Tag Archive for: The Biggest Loser

Lessons from “The Biggest Loser”

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The recent study on weight gain by former participants in “The Biggest Loser” reality television show blamed decreases in resting metabolic rate (RMR): the decrease in RMR became worse over time and contributed to most of the participants regaining most of the weight. In other words, they ruined their resting metabolism.

No, they didn’t. In my opinion, there are errors in the measurements for RMR and total energy expenditure (TEE). The errors may be in the equipment, but more than likely, in the assumptions that were made in the calculations.

Here’s where I think researchers went wrong: there . . .

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Rate of Change

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I spent hours looking at the data in “The Biggest Loser” study. I did numerous calculations trying to figure out where the changes in caloric use occurred that could explain the dip in resting metabolic rate that made the headlines. There are several possible explanations.

Today I’ll give you the most probable reason: the subjects lost weight too fast. The average was 4.25 pounds per week and for some, it was double that. While that can win contests, it doesn’t allow the body to adjust to the tremendous changes that should be occurring.

Think about it. There . . .

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