The Biggest Loser vs Starvation Mode

I really don't know why they are not required to eat back their excercise calories. I think I read somewhere that the contestants are restricted to 1500 calories a day. It's extreme - but that's what the show is all about. The contestants are under constant supervision from trainers and doctors so they must be able to go into "stravation mode" safely???
Remember, most people who lose that amount of weight, that quickly, will gain it back.

I really don't know why they are not required to eat back their excercise calories. I think I read somewhere that the contestants are restricted to 1500 calories a day. It's extreme - but that's what the show is all about. The contestants are under constant supervision from trainers and doctors so they must be able to go into "stravation mode" safely???
Remember, most people who lose that amount of weight, that quickly, will gain it back.

The funny thing is, I can't think of once contestant who lost a significant amount of weight who has gained it back. I think they did it a very healthy way, just on fast-forward for the purposes of television.

I wasn't a real follower of the show before but from what I can remember they drastically overate. Like multiple liters of soda, meals with way too many helpings and snacks of cookies, candies, cakes, etc. They were probably eating quite a few thousand calories a day, so by eating less and eating healthier, along with the extreme amount of exercise, I can see how they could lose an imense amount of weight. I'm sure the closer they get get to an average BMI, the less possible it would be to see huge numbers. They basically went from being couch potatoes to forcing there bodies to endure mass amounts of physical activity, it's like telling your body 'I'm going to be active, so either you struggle or you adapt and drop the weight to make it easier'.

:flowerforyou:

Yes, but we're told to eat the exercise calories to avoid the starvation mode. So that would mean, if they follow the advice, they are eating those 5,000 calories they burn off.

No, no, no, you've got it confused. The exercise calories don't count as food you eat. Your base calories do. The reason this site self-adjusts to add your exercise calories as base calories is to keep you at the level of weight-loss that you told it you want. If you want to lose more, don't eat your exercise calories. I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but when you eat 1200 calories, whether or not you work some of it off, the information about eating dangerously low levels of calories on your home page goes away.

I just got a link to this Spark People article in my email today:
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6 "Biggest Loser" Lessons to Lose: Leave This Advice in the Living Room

-- By Jason Anderson, Certified Personal Trainer

TV can be educational. After all, I outlined eight great lessons you can take from NBC’s hit television show, "The Biggest Loser" and apply to your own healthy lifestyle program. I said it then and I'll say it again: I am a big fan of the show, and I love to see the wonderful transformations that take place in the lives of the participants. If you have watched it yourself, you know that the contestants come away with fit bodies, a healthier way of eating, and new way of thinking. While "The Biggest Loser" offers some great lessons and plenty of motivation, there are some other things about the show that are not ideal for the everyday "loser" and some of these things are downright unrealistic!

So as the newest season unfolds this fall, be sure to watch out for the unsafe, unrealistic, or too-good-to-be true tips, which happen from time to time. Combine these realizations with the other take-home lessons, and you'll have lots of great tips and motivation for your own weight loss goals!

6 Lessons to Unlearn

1. Their results are not typical. "Biggest Loser" contestants weigh in once per week. In the first few weeks of each season, the contestants lose massive amounts of weight. I am not talking about four or five pounds either. I'm talking about 15, 20, or even 25 pounds gone in a single week! Healthy weight loss guidelines, like SparkPeople's, state that up to two pounds lost per week is safe for adults. Occasionally, adults with BMI's higher than 30 can safely lose a little more than that. Losing two pounds per week on "The Biggest Loser" would send you home very quickly! Later in the show, everyone's weight loss slows down, and they're disappointed with four-, six- and even eight-pound losses. In reality, even these "small" amounts are more than what most people can expect. In real life, most dieters can lose up to two pounds per week. Remember the lesson from the tortoise and the hare: Slow and steady wins the race! You're more likely to keep the weight off that way (and not go crazy with exercise or dieting extremes during the process).

2. They put their lives on hold. Probably the single biggest factor that makes these folks so successful is that they spend weeks on the "campus" with NO outside distractions. They have no jobs, school, family responsibilities, last-minute meetings, errands to run, bills to pay, cell phones to answer or obligations to attend to. Their only focus is exercising and losing weight. When contestants finally go home, you can see the fear on their faces. They know how hard it will be to continue their diet and exercise plans when LIFE resumes. In the perfect environment—with trainers and dietitians and doctors overseeing every step, we could all be big losers. But weight loss doesn't require putting your life on hold. Sure it'd be easier, but it's pretty unrealistic and it doesn't teach you how to really deal with life and weight loss. Those of us who learn to lose weight and live in the real world are far better off—because we can build habits that really work and create lasting change.

3. They are often overtraining. Behind the scenes, participants are closely monitored by physicians and trainers to make sure they can hold up to the rigors of training. All, if not most, of the participants go from zero fitness activity to training every day for hours. In the controlled environment of the campus, they can rest optimally, eat optimally, and recover optimally. But this isn't a good training philosophy for the everyday person. In essence, they go from inactive to athlete, but that can be dangerous for many people, inviting injuries, pain, and health risks. The best bet is to start slowly increase the intensity, duration and frequency over time. Even then, no one person needs to exercise for hours a day. Allow your body the time it needs to adjust to workloads and remember that there is more to life than fitness.

4. They rely on trainers. At nearly every workout, Bob or Jillian tells the "losers" what to do, when to do it, how often to do it, and how long to do it. It sure would be easy to reach your goals if you had a trainer standing over you, motivating you, and forcing you to work harder than you would on your own, right? I believe in personal training (heck, I am a trainer!) but you don’t need a personal trainer to be successful. For my clients, I teach them how to exercise and then to let them go. A dependent relationship between client and trainer is not a good idea. SparkPeople has all the tools and resources you need to work out, get motivated, and lose weight on your own!

5. They give up their favorite foods. When voting in the elimination room, the contestants can be seen sitting in front of back-lit coolers full of treats, which represent their favorite foods. The show doesn’t come right out and say this, but it seems to imply that you must give up all “contraband” to lose weight. This is unrealistic, not to mention boring. In reality, you can enjoy your favorite treats from time to time—just not all the time. Trainer Bob even said once that you can have dessert once per week. Food should be enjoyable, and even when losing weight you should allow yourself to eat delicious foods that you like. Saying "no" to everything sugary, doughy, fried or fatty will set you up for failure. Like many things in life, healthy eating is all about moderation.

6. They compare themselves to others. Each week at the weigh-in, the person who loses the most weight gets "immunity" and the people who lose the least are likely to be eliminated. No one wants to be the one who loses the fewest pounds. Inevitably, someone gets discouraged because they compare their weight loss to the losses of others. This is part of the TV game, but in real life, comparing yourself to others is a losing game. The only person you should be concerned with is yourself. Everyone loses weight in different places and at different rates. Don’t let someone else’s victory or defeat determine whether you view yourself as a winner or a loser. Keep your eyes straight ahead as you eat right, exercise hard, remain consistent. If you do this, everything else will eventually fall into place.


Although it isn’t realistic for everyone to follow everything they see on "The Biggest Loser," the basic principles hold true: Making healthy food (and portion) choices, surrounding yourself with supportive people, and exercising regularly will lead to weight loss. Changing your habits into a lasting lifestyle will ensure that the weight stays off. Watching the show can be helpful and motivational—especially when you can determine what's realistic and what's just reality television.

Great info

Not all kept it off-some gained back part of what they lost. The simple matter is that what happens on that show is not healthy.

We had a discussion a while back about this--Google and read some of what REALLY happens on that show--like the guy who won the first season and ate ABSOLUTELY NO SOLID FOODS for days before the final weigh-in. He said he was urinating blood-see quote below. He gained back a lot of his weight--like 40-some pounds or some in 1 week.

they're not doing it in a healthy way at all for the most part.

Read below links and cut-and-paste below as well.

http://www.celebritydietdoctor.com/ryan-benson-biggest-loser-follow-up/

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1626795_1627112_1626456,00.html

AND--here's a quote from the first season's winner own blog

I wanted to win so bad that the last ten days before the final weigh-in I didn’t eat one piece of solid food! If you’ve heard of “The Master Cleanse” that’s what I did. Its basically drinking lemonade made with water, fresh squeezed lemon juice, pure maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. The rules of the show said we couldn’t use any weight-loss drugs, well I didn’t take any drugs, I just starved myself! Twenty-four hours before the final weigh-in I stopped putting ANYTHING in my body, liquid or solid, then I started using some old high school wrestling tricks. I wore a rubber suit while jogging on the treadmill, and then spent a lot of time in the steam room. In the final 24 hours I probably dropped 10-13 lbs in just pure water weight. By the time of the final weigh-in I was peeing blood.”

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A recent article in Time magazine checked in with some of the former “Biggest Loser” winners, including Benson who has gained back roughly 90 pounds after the show was over.

He claims that as soon as the show was over, he regained “32 pounds in 5 days simply by drinking water.” This is incredible and points to the fact that when any person loses weight rapidly, (faster than 1-2 pounds a week) normally the weight loss is mostly due to water loss.

The participants of the show are exercising with a trainer between 4-5 hours a day, thus creating a dramatic loss of water. This is combined with 24 hour television coverage of each of the participants, which discourages any “cheating” on the ultra strict diets.

Would you cheat on your diet, knowing that millions of people would witness it?

The article went on to say that last season’s runner-up winner, Kai Hibbard, consumed only sugar-free Jello and asparagus for several days along with jumping in and out of a sauna for six hours prior to the final weigh-in.

The show supposedly tries to discourage such behavior by threatening penalties for being to dehydrated, but has not issued any violations yet. (I guess living on sugar-free Jello and asparagus for a few days is considered safe by the television networks.)