Im very curious how these people are losing so much weight in 1 week. I know its normal to pull a big number the first week you start trying to lose weight, and that number could be bigger if youre a bigger person. But there was a girl on there who was 204, and lost 14 lbs. Does exersize really play that big of a part of weight loss. I know these people are confimed to a campus and have nothing else to do except work out, but I didnt think exersize could make you lose that much in such a sort amount of time. Is there something im missing, or is it really just working out 4-5 hrs a day, and thats how they lose this much weight?

I love this question!

First off, the weigh-in periods are not a week, even if they present it as such on TV. They tend to be longer, and vary from week to week. Usually, the weigh in where everyone seems to be pulling crappy numbers is a 4-5 day period, and the one where everyone pulls great numbers is a longer period.

Second, YES, if you are doing cardio for hours and hours each day, not to mention lifting, you are going to lose lots of weight. If you have NOTHING to do, day in and day out, but focus on your weight loss, you will lose faster. You're also building TONS of muscle, so their metabolisms rev harder.

Third, they are eating CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN. Very medically supervised, very protein and veggie based. That makes a huge difference - no splurges ever means no temporary water gains.

Fourth, they use some less-than-savory tactics pre-weigh in (including not drinking water/eating to dehydrate themselves after the "last chance workout", or getting in the sauna, so they lose water weight each week). I've read some articles about what goes on right before the finale, and most of them do some sort of dehydration technique to increase the percentage of water lost.

They are losing water... pounds of it. They are exercising, sweating, and dieting. That loses a lot of water weight. In fact, most of that 14 pounds is water since you can only lose 2 pounds a week in a healthy manner (it's possible to lose more through extreme starvation, but that's different). They only say she lost 14 pounds to encourage people to keep watching the show.

Also, if she weighed in at 13.5, they'd round it up to 14 as well. The bigger the number, the more shock value.

mandallin hit it right on the nose...that's why i'm sort of torn with the show...i like to watch it...but i'm also realistic. I think it can be a big let down for people who don't remember those facts that mandallin stated. Remember it looks like a week...but its not...and most importantly...this is their life now 24/7 with out temptations/interruptions. I think if you aren't realistic...you can become very disappointed expecting to see the same results as the show. Ithink its great that its encouraging wt loss...but for most of us...we won't be able to have the same drastic results. Remember 1-2 lbs per weeks wt loss is healthy...and anymore than that...you are doing other methods that might not lead to good wt loss.

I haven't watched it since the first season for those reasons. They never said it wasn't really a week between weigh-ins and even I didn't know until Amanda told me. I've always felt that they did a disservice to those struggling with weight as well as their friends and families because they were all left confused about what was realistic. I love to see people lose weight, but I get a bigger thrill out of watching someone lose it in a safe and sane way. Unfortunately, that isn't exciting enough for television. They should call it unreality tv.

I watched the Biggest Loser last night because I do think it is fascinating. However, I was MAJORLY turned off by the way they present the weight loss. I have been watching since the first season and it seems like every season, the weight losses per "week" get larger and larger. I felt terrible for Jenni because she "only" lost 7 lbs, and even her jerkoff dad rubbed her face in it. It usually takes me a month or more to lose 7 lbs. I think I will keep watching, because there is valuable information on the show, and the relationship stuff is a draw (yeah, I'm a sucker!), but at the same time I am completely unconvinced. My favorite part of the show, anyways, is when they show the people who left and how much weight they've lost since they've been home. I think that is the most "real" part.

I have problems with the show in that weight is all that matters. They had awhile back the show where they were saying what factors everyone improved the most on and one woman had GAINED 11 pounds of muscle - more than anyone else. That is incredible, but that put her in a lower place for weight loss and she was in danger of being kicked out.

My biggest peeve with the show though was the first episode i ever watched. (and really I've only watched a couple episodes) It was a finale and they compared the % weight lost and the runner up lost by quite a bit. But the truth of the matter is...she had no chance. If she had lost the same % as the winner, she would be dead. She would have had to become seriously underweight to match the loss he had.

I still think the comparison should be % of EXCESS weight or something a little more leveling. Bodyfat measurement instead of the stupid meaningless scale.

If I were a contestant on the Biggest Loser, I would completely water load the first weigh-in (in my opinion, it would be stupid not to) so my first week's weight loss would be really really significant too.

I love the show for lots of reasons, but I hate the way it might make a regular person feel like they are a failure if they lose 2 or 1 lb a week - that is FABULOUS but would be complete loser-dom on the Biggest Loser. It's a very artificial environment and I wish that more contestants would speak to the fact that the results are extremely atypical.

The most weight I ever lost in a week while I was losing weight was 3 lbs (and I was ECSTATIC). I still lost 70+ lbs, took a little longer in the "real world" but it was still REAL and impressive, even at 1-2 lbs a week.

I also hate the fact that building muscle is NOT rewarded. In the first season, body fat percentage was a huge component of the overall win (the contestants were dunked in a tank the first weigh-in and last weigh-in), they haven't mentioned body composition since the first season and the significance is HUGE!!!!

Is it just me or does it almost seem "hush hush" about what they eat? They never really go in to detail what there diet is...sure they talk about it a little..and most of the time that is all about advertising. It would be nice if they sharwd more details about exactly what kind of diet they are on instead of so much focus on the exercise??

Skinny4Baby - they have a book with the diet. They also published it in "Prevention" after Kae did the photoshoot last season. It is a whole-food, reduced carb, low-fat, severely calorie controlled diet.

How cal-controlled? (How many calories, as an example?)

i had no idea about any of this!!!! my goodness! maybe i should start paying attention???

A lot less than you'd think, because they have to fuel all the exercise. I think it works out to 7 times your weight in calories (approximately) from whole sources. So a 200 lb woman would eat 1400 calories daily. I'd eat only 1120 calories for loss.

Here is a one-day sample menu from Biggest Loser (Prevention website):

http://www.prevention.com/cda/articl...est.loser.diet

You'll see that they measure everything--there is no guessing!--and there are lots of vegetables.

Jay

Jiff you are too funny!
Happy New year BTW, I hope it is a good one for you and some of your "stress" lessens.

I like the show and i tend to walk on the TM when it is on. It is not so much about the food resrtiction, which is no suprise. They are in a fairly clean environment but they do have temptation challanges and i m amazed at how many of them do it!

i don't quite think it is fair to have men and women compeating against eachother as women will always have a higher body fat.

I think you are right about the WI periods, some are 10 days others are 4-5

I am not sure if I like the idea of couples on one hand but think in the long run it may be a good thing. Either way i will continue to watch because it modivated me to see the struggles , work out more and think about where i want to be in the end.