Slammed for losing too much weight

Slammed for losing too much weight

K-pop stars are not the only women who have, of late, been slammed for going to extremes to slim down.

Miss Rachel Frederickson lost 67kg to become the latest winner of US reality weight loss TV series The Biggest Loser, which had its finale air last week.

The Minnesota native went from 113kg to 46kg, shedding close to 60 per cent of her body weight and setting the record of being the contestant to lose the most amount of weight in all 15 seasons of the popular TV show.

Now, she is considered underweight for her height of 1.62m.

So even though the 24-year-old Los Angeles-based voiceover artist took home the coveted prize money of US$250,000 (S$320,000), she was almost immediately embroiled in controversy as many viewers criticised her for her shocking transformation.

Weight management doctor and director of the Butterfly Foundation Rick Kausman told Australian website Dailylife.com: "There is no question that rapid weight loss is unhealthy.

"To lose that amount of weight so rapidly, she would have to be losing a whole lot of other things other than fat, such as muscle and probably bone density."

During a media conference call, Miss Frederickson, who used to be on her high school swim team and was a three-time state champion swimmer, avoided directly answering questions about her being too thin.

EXERCISE

Instead, she revealed that her fitness regimen comprised walking, working on her treadmill, Zumba and spin class as well as eating 1,600 calories a day.

She said: "I have been on this seven-and-a-half month journey on The Biggest Loser and I went to The Biggest Loser to find that confident girl again. I was that national-level athlete and I lost her... little by little, competition by competition, I saw her come out and I loved being in that triathlon and win that to be in the finale."

She added: "I'm going to try new exercises and continue on this path and see where it takes me - finding that balance."


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