NATIONAL WEIGHT SCIENCE FOUNDATION
ONE ENERGY SQUARE
4925 GREENVILLE AVENUE, SUITE 200
DALLAS, TEXAS 75206
PHONE:  214.886.7401    
WWW.NWSFOUNDATION.COM

RICHARD HINDS, JD, NASM-CPT
Director/Attorney & Counselor at Law    
E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
Phone: 214.886.7401; 214.212.1365
Fax: 419.828.0928

ATTORNEY & FITNESS PROFESSIONAL WITH THE NWSF INVESTIGATES THE BIGGEST LOSER

SAYS: “THE BIGGEST LOSERS ARE THE VIEWERS WHO BELIEVED WHAT THEY SAW”

DALLAS, TX - Sept. 14 – Who would watch a TV show about weight loss that lasted 8.3 months (average of 249 days)? One where the last two winners only lost an average of three-quarters of one pound (0.75 lbs or 12 oz) per day and had an average starting weight exceeding 370 lbs? One where all of the female contestants lost less than one-half pound (0.50 lbs or 8 oz) per day and less than 3.5 lbs per week? One where only five out of 33 women (total) lost more than 3 lbs per week (0.43 lbs or 6.7 oz/day)?   

This is exactly what viewers of The Biggest Loser Seasons 2 and 3 saw. They thought they saw Erik lose 214 lbs in three months (i.e., 12 weekly episodes). They thought they saw Poppi and Kia lose 117 lbs and 118 lbs in 12 weeks and Pete lose 185 lbs in three months. What they “thought” they saw was an illusion and is in fact impossible.

Viewers were not told that it took contestants 257 days (8.6 months) in Season 2 and 240 days (8 months) in Season 3 to lose their weight, and for good reason. Many viewers also assume a “weekly” episode equals seven days. Not on this “reality” show. Many episodes are longer than seven days to “pump up” the televised “weekly” weight losses.   

The REAL Biggest Loser results can be downloaded from the The Biggest Loser Results webpage on the National Weight Science Foundation™ website at www.NWSFoundation.com . It has downloadable spreadsheets that show the REAL daily and weekly rates of weight loss for each contestant in all three seasons (all rights to reprint are granted).  

The “apparent” rates of weight loss “created” by this reality TV show also create what psychologists call “the false-hope syndrome” (see False-Hope Syndrome on the NWSF website). False hope is defined as unrealistic expectations of change. The unbelievably high rates of weight loss viewers thought they saw over three months (11 to 12 weekly episodes) actually took eight months or more for Seasons 2 and 3. In Season 1 it took more than five months.  

What the contestants really achieved is commendable, but is by no means a miracle. They, like everybody else, lost weight a few ounces at a time (they had no choice). The overall average weight losses in Seasons 1, 2, and 3, are 6.6 oz, 6.7 oz, and 5.8 oz per day, respectively (16 oz = 1 lb). While the astronomically high rates of “apparent” weight loss created by TV may initially inspire, they ultimately ensure the viewer’s failure if they believe them and set their own weight-loss goals based on what they “saw” and believed (see False-Hope Syndrome on the NWSF website).        

Following are a few of the REAL results, and TV results (based on the number of weekly episodes), of The Biggest Loser.

    
Watching someone like Kia, Poppi, and Amy “apparently” lose 8, 9, or 10 lbs per week is inspirational. Watching someone struggle, semi-starve, and workout several hours per day only to lose 1.5, 2, or maybe 3 lbs per week is not very exciting. That would be “reality TV.” Television and the weight-loss industry are about creating illusions and fantasies by creating false hope. If weight-loss promoters ever told the whole truth who would buy their weight-loss products or watch their TV shows?

Now you “know the rest of the story” about The Biggest Loser. Go to the NWSFoundation.com website for additional information concerning The Biggest Loser, and for an overview of the findings of a recently completed four-year NWSF investigation into the weight-loss industry.     
CONTACT:                    

RICHARD HINDS, JD*, NASM-CPT*
Director/Attorney & Counselor at Law        
Phone: 214.886.7401; 214.212.1365    
E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
(* Juris Doctor, Certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine as a Fitness Professional)

# # #