[freeqeegrl]

So Last Night I Caught The End To Biggest Loser And A Boy Lost 30 Pounds In One Week. What The Heck, How Did He Do That????? I Just Dont Understand, I Want To Go On The Show Just For Two Weeks So I Can Get To My Goal Weight. . . Im Feeling Jipped On The Outside.

[nelie]

I don't watch the Biggest loser but I heard that their weeks really aren't weeks, but a bit longer?

Is it also at the very beginning? If you are morbidly obese, you can drop a lot of weight in the very beginning. A lot of it is what you'd call water weight. If they are follow a low carb plan, you can drop additional weight in terms of glycogen. Also they are doing a lot of exercise and heavy restriction.

[Justwant2Bhealthy]

Yes, I agree with you; not all claims are as they appear. There could be many different factors going on there: but like you, I am having difficulty with that claim also. The only thing that comes to mind is if that person was very, very heavy; and most of that was water (ie as in retention from too much sugar and salt in their diet), and after they went on a healthier regime, he lost a lot of water-weight in the first month, but a week is surprising to me too!

EDIT: Yes, as NELLIE says, these shows are often taped 3-4 weeks apart; so what appears to be a week to us, may be a month in reality.

I have seen a couple of claims here that surprised me also: like one person who claimed she lost 13.6 lbs each month for ten straight months, right to her goal weight, without a blip. Although not IMPOSSIBLE, that is very rare also; so when we hear these claims, we have to keep in mind the old adage: these results are not typical, and weightloss may vary for different people, for many different reasons ...

... how much they eat; what they eat; how much they exercise and how often; how heavy they were; water retention: salt and sugar intake; the kind of plan they are on; their height; their sex; their health status, and on and on ...

[bethbeth]

First of all, he started out at 450 pounds! So him loosing 30 pounds is equivalent to you losing 12 (based on percentages). Most it was water weight. He really was not doing anything different than you can do at home, eating better and getting tons of exercise.
And it's really not healthy to drop so much weight so quickly. It is usually recommended to lose 1-2 pounds a week.

[kaplods]

This is also a competition, so people do things that a person really wanting to lose weight only for themselves would never do. Many of the contestants have learned to load their stomaches before their first weigh in or weigh-ins for which they have immunity (drinking huge amounts of liquids and low calorie foods), so that this weigh-in is much heavier than their "real" weight, so that their next weigh-in will be more impressive. They also use dehydrating methods like purging and saunas before weigh-ins to achieve the lowest weight posible, even though it also doesn't reflect the reality of their body weight in proper balance.

Ultimately, these shows are entertainment driven, rather than health-driven so you have to be careful what you take away from them. Everyone wants to know "how they did it," but applying those techniques to real life isn't always practical, and can even be dangerous.

[ANOther]

Sanjay Gupta was interviewing Jillian Michaels last w/e on House Call and she was saying that under the controlled circumstances and constant supervision of the show (what we in science call "in vitro") the people lose a lot of weight a lot faster than would be likely or wise in the real world. ETA In other words: don't try this @ home. Here's the link to the transcript: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIP...3/hcsg.01.html

[freeqeegrl]

Thanks Guys That Got To Me . 30 Pounds I Mean Really , I Couldnt Figure Out What I Was Doing Wrong....... Ima Read That Transcript.

[Hattie22]

That fact also bothered me. Since it is not healthy to lose that quick. I was surprised to see that.

Reality shows are not always reality.

[freeqeegrl]

i guess thats true , but man, how awesome that would be if it was healthy

[MaddiesMom]

Also, these people are losing so much weight because they are working out 6-8 hours PER DAY. That's a lot, and quite frankly, impossible for any of us to complete. (I read that somewhere, can't think where). Plus, they don't have the temptation that we do...they can't jump in their car and grab a burger.

[RN BSN 2009]

That's crazy, and unhealthy

[tonyaky]

I wish I had my own trainer to keep me motivated

[tonyaky]

I would like to see an update show on them after 1 or 2 years

[MindiV]

My husband and I had that exact discussion when the show was over, and argued over how losses like that aren't really likely to happen in the real world. That's one reason I have always hated that show...the unhealthy and unrealistic losses. This season the only reason I'll watch is to see how the people at home do, as opposed to those on "the ranch." It'll be eye-opening, potentially.

[willow650]

I doubt is was 30lbs of fat. I mean think about how his diet and excersie changed in that week, it was quite a shock to his system. I wonder how much of it was water and toxins and crap that came out of his system.