Check out this feature story in today's NYTimes. It reports on a very good research study with albeit a small sample -- 14 of Season 8's 16 "Biggest Loser" contestants.

(FYI, TBL's Season 8 was in 2009.)

Summary: Dramatic weight loss lowered their basal metabolic rate, and it never came back up.

But we already knew that, after decades of yo-yo dieting, right?

BTW, one of the contestants (Rudy Pauls) had weight loss surgery since being on TBL and is doing pretty well weight-wise.

I predict this is going to be a huge news story for some time.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/health/biggest-loser-weight-loss.html?emc=edit_th_20160502&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=40256033&_r=0

I admire you for being so in touch with your emotions and not being afraid of them. I too am a food addict. Its almost harder being a food addict than being a drug addict because at least there is the possibility to go cold turkey from drugs. We cannot just quit eating food so the temptation is always there. I am going to make sure that I make regular therapy appointments apart of my post op care.

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That is great that you have figured this out about yourself. It's going to help you so much, to get into therapy means you are holding yourself accountable, and that's a huge step. You're so right about the cold turkey thing, we can't quit eating food, but we sure can make better choices. I know the foods that made me fat, they were all carb heavy things, and I simply don't even attempt to claim I'm just going to have a bite, I don't buy it, it doesn't come into my house, and I don't eat it. Entire aisles in the grocery store are really obsolete for me now. I had a date last week and he brought over pastries, not realizing that it was like bringing heroin into an addict's house. I thanked him, but told him he had to take them home with him. LOL He understands now, I can't base things around food anymore. I have a different perspective, and have realized, just how food-centric people are.

@@audaciousmarie and @@SkinnyDown I wish I could love your posts but there's only a like button.

Thank you!!

I admire you for being so in touch with your emotions and not being afraid of them. I too am a food addict. Its almost harder being a food addict than being a drug addict because at least there is the possibility to go cold turkey from drugs. We cannot just quit eating food so the temptation is always there. I am going to make sure that I make regular therapy appointments apart of my post op care.

Sent from my SM-G925T using the BariatricPal App

That is great that you have figured this out about yourself. It's going to help you so much, to get into therapy means you are holding yourself accountable, and that's a huge step. You're so right about the cold turkey thing, we can't quit eating food, but we sure can make better choices. I know the foods that made me fat, they were all carb heavy things, and I simply don't even attempt to claim I'm just going to have a bite, I don't buy it, it doesn't come into my house, and I don't eat it. Entire aisles in the grocery store are really obsolete for me now. I had a date last week and he brought over pastries, not realizing that it was like bringing heroin into an addict's house. I thanked him, but told him he had to take them home with him. LOL He understands now, I can't base things around food anymore. I have a different perspective, and have realized, just how food-centric people are.

Wait.....did you hear what I just said? I had a date. Just a few days short of 9 years since I have dated a man, and I actually not only had one date with this man, but 4, in the last week and a half. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A man took me out 4 times, and one date lasted over 7 hours! Sorry this is so off topic,but OMG! I am dating now.

I reject the idea that obesity as a disease is caused solely by lack of discipline and that recovery from obesity is as simple as pushing away from the table. Yet self-discipline is clearly critical in obesity recovery.

What is heart breaking about this research is the apparent extent to which TBL contestants (and millions of others, including us) have been handicapped by their past Herculean efforts to lose weight.

Of course, the heartbreak in this situation doesn't change the tautological truth that it is what it is. Whatever our metabolism is is the metabolism we must work with.

So post-op, let's call an end to all those years of merely working hard and continue to work smarter. IMHO, having WLS is a lot smarter than dieting and exercise alone, although no one who's had WLS would call it "easy." And notwithstanding the benefits of positive self-talk, none of us who've had WLS have any business thinking that pounds once shed are magically "gone forever."

The factors that affect our obesity recovery range from our food choices and how much we eat, meds and supplements, exercise and movement, the emotional and psychological support we find wherever we find it, and the minimizing or avoidance of environmental factors that trigger and destroy our recovery.

I believe that science and medicine will learn more about obesity's causes and will develop more tools to help conquer obesity. I am so glad I finally accepted that doing the same thing over and over while hoping for a different result was just about the dumbest thing I could do.

Courage isn't always doing the hard thing. Sometimes courage is needed to do the different thing.

I sincerely wish those still morbidly obese TBL Season 8 contestants could find the courage to do something different -- weight loss surgery.

I reject the idea that obesity as a disease is caused solely by lack of discipline and that recovery from obesity is as simple as pushing away from the table. Yet self-discipline is clearly critical in obesity recovery.

What is heart breaking about this research is the apparent extent to which TBL contestants (and millions of others, including us) have been handicapped by their past Herculean efforts to lose weight.

Of course, the heartbreak in this situation doesn't change the tautological truth that it is what it is. Whatever our metabolism is is the metabolism we must work with.

So post-op, let's call an end to all those years of merely working hard and continue to work smarter. IMHO, having WLS is a lot smarter than dieting and exercise alone, although no one who's had WLS would call it "easy." And notwithstanding the benefits of positive self-talk, none of us who've had WLS have any business thinking that pounds once shed are magically "gone forever."

The factors that affect our obesity recovery range from our food choices and how much we eat, meds and supplements, exercise and movement, the emotional and psychological support we find wherever we find it, and the minimizing or avoidance of environmental factors that trigger and destroy our recovery.

I believe that science and medicine will learn more about obesity's causes and will develop more tools to help conquer obesity. I am so glad I finally accepted that doing the same thing over and over while hoping for a different result was just about the dumbest thing I could do.

Courage isn't always doing the hard thing. Sometimes courage is needed to do the different thing.

I sincerely wish those still morbidly obese TBL Season 8 contestants could find the courage to do something different -- weight loss surgery.

Yes, yes, and yes.

Amen.

extrapolatable

And mostly, I wish like hell someone would do this kind of study on on WLS patients!

In fact, the ASMBS seriously needs to pony up resources to do this kind of research. I'm getting pretty tired of the lame-ass "long-term studies" reported by hospitals with horrific non-response bias thanks to the majority of patients who fade into the woodwork over 1, 2, 3, 5 years post-op.

This! I read the article and thought the same thing. I didn't lose weight as fast as these contestants but I know pre surgery I needed to stick to a diet of around 1200 calories to lose weight and that was hard because I has hangry all the damn time.

Not to diminish the impact of food addiction for those who have identified this as an issue in their journey, but the point of the article was the change in RMR that the contestants acquired as the result of their rapid weight loss phase while on the show. if your metabolism shrinks that much (more than 500 calories a day for at least one contestant), even the best efforts to maintain are hindered significantly.

We need to get away from the notion that obesity is some sort of character flaw, it's so much more complex than that. I'm looking forward to many more studies on the subject in future, now that we've recognized that treating obesity can make a huge impact on so many so-called "lifestyle diseases" that are rampant in this country.

That said, I do think that our culture does a lot to encourage obesity. I've been fortunate to spend a good amount of time in Europe, where obesity is far less prevalent than in the US. Especially in central Europe, where US fast food is nearly unheard of, people walk a lot as part of their day. They eat good meals of real food, and they linger over them. Even in a roadside diner, food is cooked to order, eaten at tables, sitting down, not eaten in the car on the way to somewhere else. Other than an ice cream cone, you don't see people walking down the street eating. And that ice cream cone is wonderful quality, and small.

We're so used to the notion of "more, more, more" - whether it's food or stuff or money. I'm very much enjoying the sleeve effect of "enough". I'm loving that the difference between "enough" and "too much" is a single bite. I've really needed this in my life.

I have had my metabolic rate tested and it is definitely lower due to years of yo yo dieting. HOWEVer I actually think that doesn't give the whole picture. Even when I am in a highly controlled environment where I have no access to extra food, if I eat the calories in my rmr and workout for 6 hours a day, I don't lose. This suggests to me that other factors are involved such as perhaps greater absorption of nutrients in some individuals? Also, not all calories are created equal and just because almonds are high calorie according to a calorimeter doesn't mean it will equate to the same number of absorbable calories in your body. We still have so much to learn.

Any idea of how much it costs to get your metabolism measured? I would love to do this, but never realized it was available. Given the study results (even though it is such a small sample), I hope they will at least put more money towards this research.

At my local university it costs $50 and 30-60 most boring minutes of your life. You lay on a table and don't move, but you can't fall asleep which is really hard to do.

I am due to have mine tested again along with another DEXA scan. When I last had mine tested 30 pounds ago, my rate was higher than the average for someone my height and weight. It will be interesting to see if it is still holding, and if my muscle mass is still higher than my fat mass.

@ ... actually, I was impressed by the consistency in almost all participants' responses in terms of changes in their metabolic rate -- and was honestly shocked at how huge the decreases in their metabolism. It's the first quantitative *proof* I've seen that metabolic rates do decrease and by a lot.

I keep thinking I know about so much about obesity. But there's so much more to learn.

I'm thinking that this study and the coverage it's likely to get in popular culture because of who the participants were and how popular that show is (ugh, I know) is going to accelerate interest in bariatric surgery.

This makes me really curious about whether WLS patients have the same kind of metabolic rate decreases, how much and what accounts for any difference between them and people who lose weight other ways?

@ ... actually, I was impressed by the consistency in almost all participants' responses in terms of changes in their metabolic rate -- and was honestly shocked at how huge the decreases in their metabolism. It's the first quantitative *proof* I've seen that metabolic rates do decrease and by a lot.

I keep thinking I know about so much about obesity. But there's so much more to learn.

I'm thinking that this study and the coverage it's likely to get in popular culture because of who the participants were and how popular that show is (ugh, I know) is going to accelerate interest in bariatric surgery.

This makes me really curious about whether WLS patients have the same kind of metabolic rate decreases, how much and what accounts for any difference between them and people who lose weight other ways?

I think WLS patients *can* have the same issues with their metabolic rate if they lose very quickly and have a significant average daily calorie deficit. I have definitely seen many many posts on these sites from vets who have to eat as little as 1000 or 1100 calories a day in order to maintain their weight loss. I really feel like a similar study to this one should be done on WLS patients taking into account their rate of loss post-op to see if there is the correlation I suspect between calorie deficit and decreased RMR.

I think it would also be intersting to see DEXA scans for these people to see what their muscle mass is post losing weight.

They do a lot of cardio and weight training but they lose so much weight so fast, with so few stalls I really wonder if they are increasing muscle mass and maintaining it.

If you end up skinny fat, you won't have enough muscle to keep your RMR up.

I also think excessive exercise does something to the body. You don't need to work out 6-8 hours a day to lose weight, and doing so put extreme stress on your body.

Posts are all over the place on this thread so basically I'll say that I am a food addict and went into therapy for two years to help me deal with my issues. I still have to be very mindful though...one day at a time..like any other addiction.

Regarding the physiological issues...leptin, etc., I'm sure that metabolism is a real issue...it's just that it's like saying, 'I have big bones'. We use it for everything and as an excuse so because of that, metabolism and other findings are seen as very suspect. Sort of like the boy who cried wolf.

Lastly...I just saw the interview with the guy from BL on GMA and read the comments people left. It hurts to see such hatred. Fat people (and I can use the 'F' word because I am still the fat girl even though I no longer look that way) are despised. Truly despised. Maybe not to our faces but people are disgusted with us. No wonder we hate ourselves. OK...I know not everyone feels this way. This is IMO. But holy smokes...you should have seen some of those comments. Pigs...disgusting....just walk away from the food....get off your fat a$$....it hurts to know how much I was likely despised...and in turn, how much I despised myself.

As far as I'm concerned, this study left out the most important element to maintaining weight loss. Did any of the contestants receive any long term psychological counseling to address the reasons behind why they became obese in the first place? They were all extremely dedicated to the physical aspect of it, but did anyone put even half that much effort into the mental aspect? Because therein lies the secret to failure or success.

Even if your metabolism is so efficient (efficient sounds better than slow) that your body only needs 500 calories to maintain healthy function, why do we feel the need to eat more? If people were wild animals, those that required less calories would thrive over those that required more.

Pretty sure humans are the only species that develops life threatening health problems due to self induced obesity. (You can't count fat pets because that's the owner's fault) The rest of the animal kingdom eats what it needs to survive and never whines about not being able to eat pizza or drink beer with their friends. So IMHO Obesity really is a human psychological issue.

But on a lighter note, this study confirms what I've known all along....exercise is bad for me