The Biggest Loser: Where Are They Now?
I remember watching the first season of the network show, "The Biggest Loser" and being amazed as participants would weigh-in each week and lose 10-25 pounds a week.
Season after season the show continues to wow its viewers, but is the dramatic weight loss permanent after the show is over?
Ryan Benson: Season 1
In one season, he was able to lose a staggering 122 pounds!
So how is Ryan Benson doing these days?
A recent article in Time magazine checked in with some of the former "Biggest Loser" winners, including Benson who has gained back roughly 90 pounds after the show was over.
He claims that as soon as the show was over, he regained "32 pounds in 5 days simply by drinking water." This is incredible and points to the fact that when any person loses weight rapidly, (faster than 1-2 pounds a week) normally the weight loss is mostly due to water loss.
Kelly Miner: Season 1 Runner Up
Kai Hibbard, consumed only sugar-free Jello and asparagus for several days along with jumping in and out of a sauna for six hours prior to the final weigh-in.
Where is Kelly Minner Now?
One former participant who is still losing weight after losing the show is Kelly Minner.
The first-season runner-up went from "242 lbs. to 163 lbs. by the finale and now weighs 140 lbs."
Matt and Suzy Hoover: Season 2
He lost 157 pounds and she lost 95 pounds but have since gained some of the weight back.
They aren't giving up though and are continuing on the weight loss journey.
Erik Chopin: Season 3
Although he had one of the most dramatic weight losses in the show's history, he gained most of the weight back.
He weighed 407 pounds before the show and returned to 368 pounds after the show.
Bill Germanakos: Season 4
He lost 164 pounds on The Biggest Loser and only gained 37 pounds back after the show.
He's now a spinning instructor.
Ali Vincent: Season 5
She was the first female to win on the show with a 112 pound weight loss. She managed to maintain the weight after the show.
This weight loss launched her new career with her own book and website.
Michelle Aguilar: Season 6
She weighed 242 pounds at the beginning of the show and 132 pounds at the end to claim the prize.
However, she doesn't disclose what she now weighs. Never ask a woman her weight, I guess.
Helen Phillips: Season 7
Helen lost 140 pounds on the show and only gained back 18 pounds.
She now works to end childhood obesity.
Danny Cahill: Season 8
Danny lost a whopping 239 pounds to win season 8 and he has kept most of the weight off since.
He is now a motivational weight loss speaker that travels the country.
Michael Ventrella
He started at 526 pounds and weighed 262 pounds at the show's finale.
He now weighs 289 pounds.
Patrick House
Patrick only weighs 16 pounds more than he did when he won The Biggest Loser and has been working on building muscle.
He now works with overweight teens.
Olivia Ward: Season 11
She started The Biggest Loser weighing 261 pounds and then dropped to 132 to claim the show's title.
Now she's just 10 pounds heavier and appears regularly on the Dr. Drew Show as a weight loss guru along with her sister Hannah.
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135 Comments
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Created / Updated: January 8, 2012
When we lose weight fast, we again are sure to get it back at a fast pace. The weight we lose in a fast way is more of water weight. So losing weight fast is not going to help us in any way. We have to make life time changes to be able to lose it forever.
ReplyThat is beyond ignorant. These contestants are burning copious amounts of fat. They do not lose an average of 80 pounds per contestant of WATER. Granted they are likely going to gain water weight once they tone down the excercise routine. But they now have large amounts of muscle tissue replacing fat and burning fat itself and they will NOT naturally gain the weight back.
ReplyI agree, you dont gain the weight back fast if you lose it fast, im proof of that. The majority of weight loss is water weight but also fat loss and muscle gain, it all factors in together. Gaining weight back is ONLY from lack of exercise and eating fatty foods.... period.... you must stay disciplined and have the wilpower to live healthy, if not you will fail at your weight loss.
ReplyYes, lets make this clear for everyone, If you gain 90 lbs under any circumstance, than you EAT TOO MUCH FOOD. People can blame the biggest loser all they want. To imply that the large amounts of weight lost is "mostly water weight" is flat out wrong.
ReplyI thought the same thing Jay. If a person gained 30 something pounds of water in a matter of days they would likely die. That made no sense whatsoever to me.
ReplyFirst, if you are maintaining a 1500+ daily calorie defecit, you are gaining no muscle, you are losing it.
Your body is cannibalizing itself for energy, it will not be using the precious nutrients it's taking in to produce new muscle tissue when it's constantly eating muscle tissue to survive.
If you feel stronger, or think you are getting muscle size, it's your vascular system making the energy consumption by your muscles more effcient and then expansion of veins and arteries to deliver blood and oxygen better for more efficienty energy creation.
Second, the guy said he gained 32 lbs in 5 days. That's water weight. In order for that to be "bad eating", he would have had to consume 112,000 calories (3500 cals per lb of fat x 32) in those 5 days. If you spent all day wolfing down the filthiest pasta or meat covered pizza, you would still could not accomplish that kind of calorie intake.
Think of professional fighters. They fight according to weight class. Light-heavyweights fight at 205 lbs, these guys walk around at 225+ lbs. They cut 20lbs in as little as a week to make the weigh-in. That's ALL water weight. These guys are already at 8-10% body fat, it's not possible for them to drop more than 2-3 lbs of fat in a week.
You people are seriously deluding yourselves if you think these people are losing 10-20lbs of fat every week. Do they lost a lot of fat? Yes, they lose a lot of everything (fat, muscle, water, blood density) as their bodies tear themselves up trying to maintain. Realistically they are going to gain back at least 40% of the weight almost immediately as soon as they stop working out 8+ hours a day and dehydrating themselves.
Replyso true, if that was all water ,they would all die of dehydration. Kinda like how some women gain 60 pounds while pregnant and say its all "baby" weight.
ReplyI also often wondered what the producers of "The Biggest Loser" weren't revealing during the course of a season. It seemed to me that the dramatic weekly weight losses had to result from excessive dieting and exercise that would be unrealistic in "real" life. Sure enough, many contestants went on to regain most, if not all, of the weight they lost. Additionally, I would imagine that such a huge weight loss and gain in a short amount of time taxes the heart and cannot possibly be healthy.
As a woman of normal weight who nonetheless bought into the media's unrealistic standards of beauty and have tried every weight-loss method since my teens, I finally learned that there is no magic formula, no pill, shake or special diet to replace the tried-and-true eat less (or at least cut back on the bad stuff) and increase your activity. I also learned that my body favors a certain weight and cannot be forced into maintaining weight less than its ideal for very long.
It would be great if more people woke up to this fact; unfortunately the way "Alli" is flying off the store shelves shows we have a painfully long way to go.
ReplyWhat some people seem to be forgetting is these BL contestants are not healthy people to start with. Many of these contestants have MANY health problems already. So people questioning the drastic methods used by the show, and how they may be unhealthy are forgetting to weigh the risk vs reward. Would a healthy person ever consider cutting off a limb??? No, obviously! However what if the limb had an infection that would spread rapidly and possibly kill you, then would you consider amputation? Yes. This is risk vs reward. So if you were a healthy 180 lbs man would you consider going on a show that works you out 8 hours a day and restricts what you eat??? prolly not. However if you are 400lbs, being told by your doctor you have type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, early signs of heart disease, a Fatty liver and will die MUCH younger than you should then would you do the 8 hour workouts and live somewhere that restricts your food??? YES! I can't believe Doctors are putting down this show, it has to be safer than having part of your stomach surgically removed, which is what MANY doctors suggest to obese patients. Now on to the contestants that put the weight back on...um show me something with 100% success rate...you can't. BL contestants have a weight PROBLEM, thusly some that leave the show will STILL have the problem. If ya sent an alcoholic to rehab, if the day he leaves he goes back to the bar, he will more than likely start drinking. It requires A LOT of hard work to maintain weight loss, some may put some weight back on, let's not put them down, lets realize they have a problem and help them!!!
ReplyThis is the problem with rapid weight loss and unnatural methods. Of course they are going to regain, unless they keep up the drastic measures that they began with-and then how healthy can they really stay long term? When I lost my weight (initially 40 lbs), I lost it at a rate of about 1/2 a pound a week. I did it with exercise and a change in diet. No pills, no diet drinks, none of that. It drove me nuts that it was taking so long. But guess what? It's stayed off with very little effort--in fact I've dropped an additional 20 without really trying at all. I'm now at a good weight for my height and I know that as long as I don't start "supersizing" my meals again, I'm not going to regain it.
ReplyLosing weight is the easy part, keeping it off is what's hard. Not only that, but fat cells don't go away after losing weight, they just shrink. Pretty soon those fat cells start yelling at you to eat. "EAT! EAT! EAT!" After so long of that yelling in your head, you break down and after awhile, you've gained it all back and your fat cells have replenished and multiplied.
Happy 4th of July!
Mr. F.
ReplyFat cells don't yell EAT EAT EAT it's your head and your emotions that yell EAT EAT EAT, get a handle on what's making you overeat, understand that by eating every 3 hours to keep up your metabolism and so you're not starving is the trick. Don't forget these contestants on the show were playing the game to try to win the money. There were people who didn't end up the winners of the money that still lost a lot of weight and won back their health.
ReplyAnatomy&Physiology 101 fat cells do not multiply. Believe it or not an 800 pound person has just as many fat cells as an 80 pound person (unless cells have been removed through liposuction). The cells simply expand and shrink.
ReplyYou are wrong, fat cells do multiply upon fat gain...WHAT text book are you reading?
ReplyBio Life Science Major here: I second this. Fat cells absolutely do multiply/increase in number with increased fat storage. Kicker: once they're there, they NEVER go away. That's one of the reasons why it's so hard for individuals prone to weight problems to keep weight off.
ReplyWow, Ryan gained back 90 lbs?? That's incredible. Well, not really I guess. I suppose I'd gain back weight if I went from being kicked in the butt by Bob and Jillian every day and eating nothing but fish and veggies back to a normal life too. Right now, I'm working out about 2-3 hours a day most days because I'm training for a marathon, but it's not realistic to expect most people to work out that much. And although I'm very careful about not getting hurt, anything can happen and you have to be prepared. I always did wonder how those people managed to lose like, 12 lbs a week. I figured it had to be mostly water because they were eating really clean and working out so much.
ReplyCongrats on your success, ayse! I think people need to realize that it can be done - without fads, starvation or extremes. Hopefully it will be your message - and other messages like yours that will burst through the hype of faddish and unrealistic weight loss.
Since the shows inception, I have always felt it to be a travesty that the person who loses the most scale weight wins. Did anyone else notice that those who lost the least actually looked the best? They looked like they had some lean tissue, no lose skin, etc. I wonder if they did a follow-up with the "losers" of "the biggest loser" - I would be willing to bet that they didn't gain as much of their weight back.
In short, the show is just another vehicle for promoting unrealistic expectations on a desperate and unsuspecting public.
ReplySomeone who has 200 pounds to lose and already has major health problems like diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol does not have the almost 4 years it would take to lose the weight if all they lost was one pound a week. Besides, most people regain weight even if they have been losing slowly a pound or two a week.. there are millions of Weight Wachers who do not lose that much a week and yet they still regain because they are unable to eat healthy and keep up the regular activity.
ReplyI don't really think gaining back 90 pounds is a success, regardless of the thirty pounds he is still down. Sure, he is better off, but gaining such a huge amount of weight rather than maintaining... :/
ReplyFast losing weight through dehydration really hurts our body. And I can't see any benefits except promoting programs or products.
The point of losing weight is losing fats. Maybe we should start to use the terms "fat loss" instead "weight loss".
Losing water to lose weight is very easy and fast. Convert fatty acids to energy takes time and it takes lots of vitamin and nutrition.
So, for people who really heading to lose weight. Give yourself at least 1 month. Do light exercise and eat more vegetables and fruits. It's more easy and it's effective!
ReplyI was always a little upset at the fact that the contestants of the biggest loser lost so much weight so fast and that it sent a message that that kind of weight loss was reasonable
and expected.
Weight loss isn't the goal, fat loss should be the proper goal. You lose much more than 2 pounds per week without losing lean body mass.
And on a completely different subject I love how diet blog automatically resizes the page to fit the screen size. It looks and reads great from my iPhone, from which I am posting this comment. I love that I can read diet blog anywhere at anytime!
ReplyShe has to exercise four hours a day to stay at a healthy weight? Why? How much does she eat? I don't really understand, why is it that people who have always been thin often are able to maintain their low weight by never exercising and simply eating in moderation, while people who used to be overweight have to be extreme dieters and exercisers to maintain their wieght? All the people I hear about who used to be obese and are now healthy exercise obsessivly and eat 1400 calores a day or less. It seems like they should constanty be losing at a rapid rate.
ReplyI eat about 2300 calories a day, workout 60-90 minutes a day on average, and have maintained a loss of 100 pounds since 2002. I'm a personal trainer now helping others lose in a HEALTHY way.
BL disgusts me. Fitness should be fun. Weight loss should be sane. It CAN be done in moderation...I did it and I know hundreds of people who have or are doing it without resorting to dangerous activities.
I remember reading an interview with Suzy who was runner up (married Matt). She was so dehydrated the day of the final weigh in she could hardly stand. I'm sorry, that's criminal to drive someone to that type of behavior.
Another season I watched when someone water-logged (drank gallons of water) to gain on the show so that someone else wouldn't be voted off. He should have been let off the show that night. That can be DEADLY! I'm surprised the idiot producers allowed it. (Look up Hyponeutrenia, or water poisoning. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing.)
Last year BL had auditions for new trainers and people urged me to apply because of my story. No way. They wouldn't want me any how (haven't been a trainer that long, don't look good in a skimpy outfit as 100 lbs does stretch that skin). I just simply do NOT agree with their exploitation of people who are desperate.
ReplyWhat is your age, weight and height? I am 56yrs, 5ft 1 inch and exercise 60-90 mins 6 days. I always see the calorie counter on-line where my calorie intake is a lot less to lose some weight.
ReplyHow can you say biggest loser disgusts you. If you actually look at what the show is trying to do you will realise it is trying to teach obese people that they can not go on the way they are. You need to exercise and change what you eat and change you life style. Yes they may do it in a extreme way but all the principles are there. These people put weight back on because they have no will power, you wake up in the morning and choose your own attitude this also means you choose what you want to shove in your mouth.
ReplyIt's because calories in - calories out is completely untrue. I'm formerly obese and right now the amount I have to eat (not eat) to maintain my healthy weight (140 @ 5'7'') is scandalously low. I have fat people genes and always will, and feel like it's probably inevitable that I will regain some weight, if not all of it. It feels really hopeless. I'm telling myself to enjoy it while it lasts.
This article is so depressing and not at all surprising. Well, a little surprising, I would have guessed they'd regain, but am horrified by how much and how rapidly it all came back. I guess they're not doing their contestants any service at all.
ReplyCalories in calories out is completely true. When obese people are monitored in study after study they eat way more then they admit to or even realize. When they are strictly monitored they lose weight the same as every-one else. Obesity is a lot different from being a bit over weight. It's a genetic problem and not one of metabolism but inaccurate signals from your body to eat. Obese people feel much more hungry and feel that way much more often. That feeling causes an addiction to food that is nearly impossible to break. Statistics show that approxamately 1 in 1000 obese people who lose weight are able to keep the weight off over 5 years. I think it's an absolute travesty that people in this country see obesity as a lack of control instead of the genetic abnormality that it truly is. Even worse, they've convinced a generation of people that obesity is a mental disorder of convergence. Certainly, people who have issues with food eat more whan they are stressed but they do that because they are adidcted to food due to a genetic abnormality, not because they are mentally ill. There are a only 2 ways a person can lose weight associated with obesity and hope to keep it off, Gastric bypass or a lap band system. I see it this way, if my child was born with any other genetic abnormality that affected their long term health and emotional happiness I would get them the surgery to fix that proplem as soon as I could. Obesity should be no different. These people need real medical intervention, not blame or completely unrealistic eating plans that cause them to be tortured by hunger every day of their life in exchange for a healthy body.
ReplyI'm glad the biggest loser is there to show people how to eat healthy and that you need to exercise but it's not the real cure for the obese. It's how they need to live AFTER the extreme hunger caused by genetics is removed surgically.
I think that you have been fooled by the FDA. How many people get gastric bypass surgery to lose weight and it doesn't work. My dad had the lap band surgery done and he didn't lose any weight until he started to manage his food intake and start exercising. SURGERY is an un-necessary bad solution to a problem that can be controlled with eating healthy and exercising. Not necessarily to the extreme they do on the biggest loser but a healthy exercise. This world is so brain washed by the government making people think that surgery and drugs solve every health issue. Why not eat healthy and MOVE to lose weight. Such an easy concept yet hard to do for some people myself included. Yes I have been overweight my entire life, I have never been skinny. I know what I need to do to lose my weight but so far I have chosen not to do it for more than one reason.
ReplyIf this is true, then why, for example, do countries like Norway have an almost nonexistent obese or diabetic population? Obesity can be mapped around the world, and there is an undeniable correlation between lifestyle and obesity rates. Norway has very little fast food, and a general lifestyle tendency towards physical activity (lots of walking, etc.) and what are actually normal sized meals that many overweight Americans would consider mini appetizers. Lots of veggies and fish, no fries, chips and pizza.
The scary news is that in a few cities, as Mickey Dees and others are invading and selling their toxic fat-laden wares in enormous portions, a few obese Norwegians are popping up, and are just beginning to emulate their fat American counterparts in claiming, "I can't help it!" Even though it's a horrible first for their (my) country, suddenly we're supposed to believe that it's some sudden, unavoidable 'genetic' disorder. True genetic metabolism disorders are incredibly rare.
And strangely enough, closer to home, the Amish almost never get fat. They eat lots and physically work lots more. The heavier ones tend to be women who do more sitting and sewing and such.
ReplyOMG, there is no truth in anything you say! The only effective way to lose weight is surgery? You believe this huh? BTW, caloric energy in = energy out + heat comes from Einstein's equations of mass and energy, so I suppose he was wrong to huh? Go ahead Laura let someone take a knife to your stomach because your convinced its the safe way to lose weight! Your a surgeon's dream come true!
ReplyLaura, I personally think that...well, you're an idiot. If food is an addiction, which I personally know that it is, then there isn't a way to "fix" the problem, especially not dangerous surgeries for which people aren't mentally prepared, who in turn severely damage their bodies irreparably. The only way to deal with the problem is to do just that, DEAL WITH IT. Mentally, emotionally, and physically. Don't get me wrong, lapbanding and bypass are certainly viable options for some people...but much like alcoholism, food addiction in best CONTROLLED, because those that have dealt with it (like me) know that it'll never be FIXED. It's one mouthfull at a time, making the right choices for the right reasons, dealing with the whys of your self-destruction, and making yourself realize you're better than that. Hard work, determination, and self-worth are the only ways to keep the addiction in check. It's a daily battle within oneself, not a crooked nose or uneven breasts to be dealt with in an operating room.
ReplyI cannot believe you think obesity can only be cured by surgery. I am living proof that what you just said is completely 100% false. I am 22 years old.. 5'10". In Mid-May, I weighed 240 lbs, which was on the high end of obesity (close to morbidly obese). Now, just under 5 months later, I weigh 202 lbs. I have done this by watching what I eat (Weight Watchers!) and working out 45-50 minutes 3 times a week (walking & running on the treadmill). I am 52 lbs away from my goal weight (150) and I now know it CAN be done with healthy eating and exercising!
ReplyPeople have a predetermined number of fat cells that shrink and grow based on calories in/out... once you exceed the capacity of these cells they signal the body to produce more fat cells. Unfortunately it doesn't work the other way around... when you lose weight those extra cells that were created when the threshold was exceeded do not go away. This is part of why sustained weightloss is difficult...
Reply1-4 hours a day isn't too ridiculous. Most people spend a lot of times on other things that would be that much time. I mean, to get your cardio in, and weight training? That can take up time. You want 1+ hours of cardio (at least, I do.) A 20 mile training run, for me, takes near 4 hours by itself.
Replya regular full time job usually spent 9 hours (including commute) at work, cannot image how can anyone be able to spend another 4 hours doing the exercise?
Replyhere is a start, how much tv do you honest watch each night?
ReplyI spend 12 hrs for work + commute. On top of it I do excercise for an hour 5 days a week. Where there is a will there is a way. Convert 30-40% of your food intake to uncooked/raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and cereals, Reduce your red meat, liquor & Caffine intake this will reduce your sleep time.
ReplyI have to agree. I do not think 1-4 hours is ridiculous. Distance training REQUIRES that you build up your endurance. I know for me, a 13 mile run used to take me 2-2.5 hours. That was not including weight training. It might not be conventional for ALL people who work out, but you have to remember, these people have worked out 6-8 hours a day. 1-4 hours is like a damn vacation! And there is a certain amount of dedication required to maintain the weight loss. If you think you are going to keep off 100 pounds by a 30 minute walk a day, you are nuts. I am living proof of that.
Replywhat's sad is that the show doesn't examine what has happened to these past contestants....what these people HAD to do in order to win a show about losing weight. remember: they don't get the prize for being healthy, they get the reward ONLY for lowering the numbers on the scale and in their BMI.
Last season's runner-up, Kai Hibbard, 28, an aerobics instructor in Alaska who says she spent the night before her final weigh-in hopping in and out of a sauna for six hours, consumed only sugar-free Jell-O for several days and wolfed down asparagus, which is a natural diuretic. "It's amazing the things you learn in a weight-loss competition," she says.
wow - just IMAGINE if that tidbit was shared with the viewing audience before her weigh in. imagine if a show that is supposed to champion a healthy lifestyle let the viewers know exactly how kai got her weight down before weigh-in. i wonder if the show would examine the long term effects of overweight and obese adults going on crash diets like this (i really don't care that they are medically supervised...if that was the case, why did kai have to go to those lengths?) and then eventually gaining the weight back like ryan. and truly, how could any of us fault the guy for gaining most of the weight back? the show put him in a surreal situation that doesn't exist in his everyday life. it's hard to find 2-3 hours to work out every day AND have all of your meals specially made...even celebrities have a tough time and they have the means to PAY FOR IT ALL (trainers, meals, gyms). are these people professional jockeys/olympic wrestlers or are they supposed to be embracing a healthy lifestyle?
i always found the people who didn't win the competition to be the most inspiring...many of them go on to lose weight and do so while living their normal lives. that, to me, is far more inspiring than the actual winners.
i have overheard people say that they watch the show because it inspires them. too bad the truth isn't as inspiring as the reality show editors make it out to be.
ReplyThis is very sad that they did not learn good habits to keep it up, but this is not surprising given the show is really about entertainment.
1-4 hours of exercise is not unreasonable. I don't have time during the week to exercise for 1 hour blocks straight, however, I get a minimum of 1.5 hours of exercise Monday through Friday, then 4 hours on Saturday and Sunday. This adds to about 15.5 per week, out of the approximate 119 hours a week that I am awake. Approximately 13% of the time I am awake is dedicated to exercise per week.
I do high intensity cardio (heart rate of 75% of max) for 30 minutes in the morning before work, then 30 minutes of high intensity cardio after work. I spend an extra 15 minutes of weight training 2-3 times a week. I eat lunch, then take a 30 minute walk. On the weekends, I get out of the gym and do something outdoors. Sometimes it's an average of 12 miles on the bike, where I'll ride downtown and have lunch, then go to the park and watch the boats before I head home. Or take a hike along the numerous trails in Washington state. Or go kayaking/canoeing on the lakes.
While 4 hours is not doable for me on a weekday, 1 hour is more than possible. I have to break it into 2 chunks, though, or else it might be more difficult to accomplish. You have to fit things where you can. You have to eat, and you have to drink water. These things are not optional to live. You have to make time to eat and drink water. You have to think of exercise the same way - you have to set aside time to exercise. You make time at noon every day to eat lunch, no matter what other kids/work/chore requirements you have. Why not exercise?
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