Biggest loser and starvation mode

Good question. There is a scientific paper about Biggest Loser which from memory suggested they ate around 1300 calories and exercised to the tune of 2000, but my memory may be letting me down.

Two words: "People lie"

Something like that, indeed. That Rachel girl seemed really happy to look kind of sick...

Australia Biggest loser the other night a contestant stated that they are on 1000 calories... a trainer told his team he wanted each of them to burn 600 calories in that session- minimum! thats only 400 calories a day to live off, not taking into account BMR... its insane!!!

you appear to be ignoring the average 560,000 calories of fat they were carrying. In the absence of adequate food intake they live off that.

Their TDEE is about 3000 - 4000 kcal/day and they are told to eat at least 70% of their BMR using the equation 21.6 kcal/kg·d × FFM (kilograms) + 370 kcal/d. On average this means eating at least 1400.

Everyone is different. We all hit plateaus. Some people on here might be complaining that they are not losing when they are not just giving their bodies time. I have lost weight before and am doing it again and there is always a period of time ( 1-2 weeks where I do not lose weight or only lose 1 lb for those two weeks ). And then I begin losing again. For some reason, that is something my body does and it always picks up weight loss soon after. Sometimes I have to increase my calories a little for me to lose weight again.

Some people simply ruin their metabolism by eating too little and exercising like crazy. Other people are fine and continue to lose. Sometimes it is different each time you lose weight.

I used to have an eating disorder. I went from 700 calories a day to 1600 in a couple weeks and only gained water weight. After the initial water weight, I began to LOSE weight again because of my increased metabolism. I had to increase my calories to over 2000 a day ( more like 2200 ) to gain weight while my weight was in my 90s ( I am just under 5'4 )

Other people might not be recording their intakes accurately. Sometimes they might forget to add a few snacks they munched on during the day and all those snacks add up. Or they underestimated their portion size. Other times they might just be retaining water from PMS, too much sodium, or simply the water just is staying in the body.

A lot of people experience plateaus, but like I said I think a lot of people on here might just be going through a slow phase and their weight loss will pick up again soon.

I do not agree with those saying honesty although some do lie or simple have no idea that the numbers they are using are wrong. I honestly believe that it is simply, people are different... why does one person eat everything under the Sun and aren't overly active yet are thin as a rail and others watch everything that goes in and exercises and GAINS and/or is obese? We are different. When you have an extreme amount to lose you will drop wt. fast, as you thin down it becomes harder, at least for most people... in this Rachael's case as she saw progress, she went crazy and burned like a wild fire, not sure if she can keep the loss but hopefully she will keep at a decent wt.

right now, for me, I can sit on my butt and eat 1200 calories and lose about 1 lb. a wk. a good wk. 1 1/2 lbs. BUT if any of those meals are high in sodium I can actually GAIN without going over my 1200... that is just how it works out for many of us.

I do not agree with those saying honesty although some do lie or simple have no idea that the numbers they are using are wrong. I honestly believe that it is simply, people are different... why does one person eat everything under the Sun and aren't overly active yet are thin as a rail and others watch everything that goes in and exercises and GAINS and/or is obese? We are different. When you have an extreme amount to lose you will drop wt. fast, as you thin down it becomes harder, at least for most people... in this Rachael's case as she saw progress, she went crazy and burned like a wild fire, not sure if she can keep the loss but hopefully she will keep at a decent wt.

right now, for me, I can sit on my butt and eat 1200 calories and lose about 1 lb. a wk. a good wk. 1 1/2 lbs. BUT if any of those meals are high in sodium I can actually GAIN without going over my 1200... that is just how it works out for many of us.

Those people that "eat everything under the Sun and aren't overly active yet are thin as a rail" actually don't each much if you follow them throughout the day. In 99% of the cases of people not losing when they claim they are eating low calories, they are eating more than they think through underestimating portions or not being honest with themselves. Experiments done with doubly labelled water bear this out. The others have medical problems affecting their metabolism, but this is not the case in the VAST majority of cases.

The weight gain from sodium is water weight. It has no bearing on fat loss or long term weight loss.

Two words: "People lie"

This or people don't measure and weigh what they actually are eating and end up eating 20-50% more than they think they are eating

I think they don't really show it on the show but they have one cheat/rest day a week that might have balanced it out some. I think I remember a reference to that one season.

Roadie my personal experience of loosing 172 pounds thus far tells me there is a lot of truth in your post. The math just does not hold true in every case. Input error (lack of measuring and logging) certainly is a factor. Other factors include medical factors, body changes related to age, stresses, climate, and so forth. I have close family members who have huge appetites and lead lives void of any consistent exercise program or sport. They remain thin. I know one such person that says "I can't buy a pound." So it least to some that feels like a curse. People do have very different metabolic rates my sister and I was measured by a baratric center at the same time her's was in normal range, mine was below normal. She loses faster even with me being a consistent exerciser and her not. You just got to work with what you got!

The biggest loser is the worst place to look for "healthy inspiration"

On the ranch they eat about 1,200-1,300 calories a day intake than workout for hoursss burning up to 2,000 (as previously said) so they have a negative intake everyday which is why they lose so quick.

As for the chick who won a show had interviewed a previous Biggest Loser trainer who pretty much said that yes, there is a 2 month difference from when they leave the ranch til the final episode and that the winner was no doubt exercising to much and barely eating to drop as much weight to win.
Were talking about the winner here of course if you eat 500 calories a day and burn that amount or eat 1,200 than burn 1,000 a day your going to lose weight super quick doesn't mean it won't come back.