You have at least watched one episode of The Biggest Loser TV show either on TV or on Youtube. If you haven't then you should know that the show is all about overweight contestants competing against one another to lose the maximum weight. Contestants are everyday people who are overweight and the winner is the person who loses the most weight in a set period of time. Of course, the winner of the show shot to fame but something else did as well – The Biggest Loser Diet.
What is the Biggest Loser Diet?
The Biggest Loser Diet is a calorie-controlled, carbohydrate modified, fat reduced, weight loss diet geared to help you burn pure fat from the body. It helps to do so without deprivation or loss of energy. It was developed by obesity specialist Michael Dansinger along with dietitian and Chef Cheryl Forberg and trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels.
How Does It Work?
The main principle of the diet is that all your food should be as close to its natural state as it can get. So it includes a lot of green sources such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. The reason to include as many natural foods as you can is because your body processes and uses them much more efficiently to build health.
The structure of the Biggest Loser pyramid has a 4-3-2-1 pattern:
- Four servings of fruits and veggies.
- Three servings of lean protein.
- Two servings of whole grains.
- One serving of fats, oils, sweets, alcohol, or anything of your choice.
Couple these 4 steps with some good old-fashioned exercise, and you will be well on your way to lose weight.
What Type of Exercises Should I Opt For?
The exercise part of this diet plan consists of a 12 week cardio workout that increases the intensity of your aerobic training with every week. You have to get a circuit training course that uses 9 specific moves in a sequence with only several seconds of rest between sets. You have to do it for 30 minutes, 3 times a week.
What are the Advantages?
The pluses of this program include:
- The program promotes natural foods in your diet.
- It does not ignore exercise and make it a part of the routine.
- It allows you to have a serving of 200 calories of your choice. So you are really not depriving yourself.
- Considering it has a huge following, you can get support on online forums and chat rooms.
- The diet is endorsed by the American Dietetic Association.
What are the Disadvantages?
The minuses of this program are:
- Calorie limits are set very low. As a result, your diet might be nutrient-deficient.
- Because the diet has been featured on TV, some people start with unrealistic expectations.
- It has become commercialized, peddling lots of products the dieter doesn't really need.
- If you are not open to making some changes to your eating patterns, you're going to have a really hard time following this plan.
The Biggest Loser Diet takes lots of discipline, but if you stick to the diet you will see the results. The goal of the Biggest Loser Diet is to reform your lifestyle habits and get you on the path to better health and wellness.
