Extreme Weight Loss - i.e. The Biggest Loser
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NonnyMary
Posts: 982 Member
If you ever watch these weight loss shows, they are disappointed when they lose 8 pounds in a week (they wanted 20 or 30 pounds loss!). Or the one where they lose 1 pound a day - often due to them spending 6 hours per day in the gym.
Not sure what they eat.
I notice they sometimes regain back all or some of the weight.
Not that I'm going to do this, but what do you think about it compared to what we do here?
is it really sustainable? are they going into starvation mode? Any other comments?
Not sure what they eat.
I notice they sometimes regain back all or some of the weight.
Not that I'm going to do this, but what do you think about it compared to what we do here?
is it really sustainable? are they going into starvation mode? Any other comments?
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some of the contestants get berated by the trainers when they lose 2 pound that week. sheesh!0
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I watched one season of The Biggest Loser and wasn't "inspired" by it...at all. It's a competition where they are required to do nothing but think about their weight, have work out space/gear provided for no charge that I can see. Their food is provided and they have the personal trainers who can get in their face and demand they work their *kitten* off to win the big prize.
I don't think it's ultimately sustainable. Once a person is stuck back into their regularly scheduled life with a spouse, kids, job, home, etc I can't see how they could continue to commit to that kind of work out and diet schedule. If you google Biggest Loser contestants there are quite a few articles that talk about the day before weigh in and what they don't eat and the day of weigh-in when they go out of their way to dehydrate themselves so the scale will show a bigger number.
In my opinion, it's not healthy, does nothing to help with a person's relationship with food, and feels very disordered in a way.0 -
I have been watching Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition (with Chris Powell) on HuluPlus because I'm home a lot with a 3-month-old. It's better than The Biggest Loser because it focuses on long-term goals (every 90 days for a year).
However I was just remarking to my husband last night that they will take these people who weigh over 400 lbs sometimes and put them on a 1500 calorie/day diet PLUS have them work out like crazy with no eating back their calories. A 400+ pound person burns a lot of calories while working out, so I'm sure they quickly burn through those 1500 calories and then some, giving them a negative net every day for a year. I could lose all my weight in less than 6 months with free groceries, a brand new home gym, personal training, 1500 calories a day and hours of working out 6 days/week! But that wouldn't be very healthy or sustainable.
Granted I'm exclusively nursing a baby, but my net calories after nursing are 1500, so I actually eat 2000 plus any exercise calories. And I'm far from 400 lbs.
The transformations are amazing and all, which is what makes it watchable, but I question the methods.
Edited for typo0 -
Sustainable? Their diet is drastically low in calories and they exercise 6-8 hrs a week. I don't know about you - but I want a life!
One contestant said she lived on diet jello and asparagus and spent several 6-hr sessions in a sauna prior to a weigh-in. One contestant claimed that as soon as the show was over, he regained “32 pounds in 5 days simply by drinking water because he was so dehydrated. And the vast majority of the contestants have gained back a good portion of their starting weight.
I only saw one show and could only sit through a part of it before I turned it off. I personally don't find it motivating to be berated and chastised.0 -
Biggest Loser - is a WEIGHT loss competition. Not fat loss, not body transformation, not path to better health. It's a TV show for entertainment (for some).
I don't think it is sustainable. I've never done 6 hours of exercise a day. I work, and I sleep, and I have a life outside my gym time!
Losing weight requires some change, maintaining it requires a lifestyle change, forever.0 -
I swear they are also going to break something.. like when they lift the kettleballs and dont use proper form. i mean it looks like they are going to throw their back out.
That other show which i think it is called "I used to be fat" she had a goal for ONE day to lose 7,000 pounds, mostly in the gym.. she had a watch or something on and it recorded how much exercise calories she burned, every two hours or so she'd look at it and it read that she lost 2,000 calories exercising i guess. so she burned 2 pounds of fat in a day???? how is that possible? Well at the end of the day she looked like a zombie and didn't burn 7,000 but like 6,000 and while the trainer was there hollering at her to come back, she just walked off like a zombie .. wow....0 -
They go to a camp, for what, 6 weeks? Where they don't have to work for a living and ALL, like for 8 hours a day they do is work out. Ofcourse they gain weight back, no one can maintain that in real life.
And they have hurt themselves before, read this by the awesome Golda Poretsky - http://www.bodylovewellness.com/2010/06/09/kai-hibbard-biggest-loser-finalist-part-1-of-3/0 -
No, of course it's not sustainable. The object is to lose as much weight as possible in a short amount of time, and that's the entire focus of their lives for that time. A TV show about sustainable weight loss would be boring.0
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I think the biggest problem with that show is that the weight loss takes place in a controlled environment. even if they *weren't* exercising for 6 hours a day, even if it was just 2 hours a day, they are removed from their home/family/spouse/children/everyday life. and as we all know, getting to be *that fat* is not *just* about the food/exercise, but it's about *why* we eat, the emotional side. so you put these people in an isolated environment where they don't have to deal with the emotional crapola that makes us run for the chips/soda/comfort food, but when they leave and go home to the issues that are there, they haven't learn to deal with anything.
I think that if it was used as a "jump start" for people who are extremely obese, and then they would continue in their home town with a trainer/therapist/nutritionist, they might have a chance of succeeding.0 -
Eating that number of calories and exercising that much is not sustainable but you have to remember that once they reach their goal weight and are no longer trying to lose 8 lb a week that will result in them being able to eat more calories and workout less and maintain their weight.0
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They would need a weekly calorie deficit of 28,800 kcal each week in order to lose 8 lb/week. Once they go into maintinance that would go away.0
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No, of course it's not sustainable. The object is to lose as much weight as possible in a short amount of time, and that's the entire focus of their lives for that time. A TV show about sustainable weight loss would be boring.
Considering its been on for over 14 seasons with most if not all contestants keeping the weight off... Looks like it works0 -
I wonder if the ones who lose gobs of weight in such a short time - would be able to keep it off if they went from The Biggest Loser to MFP and kept it up with that.0
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No, of course it's not sustainable. The object is to lose as much weight as possible in a short amount of time, and that's the entire focus of their lives for that time. A TV show about sustainable weight loss would be boring.
Considering its been on for over 14 seasons with most if not all contestants keeping the weight off... Looks like it works
A bigger percentage of those who go on biggest loser maintain their weight loss after the show than people in real life who lose weight so that speaks to its benefits. I think the relationships formed are a big help. There is a lot of accountability after the show. I do not think it is that bad to lose weight quickly with a very high calorie deficit over a short period of time. The people do not work out for hours a day after they are done with the show. Usually it is like an hour or two a day that they will work out based on my reading books by people who had been on the show.
And the dehydration problems occurred during the first few seasons. Now they have rules that they cannot be dehydrated before weighing in and have to drink some water if they are dehydrated.0 -
That show pisses me off because it is completely unsustainable. Yes they teach you how to lose the weight but not how to maintain it.0
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Sustainability is making the commitment to this being the rest of your life and adhering to that approach by eating in a modest caloric deficit to obtain a weight loss of 1 to 2 lbs. a week until you reach your goal, getting your butt off the couch and get moving whatever that may be and take your journey one day at a time making each day as successful as you possibly can so that when you lay your head on your pillow each night you have no regrets then get a good nights sleep and rinse and repeat.... Beyond that I don't see the need to do it any other way..... Best of Luck...0
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Never watched Extreme Weight Loss but I will say this, Biggest Loser was where I "started". I mean this was like physically watching where I was headed eating 6500+ calories a day. I could literally watch my future and at the same time, I was watching with my eyes all the excuses I made being destroyed in the ranch. I used to scream "oh genetics" or "oh the time" or blah blah blah. You know the drill. We've all made those excuses. Biggest Loser showed me to be above excuses and thats what I now try to achieve so... thank you Biggest Loser.0
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It is inspiring for me to see the transformations. That's pretty much where it stops for me. I'm sure we would all have dramatic losses if we spent most our time in the gym every day.0
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I cant believe how one of the guys can lose 20 pounds in one week, then 15 pounds in the next.0
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I wonder if the ones who lose gobs of weight in such a short time - would be able to keep it off if they went from The Biggest Loser to MFP and kept it up with that.
Yes if you are held accountable. Most people who are on that show got that big cause they had an unhealthy relationship with food. So, if they were taught to eat in a healthy manner and resolve the underlying causes, then them transitioning to mfp and keeping the weight off would be no issue.
The problem is most people tend to go back to what they know and what is comfortable (bad eating habits and no exercise). This is always the problem with all extreme diets, they are unsustainable for a long period of time and the dieters tend to yoyo in weight (down after diet, up when they stop it).
You aren't going to magically gain the weight back, you have to eat more than your maintenance to gain that weight.
There is a reason the Biggest Loser people try to keep up with former contestants, it's simply brand management by making sure most of them stay somewhat in shape.
This article below covers a couple of good points.
http://www.burnthefatinnercircle.com/public/614.cfm0
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