Biggest Loser Help

kr3851

Hi!

I've read insane amounts of info on this site in the last 3 or so weeks. I'm getting that I need to eat my exercise calories back - in fact for the two weeks I wasn't, I didn't lose much at all. I'm also working on lowering my processed foods to try to cut out sodium and reduce fats and carbs - while increasing my protein. It's a delicate balance, but I'm learning so much each day.

I still have a big question that has been plaguing me for a while now. How come on the Biggest Loser, they stick to a 1200 calorie diet, exercise up to 8 hours a day (so I've heard... this is all hearsay) and manage to lose such ridiculous amounts of weight? Is it because they are burning so many more calories than they're eating? How is this healthy? I get that I'm not going to lose anywhere near as fast as the contestants. For one thing, I don't have enough time in my day to be exercising that much. I don't have a trainer keeping an eye on me 24/7. I don't have a team of doctors, nutritionists, physios to keep my body in good condition while I run it into the ground. By doing this slowly I know that I have a much better chance at maintaining weight loss, and sticking to 'the plan' for life. But it still baffles me how their bodies don't go into starvation mode or break down on them. I didn't take a rest day last week and it was just ridiculous. Never doing that again. Exhaustion to the max. I don't understand how the contestants can keep this up for 12 weeks while in the house and then another 12 weeks on the outside....

It also frustrates me because I need to lose this weight - seeing a 1 kilo loss on the scale each week is a triumph to me... and they cry when they lose less than 5 kilos and think that they're failures???

Unknown

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FaithandFitness

I have a problem with Biggest Loser because I don't think it is the best way to go about it all. Is it super motivating, YES. I do not think, however, that there is any way those contestants are getting all the nutrients that they need to be healthy with a 1200 cal diet and extreme exercise. (I hadn't heard how many cals they eat, so I am just going off whay you said) I prefer to do it my way, nourish and exercise my body and see some lasting results!

FaithandFitness

btw, I like your thinking as to how you are modifying your program, that is what I aim to do as well. When I am on it, doing all those things, the weight comes off!

darlat74

This is part of the reason that I do not watch this show anymore. I want to see what they use to eat in a day. I want to see what they eat now and I want to see how they deal with the pain in their bodies after a crazy workout. This show to me now is just two hours of wasted time. All they do is show them working out and taking an hour for the weigh-ins.

lacroyx

This is part of the reason that I do not watch this show anymore. I want to see what they use to eat in a day. I want to see what they eat now and I want to see how they deal with the pain in their bodies after a crazy workout. This show to me now is just two hours of wasted time. All they do is show them working out and taking an hour for the weigh-ins.

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AshinAms

It all goes back to that calorie in-calorie out thing. You can either eat less or exercise more or in an ideal world do both and carefully balance your nutrient ratios. For the rapid weight loss on Biggest Loser there is some evidence that you can lose huge quantities of fat if your BMI is very high (higher than 30 I think they said) to start with and you up your exercise to give you a bigger deficit per day. You still can't go below the 1200 lower limit, but you can ramp up the exercise to give you a huge daily deficit which would mean you could, in theory, lose up to a 1lb a day (3500 calorie deficit). There are some other threads on here about that, and you can take a look at some of Tom Venuto's articles too.

It's meant to be healthy to do it this way (if your BMI is high enough) because you have to manage your diet carefully with regard to ratios/vitamin content etc. Also, I figure if your BMI is that high the medical staff probably think ANYTHING is healthier than carrying on like that.

I looked into it because I did something similar a couple of years ago and lost a fair amount of fat % by working with a personal trainer. My BMI is currently 31, and if I do an hour of Zumba I get around 600 calories and an hour on the treadmill (run/walk) nets me around 800 cals. So if I did three or four hours in the gym every day I could quite easily lose that 1 lb a day. But ...and this is a big but - what would happen to all the other stuff I have to do? I don't work so in theory I could give up my mornings, but even so it is an enormous commitment in both time and energy and after that much work in the gym I'd probably not be able to fulfill my commitments to my kids. I might do it with my boyfriend when he has holidays to get the fat % down super quick (and then we can collapse together in the afternoons!)

I still have a big question that has been plaguing me for a while now. How come on the Biggest Loser, they stick to a 1200 calorie diet, exercise up to 8 hours a day (so I've heard... this is all hearsay) and manage to lose such ridiculous amounts of weight? Is it because they are burning so many more calories than they're eating? How is this healthy? I get that I'm not going to lose anywhere near as fast as the contestants. For one thing, I don't have enough time in my day to be exercising that much. I don't have a trainer keeping an eye on me 24/7. I don't have a team of doctors, nutritionists, physios to keep my body in good condition while I run it into the ground.

It also frustrates me because I need to lose this weight - seeing a 1 kilo loss on the scale each week is a triumph to me... and they cry when they lose less than 5 kilos and think that they're failures???

Michelle_H

Hiya, I'm currently following a program designed by one of The Biggest Loser trainers here in Australia and so I'm on her recommended 1200 cals a day. I eat nutrient dense foods rather than any old rubbish; 3 meals a day with two snacks in between and try to exercise daily in some way, shape or form, even if it's just a 45 minute walk with the dog. As I'm trying to lose weight as well as get fitter I never eat my exercise calories and I feel satisfied with the amount of calories I'm on. My foods are pretty much back to basics, cooking from scratch and being prepared so I don't need to grab a takeout. In just over 3 wks I've lost 6kgs/13lbs (I started at almost 95kgs) and this is something that I can continue with, not locked in a house away from all temptation and exercising all the time because nobody in the real world has time for that. The Biggest Loser is made for T.V. - if they didn't shift that fat fast, then we wouldn't be interested in watching, would we? The programe, whilst good to watch, should just serve to inspire you to make changes that you can stick to and I seem to be doing just fine and dandy on 1200 cals and regular exercise.

bizco

Besides everything you already mentioned in your post regarding the team of experts the contestants have access to...Remember, it's a TV show. It's edited to show only what the producers want the public to see. It's not real life.