Rachel Frederickson, the most recent champion of The Biggest Loser, is defending her shocking weight loss, insisting she lost 155 pounds healthily.

Frederickson made waves in early February after the Season 15 live finale of The Biggest Loser, when her final transformation, from 260 pounds to 105 pounds, was revealed. Frederickson is 5’4’’.

The moment Frederickson was declared the winner, the Internet began buzzing about Frederickson’s extreme transformation and new, gaunt look. Indeed, Frederickson looked nothing like the woman the audience was introduced to at the beginning of the season, and many took to the Internet to call her too skinny and some expressed concerns that she had developed an eating disorder.

Frederickson Insists She Is Completely Healthy

Frederickson wants the public to know that she lost weight the healthy way, by dieting and exercising, not by going to unhealthy extremes.

“It was absolutely healthy weight loss. I dieted and exercised and did it healthy the whole way. I appreciate all the concern, and I can see where it comes from,” Frederickson said in an interview on Today, adding that viewers should keep in mind that what they viewed in a few months was actually filmed over the course of seven months.

Furthermore, Frederickson admits that the backlash surprised her, making her win slightly less joyous than she had hoped, saying, “I felt amazing on the stage. I felt like I shined in my dress. Then I got off the stage and Twitter was all abuzz.”

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Rachel says she is proud of her weight loss and is happy with her new body and new sense of self.

“My journey was my own, and I loved it; I lived it. So, I felt really proud of what I did,” Frederickson stated.

The Biggest Loser executive producer Dave Broome confirms that Frederickson was always losing weight in a healthy way. He told People that Frederickson was monitored by the show throughout her weight-loss journey to ensure that she was healthy.

“Rachel passed all the required medicat tests ensuring she was healthy,” he said.

Now, Frederickson says, her main goal is to keep the weight off and maintain a healthy lifestyle, something much more challenging to do outside the controlled environment of The Biggest Loser.

When asked if she feared sliding back into old habits, Frederickson responded honestly, “Of course, that thought always comes up, but I think what I’ve learned is that I have an inner strength. I have a voice and I can trust myself. [Before] I didn’t trust myself. I was critical, and I judged myself.”

Ali Vincent On Rachel Frederickson

Ali Vincent, who became the first female winner of The Biggest Loser when she competed in season five, spoke to Uinterview exlusively about the backlash Frederickson has received since debuting her extreme weight loss in the finale.

Vincent told Uinterview that she believes part of the reason behind Frederickson’s drastic weight loss is, simply, the nature of the competition. To win The Biggest Loser, one might need to lose more than necessary.

“It’s typical. That’s what people thought of me too. You know, I had to definitely lose more than I would normally have lost if I wasn’t in a competition,” Vincent revealed. “I think that she is too skinny, I think she knows that she is too skinny. I think he wanted to win and she did and that’s a different kind of strength. She’s an athlete.”

Frederickson herself admitted that she may have let the competition take a hold of her in in those months leading up to the last weigh-in, telling People, “Maybe I was a little too enthusiastic in my training to get to the finale.”

Frederickson also told People that in the three months leading up to the finale, she was working out for six hours a day and eating only 1,600 calories a day.

– Olivia Truffaut-Wong

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