Biggest Loser - The TRUTH from the Show

this is old.

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this is old.

this is rude.

No it's not. Not everything is rude. Jesus. It's old as balls. She's just stating a fact.

Also, regardless of whether or not it's old, the internet has a constant influx of new users, as the world has a constant influx of new people, so...rude or not (not)...it was pretty much a useless comment.

Very interesting! I always wondered how they could lose that much weight in one week. Now, it makes sense - it wasn't a 7 day week AND they did some outlandish things. I see some saying it's old. Well, I'd never seen it before. So, thanks for sharing it anyway.

Yep might be old for some but seeing as i havent managed to read every article on the internet as of yet its new news to me, and very interesting thanks for sharing :happy:

Here's another truth: Of the 200+ competitors on the show, about 25 have kept MOST of the weight off. Even the winners have put on 35 or more since they've won. Most have gained back a significant portion of weight.
While I admire the training techniques (I'm of the tough love analogy) and seeing the progress, I don't believe this is a great way to lose weight and don't think it's sustainable as proven by how many contestants fail at staying close to their finishing weights.

Thanks for sharing! This is new to me and really interesting.

Although, while I can completely believe that this is legitimate and this contestant isn't making any of it up (what reason would she have to?) I've watched the Biggest Loser since season 7 and it seems a lot of these things might have changed since then. She even said that she knows this was her season and her experience, but it might only be what was happening at that time.

1) If you watch the show now, you'll see tons of these contestants have injuries that keep them from participating in challenges and vigorous exercise. I remember one even only being allowed to exercise for 30 minutes a day, and another only being able to swim, and another walking like 20 miles because walking was all she was allowed to do. I mean you'll see Jillian get so angry and stressed out about that, when her contestants aren't allowed to exercise. The way Kai describes one of the contestants in her season is having a serious injury, but the trainer forces her to exercise, and they actually edited the footage to look like she was just lazy and disobedient instead of worried about her injury. And that's absolutely terrible, but if Dr. High..zinga (lol idk how to spell his name) or whatever is shown telling Jillian and contestants not to train, and their weight is reflecting it, then I don't see how the Biggest Loser is still continuing to do that now. Maybe it's behind the scenes, but that would seem counterproductive. (If it was edited, then that's saying they actually take the time to make it look like they're not doing that to the contestants, even though it's not necessary)

2) The dehydration thing. That's awful, it really is, but isn't one of the most known tips in losing weight is drinking enough water? The more water you drink, the more toxins and such will be flushed out of your system, and the less water will be retained, so you'll end up losing more overall. I could see the morning workout thing to get rid of sweat and extra water, but the trainers advising they don't drink water for the whole day before either? That doesn't seem to match up with the constant lessons and "trainer's tips" given about drinking enough water. And I always work out 10x harder when I drink enough water, when I don't I feel sick. I know the water will come out of me once it's digested, so I'd rather burn more calories working than doing the former. Seems odd.

3) It may not be healthy to lose 20 pounds in one week, but it's definitely possible. People tend to forget the fact that most of these people eat 3,000+ calories a day before coming to the ranch, and most of it is total crap. When you go from such a huge and bad diet to a clean and portioned one, your body responds in more ways than from just the calorie count. The extra sodium in your diet from processed foods being one example, since it helps to retains weight. The huge amount of water they're drinking can help to flush more "weight" out. And the extreme exercise is known, 5-6 hours of workouts a day isn't a surprise to anyone who watches the show. Most of these contestants are burning like 4,000 extra calories a day, and some are doing more. And TBL never promotes not eating enough either, lots of times when the contestants don't lose enough weight it's blamed on the fact that they need to up their calorie count to reach a better burning system or stop the body from going into starvation mode. (AND OF COURSE, THIS COULD ALL BE MANIPULATED TO LOOK LIKE THAT. BUT, GOOD EDITING THEN)

Overall though, I liked this article and I respect Kai for coming out about all these serious issues, what I don't like is the response to it. 'Oh I hate the Biggest Loser, this is what I'll send to my friends who love it!' I don't understand what is wrong with loving a show that inspires you in a healthy way. If your friends are starving themselves because they want to lose 12 pounds a week like the contestants, then by all means send it it. Show them that this is not realistic to lose weight that fast, nor is it smart.

But I watch the show because I adore the emotional transformations the most. Kai said that she didn't change on the inside, and she was confused as to why she thought she should. In my mind, the more weight I lose is an accomplishment to myself. The more miles I can run, the more weight I can lift, the better I treat my body, the better I feel about myself. I feel better in my mind because my body feels better. I feel more confident because I feel like every pound I lose through this transformation is proof to myself just how strong I am, and just how much determination and will I have to do it. Yes, you'll see contestants losing 15 pounds and being ecstatic, but if you look closer you'll notice that the time they seem to feel most accomplished and happy is after a challenge or something similar, like the marathons they do in the later seasons. They look back on where they started and realize just how strong they are compared to how much they were before. I don't know about anyone else, but what I've learned so far is that my physical strength comes through my mental will, and that makes me feel better than I ever have. (So don't tell me I'm watching the show or losing weight for the wrong reasons.)

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Thanks for sharing. As an RN and someone who has had a weight problem all her life, I have hated the show from the beginning. It doesn't teach anything valuable to people trying to lose weight. If you don't come up with a sustainable lifestyle that you can live with, it isn't going to work in the long term. And 8 hrs a day in a gym isn't a sustainable lifestyle. I agree that there was no reason to weigh people wearing skimpy clothes just so all of us could see their fat parts. I think the show just sets the rest of us up for failure with the thinking that goes " If she can lose 10 pounds this week, why can't I lose even two. I must be a bad person". My experience is that I can make myself feel bad without any help from the outside. This site is a much better alternative! We KNOW we are great people who just have a problem and we support each other as we deal with it. BOOS to Jillian Michaels! Kudos to MFP

Well.. Me and the fiance watch it and we say every week there must be something pretty unhealthy going on for them to be losing those kinds of pounds. If you're losing 4% of your body weight every week consistently, there's something wrong... It took me 4 months to lose 16.5% of my body weight healthily at a steady weekly loss and the fiance lost about 11.5% in the same time frame.

But then we know a thing or two about nutrition, fitness and weight loss. I can imagine that 95% of the people who watch the show won't realise what's going on and will potentially think that 12lb a week is a good number...

I think part of me always "knew" because as a person with an ED, watching those contestants drop 10-40 lbs in the FIRST WEEK ... That just isn't "normal" not even for people as heavy as the contestants are. I know they even mention on the show about the 5+ hours of working out, but OMG. That is beyond horrible to hear. I'm done watching this show.

Here's another pretty interesting perspective, assuming you haven't read this before:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/biggest-loser-feedback.html

I think everyone should read EAT by you as well...I printed it off last night, and while at my son's football practice, I sat with a highlighter and read the entire thing. Highlighting helps you pick out points, and reading isn't so mundane. Man that was a good article...and a fantastic website. I knew that Biggest Loser was a joke, just like any reality tv show is. But we have to make sure we're getting ALL our information from credible sources, not just what worked for someone else.

Thanks very much for the kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed the article.

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I read this back when it came out and followed all the controversy her speaking out caused. I still LOVE the show simply for one fact. Even if the things they may do on the ranch are questionable (sounds like a lot was changed since she "came out") the fact that these people are wanting to change their life, by any means. They have the choice to leave whenever they want. Even if it just gets people up and off the couch motivated to get healthy its a good thing. Especially with obesity being so high in our nation. I know it has helped me get motivated but it also pushed me into doing my own research on HEALTHY loss. AND a high number is possible WITH doing it the right way! I lost 10 pounds last week, my diary is open for all and you can see I didn't work out 6 hours a day, I didn't starve myself, I ate but made better choices.