I'm sorry if this topic has already been started.

So who watches The Biggest Loser.
I like watching it but I'm confused by some of it. I always heard that losing more than 4 lbs in a week is unhealthy, but some of these people are dropping more than 30 lbs in a week?

I do get motivated while watching them workout. I really don't know how they do. I don't weigh as much as they do and I can't run up a mountain, run in the sand with a log. I had a hard enough time walking my 35 minutes this morning. I truly do not know how they do it.

I don't like the blonde trainer, she gets on my nerves. I think I'd do best with the guy. Sorry I forgot their names.

Hi there!

I'm sure you'll find plenty of people to talk about the show with here.

Also, there is a whole forum dedicated to The Biggest Loser here:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=184

And a thread discussing this season in particular here:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=122637

thankyou 4myself, I'll go over there

ShyShy19, they don't lose that weight in an actual week. The episodes show every week, but it's not "real time." Read this:

http://nwsfoundation.com/thebiggestloser.html

Jay

My question is:

How can anyone take that much time away from their LIFE to participate in something like this?

And now we know why those moms and dads are crying about not seeing their children... It's not just a few weeks, it's months...

Jay

It did seem odd that even a mother of two toddlers would be so distressed before the end of week two. If you hadn't at least partially prepared yourself for a couple weeks away from home, why would you sign up for the show?

What or who is "National Weight Science Foundation"? Does anyone know? It appears to be an organization headed by an attorney who handled a lot of fen-phen cases. I wonder how he got his information and if he is believable. I'm just curious. It seems like everyone has some agenda....

You know it does seem too good to be true to lose that much weight in one week. Besiedes like I mentioned before, wouldn't that be really unhealthy?

I would much rather bust my a$$ at home then go there and leave my 3 year ols for months at a time, no one way could I do that. I couldn't even concentrate on losing weight becasue I would be missing my child so badly.

I posted it because I had read from multiple sources that the time was not "real" time from various sources, and had two online mags that referred to this site. There was also a Time article that referred to some of the "tricks" of the Biggest Loser, but didn't mention time specifically.

I have tried to confirm his identity (the attorney's) and the content of the information (and the identity of the un-named NBC executive). I've hit a lot of sites that refer to the fact that the time is not "real" time, and even posts here of people saying they "caught" contestants referring to a two week time period and then "correcting themselves." I would like to watch episode one again myself to check this.

As to whether 30 lbs or 3 is a more likely first week weight loss, or even more so whether a week 6 weight loss of 11 or 2 lbs is more likely, I have my suspicions, but at this time no hard facts.

I guess I'm left with two options.

Either the time line is more or less accurate, and people are losing up to 12% of their body weight in a week (which mathematically should be impossible, even with 12-16 hour workouts). A rate that is generally considered so dangerous that one would expect people to go into cardiac arrest from the electrolyte imbalances alone. Even when a significant part of the digestive tract is removed, wls patients don't lose this fast. So they are putting contestants at great risk.

or

The timeline is inaccurate. People are losing at a more healthy, gradual pace. That is they are taking care of the contestants, but perhaps at the expense of viewers. For the most part, I assume adults are responsible for using good judgement when watching any of these "don't try this at home" stuff, but I remember being a fat, desperate, dieting teen. I know how tempting it was to attempt dangerous, stupid methods to lose the weight.

I guess, either way I'm left with a bad taste in my mouth, and will probably stop watching the show.

Since the man is an attorney, presumably he knows better than to publish information that's untrue--because that would be libel and subject to lawsuit. NBC would be all over it.

Jay

Very interesting article.

Those are much more realistic numbers with regard to the weight loss. I never could understand how they got such huge numbers at their weigh-ins.

I still enjoy the show and will continue to watch. It always inspires me to workout more than I do.

That's a long time to be away from your family.

Yeah, if an attorney creates a website and opens an office with an official sounding name like "National Weight Science Foundation" it must be true. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. The website just looks like some homegrown page someone stuck out there. I would like to know more about the organization before I accept it at face value.

Whether it's all true or not, I agree that it would have to be completely unhealthy to lose at the rate that is represented on the TV show. I would guess that all of us who have lost weight think the article on that website sounds more believable.

now thinking about it more, it would be pretty much impossible to lose that much weight in one week, or even the 30 lbs that one guy lost, I would think it to be unghealthy for him to lose that weight in only 2 weeks.
Anywho the show is entertaining and motivational for me so I will continue to watch.
These people are changing their lives and that's a great thing.
I would personally never leave my baby to do on a weight loss show though.

Agree 100%