Biggest Loser Finalist: It Gave Me an Eating Disorder

The Biggest Loser tells tales of disciplined self-improvement, but one finalist has some horror stories to tell. In an interview with Golda Poretsky surfaced by Jezebel, season 3's Kai Hibbard says the brutal regimen and pressure from the show's staff endangered her health and gave her an eating disorder. She tells of working out as many as five hours a day on the show—with injuries, while eating what she estimates was just 1,200 calories. Among the more unfortunate side effects: vomiting, hair loss, bruises.

At one point, her "major food groups were water, black coffee, and Splenda." After an intervention from her family, she managed to turn things around, but not without struggle. She tells Poretsky of the "first meal where I actually ate again"—oatmeal and an egg-white omelet. "It took me an hour and a half and I cried through the whole thing." Click to read Poretsky's fascinating interview here. (More The Biggest Loser stories.)