{"id":14214,"date":"2016-05-11T14:00:10","date_gmt":"2016-05-11T14:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/2016-05-11-biggest-loser-shows-weight-loss-challenges-dont-work\/"},"modified":"2023-09-11T07:46:25","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T11:46:25","slug":"2016-05-11-biggest-loser-shows-weight-loss-challenges-dont-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/2016-05-11-biggest-loser-shows-weight-loss-challenges-dont-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Biggest Loser Shows Weight Loss Challenges Don’t Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although it is not the intent of the piece, a recent New York Times article<\/a> highlights the problem with corporate weight loss challenges.\u00a0 The article, which is certainly worth reading in its entirety, reviews research<\/a> about what happens to the contestants of the \u201cThe Biggest Loser\u201d after the show ends.\u00a0 In short, most of the 16 contestants regained much if not all the weight they lost during the show.\u00a0 Some are even heavier now.<\/p>\n

This project was the first of its kind to measure what happened to people over as long as six years after they lost a large amount of weight with intensive dieting and exercise.\u00a0 The results showed how \u201chard the body fights back against weight loss.\u201d \u00a0The problem with intensive weight loss is that it dramatically slows down one\u2019s metabolism to the point that they do not burn enough calories to maintain their thinner size.\u00a0 This is not new information; researchers have known that deliberate weight loss results in lower metabolism.\u00a0 However, what was surprising was that the contestants\u2019 metabolisms did not recover as they regained the weight they loss.\u00a0 In fact, their metabolisms became even slower as their weight increased.\u00a0 \u201cIt was as if their bodies were intensifying their effort to pull the contestants back to their normal weight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Picture1\"<\/p>\n

It may be understandable why individuals will want to engage in intensive weight loss.\u00a0 Why not lose the same number of pounds in less time?\u00a0 What is not understandable is how employers, who should be using evidence-based practices to improve employee health, still promote fad diets and intensive weight loss.\u00a0 It hurts employees and does the opposite of what employers want to achieve with their program \u2013 a healthier and happier workforce.\u00a0 Yet, some employers herald the key statistic of number of pounds loss after a weight loss challenge as if they took a big step forward in regard to employee health.\u00a0 We hope this study, which uses an example from reality TV and pop culture, will make the adverse impacts of weight loss challenges more widely known.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Biggest Loser Shows Weight Loss Challenges Don’t Work<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13644,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facts-and-research"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBiggest Loser Shows Weight Loss Challenges Don't Work | Wellable<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Biggest Loser Shows Weight Loss Challenges Don't Work\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/2016-05-11-biggest-loser-shows-weight-loss-challenges-dont-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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