The Biggest Loser

If you've ever seen the show The Biggest Loser on television you may wonder how those people lose such massive amounts of weight in such a short period of time. The answer diet and exercise. This is an oversimplification but what you really want to know are the specifics, what type and how much.

I was going thru a recent health and fitness magazine and came across an article about the show. Two of the shows contestants were interviewed and they shared some of their secrets to success. According to the article they ate five to six times a day, which has been shown to increase metabolism and shed fat. They coupled that with exercising five times daily which included weight training, hiking and running to burn up a ton of calories. They also ate breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up to get their metabolism revved up to shed calories and controlled portions of the food they ate.

Living on a reality show however, is a little different from the real world we live in. On the show they are there to do one thing, lose weight so they can spend all their time doing that. For a regular person with a full-time job, school or a family; working out six to seven hours a day is not an option. Another thing to keep in mind is the more you weigh the more calories you burn by exercising (that’s why cardio machines always ask you for your weight). The shows contestants are weighing between 250 to over 400 pounds so they can lose a bit more than someone half their size. Don’t be discouraged though there is still hope for you, you just have to make the most of your time and plan ahead to succeed.

What you can do is eat five to six meals per day to get your metabolism working for you. Find out how many calories you eat in a typically day. Track everything (including gravy and butter) for a few days to get an average and start by cutting 200-300 calories from that, then split the total between five to six meals. So if you currently average 2800 calories a day, start by dropping down to 2500 a day. Split that between five meals averaging 500 calories per meal. The goal is to eat more frequently, but less overall. Get an early start by eating breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up in the morning and eat every three to four hours after that. Follow breakfast with a mid-morning snack, lunch, a mid-afternoon snack, dinner and possible a light evening snack. With your busy schedule it may be hard to eat every three hours so be prepared to bring cheese sticks, low fat yogurt, apples, oranges and other whole grain snacks that provide fiber and keep you full. Don’t forget to measure your portions with a food scale to avoid overeating.

Be smart about working out. Because you can’t workout five times a day, you need to work smarter not longer. Resistance training is a must to build muscle which in turn torches fat. Stick to compound exercises that work the large muscle groups, think squats instead of leg extensions. Because interval training helps you burn more calories in less time, choose this option over long low intensity cardio sessions. For more tips or to get a customized exercise program visit our website.