The contestants on the reality show "The Biggest Loser" have incredible weight-loss stories, with many of them losing 50, 100 or even 200 pounds after months of insane diet and exercise. The biggest loser of all, record-winner Danny Cahill, lost 239 pounds in just seven months, going from 430 to 191 pounds.
Six years after the show, however, Cahill has gained back more than 100 pounds. In fact, as The New York Times reported, 13 out of 14 contestants from his season who agreed to be part of a research study on extreme weight loss have gained back significant amounts of weight. Four of them weigh even more than they did before the show.
Cahill, for example, has to eat 800 fewer calories per day than normal just to maintain his current weight of 295 pounds.
The contestants also had lower levels of leptin, a hormone that controls hunger cravings.
The study is quite small and involves cases of extreme weight loss, so the results do not necessarily apply to most people trying to lose weight. However, the results do make sense in light of previous research, which showed that people's metabolism rates tend to drop after rapid weight loss.
"You can be on TV, you can lose enormous amounts of weight, you can go on for six years, but you can’t get away from a basic biological reality,” obesity researcher Dr. Michael Schwartz, who did not conduct the study, told the newspaper.
While the results of the study may be discouraging for people who are trying to lose weight, there is a silver lining. Cahill said learning about the results of the study made him realize that it wasn't his fault that he gained back some of the weight he lost. He understands now that the weight gain is due to his metabolism, not some personal failing.
“That shame that was on my shoulders went off,” he told the paper.
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