The Biggest Loser(TV Show)

I was baked and scanning through TV shows the other night and stumbled across this.


How in the hell are these people losing 20-30lbs in a WEEK. Every healthy guideline I ever heard was no more than 2-3lbs a week and that's with diet and exercise..I remember when I dropped from 210 to 175 it was at a rate around 2lbs a week.

I understand that the more you have to lose, the faster you will initially drop weight, but I do not understand how these people are physiologically dropping 20+ lbs a week for 10-12 weeks straight. They aren't burning that many calories..even if you account for their (BMR + Exercise)-Food intake...I mean we are talking about 70,000 calories a week getting expunged between caloric deficit and exercise burn...Michael Phelps doesn't even do that.

i dont think that healthy guideline applies when youre as morbidly obese as those contestants are

It's all about percentage over ideal weight. I'm at 179 right now so I could maybe lose like 1-2lbs a week but for someone that is supposed to weight 125lbs and they are at 300 + it's easier because they have the extra weight to lose and they go from literally doing nothing to busting their ass with a strict diet and exercise plan. Most of these people would lose 5lbs a week if they gave up soda.

They don't lose 20-30 lbs a week. I watched this season and many times people did just lose 2-5 lbs. Everyone is generally happy when they can lose 10 lbs a week.

Again, these are obese people. They are not slightly overweight. They are under constant medical care /observation on the show.

Want some useless info?

More marriages have come from contestants meeting on The Biggest Loser than on The Bachelor.

True story.

I'm a big fan of the show, not sure why, I am no where near fat. They don't lost 20lbs a week, that is rare. It's quite the accomplishment if they consistently lost 10lbs a week. If you think about it, it's not that hard. They are 200 lbs overweight, never exercise and indulge in fatty food day after day.

Almost all of these people gain the weight back, it's kinda sad.

They may lose 20lbs the first week, but that's mostly water weight.

Originally Posted by mattcarle21

They may lose 20lbs the first week, but that's mostly water weight.

Exactly.

They are shocking their body with something that it has never seen before.

The next couple weeks without strict diets they rarely drop anything

Originally Posted by 325inthe510

Almost all of these people gain the weight back, it's kinda sad.

Source? I see most of them with their weights off or at least that is what they show portrays.

fade2black got his own show?

Originally Posted by ghorn

Want some useless info?

More marriages have come from contestants meeting on The Biggest Loser than on The Bachelor.

True story.

I haven't watched either show, but isn't there a max of 1 marriage possible on The Bachelor? The guy:girl ratio on the Biggest Loser must make a lot more marriages possible right?

Oh, and yeah, that info is completely useless.

Originally Posted by Xcelratr

I haven't watched either show, but isn't there a max of 1 marriage possible on The Bachelor? The guy:girl ratio on the Biggest Loser must make a lot more marriages possible right?

Oh, and yeah, that info is completely useless.

True, but, the whole point of The Bachelor/ette is for people to get married. I do value your analysis in these important matters

I mean these people are dropping 100+ lbs in 12 weeks.

That's incredibly high by any medical standard - that's all I'm saying. I understand the first week dropping all that water weight but the caloric deficit + calories burned exceed what they are exerting..I'm just wondering how its physiologically possible.

What's not to understand? Weight loss is basic math. Calories out > calories in.

People who do things like ironman triathlons, long bike tours, long hikes, ultra marathons, etc, burn ridiculous amounts of calories. Think about Michael Phelps' training, where he eats like 6000 calorie breakfasts and still doesn't get fat. I think there was actually a thread on here years ago about a guy who rode his bike from Boston to LA, and how much he could eat every day because of all the calories he was burning.

Now, take heavy exertion, and cut the calorie intake, and you burn fat. A few years ago I lost 40 pounds in under a month, and that was only going from 205-165. That's approximately 10 pounds a week, for someone that was low 20% bodyfat beforehand, and dropped to the high single digits.

How? Worked my @$$ off in the gym 6 days a week, and massively limited calories 7 days a week. 90% cardio, 10% weights. What I did eat was mixed carbs and protein to fuel my workouts. The pounds melt off.

And to the OP, sure, people hit 20lbs+ sometimes in certain weeks, and it's not only water weight. I could have done more, but simply ran out of fat to lose (165lbs for me, at 6'1, is very light).

In this book, Dean Karnazes describes doing a 200 mile/46 hour run. At the back of the book he lists what he ate during the run. Almost 28,000 calories in the two days he was running. Crazy stuff.

Why did you have to include "(TV Show)"?

You think we are all too dumb to know what you're talking about?