The Biggest Loser is one of American reality shows which I happened to watch couple of episodes last year. With the offer of $250,000 grand prize and dramatic weight loss stories, the show is actually quite popular in US. I believe that the show is actually in the fourth or fifth season now with more than 100,000 applicants wanting to be part of the show.
I do not deny that the show is inspiring, but to lose 10 to 25 pounds within a week may not be that safe. This figure is definitely much different from the 3-pound a week recommended by many health professionals.
In the first season, the winner, Ryan Benson has actually lost by 122 pounds from 330 pounds to 208 pounds over a period of 10-week. No joke, he lost 37% of his original weight and 18% of his body fat.
When I read Ryan Benson’s blog, I almost fell down from my chair learning the way he took just to win the race.
“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. It is 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.”
Yeah, you read it right. Peeing in blood. The show supposed to impose penalties on anyone for being dehydrated “intentionally”, but the producer has yet to issue any violations.
Ryan admitted about his depression he felt after falling back into his old eating habits. Also, he mentioned that as soon as the show was over, he regained 32 pounds in 5 days simply by drinking water.
What I am trying to highlight is that weight can be affected by hydration, rather than actual body fat loss. The other issue worth mentioning is overexercising. The participants of the show were exercising with trainer between 4 to 5 hours a day. Before they joined the show, they hardly did any exercise. By exercising so many hours right after participating the show is actually not safe at all. I just worry about the high risk for injuries that could make these participants stopping exercise altogether after the show.
In short, losing 10 to 25 pounds a week is unrealistic and impossible to maintain in normal life. A gradual approach with sustainable lifestyle changes will definitely be a better choice.
For those who wish to find out more about the workout in the reality show - The Biggest Loser, check out the DVD from Amazon.
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Daniel Lee // Jul 9, 2008 at 6:41 am
Yikes, peeing blood? I’d rather be fat!
simon // Jul 9, 2008 at 10:27 am
i watched the last few episodes of that season. its a bit unfair the way the calculate the score, because some contestants just have more weight to lose.
foongpc // Jul 10, 2008 at 11:38 am
yes, i disagree with the weight loss method used. It’s not safe. But that’s reality TV - they only show what viewers like to watch and don’t reveal the truth or behind the scenes. However, I do find myself enjoying the show : )
Angie Tan // Jul 12, 2008 at 5:11 pm
omg… that’s absolutely drastic!!!
although the PTs out there are pushing for people to lose weight fast, please do insist with them that you want to lose weight the healthy and right manner.
i pushed myself too hard with the PT that i was with that i injured myself so badly that it took me 1 month to recover… what’s the point of losing all that weight fast, only to gain more health problems and getting depressed over that?
savlo // Aug 12, 2008 at 9:29 am
I have to digress.
What Ryan did was out of desperation to win the contest and the extreme measures in exercising was deployed for extreme circumstances.
Like in Season 5, some of them can’t even qualify for health insurance unless they drop the pounds and people makes tonnes of excuses for not exercising.
It’s a contest and they agreed to the methods of determining the winner. Besides, in season 5, a female contestant won. so no excuse if they join the show and make frivolous claims.
On overexercising, they have physicians on standby and measures are taken to ensure the contestants are fine.
asithi // Oct 28, 2008 at 11:34 pm
We has a Biggest Loser contest in our office. The winner gets a $250 prize. One of the guys did what Ryan did with the water weight. It turn into fiasco with one camp claiming that the guy was right and another camp clamoring for disqualification. And to make matters worst, the guy also has side bets with other co-workers for a few hundred dollars that he would be the winner. Needless to say, we can never have another weight loss contest at work again.
PW // Nov 3, 2008 at 4:28 am
Nice article and I agree with you; more people need to be informed that winning the weight loss war is not about numbers alone.
But I would change the title of your article; as it is now it reads “The Truth Behind ‘The Biggest Loser Reality Show’ Which Never Being Told”, which is grammatically incorrect. It should read “The Truth Behind ‘The Biggest Loser Reality Show’ Which Has Never Being Told”
ooga // Nov 3, 2008 at 2:43 pm
PW — your correction of the article title isn’t any better. It should read “The Truth Behind ‘The Biggest Loser Reality Show’ Which Has Never Been Told”.
:)
PW // Nov 3, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Ooga, you are right, of course. I noticed that right after I submitted it!
Thanks
Johnny // Nov 7, 2008 at 3:28 am
I’m not sure how much has actually changed… But in the last two season, there has been less of the “double-digit weight loss” for multiple weeks in a row. Also the show in general and the trainers specifically have put much more stress on life-style changes, calorie regulation, and proper eating & exercise habits.
Mathew // Dec 3, 2008 at 4:17 am
I have to agree that, while watching the show, I have wondered many times why they never mention the incredible weekly loses of the contestants as unrealistic goals for any “normal” person. . . but it makes for good TV ;)