Because Everybody's Doin' it...

My turn to weigh in on Rachel and TBL.

Some have said we should not judge and can't have an opinion, its not our business. Well, I disagree. If you are going to go on national television and show your weight loss journey then guess what? All bets are off.

And before I get people's knickers in a bunch....I WAS overweight when I was younger. I DO know how that feels, to be the *fat girl* and I DID lose my weight in a very unhealthy way and paid the price. I still struggle with body image and weight and have even been told as of late that I am *too thin* (which at 5'6" and 140lbs I don't think so but that is a number and looks are something else) So I do *get it*. I am also an *athlete* and I get the pressure to look the part. However, I also get the health risks vs benefit, and I also know there is NO *perfect* size. And HEALTH is actually a really awesome size.

Now, I don't watch BL. I did not watch this season. I did, however, watch the final reveal clip, and then did a little reading. I was HORRIFIED when I saw Rachel come out. I had to look up her age because that did NOT look like an early 20-something year old woman. In her before pic, yes she is overweight. But she is BEAUTIFUL! Though she may not have felt it, her face was joyful, youthful. She is pretty. I read all the *oh she was an athlete before and she wants to be again so she needs to be that thin with no body fat.* Um, she was a SWIMMER. Have you SEEN Olympic swimmers? Do they look like her? Hell no.

The look on the trainers faces was very telling. She lost 45lbs in the last 90 days. That is at least 3lbs a week for the LAST 3 months. She went from a healthy size 6 to a ZERO...which is NOT a size btw. (Though I do get that a SMALL number of women are actually naturally that small, however I do not think it should be a GOAL to be a non-size.) She is NOT *muscular* she is sinewy. What is seen, to me, is not a strong muscular body, its skin covering bones and what is left of her muscles. She is painfully thin. When I see someone that thin I look at their face. If they are HEALTHY and thin, their face will show it. Their face will have enough fat on it to cover bones and look, well, healthy. Someone who has lost too much weight has a skeletal look about their face, their skin tends to cling tot he bones and they appear much older. Which was what I thought when I saw Rachel. I thought she was mid 30's at LEAST.

I have no idea why no one questioned her, her family etc...apparently the contestants are on their own those last 90 days...What a shame. I have to think maintaining that size will be VERY difficult. You saw her family in the audience...they are not small people. Whenever I talk to people about weight loss/gain I say *take a look at your family. Look at the *average sized person* who does not have a weight problem. THAT is a reasonable goal.* Because we have genetics to work with and someone can diet and exercise their way down to a size 0 and guess what? You won't be there for long...and your life will not be all too pleasant while you are there. I cannot imagine as a trainer, encouraging ANYONE to get down to that size unless they were naturally that size to begin with. And something tells me she wasn't.

So, when the media is over her 5 minutes of fame, I TRULY hope that she works with a GOOD trainer who will help her gain a little weight back and get healthy and strong the right way. I hope she can learn that her worth is SO much more than what she looks like on the outside. I hope she gets the support she needs to feel good about herself, to love herself and take care of herself knowing that her true friends will love her because of WHO she is not what she looks like.