Winner of TV's Biggest Loser criticized over dramatic weight loss

[View the story "Biggest Loser's Rachel Frederickson criticized for unhealthy weight loss" on Storify]

Storified by CBC News Community· Wed, Feb 05 2014 22:49:00

This was the winner of last night's The Biggest Loser: http://t.co/2FysAppkgn http://ift.tt/1gPg3fe Rosner

Tuesday night's Biggest Loser finale, a show where overweight participants rapidly drop pounds and pant sizes while chasing a $250,000 US grand prize, drew sharp criticism online when the season's winner revealed her post-weight-loss body.

Rachel Frederickson, a 5'4 former competitive swimmer, weighed 260 pounds when she arrived at the show's secluded ranch at the start of the season.

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Frederickson lost 155 pounds over her time at the ranch and then at-home while the series aired before the Tuesday night's live finale.

While Frederickson seemed pleased with her results, many noted the shocked expressions on the faces of two of the show's three trainers: Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels.

Michaels appeared to mouth "Oh my God," when she saw Frederickson for the first time since she left the ranch.

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Many noted Frederickson technically fell below the healthy range for a person's BMI, which measures body fat based on an adult woman or man's height and weight. Frederickson's 18-point BMI falls into the underweight category.

In depth: Body mass index (BMI)

It is important to note that the BMI scale is not perfect. It will overestimate results for adults who are muscular, such as athletes, or women who are pregnant.

Biggest Loser Rachel Frederickson is now underweight for her hight and is not a healthy representative of what a winner should be #HLNRachelle Muckensturm

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Still, many seemed shocked to see Frederickson's slim body at the finale.

Viewers had seen her weighing in at 150 pounds at her last weigh-in on the ranch. Frederickson, along with the other contestants, then returned home to continue working out and losing weight on their own before the live finale this week.

Many were disappointed with Frederickson's 45-pound-weight loss since the last time they saw her.

Clearly the biggest loser judges were just as mortified as most of us that she won. This isn't health nor fitness. http://ift.tt/1ivl0qg Clouse

Awk moment when the biggest loser winner looks like she went a little too far....Sara

Think the biggest loser winner went a bit too far.. 105 pound holy christ http://ift.tt/1ivl0qi Kate Muir

My heart breaks when I see pics of Rachel Frederickson's weight loss from @biggestlosernbc. Shame on you NBC.Allie Cesmat

Reaction of the trainers on the biggest loser to Rachel.. Clearly something isn't right http://ift.tt/1gPg3fm Dow

Some called on NBC, which airs the series, to issue a statement addressing the rapid weight loss and apparent unhealthy BMI.

I feel like @nbc should issue a statement tomorrow w/r/t Rachel’s weight loss tomorrow. This is unhealthy and creepy. #blfinaleChristopher

For their part, the show's three trainers issued statements. Harper and Michaels co-wrote a note saying they did not train Frederickson and are "not comfortable commenting on Rachel's journey."

The show's third trainer, Dolvett Quince, issued a separate statement via Twitter and Instagram, asking viewers not to "come to broad conclusions" after the finale.

From @JillianMichaels and I. http://ift.tt/1ivl1ug Harper

Here it is:Dolvett Quince

Some seemed to agree with Quince, saying it was unfortunate Frederickson could not enjoy her weight-loss moment because of the online criticism.

Such a shame the girl from biggest loser has to be ridiculed for bettering herselfdelaney

It's so disgusting that Rachel from the biggest loser is getting flack for losing "too much weight."ash

shout out to Rachel Frederickson!!! You go girl! All those haters are just jealous they don't have your discipline. #RachelFredericksonFlaca

I feel bad for the Biggest Loser winner. Poor girl doesn't need all this criticism. She just lost 155 lbs and can't even be happy about it.Gab E

Frederickson did not address the criticism publicly, only tweeting her upcoming media circuit and a thank-you to her fans.

I want to thank everyone for the amazing support. It’s been an incredible journey and I can’t wait to start the next chapter of my life.Rachel Frederickson

In the finale, the runner-up, David Brown lost a total of 187 pounds from his starting weight of 409 pounds. The second runner-up, Bobby Saleem, started out weighing 358 pounds, but lost 188 pounds by the finale.

Massive congrats to @strongerby1 (David Brown) losing 222 pounds! #respect #warrior #lifechurchtv http://ift.tt/1gPg3fo Groeschel

NBC News

What an amazing #BLFinale! Congrats to our winners and all our #BL15 contestants.The Biggest Loser