Speaking of Weight Loss, who saw Larry King lastnight?

[alansrock]

Erik, the winner from the Biggest Loser, Season 3 was on there and he has gained back like half of what he lost. He looked amazing when he won and I was so sad to see him overweight again. Makes me wonder about the other contestants on the show...

ETA this link from the TODAY SHOW (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28239000/) that shows some then and nows from the show!

[BrattyMeg]

Ryan, the Season 1 winner has gained all of his back...Bob said so on this season's show...

Kai HATES TBL...she's very vocal about it on her myspace.

Marty and Amy have gained a little too...I see them in mags and stuf fall the time..Amy is pregnant right now though.

Matt that married Suzy..has gained a good bit of his as well...(he won season 2--and Suzy has had 2 little boys since the show...)

Ali is still skinny...saw her on QVC this weekend lol

[SamaraGugler]

THis is why habits are SOOOO important. You will gain the weight back if you don't change the habits. This scares the crap out of me. I'm on a journey to lose about 100 lbs. I don't want it back, not at all. When I'm done with my strict diet plan and enter maintence, I'm joining weight watchers. The more I think of my weight, the more I think of other "additions." I'm not a food addict per say, but addicted to comfort and convenience. Alcoholics don't just stop going to their AA meetings and when they do, they slip. I know that I totally have to be held accountable for my weight. One day at a time, one day at a time. :)

I had no plan on writing those personal thoughts. They just sort of came out of nowhere, however it feels good to get them down!

[BrattyMeg]

Great point Samara..it works both ways too..I've been pretty weight obsessive since my early teens...OBSESSIVE...my hubby has to hide the scale b/c I don't have the right body image mindset...If I see a number I don't like, I can be (and have been in the past) pretty drastic in my goals toward achieving the results I want. You can be healthy and NOT be skinny just as you can also be skinny and be unhealthy. I do think it's VERY important to get to the underlying problem of why people eat or don't eat if it's a comfort issue or what. It does no good to do the hard work and stick to the strict diets if when you get to the number/body size you want, to say yay I'm here, now I'm done..I think AFTER you are where you want to be is when the hard work starts.

[scrapmonkey]

I didn't see it, but I remember hearing something Bob said last season (I think)on the Biggest Loser to the contestants about one of them gaining his weight back after he got home for good. Having been down that route (losing a bunch of weight, keeping it off for a while, then gaining it back and then some), I know he must be frustrated and disappointed in himself. It's an easy thing to fall off the weight wagon. That is the only thing I don't like about the show - it teaches them how to lose weight and a lot of it, but you never see them talking about maintaining the weight loss once you're done losing. To me, that's really the hardest part. There's the constant adjusting to where you're not losing nor are you gaining and then being in that different mindset and still adapting to life's events...

[BrattyMeg]

I don't know if it's that they don't teach them..they just aren't good at showing the viewers what they teach them. We see the lame ads all the time, eat jello for a quick lo cal snack..etc lol Some losers have been successful outside the house. We have to remember they take 7-24hr days of taping and put them into 1-2 hours. That's a lot of content to miss out on. Kai, Heather, Ali are examples of ladies doing great at maintaining their new sizes and teaching others along the way on how to do it.

[SamaraGugler]

We are two ends of the spectrum. :)

When I'm not concerned about my weight, I honestly have NO idea how much I weigh. That's why I know that being accountable is so important. I like to live in denial. :( If I never step on that scale, then I can't really be this fat, right???

When I am focused on my weight, I'm a daily weigher. I honestly think that this might be something that I have to do for the rest of my life. It keeps me focused with my goal in mind.

[SamaraGugler]

It kinda saddens me. I mean, they SHOULD be following these people. Give 'em something useful like a lifetime membership to the gym and weight watchers. I guess people are responsible for their own actions and all, but if this show is really about losing the weight, give them tools to keep it off in the real world, not the fantasy world of being able work out all day, have a chef preparing your lo-cal meals, not having to worry about children, work, marriage, etc. (holy crap that was a HUGE run-on).

[scrapmonkey]

They should do a follow-up show - the biggest maintainer. LOL. I would love to see some of the people that may not have won the Biggest Loser or maybe even been in the top 3, but may have lost the weight over a longer period of time and kept it off and share on TV their secrets. Maybe a contest to see who kept closest to their goal weight/size?
You're right Meghan, they may have taught maintenance, but they don't really show those and I know part of it is because of the time constraint. And I doubt they are one-on-one with the trainers during that time like they are when they are competing. Once the contest over, what are you doing the hard work for? That's why I think Bob got on Vicky's case last season - it seemed to him like she was doing it to win the contest, but what would motivate her once the contest was done? He did try to focus her on the right reasons to be losing/keeping the weight off.

[Shawna Clingerman]

Samara, I loved what you said about the whole lifetime thing... i think it is so important to remember, I too think about that a lot, and I'm determined to do the work it takes to STAY down where i want so i don't spend my whole flipping life teetertottering.

Great thread.

[crecia27]

Ryan, the Season 1 winner has gained all of his back...Bob said so on this season's show...

Kai HATES TBL...she's very vocal about it on her myspace.

Marty and Amy have gained a little too...I see them in mags and stuf fall the time..Amy is pregnant right now though.

Matt that married Suzy..has gained a good bit of his as well...(he won season 2--and Suzy has had 2 little boys since the show...)

Ali is still skinny...saw her on QVC this weekend lol

What does Kai hate about it?

[alansrock]

What does Kai hate about it?

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=127168868&blogID=345720637

[KristinCB]

I think one of the flaws of the biggest loser is that the weight loss is SO drastic and people do whatever they can so that they can win.. if you read some of kai's entries you will see that not everything that was done is healthy. I'm sure that the top 4 who go home to compete in the finale don't always follow smart habits. They work out for 5-6 hours a day when they are at the ranch and going for the prize and when life gets back to normal and they have to go back to work and don't have all the time to spend in the gym your body is going to react to that. This is why slow and steady is key.. i've yet to ever do the weight loss thing properly myself but i'm hoping that this year i will finally get it figured out instead of just losing way to fast and then having trouble maintaining. The losing is the easy part I think but the keeping it off is something that I haven't figured out yet :)

[sammi]

We are two ends of the spectrum. :)

When I'm not concerned about my weight, I honestly have NO idea how much I weigh. That's why I know that being accountable is so important. I like to live in denial. :( If I never step on that scale, then I can't really be this fat, right???

When I am focused on my weight, I'm a daily weigher. I honestly think that this might be something that I have to do for the rest of my life. It keeps me focused with my goal in mind.

This is totally me Samara!

[alansrock]

I think one of the flaws of the biggest loser is that the weight loss is SO drastic and people do whatever they can so that they can win......

ITA, they are losing just to win instead of losing it for life! They say a 1 lb a week is what is healthy when you don't have over 100 lbs to lose. Diet & exercise have to be a part of this you can't lose weight if you don't change things.

I've changed how & what I eat. I cut cheese, butter & oils and I am not eating a lot of bread BUT I did increase my protein intake and eat steak over chicken because protein builds muscles! I drink ONE soda once a week and otherwise I drink water with lime and diluted crystal light. And I give myself one "fat" day a week where calories and fat don't count that day. But honestly since I have changed how I eat those fat days aren't even that bad for the most part. In the beginning (the 1st 6-wks) I was working out 5 times a week and after that 1st 6-wks it was just 3-times a week and I have consistently lost weight.

I had to find a realistic fit for me and one that I could stick too! I've cheated a little here and there and the thing is I haven't gained weight so remember it's ok to reward yourself and it's ok to modify what you do...THIS IS FOR YOU so do whatever you have to to make it work for you!

[cheltzey]

Wow--that link to Kai's page was extremely interesting. I can't believe all the dehydration tactics, although they didn't surprise me. It's sad to hear that Erik's gained so much weight back. I was really cheering for him.