I was here quite awhile ago and even was a moderator of a short-lived Men's Corner forum. Still think that is a good idea.

Had gone from 320 to 220ish in about a year and half. Since then back to 275 over a number of years. I do not really yo-yo my body simply responds to the daily calorie balance. If I am active and make better eating choices I lose or maintain weight otherwise I gain weight.

And that daily balance brings me to Biggest Loser. I never really watched it but have watched the last few couples espiodes. The weight loss is insanely fast and absurd.

A lot of them are losing 50lbs in a month? What...nuts. As far as I know a pound equals 3,500 calories. Losing 50lbs in 30 days would mean a calorie deficit of over 5,800 calories a day. I only think the Tour de France cyclists could create a deficit that big and probably only on the mountain stages. Absurd.

But there are some good ideas in the show in the middle of normal reality commerical TV junk.

A big one is exercise. I have now done over 3 weeks and almost 4 weeks of exercise every day. I walk two 20 minute walks a day at work and every day now I am using a Gazelle for around 30 to 40 minutes. I am also doing some strength training. I have always found that to me the key is exercise first. Although it is always a combination of diet and exercise.

But when I exercise I have so much more energy, sleep so much better, that making better eating choices is easier. I also feel stronger and so much more alive that even though I am heavier than I want to be I FEEL great. Diet alone NEVER gives me that feel great feeling.

And diet I am simply making better choices not doing anything radical. Going out to eat less, choosing healthier snacks, making sure I eat breakfast always.

But what feels great is EVERYTHING I am doing is sustainable for the rest of my life. So there should be no more going down then going up. That is one of the biggest problems with BL...the stuff they are doing is not sustainable by anyone but a full-time professional endurance athelete. No one is going to exercise that much year after year. A the time and B the time and C simply even if you were independently wealthy most of us simply can not do it.

So ultimately Biggest Loser is in many ways counter-productive in that it is presented as a contest and the weight loss is WAYYYY too much and done in an environment none of us could ever replacate (private trainer 24 hours a day 'job just to lose weight). However the base thing of all weight loss (more calories burned then consumed day after day) is in the show. I guess it just for all of us to find a sustainable way of eating and exercising and habits that we create that defecit for month after month when we are losing and then find a way to balance out when we get where we want.

I have lost btw around 5 to 7 lbs so far AND have more muscle. Shooting for getting down to 240 by the end of the year (around 30lbs) and then going from there. If weight comes off faster, great, bonus.

BTW I just bought a highly rated Omron pedomater on amazon for around $20. It is nice, just got it last night, in that it counts total steps but if you do 10 minutes or more in a row of steps at a certain pace it counts those but also seperates them out. If you can go to $40 you can add USB connection that lets you keep track of your stats month after month in your computer. This one does have a 7-day memory feature though.

welcome back!

There is a whole discussion of TBL in the exercise section if you want to chime in.

Congratulations for getting back on track.

Welcome back!
I've got that pedometer. I've been wearing it for two years... it's great.

I really liked what you have to say. I am new to this site, but have been onl this journey for over a year now. Actually I have been on this journey my whole life, but this time I have been successful. That is because I follow many of the things you stated in your post. I will tell you that TBL was one thing that inspired me to get my but in the gym. For me, I know that the weight loss on the show is unreasonable and unsustainable, but what I appreciated was that these people who maybe never worked out in their life were capable of great feats of strength and endurance. So I thought if they can do it then so can I.

My first 30lbs lost was due completely to working out. I hardly changed any of my food at all. Since then I have made much healthier choices and this is mostly due to the fact that I feel better and have more energy when I fuel my body correctly. That is not to say that I don't enjoy indulgences, but when you workout these are much easier to have.

I don't know if anybody else on this site is using the bodybugg (featured on TBL) but I asked my personal trainer about it and thought that it would work well for me, especially since I am now not working with a trainer. I have found it very addicting and interesting to know for certain how many calories I am consuming and burning in a day so that I can maintain my deficit.

Anyway, I am rambling on, but I really enjoyed your post and I wanted to welcome you back!

back!

The Biggest Loser is really crazy. It is such an artificial environment that it really should never be compared to the real world. Personally I think it is really worth listening to Jillian Michaels’' radio show (on kfi640 - podcast) and hearing her talk about it.