The Biggest Loser

Premise

Each season of The Biggest Loser begins with a weigh-in to determine the contestants' starting weights, which serve as the baseline for determining the overall winner at the end of the 30-week competition.

Contestants are grouped into teams of three, with each team assigned its own t-shirt color. Contestants work with trainers, who (in conjunction with medical personnel retained by the show) are responsible for designing comprehensive workout and nutrition plans and teaching them to the contestants, who are individually responsible for implementing the principles taught. Depending on the season, a team may work with a specific trainer, or all trainers may work with all contestants.

During an episode, various challenges and temptations (see below) are featured. Winning a challenge affords special advantages, such as a weight advantage for the next weigh-in or full immunity from being voted off the show.

Each week culminates in a weigh-in to determine which team has lost the most weight for that week, using contestants’ percentages of total weight lost. The team with the lowest percentage lost during that week (known as “falling below the yellow line”, which refers to a line featured on a video screen showing the cutoff between safety and being at risk) will have one member voted off, unless the team consists of only one remaining member, in which case there is no vote. The vote is usually cast by the other teams, though some episodes feature one team making the decision alone. Some episodes feature a second, "red line"; if a contestant falls below the red line, the contestant is automatically eliminated with no vote. Other episodes allow the contestants to all receive immunity for the week if they successfully meet a goal at the weigh-in.

When the number of contestants has shrunk to a predetermined, smaller number (unknown to the contestants), the teams are dissolved and the contestants compete against each other individually.

The season finale reunites the final contestants remaining on the show with those eliminated. The eliminated contestants compete for a smaller prize while those remaining on the show compete for a larger prize and the title of "The Biggest Loser".

Episode format

Episodes are typically two hours long. Some episodes have been aired in a shortened one-hour format to accommodate adjacent network programming such as The Voice and the State of the Union address. Each episode features some, but not all, of the following activities (some contestants may not participate in an activity with physical requirements if placed on medical restrictions):

Temptation:Contestants prepare for the first day of the week only to find a situation that involves temptation. The temptation often requires contestants to gamble by eating or drinking delicious but high-calorie foods, thus risking their total weight loss for the week, in exchange for what may seem to be a beneficial trade-off. The benefits may or may not be known to the contestants in advance. Examples include eating sweet foods for the chance to call their loved ones, eating a big slice of cake to win an unknown prize (which, in one episode, turned out to be an exercise bike) or giving up time with a trainer for a chance to win money. Contestants are given a set period of time before the offer passes.

Reward Challenge:Contestants compete to win a prize, first as teams and then as individuals after the teams are dissolved. After the challenge, viewers are shown the winning team enjoying their reward while the losing team accepts their loss. Prizes range from immunity- which is exemption from elimination—to exercise equipment, phone calls home or weight prizes, which allow winners of a challenge to have a greater weight loss at the Weigh-In, or losers of a challenge to have a lower weight loss at the Weigh-In (e.g. a 6 lb weight loss would result in a 7 lb weight loss if a contestant were to win a "1 pound advantage" whereas it would result in a 5 lb weight loss if a contestant were to win a "1 pound disadvantage"). If there is an unequal number of players on each team, then the team(s) with more players must pick an individual or individuals who will sit out until there is an equal number of players on each team. Occasionally, players have to be cleared by the show's doctors in order to participate in physical challenges.

Initial Workout:Contestants work out with the trainers. During this segment, the trainers will often speak with contestants, especially those who are doing poorly. Underlying issues are often revealed at this time, such as a loss of a family member or a physical illness; often, the triggering events that led to their weight gain in the first place.

Weight loss regimen: risks and criticism

According to LiveScience.com, "physicians and nutritionists worry the show's focus on competitive weight loss is, at best, counterproductive and, at worst, dangerous". Contestants on the show lose upwards of 10 pounds per week (in the very first week, some contestants have lost 20–30+ pounds in that one week alone), whereas the established medical guidelines for safe weight loss are between 1 and 2 pounds per week.

Other health writers take it even further, suggesting that everything from the show's dietary guidelines to workout routines are completely flawed.

Nutritionist Dr. Barry Sears sums up the wellness paradox: "First, eating less can cause stress to the system causing more hunger. Second, the more people exercise, the hungrier they become." Dr. Sears continues by claiming that "even with the most intense training, people are unlikely to add more than five pounds of muscle in 12 weeks of weight training. The reason viewers see their muscles emerging as the show goes on is because as the layer of fat surrounding the muscles is lost, muscles become more visible. Those muscles were always there but covered by a mass of fat tissue.

At the end of every telecast, the following disclaimer is shown:

Our contestants were supervised by doctors while participating in the show, and their diet and exercise regimen was tailored to their medical status and their specific needs. Consult with your own doctor before embarking on any diet or exercise program.

Despite this claim of supervision, however, all contestants are required to sign a waiver that states: "no warranty, representation or guarantee has been made as to the qualifications or credentials of the medical professionals who examine me or perform any procedures on me in connection with my participation in the series, or their ability to diagnose medical conditions that may affect my fitness to participate in the series".

The weight-loss regimen used in the show—severe caloric restriction combined with up to six hours a day of strenuous exercise—involves risks including a weakening of the heart muscle, irregular heartbeat and dangerous reductions in potassium and electrolytes. Contestants, regardless of their weight, are required to certify that they believe they are "in excellent physical, emotional, psychological and mental health".

Longitudinal study

In 2016, the results of a long-term study by the US National Institute of Health (NIH) were released that documented the weight gain and loss of contestants in Season 8, which aired in 2009. The study found that most of the 16 contestants regained their weight, and in some case gained more than before they entered the contest. Their metabolisms had slowed to the point where they were burning hundreds of calories a day less than other people of their new, reduced size. The New York Times reported: "What shocked the researchers was what happened next: As the years went by and the numbers on the scale climbed, the contestants' metabolisms did not recover... It was as if their bodies were intensifying their effort to pull the contestants back to their original weight." The article quoted Dr. Michael Rosenbaum, who said, "The difficulty in keeping weight off reflects biology, not a pathological lack of willpower."

After the study results were revealed, former contestants demanded that NBC cancel the show.

Location

Seasons two and three of The Biggest Loser were filmed at the Hummingbird Nest Ranch. The 126-acre (0.51 km2) ranch is an equestrian estate in Simi Valley, California, northwest of Los Angeles. Recent seasons have been filmed at King Gillette Ranch on Mulholland Highway near Malibu Creek State Park.

Series overview

Winners

Grand Prize

BMI

Underweight (less than 18.5 BMI)

Normal (18.5 – 24.9 BMI)

Overweight (25 – 29.9 BMI)

Obese Class I (30 – 34.9 BMI)

Obese Class II (35 – 39.9 BMI)

Obese Class III (greater than 40 BMI)

At-Home Prize

Given to the person losing the most percentage of body weight under the eliminated contestants.

BMI

Underweight (less than 18.5 BMI)

Normal (18.5 – 24.9 BMI)

Overweight (25 – 29.9 BMI)

Obese Class I (30 – 34.9 BMI)

Obese Class II (35 – 39.9 BMI)

Obese Class III (greater than 40 BMI)

Records

The following table contains records for the American version of The Biggest Loser. Only records that were officially announced on the show are included.

ES notes an extended season

EW notes an extended week