The Biggest Loser vs Starvation Mode

2»

Replies

  • Nich0le
    Nich0le Posts: 2,906 Member
    I tried to get our own WL to pitch a show about people losing weight the healthy way and all the trails we go through to do this. I would much rather watch someone at a plateau figuring out how to break it or someone that has to go out to eat every meal while on a business trip, than a bunch of people in a fake setting with someone that feeds them and exercises them like work horses.

    That said, I do find myself drawn into the show.

    Now were talking! A show that is in "real" time and follows someone through a whole year or something would be great. I agree that the biggest loser is incredible and a bit crazy to watch but a more realistic show would be great too. Seeing that most of us don't have 5 hours a day to workout!
  • jenn10
    jenn10 Posts: 161
    This is how I was explained about the biggest loser results---- kind of like anorexia -- your body still needs a certain amount of calories to survive before it eats itself- if you are not eating the cals to balance what it needs to basiclly survive - it's not starvation mode its way under that - and then you add the exercise on top -- forget it -- soooo bad for the health!
  • Vilma
    Vilma Posts: 23 Member
    My understanding is that the calories that you burn while exercising are not the ones that really count at the end for weight loss. I have read that the strategy behind it is to get the body in a condition that it burns faster even at rest, soooo, if you burned 10 calories while reading before, after you get healthier through exercise you may be able to burn 50 doing the same exact thing. That goes for sleeping, sitting, etc, Just anything you do every second of your life, the body burns more when you condition it through exercise. Makes sense to me! A higher metabolism will be more eficient at burning calories. How do we get higher metabolism? EXERCISE!!!! :heart: LOVE IT, :heart: LOVE IT, :heart: LOVE IT!!! My body always responds so well when I exercise it actually makes me cry because I think of the mistreatment I have put it through but yet when I do the right thing it gladly responds to me in a positive way. Do I sound crazy? :laugh:
  • Sunibc22
    Sunibc22 Posts: 330
    To get the ratings they do and the advertising dollars the show has to be extreme. I think that anyone who uses their brain will realize 'IT IS A TV SHOW!!!".
    No this is not realistic in real life, no you cannot lose 20 lbs in a week in the real world with jobs, kids, spouses, and other commitments.
    I don't think the show gives people false hope or unrealistic expectations if they actually watch the show and see how much they work out and how much support they have.
    There are other shows out there....X Weighted....Last 10 Pound Boot Camp...etc that do show real people in real life losing weight the right way. These shows don't have the ratings that Biggest Loser does so they are on less known networks.
    I think anyone blaming the show for for making unrealistic expectations is a cop out. We need to quite blaming TV shows, movies, commercials, etc, for our wrong thinking. It's TV and it's entertainment. Sorry a bit of a rant there and I appoligize for anyone I may have offended. Just my opinion!
  • connieq288
    connieq288 Posts: 1,102 Member
    The National Body Challenge on Fittv is more like real life. These are people in the real world trying to lose weight. There is a doctor there for them and most of them do get a personal trainer but other than that they have to do it on their own. I like watching that show.

    Connie
  • arjames82
    arjames82 Posts: 154
    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.

    YOU'VE GOT TO EAT YOUR EXERCISE CALORIES. I really don't understand why this comes up so often. It's simply--you can starve your body. You can do damage to your body.

    I can see not eating ALL OF them if you're burning large amounts of calories up every day (some of us burn up 1000 calories a day and up exercising) but you need to be eating most of them.

    Many of us on here eat our exercise calories, we've lost weight, we continue to lose weight, and we're doing it in a healthy manner.

    Once again, please read the posted linked below:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/12250-1000-calorie-deficit-not-for-people-with-healthy-bmi
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/20035-just-because-you-can-have-a-2-pound-per-week-goal

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6556-the-answers-to-the-questions

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/post/new/9614-newbies-please-read-me

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10665-newbies-please-read-me-2nd-edition

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6832-eating-all-of-your-calories-bmr

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/8977-your-body-s-thoughts-on-calories

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/9433-expectations

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/777-why-is-starvation-mode-so-bad

    Thank you so much for posting this information. I've only been a member for a couple of weeks, and it amazes me how often this subject has come up in such a short period of time. I am under the guidance of both a nutritionist and a personal trainer and BOTH encourage me to eat the majority of my exercise calories (I usually eat about half). My BMR is 2099. There is no way that I could eat only 1200 calories per day when I exercise 6 days per week and burn around 800 calories per workout. If I did that, my body would only have 400 calories to survive off of. That is counterproductive to weight loss...and I know that from personal experience. When your body is starving, it starts to save fat and burn your muscle, which will ultimately slow down your weight loss because muscle burns more calories than fat. If you're using your exercise calories by eating "good" foods (vegetables, fruits, lean meats) and not junk food, I don't see the problem. On the rare occassions that I do not eat my exercise calories, I find that I have very low energy the next day and it is very hard for me to workout.
  • deneuve39
    deneuve39 Posts: 27
    I think the conception about "starvation mode" is a little misguided. YES if you are eating under 50% of your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) Calories + exercise calories your body's metabolism will slow down but I think a lot of peoplk ar under the impression that it will basically stop.

    For example, my BMR is about 1800 calories per day (meaning if I ate that and didn't exercise my weight would stray constant). Let's say I went for a long run one day and burned 700 calories. So I should be eating 2500 if I want to stay at the same weight. If I eat only 1200 calories my body's metabolism will slow down about 10% (bringing my new BMR to about 1600). With that 1600 plus 700 form calories burned (2300) I'm still at an 1100 calorie deficit even with not eating enough. Also, the body's metabolism won't drastically change from one day of undereating. Studies have shown it's actually good to fast for 24 hours occasionally and that fasting or skipping meals (OCCASIONALLY) will help you lose weight.

    So, YES if you are eating under 50% of your total calories burned (BMR + exercise) over a significant time period your metabolism will slow down but you will still be losing weight. "Starvation mode" does mean your metabolism will slow down but it will take a time period of eating drastically under what you should. I'm not trying to advocate anything other than MFP's solid, scientifically-backed number system (which includes eating exercise cals back) BUT those wanting to lose weight faster (or those with more weight to lose) should realize that thier body's metabolism isn't going to automatically shut down!
  • dothompson
    dothompson Posts: 1,184 Member
    They truly have amazing weight loss, but I'm not sure it is really unhealthy. They are being monitored by medical team and supervised by professional trainers. They also work out full time. This really isn't something that can be duplicated in real life.

    I honestly think the bigger problem is what appears to be a lack of support and follow up in the maintenence of the weight loss. When you lose weight that fast you really aren't learning how to eat and exercise for a lifetime.

    That is why slow and steady is better for sustained weight loss. When you make smaller changes you are learning eating and exercise techniques which can be sustained for the rest of your life. And lifetime changes is what this is about.
  • Fitness_Chick
    Fitness_Chick Posts: 6,648 Member
    came upon this thread and found it most interesting... so thought I'd bump it...in case anyone else cares to read some of the posts....:drinker:
  • DjBliss05
    DjBliss05 Posts: 682
    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.

    YOU'VE GOT TO EAT YOUR EXERCISE CALORIES. I really don't understand why this comes up so often. It's simply--you can starve your body. You can do damage to your body.

    I can see not eating ALL OF them if you're burning large amounts of calories up every day (some of us burn up 1000 calories a day and up exercising) but you need to be eating most of them.

    Many of us on here eat our exercise calories, we've lost weight, we continue to lose weight, and we're doing it in a healthy manner.

    Once again, please read the posted linked below:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/12250-1000-calorie-deficit-not-for-people-with-healthy-bmi
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/20035-just-because-you-can-have-a-2-pound-per-week-goal

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6556-the-answers-to-the-questions

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/post/new/9614-newbies-please-read-me

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10665-newbies-please-read-me-2nd-edition

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6832-eating-all-of-your-calories-bmr

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/8977-your-body-s-thoughts-on-calories

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/9433-expectations

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/777-why-is-starvation-mode-so-bad

    Thank you, thank you, thank you!


    If you decide not to eat your exercise calories, then fine! But why keep asking about it if you have all the information you need right here?

    :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:
  • laird20k
    laird20k Posts: 96 Member
    This topic may be eventually be beaten to death by MFP!! haha

    In regards to the Biggest Loser contestants, they are in starvation mode but they can still lose weight because their calorie deficit is so large. They are monitored my physicians and its kind of important that they are in starvation mode for tv purposes. Most people cant lose weight in starvation mode because its not extreme enough. (I don't encouraging starving yourself ever!) If you couldnt lose weight in starvation mode. then anorexic's wouldnt be 70lb! So yes starvation mode does work, you can lose weight but its not healthy at all. And you wouldnt tone anything!! No one wants to be skinny but weak and unhealthy!!
  • DjBliss05
    DjBliss05 Posts: 682
    This topic may be eventually be beaten to death my MFP!! haha

    In regards to the Biggest Loser contestants, they are in starvation mode but they can still lose weight because their calorie deficit is so large. They are monitored my physicians and its kind of important that they are in starvation mode for tv purposes. Most people cant lose weight in starvation mode because its not extreme enough. (I don't encouraging starving yourself ever!) If you couldnt lose weight in starvation mode anorexic's wouldnt be 70lb! So yes starvation mode does work, you can lose weight but its not healthy at all. And you wouldnt tone anything!! No one wants to be skinny but weak and unhealthy!!

    Exactly! Your body works to hold onto weight when it is in starvation mode, but your body just can't compete with a 5000 calorie deficit. Do it the healthy way and eat your exercise calories! Or don't, but if it doesnt work then you will know why!
  • mrsyac2
    mrsyac2 Posts: 2,784 Member
    But they aren't eating the exercise calories. That's my point. :)

    before MFP I never heard of eating exercise calories- when I first came to MFP back in May I ate my calories I burned and didn't lose weight now other people eat there calories and lose-- too each is own- They are under the advice of doctors and nutritionist as well as personal trainers who have been doing this for years-- I figure I have my 500 calorie deficit plus the additional deficit I use from my workouts I don't eat mine either I rather just eat the recommended for the day which is just my 500 deficit--
  • Fitness_Chick
    Fitness_Chick Posts: 6,648 Member
    This topic may be eventually be beaten to death by MFP!! haha

    In regards to the Biggest Loser contestants, they are in starvation mode but they can still lose weight because their calorie deficit is so large. They are monitored my physicians and its kind of important that they are in starvation mode for tv purposes. Most people cant lose weight in starvation mode because its not extreme enough. (I don't encouraging starving yourself ever!) If you couldnt lose weight in starvation mode. then anorexic's wouldnt be 70lb! So yes starvation mode does work, you can lose weight but its not healthy at all. And you wouldnt tone anything!! No one wants to be skinny but weak and unhealthy!!
    :drinker: great points!

    A person that is in extreme anorexic mode looks far from healthy....their bones are weakened and thin, their heart muscle is being eaten away etc. etc.....so sad.

    I do hope many read and reread these links that are posted fairly often so we can realize starving our body to lose lbs. fast is NOT what will make our bodies happy with in the end. Our bodies are very smart...we may be able to fool them for a bit but really I think we're only fooling ourselves... paybacks are a Beeachhh!:huh: :grumble: :noway: :sick: :flowerforyou:
  • monica5237
    monica5237 Posts: 450
    I found this article::::

    So how is Ryan Benson doing these days?



    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
  • stephiepoo
    stephiepoo Posts: 81
    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.”

    Wow that's scary and sickening. I am glad I am doing it the healthy way. :indifferent:
  • NewMK08
    NewMK08 Posts: 399 Member
    What about the Biggest Loser from last year, Ali? She still looks AMAZING, and it's been...what? 6 months since the show ended?? She's obviously doing something right. She hasn't gained any weight back.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    The biggest problem here is the word BMR. It's been horribly mistreated, so let's rectify that. :wink:

    BMR, or Basal Metabolic Rate, is the number of calories you would burn in a coma. That means no thinking, no sitting, no digesting, just lying unconscious. It is enough to produce sufficient ATP (energy in the body) to prevent organ failure.

    TDEE, or Total Daily Energy Expenditure, is the number of calories you burn while not in a coma. It includes waking up, walking around, going to work, eating, digesting, talking, cooking, etc. It ALSO INCLUDES EXERCISE.

    So, when MFP asks for your activity level, they are multiplying your estimate BMR by and activity factor and producing your TDEE, NOT YOUR BMR.

    For instance:
    My BMR is 1,265.
    My TDEE without exercise is 1,700 calories.
    My TDEE with exercise is 2,300 calories.
    I eat 1700-1800 calories. That is less than my TDEE, but NOT less than my BMR.

    MFP just needs to change the terminology so we can end this confusion.

    The BL folks are so heavy that they have very high BMR's. With the exercise added, their TDEE's can reach incredible levels. When your TDEE is 6,000 calories, you can eat 2,000 and lose a lb a day. The rest is water weight.
  • Anna_Banana
    Anna_Banana Posts: 2,939 Member

    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.

    The only reason that it goes away is because you are over 1200 calories. It has nothing to do with anything else. Just because the warning doesn' t pop up, doesn't mean that it is okay.

    You should eat your exercise calories or at least a large portion of them. If your body is receiving (calories you ate - exercise calories) less than 1200 calories a day you do risk a danger of starvation mode. Now this doesn't happen if you do it one or two days, but over a continued time.

    Now about the Biggest Loser People. Refer to what Song said.
  • ChubbyBunny
    ChubbyBunny Posts: 3,523 Member
    I think the big question is how willing are people to live the lives created from this show.
    As mentioned Ali is still in shape, but she is also probably pretty determined to stay that way. Last I knew, she didn't have kids....so LATER her ability to maintain the regimine may change.
    Same goes for all the others. It's the determination to keep it up.

    I personally, would never be willing to live that life. Even if it meant losing my weight quickly. Let's face it... I am not heavy enough to be kept around long enough to lose it. I'd be voted off the first day.

    Also, I am sorry but I disagree about the media not having an impact on the way people think and act. The lines between reality and fantasy have been blurred for decades. It doesn't matter if it's smart or not, it happens. I teach kids who's reality IS what the media puts out because they aren't living in the first place. Meaning, my students live for tv, movies, games, magazines, ads, etc... they LIVE for it.... What they read, see, hear...they filter into their lives.

    Sorry for my rant as well, but the door swings both ways. It's not just a cop out to realize the power media can play in peoples lives and that it is manipulated for positive and negative uses.
  • kerrilucko
    kerrilucko Posts: 3,852 Member
    I tried to get our own WL to pitch a show about people losing weight the healthy way and all the trails we go through to do this. I would much rather watch someone at a plateau figuring out how to break it or someone that has to go out to eat every meal while on a business trip, than a bunch of people in a fake setting with someone that feeds them and exercises them like work horses.

    That said, I do find myself drawn into the show.

    There are 2 Canadian shows on Television similar to this! On 1 a personal trainer takes on someone, they set a reasonable goal and have weighins over a 6 month period. it's called X-Weighted for anyone interested, they play it on a few stations... Slice and BBC I think. The other one is called Taking it off and it follows a group of 8 people from across the couontry trying to lose weight in their daily lives. It's also on Slice.
  • shorerider
    shorerider Posts: 3,817 Member
    Also, I am sorry but I disagree about the media not having an impact on the way people think and act. The lines between reality and fantasy have been blurred for decades. It doesn't matter if it's smart or not, it happens. I teach kids who's reality IS what the media puts out because they aren't living in the first place. Meaning, my students live for tv, movies, games, magazines, ads, etc... they LIVE for it.... What they read, see, hear...they filter into their lives.

    Sorry for my rant as well, but the door swings both ways. It's not just a cop out to realize the power media can play in peoples lives and that it is manipulated for positive and negative uses.

    The media has a HUGE impact in this society--if that wasn't the case, then kids wouldn't recognize Ronald McDonald more than any other figure; women's self-image issues wouldn't exist; and people wouldn't be flocking onto sites like this wanting to know why they can't lose 10 pounds a week like "they saw on TV."

    I agree--the media has a very scary influence in our world.
  • PSUgrl921
    PSUgrl921 Posts: 368 Member
    I didn't make it through all the posts but I have to weigh in at least a little bit on this. First of all, they are under the supervision of doctors, trainers, nutritionists, etc. Therefore, even though they may not be getting all the calories they need they are getting all the NUTRIENTS they need. I would think that if you can do this you should be ok, because it takes fat to burn fat, as well as many other cofactors and coenzymes. So, if you have someone telling you what to eat, or you know how to get all your vitamins, minerals, etc. I feel like you can go a little bit under in your calories. However, 1200 is low to start with so they might tell you to eat a little more.
  • shorerider
    shorerider Posts: 3,817 Member
    You need to read the previous posts--they are not closely supervised and at least two of the former contestants admitted to eating and/or drinking nothing for days. Obviously, that is not getting the proper nutrients. It would not be no where near as popular a show if they lost 1 or 2 pounds a week, despite that being a healthy rate of loss.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories