After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight

I no longer have the mental issues that caused me to turn to food for comfort, which is what I credit my successful weight loss to. And again, I lost the first 75lbs or so just through recovering from my eating disorder and not through dieting or changing anything about what I ate other than no longer turning to food for comfort and not listening to the binge urges my brain was sending out.

Eventually you figure you have it handled, relax and then two years goes by and you are heavier than when you started.

Having maintained within +/- 3 lbs for the entirety of 2015 I'm not worried about this in the slightest. Even though at that time I was not actively trying to lose weight, I still weighed myself every week and took measurements every month, as well as continued to exercise regularly (and even learned how to ride a bike!) I also maintained vigilance for ED-type thoughts and identified them quickly if I began relapsing. I absolutely adjusted my eating if I gained more than 2 pounds in a week or when I knew I'd been letting my vigilance slip. Still didn't count calories or anything, just mindfully ate smaller portions and stayed away from desserts for a while. It helped a lot that I have learned that if I eat sugary stuff more than two days in a row I start craving it badly and will eat it every single day unless I stop eating it entirely for at least two weeks.

I view my weight loss as the side effect of recovering from my unhealthy relationship with food. For me, that was bad enough that it was a full-blown eating disorder, but I absolutely believe that many people have an unhealthy relationship with food which causes weight gain that is impossible to reverse without first addressing the mental issues that got them to that weight in the first place. Take that and add in this new potential issue of the body wanting desperately to get back to the homeostasis it was at when the person was at their heaviest, and the rebounding of everyone who was on The Biggest Loser is no surprise.

Everything I've read suggests that 1lb muscle requires about 50 calories a day to maintain.

The workout programs these contestants are using are focused solely on cardio, or very heavily focused on cardio.

If as part of the 239lb weight loss, Mr Cahill lost 8lbs-10lbs of muscle (and never regained it), there's your entire 400-500 calorie difference right there.

Like I said, I could totally be wrong, but over the last year I lost 93lbs (as of today), but my measured BMR is actually higher than it should be (and higher than it was when I started). I attribute that difference to my focus on lifting weights more than cardio.

Lots of fats, proteins, and veggies, staying away from carbs and sugar, and I feel better than any other time in my entire life (at 34). I'm no longer eating simply to eat, and at this point I'm not craving the crap I used to. The sickness that now ensues after ingesting processed sugars or carbs, does make it easy to skip. While this story is anecdotal, it seemed worth a try because I kept stumbling on research supporting it.

After that, I went on Weight Watchers and lost some more. (Lost about 20 lbs, gained 10 back so far.) This time, I did experience what you seem to be. I ended up reading a lot and deciding that carbs were the culprit. A combination of caffeine (which I previously avoided) and a lower-carb diet have help even out my blood sugar and keep me able to focus at work, and even sometimes get some programming done in the evening.

By "low carb", my wife and I look at the carb-to-fiber ratio and look for something 10-to-1 or lower, heavily favoring things that are 5-to-1. It cuts out a lot of things like white bread and a lot of snack foods, but I've found plenty that I enjoy on the 'ok' list and I feel better and more satisfied.

My 10 lb gain since stopping WW has been very slow, but it's still happening and I'm reconsidering Weight Watchers again. It seems to be the easiest, most accurate way I've found so far to track what you're eating and know when you're going wrong. Their new plan seems to shun sugars and reward protein, which is great for me, so I'm expecting to like it... And actually not change my diet much, but just how much I eat of it.

In short, I addressed it by watching my carbs.