Are you "The Biggest Loser?"

I have been watching “The Biggest Loser” lately. The show is wonderful and captures the different effects on people while recreating their lives. Each contestant handles the stress and event differently. Some get stressed out while others have a can-do attitude. Do you notice who stays on the show the longest? It is the can-do people. And even when these can-do people are eliminated they continue to lose weight when they return home.

What I love most about the show is that it is creating social awareness, and also motivation in some viewers. Just like those who love boxing might watch Rocky over and over again, or those who like personal drama may watch Desperate Housewives each week. The Biggest Loser is a great source of motivation for those who want to lose body-fat. The show offers insight into having a personal trainer (some better than others), and the emotions and trials of the challenge. When you see the contestants tearing from happiness as they talk about how much weight they have lost for the first time in their lives; that is real. That is powerful.

As great as the show might be, I have a problem with it. As a trainer and coach I know the effort that the contestants are going through. This is not real life. You are not going to spend four hours a day in the desert jogging and lifting logs over your head. This is dangerous and insane. I once hiked a desert mountain in August. Thrilling, but not the safest form of exercise even for someone in peak shape.

The show creates unrealistic expectations. Only in extreme circumstances like on “The Biggest Loser Campus” (i.e. movie studio) will a person lose 19 pounds one week and then lose another 12 the next. This is incredibly unlikely and some of those numbers are not real body-fat loss, but water loss. The numbers look good, but it is not true. This is not to take away from all their hard work. Far from it. I bring out this point so that you understand that when Julie lost only 5 pounds in the first 2 weeks, this is real life. No it is not as exciting, but it is real. Losing about 2 pounds of body-fat a week is what you should strive for. You go Julie!

Losing body-fat slow and steady over the long term is what is going to make you successful in permanent weight loss. Dramatic jumps in numbers are not significant. Losing consistently week after week is success.

Keep watching “The Biggest Loser” show. It is a wonderful program and each contestant offers a lesson to be learned. Just remember not all of it is real life. Some of the story is manufactured by the producers, some by the contestants in an artificial atmosphere, and some is creative film editing.


Go for long term and steady results in body-fat lose and you too will be a “big loser.”