Ok from the inception of this great show, a male had always been the winner!

Do you think any of the women this season have a chance of winning? Or will one of the guys win? Who do you think will win?

I don't watch the Aussie version, but from what I hear they did have a female win one year.

Gameplay is about the only way it can be done. The woman would have to have enough weight to lose at least 50% of her bodyweight, but still it would require getting rid of everybody else eligible.

I think its possible for BL to have a female winner, although the calculations may have to be changed somehow to make it more fair.

As for this season: my money is on one of the guys. There are three women left: Brittany, Maggie and Kelly.
Brittany - she's 5'7" and originally weighed 221lbs. She simply doesn't have +50% to lose. With 50% she'd have to weigh 110.5lbs and at her height that wouldn't be very healthy. (her BMI would be 17.3)

Maggie - she's 5'3" originally 239lbs. I think that she can lose 50% of her body weight and weigh in at a healthy 119lbs (with a BMI of 21.1, so she could lose maybe 51-2% and still be at a healthy weight for her height). However, Maggie has had a difficult time losing the weight at the ranch and I think it would be very difficult for her to compete with Dan, for example.

Kelly - 5'6", originally 271. IMO, if a woman would be to win this competition, Kelly has the best chance. If she lost 50% of her body weight, she'd weigh in at 135.5 (BMI 21.9, also letting her possibly lose 51-2%). The only thing that I see holding her back is that she is probably the most emotional female there -> that could be dangerous in a situation where she's at home before the finale and feeling especially low, but then she can turn her weakness into a strength by letting go of issues by communicating them.

Anyhoo, that's just my opinion.
I got my stats on the contestants from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Biggest_Loser_(Season_5)
and I used a BMI calculator from: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/adult_...5&inches=66

I know they dont really use BMI on the show but I think it can be a helpful tool in determining such figures.

Question: Can a woman win this show?

No.

The only way a woman will ever win is if they split the team up.... Men against Men - Women against Women.

There could be a winner from the men's team and a winner from the women's team.

I truly feel the reason a woman will never win is bc the men are most often always heavier and bc of their body make-up - they lose faster/gain muscle faster.

Women have to deal with a slower loss (they don't weigh as much) - time of month - retaining water all the time - etc..

I agree, Not to mention that women's bodies have more natural body fat then men.. I think it is roughly 8% more... The men's muscular advantage helps them in some of the challenges, and that muscle helps their fat burning capacity/metabolism to stay revved up. I enjoy the challenges that allow them all to compete without the strength component.. Makes for a level playing field.

I know someone said that Poppi would have won had she been in the finals in season 3.. But that is alot of things that would have had to go right for her to get that far.. She could easily have been knocked out of the game and ineligible.. Plus there you had a pool of 50 people. Men definitely have an advantage.. Game play would work and this past season was the best opportunity the women have had to advance someone to the finals.. Had they kept Amy in the game the guys would have been seriously outnumbered. I understand why the vote went the way it did... But on the other hand strategically it could have really upped the chances of the first U.S. lady champ..

I think they ought to do some sort of handicap to offset that fat composition difference between the sexes.. Or break it off and have a women's edition and a men's edition.. or comingle it but with separate titles.. I'd love to see an all women's edition! They'd be able to address issues that are specific to women..

Women don't need to change the rules to be able to win... they just need women with as much to lose as the men have.

Last season Isabeau had enough weight to lose to be able to compete, but she didn't do it. The men are losing around 50% to lose... so as long as a woman has at least that much to lose... no need to change the game.

Yep!

I agree.

Thanks for all the calculations, Malvina! Yeah, I agree - in order for a woman to be the Biggest Loser, they need contestants who have the around the same % of weight to lose.

I've said it before that I think a magic number calculation of weight loss and body fat % should be part of the show. Most of the men start off at an advantage when it comes to weight they can safely lose, but when we look at % body fat there is not much difference between the sexes and in many cases the women have the advantage. I think it would even things out.

Looking at this season I really can't see a woman winning. I am thinking Dan or Roger will be the $250K winner with Trent picking up the $100K prize. As far as the women are concerned I see Brit or Jackie being the female biggest loser, but not in the wow manner of say a Kae or Julie of last season, or Poppie from Season 3.

But even then, men tend to lose it faster as they don't have the hormonal things going on monthly... and their natural muscle helps them burn it faster too. So men are more likely to reach a goal more quickly than a woman..

I'd like to know how much Julie had to work out to achieve her results once she got home. She may have had to invest twice the amount of hours working out as Bill to even stay in the race.. I have no idea if that is really the situation or not.. but it would seem that a women is going to have to go to extra lengths to be competitive against the men.

I'd like to see the season of the Aussie version that a woman won to see how she did it.. That may have been a specific situation where it was gameplay that helped to bring it to pass.

I agree that the only way a woman is going to win is through gameplay..and I hate gameplay. They have to start strategizing early on, unfortunately, and seriously weigh the consequences of each elimination. Then you have crazy twists like what got the pink team eliminated that just put a kink in the whole thing.

It was last years UK version of the show where a woman won. And it can be done. If Poppi had been on season 4 she would have won. It's all about getting the right woman at the right time.

Did the UK woman win because of gameplay, or at the end was she the biggest loser out of everyone? Personally I think it is a hollow victory when one wins because they schemed the best rather than losing the most.

I didn't download the British version, however, all the people who won in all the different versions won as a result of some form of game play. You're just not going to be able to get around that. The season 4 US version winner didn't lose the most amount of weight. His brother did and then Neil also lost more than the winner.

I think that is why I did not like season 4 as there was too much gameplay. It is frustrating to see people who were eliminated earlier do better than the winner at the finale.

That didn't sit well with me either but "Oh Well".

Oh god another one of these threads.

Once again, sorry to burst your bubble, but there is no need to change the rules or have a womans only competition for a woman to win. If you keep saying it over and over again you are only setting back the equality movement about twenty years.

Two things need to happen in order for you to see a female Biggest Loser:
1. The woman has to have starting numbers that makes her able to lose in the 50% + range.
2. The woman has to have the drive to actually lose that weight.

Last season Isabeau had the right starting numbers, but she did not push herself to lose the weight. Julie pushed herself as far as she could, but did not have the starting numbers to do it. Once you have both of those conditions met, you will have the first female Biggest Loser.

For all of you talking about rule changes and such, doesn't that cheapen the win? "I am so honored to be the first female biggest loser and so glad that they changed the rules because there was no way I would have been able to compete with a man"... RUBBISH.

I think the one argument presented commonly in these threads that has merit is that the producers have a tendency to pick ladies with lower that competitive starting numbers. When the ladies can realistically only lose about 40% or less of their starting weight then they are not in the running.

Poppi could have done it...she lost more than 50%.
The right woman.
The right time.
Good game play.

Yeah, I thought the same thing.


Now see, why didn't you answer before? Then no one else would have needed to post.

It is kind of like the "Biggest Loser for teens" thread that pops up every other week. I am thinking I will prepare a standard response to post every time one of those two threads pop up. Or perhaps just paste in dozens of links to where the topic has already been discussed to death.

So they need to find a woman that is built like a guy?

Hey, that's a great idea. The Biggest Loser for Teens!!!! You need to work for TBL as a creative writer. Maybe it could be one of those summer episodes as the kids would be out of school. Imagine their friends seeing them big just before summer break and then skinny at the beginning of the school year.

LOL...Ryan, got that standard response ready?

I think it is virtually impossible for a woman to ever win the Biggest Loser, unless all the women vote out the men first. Men lose fat and weight faster than women. Younger men lose faster than women. The heavier men lose more fat than women. Women retain more fat than men.
This program is sooo unfair to women, it's unbelievable!!

I totally agree with you. They had a challenge tonight that there was no way the black team even had a chance. It looked like it was designed for the black team. Sad that they can't come up with a fair competition. Angie

is the blue team really that arrogant to say that they won the challenge because they trained harder? That they believe the reason they win a weigh in is because they are more committed?? They go on and on about pride, but are on a stacked team. 4 big guys against 3 women and a men. Talk to me about pride when you win on an even slate. I lost all respect for Bob when he picked all big guys for his team and acted like he wanted them just for their personalities. How do you think this is going to play out on a challenge that depends largely on strength? How do you think it's going to play out in a weigh in?

I have watched the Biggest Loser for each season but I am beginning to get disillusioned. I really wish they would just admit that even with these percentage losses, it's impossible to level the scale of men vs. women. Please just address it. You're treating us like we're stupid and we are supposed to believe this is fair. Women lose weight much more slowly. It has nothing to do with percentage of weight loss and everything to do with metabolic rate. Throw in the hormones and it's even more fun. Jillian said herself she watches everything Brittany does and yet the pounds don't drop. Women's bodies are odd. Pitting the men against each other just creates frustration. Give us a biggest loser male and a biggest loser female for petes sake.

[font="Arial Black"][/font]The last sentence is the best suggestion I have seen in a long time. I am thinking of giving up this show too. This last 'challenge' was so unfair it was ridiculous. If those guys really had 'PRIDE' they would have said something and divided themselves up before it took place. There was no way it was fairly stacked because of the way the teams are. That should have been corrected way in the beginning. However, the idea of having a Biggest Loser Male and Biggest Loser Female is perfect. Women working against each other would make not only for great competition (who do we really make ourselves up for half the time anyway??) but it would make for great TV. The women (even the poor guy) on the Black Team are terriffied of the guys on the blue team. I can't imagine being there knowing that you really won't win, but just stay, be humiliated on national tv in order to get all the perks. Everyone should write with this suggestion. Maybe someone would listen. Having one male winner season after season is unfair and boring.

i sincerely agree that there should be a bl male and bl female for next season (since it probably won't happen on this one). it just makes more sense. i watched that challenge with my son and we both said out loud that it was unfair-- it was basically men vs. women (and bernie) and that just wasn't fair. i know it's a competition but the scale (no pun intended) is just tipped unevenly. yes the blue team lost the weigh in but shouldn't the black team have a fighting chance for the perks of winning a challenge. when they won before there were at least 2 men on the team. but whatever. nbc seems to be changes the rules as they go along this season (or maybe it's seriously a coincidence).


ah, and the blue team crying...talking about a definite sniffler. c'est la vie!

It may be a long shot, but I think a woman could win this season, because I'm not sure any of the guys will lose 50+%. The problem though is that I don't think any of the women will lose 50+% either. Let's look at the numbers (name, height, start wt, 50% wt).

Roger, 6-3, 363, 181.5 - With his height and athletic background, I don't think Roger will lose 50%.
Jay, 6-1, 293, 146.5 - With his height, I don't think Jay will lose 50%.
Dan, 5-8, 310, 155 - He might be able to reach 155, but it would be tough.
Bernie, 5-5, 283, 141.5 - He might be able to reach 141, but it would be tough.

Brittany, 5-7, 221, 110.5 - With her height, I don't think Brittany will lose 50%.
Maggie, 5-3, 239, 119.5 - I think she could lose 50%, but I don't think she can do it in the time allowed.
Kelly, 5-6, 271, 135.5 - I think she could lose 50%, but I don't think she can do it in the time allowed.

Anyway, my guess is that it will be between Dan, Bernie, Maggie, and Kelly. Of course, they have to survive the gameplay aspect.

I think that Roger could do 181.5 and still be considered to be in the healthy category. Besides, just because he has a football background in the past (his college years) doesn't mean he wont be able to slim down for the finale.

Also, I think that Dan can drop to 155 if he doesn't gain too much muscle.

But I agree that Jay and Brit probably have the smallest chances of winning....unless of course the winner him/herself doesn't need to lose +50% because the others were in the 30-40s range. Nothing is impossible (just unlikely).

You know what I find interesting... so many people are saying that the competition is unfair to women, we see the same thread posted weekly. However if you look at the data, the woman heavy team has won 3 of the last 5 weigh ins. So please explain to me your rational as to why the women are at a disadvantage and need a separate competition??

If I may Ryan say what I think they are referring to is the carrying or lifting of weighted objects. On average a man is stronger than a woman. So any challenge where something is heavy, a man is going to carry more. Like Roger saying he had 5 sandbags per arm, almost triple what the women were carrying. However, I do not think the challenge was unfair, the women were better in some area, the men better in others, I thought it was balanced out in the end.

We always see challenges that are unfair. Remember last season when they did the triathlon (or is that an ironman?). Kae kicks butt in the running and biking, but loses because she is a poor swimmer which lets be honest is a really specific skill and shouldn't have been part of a BL challenge. The fact they managed to give away two immunities for that (if memory serves) was just silly. But that is the show...

I was addressing the people who consistently say that there should be a separate male and female biggest loser. To me it will absolutely cheapen the victory when the first female wins and there is an asterisk that says "This was the first female Biggest Loser, also the first year that there was a separate male and female winner."

As to the challenges, I already made my point in another post that the sand bags were the only part I thought was in favor of the men. However, I would like to point to the challenge with the weight bags over water... blue team did not win that, all the blue team bags were twice as heavy as the black.

I agree as well, TBL does not need to have a female, and a male winner. There will be a female winner, only a matter of time. I really don't get where some are finding the challenges so unfair, I think they are balanced out, but again, many, many others disagree. Just like those that dislike Mark, no matter what he does.....to me, he redeemed his-self in my eyes. People can make mistakes, no one is perfect, but no matter what this guy does, a lot of people hold a grudge against him for one thing or another.

It's a fact that men are genetically predisposed to easier weight loss. So, I think it's time NBC has two The Biggest Loser shows - one male and one female. That would be true competition.

Just bringing this one back for some people to read.

I totally agree. This show really makes it evident that the show is frustrating and unfair for women contestants. Unless they do separate show a woman will never will.

Awesome analysis, Malvina! I think you are absolutely correct about Kelly being the dark horse for a female winner. I thought that from the very first episode when they had the first weigh-in and Kelly said something about being the heaviest woman at the ranch. I think she was really humiliated by that fact, but I always thought it could work in her favor. I wish she would get over the "weakest link" talk, but that just might keep her under the radar and in the running. I think she's a bit older than the other female contestants and that also could work against the rate of her weight losses. I would love to see her come back to the finale totally transformed!

A woman CAN win the Biggest Loser, but only if the game is kept fair.

Allowing a trainer to pick teams, with no rules or regulations, essentially pitting men vs. women, is not fair.

And, considering the game is men vs. women at this point, not allowing some sort of head-start, advantage, whatever, that is not fair.

And not really a game play thing at all, but the last two challenges have been completely unfair.

I am a huge fan of biggest loser. However, the men have always had an advantage. Like it or not women don't lose weight at the same rate as men. I think it would be interesting to have a biggest loser with just men and one with just women.

I'm new and I don't know if it's been said before but, I've been saying it since season 1.
It is UTTERLY ridiculous that there is one winner in the end when this is a mixed gender competition.

Males and females are built differently and their metabolisms work differently. It is NO coincidence that every winner has been male. Equality is often about accepting that we are different and just dealing with it, instead of ignoring it. Why do you think professional sports are not mixed genders? It’s because men and women are built differently and the men would have an unfair physical advantage. The game play aspect is not enough to ensure that a woman could win because the men continue to dominate in the weight loss department and losing weight is kind of THE WHOLE POINT. Muscles burns calories and men build more muscle more quickly then women and have more muscle to begin with. Google it or ask your doctor or a professional and they will confirm men do lose weight faster than women; it's just a cold hard fact. You can even ask Dr. Phil, he’s confirmed it just like anyone with an education or working brain would. I don't know what the powers that be are thinking or if they have an agenda but, it's really quite ludicrous that this has not been changed.

You don't need one winner to make it interesting. Is there not a prom queen and a prom king, it could totally work to have a male and female winner in the end. If a woman doesn't win this year I say they need to change their format.

I hope there are some other people out there who are in touch with reality and will agree with this. To me it's just mind numbingly painful to watch something that is blatantly illogical, idiotic and does not support the laws of nature and science. I love the show but, this is the one aspect that has me ready to drop kick my television or better yet the knuckle heads at NBC.

It's apples and oranges folks. Get on the ball NBC.

The rule changes drive me crazy.

The repetition drives me crazy.

I'm trying to keep watching this show, but the one thing that they absolutely SHOULD change in the future is having both a male and female winner. There is a lot of unfair advantage in both the challenges and in weight loss possibility. Come on' NBC and producers, do this show right! And please avoid so much boring and repetitive stuff. There is so much you could do to make the show interesting and to avoid the mindless, endless stuff. And use a real scale!

First off, let me say...I'm a man. I've watched every season of Biggest Loser. And from day 1 I have said that the show is unfair to women. And I am glad that Jillian went off during the 3/11 episode.

Nothing anyone says will change the fact. Women simply cannot lose weight at the same rate as men.

Ms. Sweeney's comment about a "women losing the most at the weigh-in" was crap, and was also an added scripted comment most likely given to her by the producers, in order to cover up for the fact that women are at a serious disadvantage.

If you look at every season of BL, you will see that, 1-Men are always the winners. 2-Men statistically lose more weight than the women. 3-Men lose hip and thigh weight much faster than women. Men do not have to worry about water-weight gain like women. And god forbid a man have a period. My wife gains weight during her period and there's no way in hell that she will be able to lose any weight, ANY WEIGHT, during this time. And the longer a female contestant is at the BL ranch, the more likely she is to have her period while there. So, a woman makes it 5 weeks in, has her period, and blows the weigh in, putting her at risk of elimination.

There should be a T-Shirt....."Voted off Biggest Loser for having a Uterus."....

This imbalance is not limited to just the weigh-in. In any of the competitions, men always, ALWAYS, have the advantage. It's simple. Men have more strength and endurance than women. Now, it's obvious that this does not apply to women in the shape of, say, Jillian. But the women contestants simply do not have the same strength and/or endurance of the male contestants.

So, as long as the competition is set up the way it is, I firmly believe a woman will NEVER be able to win the BL.

So what can be done to balance things out? Here's the options I see:

-Do nothing (this is unacceptable, and the show will lose credibility, especially now that the subject is out in the open)
-Handicap the men. (creates another argument)
-augment the women. (best option. Take into account that men and women are different)
-Segregation (second best, though not popular, option. An all women show would be popular, but an all men show may not)

Something needs to be done, or the show will quickly jump the shark and join The Apprentice in mediocrity. I hope something is done and done soon. This show is too important to the fight against obesity in this country.

If not for this show, and this forum, I would be still be gaining weight and blaming everyone else....

Grymm

I think a woman will win one of these times, if the final three or four are all women. I thought a woman might have had a good chance at winning last season.... .

Agreed Grymm2, I've been saying this since season 1. It is UTTERLY ridiculous that there is one winner in the end when this is a mixed gender competition.

Males and females are built differently and their metabolisms work differently. It is NO coincidence that every winner has been male. Equality is often about accepting that we are different and just dealing with it, instead of ignoring it. Why do you think professional sports are not mixed genders? It’s because men and women are built differently and the men would have an unfair physical advantage. The game play aspect is not enough to ensure that a woman could win because the men continue to dominate in the weight loss department and losing weight is kind of THE WHOLE POINT. Muscles burns calories and men build more muscle more quickly then women and have more muscle to begin with. Google it or ask your doctor or a professional and they will confirm men do lose weight faster than women; it's just a cold hard fact. You can even ask Dr. Phil, he’s confirmed it just like anyone with an education or working brain would. I don't know what the powers that be are thinking or if they have an agenda but, it's really quite ludicrous that this has not been changed.

You don't need one winner to make it interesting. Is there not a prom queen and a prom king, it could totally work to have a male and female winner in the end. If a woman doesn't win this year I say they need to change their format.

I hope there are some other people out there who are in touch with reality and will agree with this. To me it's just mind numbingly painful to watch something that is blatantly illogical, idiotic and does not support the laws of nature and science. I love the show but, this is the one aspect that has me ready to drop kick my television or better yet the knuckle heads at NBC.

It's apples and oranges folks. Get on the ball NBC.

I don't think anything drastic will happen as long as the show gets ratings. You know something will happen when the show starts to lose its viewership. And it's a pretty well accepted fact that men and women have different tolerances to losing weight, it's not like it's a new topic that's just been discussed. So to say that 'Now it's out in the open' is somewhat trivial to mention. I'm sure that everyone regardless of whether it's by a personal experience that you've gone through or by seeing what other people go through notice that men and women have different metabolisms and different physiological capabilities.

Handicapping the men or giving the women an advantage won't work since they would be an outcry by the contestants. The only thing that could really work is having both sexes on the same show but having 2 winners, a male winner and a female winner and whoever is the better of the two get the larger prize.

I would like to see the show focus on body fat percentage loss versus weight loss.

I think the women have done a remarkable job and CAN win a competition. Attitude is everything - the current female contestants have already lost due to their attitudes. If you think you will fail - YOU WILL.

Ali did remarkable last night - attitude, attitude, attitude.

Women may or may not be at a disadvantage. Successful women deal with it and just work harder.

The funniest thing is they brought back contestants by having NOT the top 2 biggest losers from the people already voted off BUT the top male and female losers BECAUSE they knew that it is not going to be even. Look at most of the men on the show they had over 400 pounds and alot of 300 pound men and the heaviest woman was Kelly at 260 something I(don't remember the exact weights). She would have to lose 130 pounds and go down to 130 to lose 50% which is very hard for a woman in such a short period of time and a man of 400 pounds to lose 200 and go down to 200 to lose 50% which is alot more likely. Yes a woman came really close last year but unless the woman banded together and got rid of all the guys before the final say 8 it is hard for a woman to win. But then again most wouldn't because they know they need guys on their team to win the weigh ins and also the challenges and then when they can afford to lose them it may already be too late.

My husband and I started a diet together at the same time and no matter what i do he always loses more weight then me and we eat the same and as a matter of fact I would work out harder than him too. If you have a 160 pound or less woman trying to lose weight and a 220 pound man the man has a bigger advantage to lose weight.

I think they should have 2 winners male and female at the end. A good twist for another show is have men vs. woman teams without saying they would have two winners.

I have wondered for a while if TPTB pick smaller women than men so that they need to lose less weight to get the same percentage of loss as a man thinking this is the way to make it fair, however when you have less to lose it is often more difficult to do so. I'm not sure what the solution is but I do agree the way the show works now is not fair and equal. Ali's reply to Jillian about that's what game play is for is the key. If a woman can't win without game play (and if that's how they can win Jackie should be crowned winner now bc she definitely played the game) then it's not a fair game