The biggest winners

Normally, you don’t associate reality TV with healthy living. If anything, sitting down in front of the tube derails even our exercise gym plans. But there’s one big exception: The Biggest Loser, the show where obese contestants compete to lose the most weight and win up to $250,000. With the help of a dietitian, two trainers, and a team of doctors, the contestants learn how to exercise, eat right, and ultimately gain a healthy lifestyle. Each competitor works insanely hard — exercising about 8 hours a day with their trainers, Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels — and the results of their weight loss prove it. In a given week, contestants can lose 15 pounds, and, over the course of the show, over 100. In fact, last season’s winner, Michelle Aguilar, lost 110 pounds and won the grand prize. While the success of The Biggest Loser contestants is phenomenal and inspiring, in reality, most people don’t have the time to work out that long — nor should they lose that much weight in a week unless they’re obese and following a program. For most, it’s healthy to lose about 1-2 pounds a week through diet and exercise. And it’s easier than you may think: To lose one pound, you need to burn 3,500 extra calories. You can accomplish this simply by cutting out 250 calories (that’s one medium vanilla latte) and doing 250 calories’ worth of exercise daily. As for the contestants on The Biggest Loser, they leave with something just as important as their svelte physiques: a new mindset. Losing weight isn’t just about looks, it’s about increasing longevity. Maintaining a healthy weight reduces the risk for medical conditions such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. Take Dan, a 19-year-old boy, from this season. He started out the heaviest person in the history of the show, tipping the scales at over 450 pounds. He was already on diabetes medication and could barely run on the treadmill for five minutes. He’s been voted off the show already, but that hasn’t stopped him from losing more than 100 pounds since. He’s already gone off his meds and is training for a 5K! If you don’t watch already, you should! Tune into NBC on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. Maybe it’ll inspire you to hit the gym, too!

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