January 21, 2010

Any other Biggest Loser addicts out there?

Last year I blogged about my love-hate relationship with The Biggest Loser. For me, it’s like a six-car pile up on the highway. It turns my stomach yet I can’t help but watch! If you want to read a bitch session about The Biggest Loser, read that blog.

So I’ve torn it down but now I am ready to sing its praises. Maybe it’s those postpartum hormones turning me into jelly but I feel like there is some merit in this show and I know there are lots of other Yummy Mummies out there who, just like me, can’t wait for those two hours of blood, sweat and tears each week. A show like this can not only inspire but teach – the only trouble is that lessons edited for television audiences and designed to fit in between commercial breaks can leave some questions.

Want to put some of the Biggest Loser lessons into practise but not quite clear on what exactly they’re doing on that big, crazy ranch?  I present for your education... The Biggest Lessons from the Biggest Loser: Week 3

Ha ha... we’re starting with week 3 because, with Sweaty Baby and Sweaty Kid sick for the last couple of weeks, I was a bit behind on my Biggest Loser viewing and my blogging. Not to mention my laundry. And my vacuuming. And my shopping...

“Throwing the Weigh In”

First of all, what a week! Don’t you love these blowouts? I mean, come on! What trainer really yells at a client like this?

So why is Jillian so pissed off? What does it mean when she accuses Melissa of “throwing the weigh in?” Well, Melissa knows her weight loss won’t count this week (ditto last week, since she had immunity at the weigh in) so she does one of two things to cheat:

(a) fills up on water immediately before the weigh in to appear as if she hasn’t lost much weight this week;or

(b) slacks off and/or eats too much so she doesn’t lose very much weight this week.

The question is, why?

(a) If she really has been doing as she’s been told and eating very little while exercising several hours per day, it is impossible for her to lose only 1 pound, especially this early in her program. Pick up your water bottle and feel how heavy water really is – by consuming a few litres of water before the weigh in (and not peeing it out, of course), the extra weight in her stomach will make it appear as if she weighs more than she does. The following week, the weight from her week 3 weigh in (which is inaccurate, if she has a stomach full of water) will be used as her starting point and her weight loss will appear to be larger than it really is in week 4. Next week the scale will reflect the week 3 loss plus the week 4 loss.

(b) If she slacks off, she allows her body to relax and become comfortable. She eats a lot and gives her body a sense of security that encourages it to raise her metabolism. Dieting causes weight loss only because the calories consumed are fewer than the calories spent that day, week, month, etc. When the body begins to lose weight, the smaller body requires fewer calories (has a lower metabolism) and the brain also decreases the body’s performance ever so slightly to conserve calories because it reads the diet as a famine. So Melissa will shock her body next week by training and dieting extra hard after a couple of weeks of slacking off, earning herself what should be an impressive weight loss in one week. The reason the contestants lose so much weight in the first week on the ranch is because of the shock to their systems; Melissa will recreate this shock in week 3 if she has slacked off for the 2 prior weeks.

The lesson: you must shock your body when you’re trying to lose fat. Don’t consume the exact same calories and do the exact same exercise every day, day in, day out. The body will acclimatize to your routines, lower your metabolism to help prevent further fat loss and learn the exercises you are using in order to develop movement patterns (or “cheats”) that are not quite correct but save calories. If you’re calorie counting, for example, you might try alternating between a diet of 1500 and 1800 calories. For your workout program, you should use a variety of forms of cardio and use interval training while doing cardio, plus vary the strength training exercises that you do from workout to workout.

So, which strategy do I think Melissa is using?

I think she has thrown the weigh in – I agree with Bob and Jillian. I believe it is most likely she has “stacked the deck” by filling her tummy with water before the weigh in. Melissa is a lawyer – she’s a smart cookie. She knows whatever weight loss she has this week will only show up on the scale next week and will be added to next week’s total for a huge weight loss that will guarantee she stays on the ranch one more week.

And given the way she’s playing the game, that’s probably a good strategy on her part. Because I have a feeling the other contestants are just waiting to kick her smart ass off the show...

See you next week!

Labels/Tags: Dara Duff-Bergeron, Sweaty Mummy, Belly Bootcamp, Fit Family, personal trainer toronto, pre postnatal fitness, The Biggest Loser, weight loss, exercise, fitness

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