After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight

_Tombstone_

Contestants lost hundreds of pounds during Season 8, but
gained them back. A study of their struggles helps explain
why so many people fail to keep off the weight they lose.

"It has to do with resting metabolism, which determines how many calories a person burns when at rest. When the show began, the contestants, though hugely overweight, had normal metabolisms for their size, meaning they were burning a normal number of calories for people of their weight. When it ended, their metabolisms had slowed radically and their bodies were not burning enough calories to maintain their thinner sizes.

Researchers knew that just about anyone who deliberately loses weight — even if they start at a normal weight or even underweight — will have a slower metabolism when the diet ends. So they were not surprised to see that “The Biggest Loser” contestants had slow metabolisms when the show ended.

What shocked the researchers was what happened next: As the years went by and the numbers on the scale climbed, the contestants’ metabolisms did not recover. They became even slower, and the pounds kept piling on. It was as if their bodies were intensifying their effort to pull the contestants back to their original weight."

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/health/biggest-loser-weight-loss.html

Read this on NYT website a few hours ago. A fascinating read that I'd highly recommend, but depressing for people who've put the work into losing so much weight.

That your metabolism reduces when you've lost weight to below that of people who haven't lost weight seems like a kick in the teeth for people who've put the work in, even if it explains much. Fat/lazy/lack of willpower jokes not justified on this.

Can exercise play a role in increasing that metabolism sufficiently enough to make up the difference?

Blacktie.

Deleted User wrote: »

Read this on NYT website a few hours ago. A fascinating read that I'd highly recommend, but depressing for people who've put the work into losing so much weight.

That your metabolism reduces when you've lost weight to below that of people who haven't lost weight seems like a kick in the teeth for people who've put the work in, even if it explains much. Fat/lazy/lack of willpower jokes not justified on this.

Can exercise play a role in increasing that metabolism sufficiently enough to make up the difference?

It is possible that the large drop in metabolism is due to a large loss in lean tissue as well. They're talking about being on 3500 calories per day deficits. That's extreme and you will definitely lose large amounts of muscle with this kind of deficit. Makes me wonder did they take that into consideration when talking about another person of their size having a higher metabolism at the end of it.

Wasn't there an article recently saying if you keep off the weight for a year your body adapts and accepts it as the new normal??

Alf Veedersane

Greg Nuckols sez..

ford2600

http://sigmanutrition.com/episode68/

Episode 89 is on topic to.

The main plank of theory is that many other systems the human body has a control system to regulate body fat with feedback mechanism.

In obese people their system is set to defend a high level of body fat. They can lose weight, but the body will drop energy expenditure, increase appetite until the body fat level is returned to normal.

I've read a lot on this and I've yet to hear of any solution/cure.

Some intersting stuff on gut micro biota and leptin resistance but not much else.

kilns

The Biggest Loser is quite an irresponsible show, in that it is lose pounds at all cost. You can see some people devastated when they only lose 5 pounds in a week. Good weight loss should be measured by the tape, with scales as a secondary back up.

Some week a guy loses 5 pounds but could have lost more inches around his waist than someone who lost 10 pounds, due to putting on some muscle. However this is not taken into account.

Muscle burns more calories, so people should be encouraged to increase their lean muscle mass, not just lose fat

Squall Leonhart

Does this mean that if somebody loses a significant amount of weight, while simultaneously building muscle through weight work, then they are less likely to regain the weight assuming they eat at a level appropriate for their weight? Or is the message simply everyone who loses major weight will probably gain it back and then some?

sassyj

The Biggest Loser surely damages the health of contestants? Hours of intense exercising everyday and very restrictive diets? Issues with the show and what they do to contestants is well documented. I would be interested in seeing research done on those who lose weight in a more controlled, slow manner, with "normal" exercise regimes

VisibleGorilla

Squall Leonhart wrote: »

Does this mean that if somebody loses a significant amount of weight, while simultaneously building muscle through weight work, then they are less likely to regain the weight assuming they eat at a level appropriate for their weight? Or is the message simply everyone who loses major weight will probably gain it back and then some?

No, what the study is saying is that if you've lost a bunch of weight your body wants you to regain it asap, so your TDEE will be much lower, up too 500 calories lower than a person of similar height/weight.

So to maintain that weight loss you'll have to eat even less than someone who was never overweight in the first place.

Mellor

[Deleted User] wrote: »

That your metabolism reduces when you've lost weight to below that of people who haven't lost weight seems like a kick in the teeth for people who've put the work in.

6 months+ on 3000kcal+ deficit will play havoc with you metabolism. Hetting to 400lbs+ in the first place will do that also.
However, I also have a couple of issues with the conclusions the stud is drawing. It's a tiny sample, the contestants aren't in anyway average. So comparing them with average people is a huge flaw.
Take the guy in the pictures, they play him up as a "lean 190 lbs", but he clearly isn't. He lost a lot of weight but a lot of it was muscle. He bf% is probably still very high. So you would expect his bf% to be lower than a typical guy that size.
6 years later you expect it to have revovered, depending on what he was doing.

kilns wrote: »

Some week a guy loses 5 pounds but could have lost more inches around his waist than someone who lost 10 pounds, due to putting on some muscle. However this is not taken into account

It's not taking into account but it's also not going to happen. Somebody losing 5-10lbs in a week is not building any muscle. In fact they are probably losing a significant amount.

livedadream

weirdly enough i watch this stuff, and find it fascinating, have always done.

loved it when it started now it seems more like they just want the money, always found it inspiring but after watching it the past three years or so i find it depressing.

was watching the new season last night and gillian micheals was given out to over giving her contestants caffeine tablets.

lost interested in it when she left the first time and they had Anna Kournikova in instead of her, like where are you qualifications other than you look nice in yoga pants and play tennis? actually physical qualifications like?

reading into it there is shady stuff about weigh in's being spread out sometimes two weeks between them and some people eating nothing but fruit and veg the day of a weigh in and sitting in steam rooms in hoodies etc to drop the lbs.

doesnt seem to be int he same vain as it was originally...

pinkypinky

I read this with interest too.
While these people cannot be considered normal test subjects, the results still have merit.

But I do wonder if the same results would occur with smaller losses. While I've never been that overweight, or had to lose more 20kg (which I lost 11 years ago and more or less maintain), I do struggle to maintain any weightloss below 65-66kg (which at 1.6m is the top end of healthy). I eat a good diet and exercise a lot but no matter what I drop below that 66kg my body seems to want to go back to it.

livedadream

my BMR has improved since ive dropped the weight 41kgs at this stage.

but i eat, alot and definitely have gained muscle my Body fat percentage is after halving.

of course i worry about putting the weight back on but after two years of doing it the right way i feel its a lifestyle change ive made

the problem with the biggest loser is they use every trick in the book to lose weight other than seemly changing their actual lifestyle, they go home and their family is eating the same ****e as before, they have the same routine.

losing the wegith fast your brain doesnt catch up with you either...

id love to see the psychological impact of their participation in the show as well as the bounce back of their bodies 'try to get back to obesity'

j@utis

pinkypinky wrote: »

I read this with interest too.
While these people cannot be considered normal test subjects, the results still have merit.

But I do wonder if the same results would occur with smaller losses. While I've never been that overweight, or had to lose more 20kg (which I lost 11 years ago and more or less maintain), I do struggle to maintain any weightloss below 65-66kg (which at 1.6m is the top end of healthy). I eat a good diet and exercise a lot but no matter what I drop below that 66kg my body seems to want to go back to it.

sorry for OT but have you tried changing your macros quite a bit? years ago my weight would normally hover around 62kg (1.64m) and if I wanted to keep it under 60kg I had to work hard to loose those couple kg and then struggle to keep them off. I think I look better when I weight 59kg, my belly is flatter etc. Anyways, since I've increased my fat intake quite dramatically, I mean I've doubled it, my new normal weight is 58-59kg and it's where my body wants to be with no effort. now I eat more and I'm thinner, magic isn't it?