I have gotten hooked on a few reality shows over the past years, but the only one on my TiVo list this season was The Biggest Loser. Even if you haven’t been following it, you will probably come across something about last night’s finale today. It was quite extraordinary.

The winner was Erik from New York. He lost 214 pounds in about eight months. What amazed me was how fit and healthy he looked – trim, muscular, energized. The footage of him when he started at more than 400 pounds, with high blood pressure (which you could see in his face) and diabetes (with which he was diagnosed during the filming of the show), was such a contrast to the man he had become at the end. It brought tears to my eyes.

Something else that struck me about the program is that all of the people who were “on the ranch” for the four months lost a great deal of weight. The show’s formula really works: exercise, nutrition, education and motivation from leadership, and forming a community among the participants. Their format is so much like some of the destination spas (pure spa settings) I know.

Last year, we started getting calls at our Spa Finder office from people wanting to know where “the ranch” was so that they could sign up and go. Well, we have learned that “the ranch” is in California, and it is only “made for TV.” But thankfully there are destination spas.