I wonder...calories/biggest loser

So I'm watching Biggest Loser and it seems like they exercise about all day...and very, very intense. I wonder how many calories they are allowed to eat per day. Imagine those hard workouts what a huge "deficit" they'd have...lol. I wonder if they follow the same rules about eating enough to have a less than 100 deficit and such.  Anyone ever heard?

i swear ive read a few times they are on 1200 calories.. correct me if i am wrong though.. cause of course this is dangerous..

WOW if that's true. 1200 calories plus them being so big...plus working so hard they have to burn thousands and thousands of cals!

i know.. i think i might have read it in US weekly when they do the after stories on the contestants.. but those magazines can also be bull.. anyone know?

I suppose 1200 would be reasonable if you are cynical like me and assume the show, because it is after all, about entertainment and advertising the respective trainers exercise/diet plans would be trying to get the poor contestants to lose the largest amount of weight possible.

Think about it, I have sense contestants exercise so hard they hurt themselves - seriously, like leg splints and such. So then it isnt such a stretch to imagine that they have been put on a very strict diet and a harsh exercise plan just to get the big numbers which make the show so interesting to watch, and make the trainers look like miracle workers.

Still, lets hope they are eating more than that and I am just being silly. They do seem to work very hard, but I think I would love to be able not to have to worry about anything else but getting skinny - how much easier would weightloss be?

From watching the show, I think, that the men aim for a daily burn on their Body Bugs of 8000 and the women aim for 6000.

O_O

I don't know how much the men eat but Bob was talking to one the the female contestants and told her to hit her daily calories of 1200.

O_O

So this female contestant has a daily deficit of 4800.

Everyone please remember that this is a television show. They are supervised by doctors because what they are doing is CRAZY. They call it the Olympics of weight loss, I call it people acting crazy to make money and I'm not just talking about the contestants but also the producers.

That said the show helped give me the motivation to keep loosing weight healthfully at a rate of 1-2 lb per week.

That show is a terrible thing after which to model your own weight loss plan.  It does not show the entire day, just highlights of the most sensation worthy bits.  It's totally unrealistic and unhealthy for normal people going about their daily routines.  I can't be bothered.

If their burn is really that high, then they are burning muscle.  Here's why, from Ask Mary

I am well over 100 lbs overweight. I workout 50 minutes a day and eat 1200-1800 calories. I was doing okay, or so I thought until I read about "starvation mode". Why would my body consume lean muscle mass for energy when I have more than enough juicy fat morsels to feed on.  Surely, it must be different for me.

Answer

The body burns muscle to meet the needs of the central nervous system.  That system, which accounts for at least 20% of calories burned, can only burn glucose, a carbohydrate  The body doesn't really store glucose, but protein, from the muscles, organs tissues, and cells, can turn into glucose, while fat cannot.  Protein breakdown continues until the metabolic rate shifts to burn fewer calories from all sources.  That shift is familiarly called "starvation mode" and it is a life-sustaining adaptation. To forestall starvation mode, lose weight slowly, do muscle building exercise to offset muscle loss, and eat about 20% of your calories from protein.

This show motivates and frusterates me all at the same time. I see the people getting sad and upset over an 8 lb weight loss, or something insane like that. It definitely is not something you can attain in a real life situation....and that is why many of the former people from the show gain the weight back.....but it does make me think "if they can work out hard for HOURS...I can do it for 35 minutes!"

Pete Thomas (former contestant on the Biggest Loser) has his own website and talks alot about what they do on the show.  Not sure if he mentioned what his calorie intake was but I thought I remembered his mentioning it.  http://www.winningman.com/

I read an article about Helen (last season's winner).  She said for three weeks prior to the finale, she lived on asparagus and sugar free jello pudding.  That's it.  I think that is why many put some of the weight back on.  No one can survive on asparagus and jello forever!

I read they do a multiplier. Current weight x 7 = # of calories they can eat per day. They also work out 4-6 hours per day...I heard on one episode that they're shooting for a burn rate of 6,000 calories per day.

Most of you are right, it's totally unrealistic for everyday people, but there is something from this show to be learned. If you want to lose weight, watch what you eat and try to exercise with intensity and put in the time.

For example, we don't have to take it to their extreme, but you can consider something like eating maybe 1800 calories per day, walking for 1 hour in the morning, hitting the gym for weights one hour in the afternoon, and maybe walking for 1 hour in the evening, 6 days a week.

Even the example above is not for everyone. It varies per person, but the lesson we can learn is to stop making excuses and just do it. Stop making excuses and choose to eat properly. Stop making excuses and choose to be active. Start with something and as you improve, modify your plan accordingly.

I was watching it last night (I don't pay attention to it enough to know if what I was watching was new or a re-run) and one guy lost 15lbs in a week!  15lbs!!  That's insane!

He and his teammates had been sent home for a week to see how they did, and he was implenting healthy foods and workouts into his day.  But seriousy... 15lbs in a week?!? 

He was excited about his ability to make progress on his own, but what they didn't show on TV was the likelihood that he was laying in bed at night, wide awake from starvation, wishing he could sneak into the kitchen for a hot fudge sundae!! ;)

Original Post by bigkorean:

I read they do a multiplier. Current weight x 7 = # of calories they can eat per day. They also work out 4-6 hours per day...I heard on one episode that they're shooting for a burn rate of 6,000 calories per day.

Most of you are right, it's totally unrealistic for everyday people, but there is something from this show to be learned. If you want to lose weight, watch what you eat and try to exercise with intensity and put in the time.

For example, we don't have to take it to their extreme, but you can consider something like eating maybe 1800 calories per day, walking for 1 hour in the morning, hitting the gym for weights one hour in the afternoon, and maybe walking for 1 hour in the evening, 6 days a week.

Even the example above is not for everyone. It varies per person, but the lesson we can learn is to stop making excuses and just do it. Stop making excuses and choose to eat properly. Stop making excuses and choose to be active. Start with something and as you improve, modify your plan accordingly.

 I agree, if you just put the time and effort in, you can achieve weight loss.  I just do not like the unrealistic expectations they put out for their viewers, especially since most are not able to tell unrealistic goals from realistic ones.  Yes, it makes for good ratings, but it also makes people think that by dieting and exercising within reason, they are going to drop 200 lbs in 3 months.

They do eat 1200 / 1800 cals per day and aim for 6000 / 8000 deficit per day (women / men). They are medically supervised. I don't remember where I heard that about the calories, but it makes sense when you see how much they typically lose each week. And I see someone else posted about the same thing.

Obviously those of us in the "real world" have more realistic and more healthy weight loss goals. We should be aiming for a 500-900 calorie deficit per day, to be healthy - I think it's around there somewhere. Keeping in mind our healthy calorie minimums, of course.

I've head a lot of them gain weight before going on the show, so they can lose that weight fast. I have heard of two people getting hurt on the show. I think people will do just about anything to be on TV or win lots of money. I wonder if it's like before and after photos for diet ads, where the person actually was thin, probably a weight lifter of some kind, then gained weight because of injury. 

Thanks for the replies. I've been watching the show, and not even thinking about trying anything like that at all...I was just wondering...if they exercise that much, they could eat a TON of calories to get the "under 1000 deficit" we all aim for...yet they still eat salads, fruits, salads, fruits, and the occassional baked chicken. I was like....this doesn't really make sense. If you're exercising six hours a day why still eating so low?  I'm glad i"m not on that plan :)

If I was burning that much, you can bet I'd be eating a lot more!!! :) My brother is a competitive cyclist (amateur) and I have several marathon runners in my family. There are days they burn 3000 - 6000 a day, easily. But they are also eating back most of those calories too.

My brother can eat so much food in one sitting, it's mind boggling. But when he burns 3000 in one ride, he can easily eat 3000 in one meal.... he's also more fit than he has ever been at the age of 32. Pretty cool.

I have heard all the same numbers that other people have posted as far as burn rate and calories per day but I have also heard Jillian mention that they have 1 "cheat" day a week to keep their bodies from going into the starvation mode.  I don't know how many calories they are allowed to have on those days.

I'm not saying that I agree with all of the methods used on biggest loser, but you all have to remember that the contestents on this show are severely OBESE.. like 300, 400 pounds! Although their strategies are a little extreme, they are being supervised at all times by medical profesionals.... and in my opinion, the damage of being obese FAR outweights the damage of losing that extra weight maybe too quickly. I think it's better to have them lose a bunch of weight and be in a healthy range and then even if they gain a few pounds after the show, they wouldn't be obese. Does that make sense at all?

Yes, there are risks involved with gastric bypass too. It's not ideal, but it's better than nothing :).

Below is a link that includes excerpts of an email from a former contestant. Calorie targets aren't provided, but the contestant does say they were taught to eat enough to support all the exercise they did. Also highlights that a TV "week" doesn't always mean 7 days...

http://drcjfitness.wordpress.com/2008/01/07/b iggest-loser-behind-the-scenes/