Biggest Weight Loss on The Biggest Loser

Fans of The Biggest Loser Show show know of the race among contestants to be the first to lose 100 pounds.

It’s a huge milestone that most of the contestants will make at some point during the show. They begin hundreds of pounds overweight. What’s amazing is how fast they can reach that 100-pound mark. This week’s episode set a new record. Moses lost 100 pounds by the sixth-week weigh in. It brought his weight down to 340 and sent his teammates jumping and punching the air. “What I’ve learned from my trainers has changed my life,” Moses told his peers. “They helped me realize that I could hit limits that I never thought I could.”

Anyone watching the show can’t help but root for this guy. He’s trying to save his life. He battles sleep apnea and high blood pressure.

Here’s what’s important to remember. This is a TV show. It might be reality TV – but that doesn’t mean the average person fighting obesity is going to lose 100 pounds from six weeks of healthy eating and exercise at home.

When contestants live on The Biggest Loser Ranch, they do nothing but exercise: treadmills, walking outside, strength-training, jogging, cycling, boxing and swimming. For hours. Every day.

Does that sound doable to you in your life? Without a trainer or a state-of-the-art gym available to you at your disposal?

Probably not.

What’s more practical is what doctors and registered dieticians tell people. Expect to lose a pound a week. It’s a reasonable pace that lets you shed weight and keep it off.

If you’ve ever watched somebody drop several pounds in a couple of weeks, you’ve probably seen that same person put it back on. Slow and steady wins the race. Unless you’re on The Biggest Loser show.

Alice Warchol is a fitness instructor and freelance health writer.