Losing by not winning

It's that time of year again. The new season of The Biggest Loser is on TV, inspiring numerous weight loss challenges in the community. These programs are a popular way to get started losing weight with friends or coworkers. The contest atmosphere and the fact that you are going through the process with others provides motivation and gets even those who are reluctant to start a diet to give it a try. But this raises the question, are "biggest loser" type weight loss programs really effective at promoting weight loss? Does winning the competition make maintaining a healthy body weight any easier?

The short answer is, probably not. Remember, the goal of any diet should be for you to lose weight and keep it off. The majority of people who lose weight will eventually gain it back, plus some extra. This is more of a problem for programs that emphasize rapid weight loss. As a general rule, the quicker someone loses weight, the quicker they are likely to gain it back. So, an eight-week weight loss competition is likely to promote rapid weight loss followed by weight gain when the program ends.

There is a practical reason why this happens. In order to lose weight and keep it off, people need to learn a whole new lifestyle involving what, when, why and how they eat, as well as daily exercise. These lifestyle changes are difficult to make and can take months or years to fully adopt. It is unlikely that a weight loss competition, which emphasizes losing weight over learning new skills and behaviors, would support that outcome. In addition, some contestants may follow inappropriate diets or participate in exercise that is too intense in order to lose weight quickly. This could lead to injury, illness, or, at the very least, a failed weight loss attempt.

That's not to say that these weight loss competitions don't have benefits. There are certainly participants who would not otherwise consider losing weight at that time. Many programs organize participants into teams and the benefits of group support in promoting weight loss are well established. Some programs provide incentives for participating like access to exercise facilities or personal training sessions, which may encourage people to become more active. Others provide monitoring and education to promote success beyond the program. For example, the 12-week YMCA Team Lean program includes weekly education sessions and weigh-ins, a strong group dynamic, and monitoring to prevent rapid, unhealthy weight loss. Other programs, however, are shorter in duration and provide little in the way of education or support for making long-term lifestyle changes.

And don't think that you are likely to achieve similar results to the contestants on the reality TV shows. The environment on those shows is so different from real life - constant supervision, guidance by experts and the ever-present cameras which make the contestants accountable to millions of viewers. The fact is that many "biggest losers" regain all of the weight they lost after the show ends. Despite the intensive education and intervention, many contestants are not prepared to make the type of lifestyle changes needed to maintain weight loss in the real world.

There is a simple solution if your goal is to lose weight and keep it off: participate in the competition, take advantage of the resources, but don't win! Focus instead on losing weight slowly and view the competition as the beginning of your weight loss journey. You will probably find that you stand a better chance of losing weight and keeping it off by not winning.

Brian Parr, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Exercise and Sports Science at USC Aiken where he teaches courses in exercise physiology, nutrition and health behavior. He is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine and is an ACSM certified clinical exercise specialist; his research focuses on physical activity in weight management and the impact of the environment on activity and diet. Parr lives in Aiken with his wife, Laura, and sons Noah, Owen and Simon.