Former Biggest Loser contestant and positive body image advocate Kai Hibbard is our guest today in Episode 959 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show.”
LISTEN AND DOWNLOAD AT ITUNES
[powerpress]
One of the biggest cultural phenomenons over the past decade has been the advent of weight loss reality television shows like The Biggest Loser. The images of morbidly obese contestants running on treadmills and eating healthy are meant to inspire and give hope to a nation of people wanting to lose weight. But for one of the former contestants on the show, what goes on behind-the-scenes of the highly-profitable television show is utterly disgusting. Her name is Kai Hibbard and you might remember her as the runner-up winner in Season 3. But she was so mortified at the way the contestants were treated by the trainers and producers that she decided to speak out against the public fat shaming they not only allowed but encouraged.
Listen in as Jimmy and Kai have a stunning chat about how she never had an issue with her weight growing up, how she was always active although she was getting bigger, how she had never seen The Biggest Loser before she was chosen to be a contestant, how she never let her size get in the way she felt about herself, how being on television taught her to start loathing her body, why she doesn’t think the show is about being an inspiration, the crazy tactics people did to produce weight loss, how they kept putting her face on their products years after she was off the show, the lack of after show aftercare with former contestants, the challenge on her season where she was put on a horse track starting in the livestock stall that she believes was fat shaming by the producers, why shaming people doesn’t work to motivate people, how social media is leading the charge at combatting fat shaming at the grassroots level, her concerns with Lane Bryant’s #ImNoAngel campaign, why what people eat and how they look are nobody else’s business, how she became very ill on the show and was told to suck it up and exercise anyway, how the product sponsorships pushed low-fat, high-carb Frankenfoods on the contestants, how she eats a real foods-based Paleoish diet, how she has to be careful of too structured eating lest she falls back into the habits she learned on the show, the health issues she dealt with as a result of being on The Biggest Loser, how she never had thyroid issues before being on the show but still deals with it, the weight relapses she has had over the years since being on the show, the self-care choices she made to take care of herself, and the other former contestants that have now come forward to join her speaking out against fat shaming.
TRY THE QUEST NUTRITION LINE OF LOW-CARB PRODUCTS
CHECK OUT DIETITIAN CASSIE’S REAL FOOD VITAMINS
USE COUPON CODE “LLVLC” FOR FREE SHIPPING
NOTICE OF DISCLOSURE: Paid sponsorship
LINKS MENTIONED IN EPISODE 959
– SUPPORT OUR SPONSOR: Try the many flavors of products from Quest Nutrition
– SUPPORT OUR SPONSOR: Dietitian Cassie’s Real Food Vitamins
– Kai Hibbard bio
– Kai’s “Too Fat, Too Thin, Can’t Win” blog
– Kai on Facebook
– Kai on Twitter
– New York Post story: The brutal secrets behind ‘The Biggest Loser’