I don't take to heart anything Biggest Loser says.

Jay

Yeah, to me, TBL is not realistic anything so I won't be following what they do.

I know that if I tried to eat 1000 cals/day I'd be starving and have no energy... so I wouldnt/couldnt do it. I agree w/onederchic.. every body is different and you can get a good estimate from calculators, but trial and error seems to be what has worked for me.

I believe in what TBL says as they produce results. My problem is not too many calories but not eating ENOUGH. So I will try the calorie philosophy and see how it goes! I am not hungry at 1000, but I have a naturally low metabolism (I don't lose well at 1200/exercise 6dys/wk either). I agree-- everyone is saying the sme thing. Start at a given number of calories and adjust it +/- if you aren't losing.

TBL produces short-term results - and that may be all. There are many KNOWN risks associated with the kind of weight loss portrayed on TBL (and the contestants have signed their lives away, regarding these risks. You can bet that the contestant releases include holding the show blameless if these risks present now or in the future such as gall stones, stress fractures, joint, muscle and tendeon damage, mitrovalve prolapse (heart damage related to rapid weight-loss) sodium-deprivation related heart attacks and even death, and many others.

That no one has yet talked about experiencing these and other health problems (although that's probably in their contract also - it's been confirmed that they include non-disclosure clauses - at least for a specified period of years) - doesn't mean they haven't occurred or will not occur.

Despite the "don't try this at home" disclaimer at the end of the show - people DO because "they produce results."

The show isn't producing fast results because those are the healthiest - but because they're the most watchable - the most exciting. For the same reason that no one would buy a book entitled "The tedious, but effective way to lose weight very slowly and gradually, using common sense and a lot of hard work."

Nope, the books that sell best promise effortless, yet rapid weight loss.

It's important to remember to always be cautious when believing anything out of the mouths of people profiting from their advice. Do your own research - the information IS out there, including the ACTUAL risks and the probability of them occurring.

Since most of the advice-givers do profit in some way - you've got to do a lot of reading - you're not going to get a true and comprehensive picture from one source or even from 100, but you do start to see and understand "generally accepted" advice and what is extreme and unusual for the genre. If you read an opinon that few other experts share, it's a red-flag that the information is suspect.

Yes, it's true that every accepted theory was once a controversial one - but the odds are that mainstream opinions hit the mark more often than the unusual ones - and the only way to recognize the unusual opinions are to have read widely enough to get a feeling for the amount of agreement between the experts.

I still find this shocking.

Thanks for your thoughts kaplods!

I totally agree with your comment about prof. and when they are being paid for their advice. I used a personal trainer at the beginning of the year and it took me 4months to lose 15lbs...when You are 250lbs, that is slow weight loss. I wish she would have changed something for me instead of saying that my progress was fine. Oh well, now I am doing my own thing and it is working AWESOME!

I have loved getting so into the reading and research of dieting and exercise. It is fun and I am having fun doing it! I always say to my friends that TBL contestants probably gain 30-40lbs on average back after the ranch. With rapid weight loss you will gain some back, but I guess when you lose over 100lbs, its worth it for them to only be gaining 30lbs back. That is the number 1 thing that would scare me though, but that's just me.

I noticed something last week though. They said on Wed.'s show that when they leave the ranch Dr. H tells them that if they want to maintain their weight they will need to workout 1-1.5hours a day!! So many of them have maintained well and look great so congrats to them!

I don't have 7hours a day to exercise and burn 5000cal (that is their daily goal) so of course I won't have TBL results but eventually I will be thin and maintaining the healthy way!~

Agreed! That show irritates me. To be fair, I've never seen an entire episode but I saw enough that I was disgusted. I understand it's very motivating to some people but the normal person can not sustain that sort of weight loss regimen for very long. Too much. Too intense. Setting yourself up for failure.

I eat 1050 calories before my afternoon snack. If I tried to live on that, I'd be chasing my 6 year old son around with a bottle of tabasco sauce. Someone who posts here occasionally has as her sig: "I'm on the 'eat as much as you can and still lose weight' eating plan." I think it's as important to have enough food as it is to not have too much.

Evaluating calorie needs based purely on one's weight can be rather limiting. I'm at about 12% body fat. I have quite a bit of muscle and I need to eat enough to maintain my muscle and fuel my workouts (both weightlifting & running). I could eat less and watch the scale go down, but if I'm not careful, I'll watch my muscle mass go down too.

A huge part of my journey has been to learn how my body metabolizes nutrients. I know I said it before, but I'll say it again---it's just as important to have enough nutrition as it is to not have too much. I'm saying no to abusing my body---be it through overeating or undernourishment.

You can have 2 women who weigh 150 pounds and their nutrition requirements will be totally different. a 21 yo marathoner will have different requirements than a 55 yo menopausal woman who is inactive.

Strength training is so important for revving up metabolism and maintaining muscle mass. But ya gotta feed your muscles! (generic "ya").

I think the very best advice I could give someone looking for a target calorie level is to change nothing the first week, but just write everything down. See where you are and then come up with a plan to see where you are going.