Tag Archives: Obese People

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The Biggest Loser TV Show

For the past few years many people have enjoyed watching the Biggest Loser.  The show is a competition among a group of obese people to see who can shed the most pounds.  The good side is people have changed their lives due to the show.  Not everything that happens during the competition is a positive.

No one can deny that the contestants are able to drop an incredible number of pounds.  Even obese individuals rarely lose more than 3 pounds of pure fat per week consistently in a real world situation. People talk about the massive weight loss that contestants achieve on the show on message boards like the biggest loser weight loss forum and they admit that the results on the show should not be surprising when you calculate the massive caloric deficit achieved from 4-6 hours of daily training and physical activity, combined with low calorie dieting., but what many fans seem to ignore is that weight loss is not the same as fat loss. People who watch the show should be wary about the results that are put up.  The pounds that disappear at the start of the diet are often because of excess water.  Instead of losing fatty deposits they are losing muscle instead.

They could take care of that problem in a hurry.  There are other ways to measure a person’s weight loss than to see how many pounds they drop.  This would level the playing field and help the contestants achieve weight loss that is easier to maintain and healthier for them overall.

Rapid weight loss competition encourages physically dangerous practices.  The network, the trainers and other supporters of the show say they do not promote or endorse drugs and they do not want people to try to lose weight fasting or any unhealthy methods of weight loss, but  the inherent nature of the show promotes dangerous behavior.

The idea of taking drugs to speed up their weight loss during the show has been suggested by some people although it has not been proven.  It would not be unheard of to find out that someone broke the rules in order to win a quarter of a million dollars.  Even if the contestants do not take any supplements, they are still using risky behavior because of their limited intake of water before weigh ins.

For someone who is morbidly obese it is not always safe to work out as hard as they do on the show.  On one episode,  contestants faced the first workout challenge before they started their diet program.  The group of obese contestants weighing up to 460 pounds, were instructed to take a 1 mile run down the beach.  It was not a go at your own pace type of thing.   First place was rewarded in some way.  One of them collapsed just short of the finish line.  Instead of focusing on the danger of obese people competing in this way, the event was used to create a story line.

Contestants from previous seasons have also been admitted to the hospital and one suffered a stress fracture. Later during the workout, contestants were shown climbing a Jacob’s ladder, pushing sleds, doing intense cardio and calisthenics, lifting weights and performing plyometrics and  these did not look like beginner-level program although the form on some of the exercises was sloppy enough to make a professional strength and conditioning coach cringe.  Producers are aware of the risk and have all potential contestants checked by doctors before they come on the show.  But contestants also sign away their rights to the producers.  There was also a disclaimer on the screen for the viewing audience. The problem comes because they  do not give a stern enough warning about the dangers that people face  There was also no mention that 4-6 hours of training per day for weight loss is gross overtraining  This is almost certain to bring overuse injuries.  Because of all of this, a person should not try to how to lose weight fast– in this manner.