Cross-posting - Another Biggest Loser Study, with Interesting Results

Just posting this in a few spots, after reading about the fascinating research done following contestants from the Biggest Loser.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/health/biggest-loser-weigh t-loss.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0

Really interesting article and just solidifies why counting calories years out is so. Important 

I saw this earlier.  Makes me more determined to stay on track than ever.  

The struggle really IS real.  

I saw this too. I posted it on facebook and people asked if the metabolism crash was because they lost weight, or because they lost weight so quickly. Does anyone have any input on that aspect? Either way it explains a lot. I have been hanging out on WLS forums for a few weeks, waiting for my first surgeon appointment, and reading what everyone is eating on their daily posts. I have been surprised to see that even those who have been at their goal weight for a long time are eating what, to me, looks like a shockingly small amount of calories. Like, 800-1000 calories. And I think, "Why don't they become emaciated if they are eating so little??" This would explain it. 

What you really want to avoid when losing weight is losing muscle.  This causes the "metabolic crash".  The more muscle you have your body, the more calories your body uses to maintain the mass.  Depending on your height, age, and sex, you CAN get your protein requirement in eating 800-1000 calories a day.  The generic calculation is to get 0.5 to 0.7g of protein per pound of body weight.  

As a doctor at the hospital I go to explained it to me, your body monitors the protein levels in the blood.  When they drop too low, your body starts to eat muscle from itself.  She said it was best to eat your recommended protein requirement spread throughout the day to avoid the protein levels in your blood from dropping.

I've seen a few episodes of Biggest Loser and it looks to me as though everyone is under-eating and over-excercising.  I have no idea if they are watching their protein requirements.  Since it is a competition to lose pounds, regardless of where those pounds come from, I imagine people will do whatever is necessary to win, even sacrifice their protein requirement.

Because of many diets and exercises when I was younger, my metabolism was messed up way before my WLS.  That was the reason to get WLS. to get a chance to reset my low weight point. 

so far so good... 

Interesting article. Thanks for posting.

I've often wondered how the contestants did after the show.  When they get back to real life, they can't possibly have the time to exercise as much as they do on the show.  It would be difficult to keep the weight off.