In those six years, the contestants’ bodies were actually working against them, says Hall. As they dropped those initial pounds on the show, their metabolisms drastically slowed (a natural, expected occurrence), but never sped back up afterwards.
In fact, their metabolisms became even slower, making it harder for these contestants to burn calories while their bodies were at rest. This required them to eat less to maintain that new weight, compared to other people their size.
In fact, their metabolisms became even slower, making it harder for these contestants to burn calories while their bodies were at rest. This required them to eat less to maintain that new weight, compared to other people their size.
Danny Cahill, who was crowned the winner after losing an astonishing 239 pounds, regained over 100 pounds after his season wrapped. Now, six years later, he has to eat 800 calories less per day than a typical man his size just to maintain his current weight of 295 pounds.
Amanda Arlauskas, another contestant on the show, gained 13 pounds since the finale (she started at 250, then shrunk to 163), but now burns 591.1 fewer cals per day than the average woman her size.
Amanda Arlauskas, another contestant on the show, gained 13 pounds since the finale (she started at 250, then shrunk to 163), but now burns 591.1 fewer cals per day than the average woman her size.
Another unexpected drawback: The contestants’ levels of leptin, a hormone that controls hunger, plummeted during the competition and never completely recovered post-show, reports the Times.
A lack of leptin boosts your desire to eat, which helps explain why most of the contestants said they struggle even more now with hunger, cravings, and binges. Many gained all of their weight back, and some even surpassed their "before" weight on The Biggest Loser.
A lack of leptin boosts your desire to eat, which helps explain why most of the contestants said they struggle even more now with hunger, cravings, and binges. Many gained all of their weight back, and some even surpassed their "before" weight on The Biggest Loser.
"Studies have shown that dieting on and off can wreak havoc on the metabolism," says Keri Gans, R.D., author of The Small Change Diet. “These contestants lose so much weight so quickly that, from a nutrition standpoint, I would never recommend it,” she says.
So what’s the key to losing weight, keeping it off, and avoiding these scary dips in metabolism and leptin? Gans says she suspects the answer lies in taking your time. “Losing weight should be a change in lifestyle. It has to be a slow, gradual process of losing one to two pounds a week."
While that sounds like nothing compared to what the Biggest Loser contestants do, getting healthy isn't about losing weight quickly it’s about keeping it off in the long term.
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