Public Feedings: The Strange Food Confessionals Inspired By "The Biggest Loser"

Has anyone else noticed a strange phenomenon on Tuesday nights, right around the time NBC's "The Biggest Loser" airs? It seems like a noticeable amount of my friends and family start running to their computers to post about what it is they're eating-- or planning to eat-- while watching the show.

For some reason, two hours of weigh-loss-focused reality television seems to encourage a kind of public feeding. And despite the copious and heavy-handed product placement on the show, there's not a Subway sandwich or stick of Wrigley's Extra Sugarfree gum in sight.  Instead, it's less wholesome fare: one Facebook friend admitted that she "just walked to the grocery store in her pjs to buy cookie dough to eat during The Biggest Loser."  A coworker just received an e-vite for a “Biggest Loser” finale/pizza party.

What's the deal? While there have been lots of studies that indicate TV tends to make you hungrier, and that you're more likely to mindlessly snack in front of the tube, there’s no huge rush of people Twittering about eating a garden salad while watching "Chuck." So I called up Brian Wansink, the noted food psychologist at Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab, and author of  “Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think.” First of all, he finds this entire phenomenon hilarious. More importantly, he has a few theories about what may be at its root: “Part of it is sort of an ironic license to eat,” says Wansink, who notes a similar phenomenon occurs when people watch cooking shows. It also gives too-cool-for-school television purists a buffer from the show’s super-earnest tone. “To admit you’re watching to for other reasons would be to say,  ‘I’m watching this because I hope this is going to happen [to me]. I hope I’ll pick up some tips’ – it’s like you don’t want to be scene walking around with a diet book under your arm," said Wansink, who's met with several of the show's previous contestant to offer tips on cutting out cravings.  “This way you still get to be part of the crowd that can talk about it the next day.”

In other words: eating Chunky Monkey while watching the “Biggest Loser” means that, yes, you may be cheering for Tara to win the whole thing, and you may be weeping a little bit over Helen's progress, and yes, you take Ron's subtle manipulation of the game as an insult to all the people who are honestly trying to make a significant change in their lives – but you’re totally doing it as a joke.  

Still, Barrett Brenton, a nutritional anthropologist from St. John's University, suggests that our detatched posturing may not be able to prevent people from getting too emotionally wrapped up in the show, which is why they reach for chips and candy instead of carrot sticks.  "They’re not saying lets cook a turkey, stuffing, and some mashed potatoes,” he said. “They’re clearly going for comfort food and snacks."

That’s because like it or not, we identify with the sweaty, lumpy contestants crying on the treadmill. "Everyone has built within them what they feel their ideal weight or body shape should be," he says. Watching the show's contestants struggle to lose weight makes us anxious about our own body image, while also giving us a little guilty thrill.  "You're seeing these individuals and saying, 'I'm glad it’s not me. I'm not that heavy,'" he said. Reality shows, he said, are created to help you feel the same tensions fears, and stress as the characters on TV, and the anxiety-by-association can lead to stress-induced snacking.In fact, just thinking about the three-hour finale tonight has me pondering the vending machines.

Will you be watching “The Biggest Loser” finale tonight? If so, do your plans include a high-caloric feast? Or are you one of those “watch while doing crunches” kind of viewers?