Even if some of us haven’t actually seen the show, The Biggest Loser is a show and concept that we know about – a reality TV show in which overweight contestants vie with each other to lose the most amount of weight for an ultimate cash prize.
The highly successful show may perform the service of inspiring some people to try and lose some weight but is has an unhealthy emphasis on short term goals and gains which one must try and avoid for successful and permanent weight loss.
So one may well decide to lose some weight based on the show but remember not to make some of these common mistakes:
Quick and Sudden weight loss is not effective:
The aim of Biggest Loser is to make contestants lose the maximum weight in the shortest period.
This is far from the healthiest way to lose weight. The best kind of weight loss is that which is slow, steady and sustained.
Quick or sudden weight loss does, more often than not, results in the weight piling back on – it creeps back as soon as you’ve gone off the strenuous exercise routine or start to eat normally.
Research has demonstrated that quick weight loss is bad for your health:
Not only will the weight come back, it will cause health problems when you lose it suddenly. Problems such as eating disorders, lowered metabolism and even cardiac arrest could result from it. Edema or water retention may be another side effect.
People also experience feelings of apathy, nervousness and anxiety and feel tired and exhausted as a result of a drastic reduction in the number of calories consumed.
For instance Biggest Loser Michael Ventrella lost 50 percent of his body weight last season – starting at a body weight of 526 pounds, he came down to 264 pounds – in 18 weeks – at over 14 pounds lost per week. This cannot be healthy; any way that you look at it.
Weight loss does not mean many hours of exercise and severe calorie restriction:
The weight loss program in the show seems really difficult to many and may dissuade them from actually making a start. To send the message that one needs to make weight loss the only priority in life is misleading.
A lifestyle change that incorporates regular exercise and healthy eating habits is the best way to lose the weight and keep it off, but this is not what the show is teaching.
So watch the show if you must; but try not to take its advice!
