WOW, what an amazing transformation many of them had! Especially the twin brothers at around 40 years of age!

Yeah, i was very surprised to see the twins win both the grand prize, and the consolation prize.

This is my first year watching the show, and what I noticed was it seemed like they focused strictly on "weight" loss, with no regard to whether it was muscle or fat. I figured that at the finale, we'd see a bunch of "skinny-fat" people. But, i was very impressed with Bill and Jim. They had amazing muscle definition. (http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/photos/contestants/#cat=397&sec=1518&mea=37004) They looked like two completely different people. I'd love to see a follow up with them in a year or so. It seems like they really have it together.

I've been addicted to this show since Season One, partly because Season One appeared on NBC not long after I joined this website and truly got serious with completing my transformation.

I've corresponded with former show contestants and even had the opportunity to correspond with Jillian Michaels (who happens to host a radio show you can get over the Internet on Sundays at noon that is fabulous and showcases a side of her personality that is never seen on the Biggest Loser). She's an amazing trainer and has always been my favorite. I'd love to have her push me through just one workout to see how well I'd hold up to her standards.

From having spoken with Gary Deckman (runner up, Season One), I learned a great deal about what I initially thought was a grossly irresponsible and unhealthy view of fat loss. In actuality, it's the complete opposite.

The contestants are provided exercise direction by the trainers, obviously - that's what you see on the TV screen. What you don't see is that the trainers work with specialized nutritionists to provide extremely specific nutritional plans (which if you've watched for any amount of time, you know that sometimes the contestants don't listen when they should!). There are three staff doctors who monitor the contestants daily, and a doctor is provided to each team and is present (off-camera) for all the exercising that each contestant performs in case of a health issue or injury. They are very closely monitored, and their programs are actually quite healthy for them despite their initial bulk.

Those people have what we all dream of - the opportunity to bust ass and focus on their bodies for up to four solid months, and I love watching the seasons because it tends to remind me of how good I've got it, and how far I've come myself. And it doesn't hurt to imagine Jillian screaming in my ear when I don't want to knock out that last rep at the gym.

It's good stuff... I'm looking forward to the Jan. 1 premiere of the "couples" version. You know where I'll be that night. ;)

-R

I've taken on a personal training client who started out ten days ago at 275lbs. She's 30 and very motivated by what she's seen on this show. We'll initially be working together for four months (she is in a wedding at the end of March and wants to really feel good about herself and her progress by that point). She's weight training with me three days per week for a half hour (followed by a half hour of cardio), and coming in to do an hour of cardio an additional three days per week.

This is an interview that Lyle did with someone from the Biggest Loser. It was in one of his newsletters http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/newsletter.html

A few weeks ago, I made a comment about the tv show the Biggest Loser in the newsletter (for those not familiar with the show, it's a reality show dealing with weight loss that has both an Australian and US version).

In response, a former contestant sent me the following comments and told me that, with a few names removed, I could run it in the newsletter. I'm going to run it almost like an interview with his comments (in bold) followed by any comments I have about it.
I think what he sent is interesting as it points out
1. What can be accomplished in a short period when you put your mind to it
2. How unrealistic some of the changes on the show actually are relative to normal people.

In that vein, here's an interesting article about the show.


BL: I know that obese people are not your target audience but for anyon who cares, we worked out 4 hours per day 6 days per week. That started on day 2. Day 1 we worked out 2.5 hours. That is from sedentary to 2. hours.

We did 1 hour cardio in the morning and 1 in the evening by ourselves and the trainer came in every afternoon for two hours to put us through a circuit resistance based routine for an hour and sometimes her own crazy cardio routine for an hour or we did that third cardio hour on our own also. We never worked out intensely for more than 2 hours at a
time.

My comments: As I'm sure I've mentioned before in the newsletter (and brought up in at least one of my books), research in general has not supported exercise having a humongous impact on bodyweight. However, a lot of studies have used fairly moderate amounts of exercise in this regards. In contrast, large volumes of exercise, and the above can only be considered a 'large volume', especially coming from essentially a sedentary life, can have a fairly large impact.


BL: Our goal was to lose 1lb per day (3500 calories). Our particular trainers philosophy was that she was going to BURN it off you in the gym and if you had a poor day in the gym the VERY first question that was asked was "Did you eat". It had to be pounded into us that we had to eat. It seemed counterintuitive for many of us in a weight loss contest but it proved itself out when a teammate of mine upped his workouts to 6 hours per day and shrank his food to 500 calories per day (on his own) and only lost 3 pounds in 7 days while everyone else averaged 7-10.


My comments: This is an interesting idea as it's something I noted years ago and have commented on previously. The combination of lots of exercise with big caloric deficits tends to work extremely poorly and seem to slow instead of hasten fat loss for some reason. This is part of why I strongly recommended against lots of exercise in the Rapid Fat Loss handbook; the deficit inherent to the diet is already large enough to the point that adding a bunch of training seems to cause more harm than good. I don't know if the issue is simply metabolic slowdown or if there's something else going on (this my current new project now that the protein book is finally done) but I've seen it happen time and time again: excessive caloric deficits plus excessive amounts of exercise seem to do more harm than good. If you are burning a lot of calories through exercise, you have to eat. If you want to cut calories hard, you have to reduce activity.


BL: So that was a 75-25% Cardio to resistance training mix. Man what the body can do when it has the right trainer to push it. This years contestants work out even more (I went back to the show and worked out with them for 3.5 hours on an off camera day and they still had an evening workout to go). Of course your secluded, no phone, no newspapers, no internet - just you and other fatties so what else you going to do except the hated TV stuff, interviews challenges etc.?

My comments: I think that last point is a good one, another reason why some of what can be done on the show is unrealistic to normal people. Between the huge motivation to win (big money, fame) and basically being locked up where all there is to do is exercise, putting in huge amounts of training is much easier. Especially compared to the average person who is dealing with work, home, family, etc. and probably doesn't have 4 hours per day to exercise.

I also think it's interesting that the main focus is on cardio training especially with the recent tendency towards weight training based fat loss approaches. No matter how you cut it, 3 hours of cardio per day burns far far far more calories than 45 minutes of weight training, regardless of the type (or any small calorie burn afterwards).

I'd also add that, for extremly overweight individuals (who typically gain LBM as they get fat), weight training wouldn't seem to have much of a huge benefit. Possibly if it's done with higher reps/circuit style (to burn more calories, deplete muscle glycogen, etc.). But fatter individuals don't usually have to worry so much about muscle loss in the first place, pounding them with low rep heavy work just doesn't make much sense.


BL: We typically worked out at 75-90% of our max. heart rate based on the 220 formula WITH our trainer and 65-85% of our max. when on our own. The quality of the 'on our own' workouts usually had to do with external factors like music and fatigue from filming etc. We physically could have done 75-90% on our own but it gets AWFULLY boring!

My comments: One or two studies have found that results are superior with exercise with a trainer; one even found that simply having the trainer stand nearby (without actually doing anything) improved results. This is one very potential benefit of having a regular trainer (or a good training partner), motivation to work harder may mean better and/or faster results.


BL: We cooked all our own food based on the nutrition advice of the trainer (so again individual expertise varies)

Vital stats
Day 1
Resting Heart rate 89-92 bpm
Blood Pressure - 150/90
Pre-diabetic blah blah blah all the other stuff that comes along with being 51% body fat!

AFTER 14 DAYS (equivalent of 2 months in the real world)!!

Resting heart rate 62 bpm
Blood pressure 102/60
Blood sugar normal.

(PS Today 2 years later - it is around the same)

My comments: Frankly this is hard to even believe. Given how much medication is used to treat such things as high blood pressure and insulin resistance, clearly activity and weight loss can have absolutely massive effects. What surprises me the most is the time frame that these changes occurred in.


BL: It is also interesting that the work on the ranch really breaks down to the exact numbers that people see in real life. IE The 'national' average for someone who watches what they eat and works out 6 days per week is approx. 8-10 lb. of weight loss per month(6 days x 4 weeks = 24 hours per month). This same math works out on the ranch 6 days per week x 4 hours per day = 24 hours per WEEK = 8-10 lb. per WEEK. We just condensed a months worth of workouts into a weeks time.

My comments: Frankly, looking at a lot of studies of exercise or diet, many would be thrilled to be getting 8-10 lb/month of weight or fat loss. But I agree generally with the sentiment above, given that attention to diet, a loss of 8-10 lb./month for someone who isn't already very lean is probably attainable. That that amount of weight is compressed into 1/4th the time tends to support that the results on the Biggest Loser are extremely atypical.


BL: For reference - While a TV episode is 7 days in length that is not the case behind the scenes. So some 'weeks' the numbers are larger because some weeks we had 14 days between weigh ins. My season if you lasted until the final day you would be on the ranch 101 days (I got voted off on episode 7 and lost 83 pounds in 62 days) This season is it like 121 days start to finish. And all that gets condensed into a 12-14 weeks show airing schedule.

My comments: This is a bit deceptive on the part of the show in my opinion since it's made to appear that these massive weight losses are occurring every 7 days which clearly they are not.


BL: By the way - Losing and Maintaining are TWO ENTIRELY different problems. My goal now is to keep my cardiovascular system in shape (I love to run) AND build muscle while watching what I eat. So I have had to experiment with tons of exercise routines and programs and play with my diet to no end to learn myself. Oh and I teach on some this stuff so I read a lot.

My comments: This is an exceptionally important point that is often lost. What is done during active weight loss neither has to be nor should it be the same as what's done during weight maintenance. As I point out in both the Rapid Fat Loss handbook and the Guide to Flexible dieting, most research has found that exercise (and quite a bit of it) is actually more important for weight maintenance than loss. Of course, sticking in the long-term with dietary changes is critical as well.



BL: Today - I take in approx. 2500 calories per day and when I am on-point I eat more proteins and fats then carbs. When I 'fall off the wagon' I still stay within my calorie range but I will have more carbs and salt and carbs require 2.7 grams of water for every 1 gram of carbs and salt makes you retain water blah blah blah. People are still amazed that I can drop 10 pounds in a week (I call it 'fake' weight loss) and they don't understand that it comes by simply cutting out the extra carbs and salt while drinking a gallon of water per day and that sheds all the extra water in your body. But I realize that I HAVE to track what I eat or eat the same thing every day which is boring. I teach others what I have learned and I quote some smart guy about those who estimate calories underestimate by 25-50% so keep a food diary/log!

In the interest of full disclosure: We do what boxers and wrestlers do and people gain the weight back after the show because they do not STAY in learning mode.


My comments: Anybody who's played around with lowcarb diets (especially of the cyclical kind) is probably aware of the kinds of water shifts that can occur with such diets. What I think is lost on some people is the sheer magnitude of water that can be gained or lost, especially in larger individuals. The article I linked at the start of the newsletter refers to this and this seasons show had a good example, where one contestant deliberately gained 17 lb. (by drinking 2 gallons of water) so that he could then lose a massive 33 lb. at the next weigh in.

I'd like to thank the individual who took the time to write out the above comments and hope that readers found it informative.

the twin who was a runner up had huge arms! also, 51%bf loss is absurd.

I'm not a big fan of the show as there's too much time devoted to stuff not directly related to each person's struggle and exactly how much exercise they do, etc. Also don't like the voting off thing, In my opinion, I'd like to see it based on a combination of factors like "percentage of weight lost" .. "cardio improvement" .. "strength improvement" .. that way, the most deserving person has the best chance of staying on...however, there is an interview on Larry King tonite with the trainers and some contestants which I will watch.

the twin who was a runner up had huge arms! also, 51%bf loss is absurd.

Rise, it wasn't 51% bf loss... it was 51% body WEIGHT loss... and it was true :nod:

Suffering from loose skin here.. I wonder how their skin looks now, especially Bill.

Its a pretty inspirational show. I think I will set my DVR to record this season.

I am absolutely hooked on this show, and have been for the past two seasons. Even though the show tends to show more cardio emphasis, etc., I am still hooked!

I've also been watching this show starting last season and this current couples one. One thing that I like about it, is how the trainers are hounding (at least on camera) that they need to eat more. My biggest complaint is that they don't show anything about the competitors that are sent home, yet continue to lose weight. I'd like to know more about what their at home plans are, since I assume that they still receive some support from the show.

It's an inspirational show for sure, I just wish they would show more nutrition information. They only show the workouts and challenges, generally. It would be nice if they added a cooking/recipe segment to every show.

This weeks episode was pretty good, you can really see who wants in more especially in the beginning when the results aren't as obvious. Like I said before it is a very motivational show, and hopefully will help me stay on track.

Chamelon made a good point. This is body weight loss not body loss.

I would love to see full body submersion bf calculations....alas that is not as dramatic as some slot machine weight scale. Also, most Americans are too dumb to recognize the difference in the two. We "learn" weight is all that matters. That is why I am 40 pounds overweight according to the US standards...of course those standards don't take into account LMB.

Chamelon made a good point. This is body weight loss not body loss.

I would love to see full body submersion bf calculations....alas that is not as dramatic as some slot machine weight scale. Also, most Americans are too dumb to recognize the difference in the two. We "learn" weight is all that matters. That is why I am 40 pounds overweight according to the US standards...of course those standards don't take into account LMB.

When you are as obese as the contestants start off as, I'd say there is some validity to generic weight being what matters. Simply moving around all that weight around taxes your body.

It would be cool to show how much their BF %s change over the course of the show. I would imagine that while most contestants lose some muscle, it's not really all that dramatic of a loss (using Bill from last year as an example) because they do incorporate plenty of resistance exercises. Too bad 90+% of the viewers don't know the difference :( Too bad the trainers don't have more input on the show's message, but I guess if they did, the ratings would drop...and you can't have that! :rolleyes:

Bill and his brother put on muscle. Their arms looked great...But, they were penalized for the weight of the muscle no? They still won.

The flip side is that more muscle means more calories burned.

Hey Banditfist, love that you have the "Eternally Tanned One" as your avitar :tucool: . I ran into him the not too long ago at a sushi place in Calabasas.

Back to the topic: I saw this show for the first time last night and am hooked. Very motivating.

Chamelon made a good point. This is body weight loss not body loss.

I would love to see full body submersion bf calculations....alas that is not as dramatic as some slot machine weight scale. Also, most Americans are too dumb to recognize the difference in the two. We "learn" weight is all that matters. That is why I am 40 pounds overweight according to the US standards...of course those standards don't take into account LMB.


I've watched the show since the first season, and I believe they DID use a submersion for BF calculation in the finale of one of the earlier seasons, perhaps the first season. I do remember seeing them get dunked in the tanks.

If I remember correctly they used total weight lost, and BF % lost, and put those two together to see who the winner was.

I've wondered why they went back to just weight loss only....

I've watched the show since the first season, and I believe they DID use a submersion for BF calculation in the finale of one of the earlier seasons, perhaps the first season. I do remember seeing them get dunked in the tanks.

If I remember correctly they used total weight lost, and BF % lost, and put those two together to see who the winner was.

I've wondered why they went back to just weight loss only....

Actually the winning or losing has always been about the weightloss only. The first season was actually done strictly by pounds loss (not the %BW used now). But they did do an indepth show on the opener showing the testing the contestants went through at the start of the show, which included the tank dunk for a BF%. I bet they still do the tank dunk, but they just don't even talk about it anymore.

One of the things i noticed about this show is that the people who had previously been in shape, always finished near the top. If you look at this current couples season, that old lady that used to swim, those annoying brothers, and the two football players seem to yield the most consistent weight loss. Chock it up to muscle memory, I guess.

I don't recall some of the past seasons too well, but i think that matt the wrestler won his season for same reason.

i bet the show deliberately recruits at least some % of contestants to be former athletes of some sort, because of their ability to make the more dramatic transformations.

i :heart: the biggest loser show, but it's sad to see that many of the winners have gained quite a bit of weight back. Ryan, the winner from the first show went back up near 300lbs again ;(

Gary was always my favorite :)

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1627013,00.html
interesting article about some of the winners

Hey Thanks for the link. That was a good article.

i :heart: the biggest loser show, but it's sad to see that many of the winners have gained quite a bit of weight back. Ryan, the winner from the first show went back up near 300lbs again ;(

Gary was always my favorite :)

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1627013,00.html
interesting article about some of the winners

Really? Back up to 300lbs? OMG that's so sad. I remember thinking Matt had gained some weight after seeing a video of him and his wife around the time they had their baby. She was also on season 2, I just can't remember her name.

i think his wife's name was suzy and i think she' is/was pregnant.

Yeah, and it is pretty sad about the other guy. Just goes to show you the importance of surrounding yourself with positive peers and the impact it can have.

granted the show has some forced aspects to it, but its probably real easy to stay motivated when you are surrounded by people doing the same thing.

on one of the episodes, i believe the one trainer was expressing concerns for a contestant because they thought the family would try and sabotage their weight loss efforts....

How is it possible, that after 15 weeks of losing weight, all of these people lost over 10 pounds in one week, one guy losing 15 pounds. People always say it is water weight, but after 15 weeks, and most of these people are fairly thin now (one guy was 181 to 169), how much water could these people have? To lose 12 pounds in one week, is a deficit of about 42,000 calories, over 7 days, that is a calorie deficit of 6,000 per day. I just don't understand it. I weigh 181, I would love to be 169 next Weds. Could someone explain it.

Could someone explain it.
The show is in its fifth season now. After five years and having had a couple hundred contestants pass through their care, I would hope the show could get their shit right - and obviously, they have. The contestants have a team of doctors, dieticians, and trainers who have obviously nailed down the nutrition and the exercise for recapitulating body composition of grossly obese people. The contestants are able to eat, sleep, and live to transform themselves - a luxury none of us (okay, most of us) never have.

As to how exactly they do it, I can't truly tell you. I do know they eat 1,500 kcals per day, but I don't know on what macros. And I know they exercise up to four hours per day, but I'm not sure exactly what program they use or the timing/spacing of the exercise. The show keeps those secrets pretty carefully hidden away, and past contestants have a non-disclosure agreement where they can't give up details of the show's inner workings (I met and quizzed one of the Season One contestants a few years ago).

That's all I know...

-R

The 3rd place finisher from season one, Kelly, is my boss. She's the academic director of the school I work at. She made a tremendous transformation, albeit against some of the theories I subscribe to. She's a nice person and a helluva good boss too!

From what I've heard through the "grapevine" here at work, some of the things they did were not exactly what I would consider healthy. That was back in season one, so perhaps things have gotten better.

Remember, they focus solely on "weight" loss, not fat loss. Ratings require that the scale read a lower number just about every week. What we "do" is try to preserve lean muscle and drop fat....two totally different objectives.

How is it possible, that after 15 weeks of losing weight, all of these people lost over 10 pounds in one week, one guy losing 15 pounds. People always say it is water weight, but after 15 weeks, and most of these people are fairly thin now (one guy was 181 to 169), how much water could these people have? To lose 12 pounds in one week, is a deficit of about 42,000 calories, over 7 days, that is a calorie deficit of 6,000 per day. I just don't understand it. I weigh 181, I would love to be 169 next Weds. Could someone explain it.

I think that the huge numbers were mostly caused by the fact that they were in Australia last week and had really crappy (relatively) numbers. So basically this week was 2 weeks' (if not more in the case of Mark) weight loss. What surprised me is that they didn't dock Mark one pound this week for gaining a pound last week.

I read an interview with Jillian awhile ago where she said that a "week" isn't always a week. Every now and then the show's "week" is actually 12-14 days, thus bigger results for that week. That was my first thought after watching last night's episode. Notice all four contestants had basically twice a normal week's results, and Roger was convinced that losing 15 pounds was very doable for him.

I also suspect all of them had significant water loss this week because they knew it was the last week and they all desperately wanted to stay above the yellow line. If I was on the show that is definetly what I would do for the final weigh-in.

The show produces amazing results but it isn't entirely honest about what is really going on.

I first heard of the show on this forum and I've watched it weekly ever since. Like others I also wish they show more workouts instead of the weekly challenge and the weight-in. But it's a great show nevertheless. :tucool:

The Australian version is a daily show and apparently goes into more detail of their daily routines.

I first heard of the show on this forum and I've watched it weekly ever since. Like others I also wish they show more workouts instead of the weekly challenge and the weight-in. But it's a great show nevertheless. :tucool:

The Australian version is a daily show and apparently goes into more detail of their daily routines.

Is the Australian version on any American TV?

I think that the huge numbers were mostly caused by the fact that they were in Australia last week and had really crappy (relatively) numbers. So basically this week was 2 weeks' (if not more in the case of Mark) weight loss. What surprised me is that they didn't dock Mark one pound this week for gaining a pound last week.

I was thinking that they scales weren't calibrated properly.

I was thinking that they scales weren't calibrated properly.
Nah, that wouldn't happen. Given the results, if there was any doubt this would have been checked. Remember, the scales we see aren't the real ones, they get weighted properly earlier in the day, but don't actually see their numbers until the stand on the fake scale. As someone above said, a 'week' on Biggest Loser isn't always a week. There is a post on here someone where someone copied and pasted an interview with one of the season 2 contestants and he said that sometimes the weigh in were 10-14 days apart. Therefore it doesn't take much to figure out that they really big weeks are the weeks where they stretch the 'week' out to give the appearance of bigger losses and this was probably the case for the last week, with producers wanting the contestants go out with a bang. In the last or last but one episodes of this season Mark said he'd been on campus for 5 months, which of course is 20 weeks, yet as far as viewers were concered, there were there for only 15 'weeks'!

BTW, congrats to this seasons winner Ali and Bernie, I was convinced it was going to be Mark or Roger taking home the title as it didn't look as if Ali had anymore weight too lose, but she pulled it out of the bag and looked rockin on the finale! :claphigh: