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Fans of the Biggest Loser ... by Karli Taylor

Any fans of the Biggest Loser out there? I have a serious love/hate relationship with that show and I'll tell you why.

Yes, these men and women work very hard and they lose a ton of weight in a short period of time. Is it realistic to think that normal people living normal lives could do the same? Think about it. If you were to quit your job, leave your family and have all of your workouts and meals designed for you , would you lose weight? OF COURSE YOU WOULD!! With very little stress (besides missing home and family), no time constraints, constant medical care, no food prep required and 24 hour access to a gym, any single one of us could reach our goals easily. I find that the show gives people an unrealistic expectation of how much weight they can lose in a week or a month. In the real world, it is not realistic to work out for 6 hours a day- not even for me, and I work in a gym! 

Besides being unrealistic, have you noticed that many of these people put a great deal of weight back on? Why is that? Aside from the fact that they have to function with real life stresses and time constraints, many of them have lost valuable muscle in their 12-16 weeks on the show. When you burn 6000 calories a day and take in 1200 (the average values for contestants on BL), you will burn muscle. Though this loss of muscle results in immediate weight loss, it also results in long-term metabolic consequences. You will burn fewer calories at rest with fewer pounds of lean muscle mass. That may not catch up to these people while they are on the show, but about a year later they will have to eat even less to maintain their weight!

I watch the show- I love the heart that these people have. I love the sweat and tears, but I wish that people watching would understand that this "reality" show is quite unrealistic. A realistic weight loss goal is 1-3 pounds a week.  Yes, that seems slow, but if you do it right the first time, your weight loss will stand the test of time.  Would you rather lose weight slowly and go through the process once or do it quickly over and over again??