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The Season 9 Finale of The Biggest Loser

The Season 9 Finale of The Biggest Loser is just a week away, but already we're hard at work preparing for Season 10. Recently I flew to Los Angeles to spend a week with our newest prospective contestants. Each contender goes through a series of medical evaluations over the course of a week or so. In addition to me, the show employs physicians, a psychologist and other health professionals. Would-be contestants meet with each in the course of their evaluations.

As an RD - Registered Dietitian - I've completed a bachelor's degree nutrition program at UC Berkeley, followed by an internship in a clinical setting, and I've taken a national board exam to receive my credentials, which I renew every year with continuing education. My understanding of the science of nutrition makes it easy for me to work side by side with The Biggest Loser's physicians. Because I'm also a professional chef, I help contestants with their food choices in the kitchen as well as in the exam room.

During the pre-season sessions we've just finished, I met with the prospective contestants one-on-one for a comprehensive nutrition consultation. We discuss:

What other weight-loss regimens they've tried, and what the stumbling blocks have been
How often they cook at home vs. eat out
How much water they drink
What their favorite foods are
Whether they skip meals
Whether they exercise, and how often
Existing medical conditions and medications, if any
What their weight-loss goals are

These questions aren't meant to lay blame; they help me devise strategies to help contestants succeed, along with recipes that will be satisfying as well as supportive of their weight-loss goals.

To see video excerpts from consultations from past seasons, click these links:

In the course of conducting these evaluations, I've discovered that many would-be contestants share a few key challenges in common:

No time to plan. With work, kids and social and community commitments packing their schedules, most contenders make food decisions on the run - which can lead to poor choices, such as relying on packaged, processed convenience foods and hitting the drive-through when a time crunch hits. To understand the impact of fast food, read my earlier post showing a nutrient and calorie rundown of a typical fast food meal.
Skipping meals. Because of those busy lives, most potential contestants miss out on at least one meal a day - usually breakfast. It sounds counterintuitive, but skipping meals can actually contribute to weight gain, not loss; eating when famished almost always leads to poor food choices, and it's hard to pay attention to your body's natural hunger and satiety cues.
Processed white foods abound; whole grains are missing. Foods like snack cakes, cookies, white pasta, chips, and soft drinks are all high in calories and very low in nutrition - but they're both tasty and convenient, which makes them tempting when on the go. But in addition to adding empty calories, these foods have adverse health impacts - they affect your blood sugar and insulin too quickly. And unlike their whole grain counterparts, these foods lack antioxidants and fiber, which are good for digestion and can help prevent some types of cancer.
Few fruits and vegetables make the menu. Budget and time constraints can make buying and preparing produce seem out of reach. But fresh fruits and vegetables are the cornerstone of a healthy diet; they're full of vitamins and antioxidants, and because of their high water content they have low caloric density, filling you up without adding too many calories. Once the show begins, I work with contestants to help them incorporate fruits and vegetables into every meal - with the goal of eating 4 cups daily.

These initial evaluations, like most of my work on The Biggest Loser, take place off-camera. I have received hundreds of letters asking why nutrition isn't featured more on the show - feedback I've shared with the show's producers - and over time, more segments have focused on healthy eating. Through this blog, I've been sharing what goes on behind the scenes, and I'll continue to do so throughout the coming season - starting with the next Biggest Loser post about establishing calorie budgets for contestants. Look for it soon!

To read Cheryl's latest blog entry, click here.