5 Diet and Exercise Tips From The Biggest Loser’s Bob Harper

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Hello. I'm 250 pounds and really want to lose all the weight I can. Can anyone help.

monica of TX 4:11PM April 23, 2013

I use www.feelfit.com, the website is a great idea. You are set a weekly points target, all activities are give a points value from jogging to housework to sex, the more things you do, the more likely you are to hit target and in turn, notice a difference to your health and fitness. Feelfit points are a friendly motivation instead of scary pressure and the combination of freedom to choose activities along with support and information is just great. There are also countless workouts / workout videos which are also given a points value and are really easy to follow. I feel so much better since I have been using it everyday. I can't recommend it enough.

Jane 4:59AM December 23, 2009

Limiting calories and exercising will help lose weight but typically all of the weight lost will be regained over time and more...

Metabolic weight loss and strict reduction or elimination of refined sugars, sugar substitutes, high fructose corn syrup, vegetable oils and alcohol will work for everyone.

Don't buy into the hype and misinformation.

I follow Matt Stone at: http://www.180degreehealth.com. His research and intrepretation of historical and scientific studies reveal the case for our "national eating disorder". It's not saturated or unsaturated fat, fast food, limiting calories or exercise. Sugar and passed down (generational)heredity are the big culprits. But, we can overcome the tendencies.

ron of CO 11:37PM October 06, 2009

Good advice, Katherine. It's easy to watch the contestants and wonder why you can't get the same results on your own.

I loved watching Sean and Antoine and am sad they already got eliminated. I have a different take on the show from an insurance agent's view. It's fun for me to track the contestants and see how much affect their weight loss would have on them if they were to apply for life insurance Before & After the show. For example, before Biggest Loser, Sean would pay $2455 per year for a $500,000 20 yr policy. After, he would pay $875 for the same policy. I did Antoine's numbers too at: http://www.insuranceblogbychris.com/biggest-loser-effect-of-weight-loss-on-life-insurance

It’s amazing how losing weight affects more than your health, but also things we might not think about like medical expenses or insurance costs.

I like what you said about it being inspiration, not a blueprint. I'm doing the p90x 90 day workout program right now and am on day 11. It's extreme. I mean, boot camp hard. But the workouts are only an hour and a half. Imagine trying to copy the 8 hours of workouts per day the Biggest Losers do.

Thanks for the article.

Chris Huntley of CA 7:16PM October 02, 2009

I think that Bob is selling low-carb short, at least for some of us. There's an overwhelming body of evidence in the scientific literature that, at least for type 2 diabetics, low carb diets are a better option than high-carb, low-fat diets.

This claim comes with an important caveat. When I say "low carb diet", I'm not talking about the popular perception of low carb eating, which would have you eating nothing but bacon and butter all day long. Instead, I'm referring to the actual "last phase" low carb diet, as recommended by (for example) Atkins or South Beach. While it is true that the induction phase of these diets is nearly all meat, this is not meant to be sustained for long periods of time. Speaking from experience, I can tell you that I eat many more vegetables now than I did before I started pursuing a low-carb diet: they taste good now, perhaps because my body isn't always loaded with sugars!

A second important caveat is that I hardly think that there is one way of eating that is best for everyone. There are probably people for whom a low-carb diet really is dangerous. However, by the same token, there are people (specifically anyone suffering from type 2 diabetes or any degree of insulin resistance) for whom a high carb diet is equally dangerous.

What is much more dangerous, for everyone, is making blanket generalizations about diet and dietary approaches without thinking them through. It is this sort of sloppy, lazy thinking that has given us an obesity epidemic.

Those interested in the benefits of low carb dieting for diabetics are urged to read "Dietary carbohydrate restriction in type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome: time for a critical appraisal," published in Nutrition and Metabolism Volume 5, number 9. This article is freely available on this peer-reviewed journal's website at http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/5/1/9.

Patrick

Patrick Narkinsky of VA 6:37PM October 02, 2009

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