Washington Post article critical of Biggest Loser Study

aliciamariaq
aliciamariaq Posts: 272 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I was so happy to find this article this morning. It gives a more balanced view of the problem and explains why the NYT article is so misleading.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/05/05/why-the-weight-loss-study-everyone-has-been-sharing-is-kind-of-misleading/

Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Taking a step back the mean RMR 6 years out is 1900 kcal/day. The mean TDEE is 3400.

    What exactly is the problem supposed to be ?
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
    Although the study was a damning indictment of the show, it doesn’t apply to those of us trying to lose weight with less extreme measures.

    That was my take-away from the study and articles currently circulating around - it's not an observation on weight loss attempts in general but rather the disgusting brutality of the show which unfortunately is routinely glamorised or even applauded for the results it gets. Results - but at what cost?

    I have thought and said for some time that the show was profoundly harmful for its contestants but I though this was principally on a psychological level rather than physiological one. Now there is some data to help quantify the harm the contestants may suffer in that regard.

    With regard to the high mean values for RMR and / or TDEE on the face of it one could reasonably say "what the hell do they have to complain about." However, the issue in my mind is the relative proportional fall in comparison to what they were previously intaking which locks the contestants in feeling compelled to maintain high levels of exercise to try and keep their weight in check.

    Let's say that over a long length of time my body and mind become accustomed to eating 2,500 cals with a few short exercise sessions a week. Then over the span of a few short months that falls to 2,000 cals but not only that but to maintain weight I am compelled to also double the amount of time I devote to exercise. Now I love exercise but if someone told me I had to do a lot of it I would grow to resent it, probably not do it, eat the same and get porky...


  • RosieRose7673
    RosieRose7673 Posts: 438 Member
    I'm guessing any articles that come out like this will get lost in the noise. :neutral:

  • Slowfaster
    Slowfaster Posts: 186 Member
    One thing both articles mentioned was that the metabolism has a less drastic drop with a low-carb diet than with a low-fat one. I'm making sure to keep plenty of fat and protein in my diet this time and I'm happy at the end of the day if my MFP scores have me on target with my calories, a little under on sugar, and a little over on fat and protein.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    "msf74 wrote: »
    With regard to the high mean values for RMR and / or TDEE on the face of it one could reasonably say "what the hell do they have to complain about." However, the issue in my mind is the relative proportional fall in comparison to what they were previously intaking which locks the contestants in feeling compelled to maintain high levels of exercise to try and keep their weight in check.

    The issue is that they have to eat less to maintain than they ate becoming multi-hundred pound giants ? I sort of thought that was obvious.

    An RMR of 1900 is a bit of a first world problem to be honest, it's 20% higher than mine and well higher than many shorter ladies manage with.
  • redmaryclare
    redmaryclare Posts: 33 Member
    Indeed I will be lucky if I can maintain at 1600

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