ever been. I’m over 200 pounds, so I want to drop some weight and this will be a great start.”
Dancing isn’t his strong suit though, so he will be working extra hard. He was honest about his abilities and stated, “I’m not a confident dancer at all. And down the road…I don’t want to be that guy who doesn’t dance at his own wedding!”
Fans of the TV show Dancing with the Stars will be thrilled to know that season 13 is starting on September 19. The new cast has been announced and includes:
Ricki Lake: Ricki Lake is an actress and talk show host. Ricki has a new talk show that will start in the fall of 2024. Her professional dance partner will be Derek Hough.
Ron Artest: Ron Artest is a professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers. His professional dance partner will be Peta Murgatroyd.
Rob Kardashian: Rob Kardashian is the only son of Kris Jenner and the late Robert Kardashian and stars along his famous sisters in the reality TV show Keeping Up With The Kardashians. His professional dance partner will be Cheryl Burke.
Nancy Grace: Nancy Grace is one of television’s most respected legal analysts and a former felony prosecutor. Nancy’s professional dance partner will be Tristan MacManus.
On September 20, fifteen new contestants will walk in to our lives on NBC’s Biggest Loser. It’s the twelfth season for one of TV’s most popular reality shows, and it promises to make us laugh, cry, yell, and cheer for these perfect strangers who will soon feel like our family.
Season 12 comes with a lot of change. There aren’t just 15 new faces to familiarize ourselves with, there are new trainers, too. Anna Kournikova and Dolvett Quince replace the spot previously held by Jillian Michaels (now a co-host on The Doctors). And for those fans who haven’t heard, season 11 trainers Brett and Cara will not be back at the gym. That leaves veterans Alison Sweeney, the show’s host since season four, andBob Harper, training since day one, to indoctrinate this group in to the Biggest Loser lifestyle and family.
This season includes eight men and seven women, competing as individuals, in a battle of the ages.
Oldest contestant: John Forger, 65
Youngest contestant: Courtney Rainville, 24
Average contestant age: 42.6
The 15 contestants will be divided in to three groups of five according to youngest, middle-age, and oldest.
Chelsea Settles is MTV‘s newest reality star and, at 324 pounds, their first ever plus-sized one. Her new reality show Chelsea Settles will be premiering in October and will highlight Chelsea’s move to Los Angeles as she tries to break into the fashion industry.
Settles will attempt to get a job, live with a roommate for the first time and try to lose weight, all on camera. Chelsea is 23-years old and knows that getting into the fashion industry is going to be hard work – especially while trying to not only tackle weight loss, but overcome the fashion industry’s attitude towards weight. Not only will Chelsea be chasing her dream career, she will also be working with a personal trainer to lose weight and experiencing the LA social scene. (more…)
This guest post written by James Garrison, who lost 313 pounds on Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition.
This week’s episode of Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition (EMWLE) we meet Staci, a wonderful mother of two and wife to her disabled husband Rodney. Staci isn’t just your average wife and mother of two; she is also the caretaker for her husband and sole provider for her family. Imagine a life so caught up in the everyday struggles every family faces, now imagine most those struggles and then some falling squarely on the shoulders of Staci. All this led to a staggering weight of 456 pounds that, in her words, is a crushing statement to even say.
During a workout a revelation is made that somewhere in life she gave up on herself and ever being thin. In seventh grade she was already over 200 pounds and being made fun of, and by high school she was too big to even fit in a desk, which ultimately led to her dropping out. It’s during this workout that Chris Powell reiterates to her that she needs to stop playing the victim and take responsibility for her own actions.
You don’t have to go far to hear about, or even see for yourself, the very pressing reality that is childhood obesity. The numbers are staggering – 17 percent of U.S. children, according to the CDC – and the results frightening – as this is the first generation of children not expected to live longer than their parents. Of the millions of children and families facing these daunting health concerns, three of them come forward and speak out in tonight’s “Too Fat for 15: The Obesity Crisis,” a first-ever town hall special on The Style Network.
The “Too Fat for 15” series is in its second season, following a group of young teens during their time at Wellspring Academy, a weight loss boarding school. From that series, three students (Tanisha, Carysn and Rachel) will join host and co-producer Alison Sweeney, from Biggest Loser, and Ruby Gettinger, from Style’s “Ruby,” for a lively one-hour conversation about how to inform both children and parents about creating healthier lifestyles at home.
“They knew I was passionate about childhood obesity,” Alison Sweeney told us about becoming involved with the show. Saying that she’s a fan of the series, she added that “It’s so inspiring and so important to get this information out there.” (more…)
It’s hard for most of us to fathom stepping on a scale that reflects a number in the 700s, but it was very much reality for James Garrison. This 26-year-old had a high school football injury that he never quite recovered from. He self-medicated with food and was unable to workout, two situations that lead him to the first season of Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition.
His first weigh-in with trainer Chris Powellset the scale at 651 pounds, a weight that classified James as “super obese.” The show’s nutritionist, Paulette Lambert, told us that “super obese” represents those who are more than 200 pounds overweight, which is about 10 percent of the U.S. population. However, 365 days of dietary changes and a dedicated fitness plan helped James lose about 50 percent of his body weight; his final weigh-in (which took place in February 2024) showed him down 313 pounds.
James found his way to Extreme Makeover when a casting representative for Biggest Loser told him he was too heavy for the show, but there might be a chance on EM. He says the entire process started 18 months ago and that “I never thought it would actually end,” giving a sense of relief that his episode had finally aired. (more…)
My favorite part of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution this Father’s Day week was Jamie’s visit back to the Barrett family to see if they have stayed away from fast food since his last visit. As Jamie strode up the sidewalk, he noticed that they were growing herbs and vegetables. The father and the teenage son answered the door in aprons, in the midst of preparing dinner for themselves and Jamie. They had even filled the living room with all kinds of produce in jest of Jamie filling their home with fast food on his last visit. The father stated that he had lost 16 pounds already and, most importantly, feels good about himself as a father now that he cooks and has dinner at the family table with his sons.
The episode started with Jamie visiting a convention for school lunch cooks. He let us know that it is not just the LAUSD, but he has also been denied access to 75 other school districts. The comments by the cooks and administrators made it clear that people are afraid of bad press.
I find it sad when we try to pretend that we are perfect and/or do not open ourselves up to improvement through real awareness. I work with people frequently who confess less than functional habits. Just because Jillian Michaels already works out daily, does not mean she is better than the person asking for help to start exercising more often. In fact, I often find that the person trying to make a change has more courage and is working harder than the person who has already developed a healthier habit. My favorite part of the school lunch cook convention was Jamie commenting on the fact that during airing of the Food Revolution, commercials for fast food or convenience food are also being aired.
There are intense cravings for things like chocolate, French fries, or even bread. And then there is a line that crosses and those cravings consume the individual to a point of addiction. That’s the eating disorder that interventionist Brad Lamm is working to reverse on OWN’s Addicted to Food, a program he co-created.
The program takes place at Shades of Hope, a treatment facility in Texas that Lamm calls “powerful, special, and unlike any other.” Contrary to any other weight loss show on television, this one doesn’t have participants competing, weighing in, or even get too caught up in calories. Instead, they’re working from the inside out. In fact, they may not even see any weight loss until after they go home.
The individuals you see on Addicted to Food spend hours in therapy each week, about 12-15 hours of mental and emotional work each day! “They are busting down the beliefs of this unhealthy loop they have with food,” Lamm told us.
He says that Shades of Hope is “not a fat farm,” but that it is more like an emotional bootcamp. It’s a safe place for those battling afood addiction to understand themselves, the addiction, and learn how to heal every aspect. It’s then that they’re able to go home and put what they’ve learned in to practice. While some may lose a little weight during their stay, most begin the physical changes and transformations at home. The internal baggage they leave with, while it can’t be weighed or measured, is greatly diminished. (more…)
After the disappointment in the last episode of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, it was a wonderful surprise to see that the administrator of West Adams High had hopefully found a loophole, so that Jamie and his kids could indeed cook for the entire school, at least as an assembly. The administrator said that the school was based on experiential teaching and preparing kids for college, so healthy eating fit right into their principles. In the mean time, Jamie continued his role of instructor, trying out different subjects beyond culinary arts.
In math class, Jamie taught about calories and consequences by allowing students to choose a snack between soda, chocolate bars, pizza, or oranges. He then allowed them to experience weight gain using weight backpacks. Jamie then took his math students out to the track having the students walk around the track enough times to burn the calories of what they had just eaten.
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