Tag Archives: Biggest Loser

The Biggest Loser Returns for Season 17 with Big Changes

Biggest Loser cast 17

The Biggest Loser is back January 4, 2024 for its 17th season, but with a new host, a new gym and even a brand new logo, this season will be anything but business as usual.

America’s favorite trainers Dolvett Quince and Jen Widerstrom return this season to train eight teams of two contestants, all competing to shed the most weight for the $250,000 grand prize. Seven of the teams know each other well, with couplings including spouses, parents and adult children, siblings, and best friends, all looking to improve their lives and heal old wounds through losing weight and getting their health under control.

The members of the eighth team are strangers to each other, but you may know them quite well:  former “Survivor” winner and “Celebrity Apprentice” contestant Richard Hatch, 54, and “The Voice” season two semi-finalist Erin Willett, 26.  While they may be used to the bright lights and cameras, this team will still have to work  just as hard as the other contestants to lose their excess weight while figuring out how to work together and support each other in making lasting lifestyle changes.

While this season will have all the calorie-burning, sweat-dripping excitement you’ve come to know and love from The Biggest Loser, season 17 brings with it a lot of changes, too.

The new host is a friendly, familiar face: beloved former The Biggest Loser trainer Bob Harper. The newly renovated “Biggest Loser” gym features a brand new look, logo and modernized state-of-the-art equipment, including eight individual high-tech wall monitors that track each contestant’s stats in real time, including calorie burn and heart rate. The gym will be split, with one half dedicated to Team Dolvett and the other half dedicated to Team Jen. Weigh-ins are also getting a revamp, featuring double scales so teams can weigh in and face off side by side.

The theme for this season is ‘Temptation,’ and will focus on real world situations and roadblocks that everyone faces in their pursuit to live a healthy lifestyle. Players will spend more time off-campus this season than ever before to better prepare them for what they will face when they return home, and offer viewers helpful take aways they can implement immediately in their own fitness journeys.

The Biggest Loser season 17 premieres Monday, January 4 (9-11 p.m. ET) on NBC.

Exclusive! Spaghetti Squash Chicken Alfredo Recipe from The Biggest Loser Bootcamp Book

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Resolve to eat more vegetables. Or try new foods. Or eat more colorfully. Or reduce carbs. Or eat more home-cooked foods. Or just eat cleaner. Which ever one of these resolution categories your “diet” falls into, this dinner is a perfect fit.

We snagged this Spaghetti Squash Chicken Alfredo recipe out of the new book The Biggest Loser Bootcamp (out December 30, 2024!). It met our own food resolutions — C: all of the above — and offered a fresh take on the spaghetti squash trend we love so much. Spaghetti squash has taken off in recent years, and for good reason. It’s a hearty vegetable that has a mild enough taste that you can pair it with almost anything. It’s a great alternative for noodles, but I don’t fully buy in to it being a supreme replacement. Don’t eat this expecting it to taste or feel like noodles; it gets the job done, deliciously so, but stands on its own as a noodle-ish food. (more…)

The Biggest Celebrity Diet and Weight Loss Stories of 2024

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There’s been a heap of exciting, tragic, and inspiring celebrity news stories in 2024. We lost some too soon (Robin Williams), are sending some to prison (Teresa Giudice), and saw many bring new babes in to the world. We also saw some lose and gain, for better or worse. The year brought to light a new roll of celebrities who now have before and afters to show off.

For a montage you won’t likely see at the early January Golden Globes, we present the biggest and best celebrity diet and weight stories of 2024.

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Kevin Smith

The famously silent director and actor dropped more than 20 pounds this year. Couple that with a clean-shaven face and he’s darn near unrecognizable. You’ll get a glimpse of his trimmer body and baby face in his new movie Yoga Hosers.

Rachel Frederickson Winner of Biggest Loser

Rachel Frederickson

Biggest Loser experienced maybe their biggest controversy yet, when season 15 winner Rachel Frederickson came out on stage looking not quite as healthy as winners in the past. The Biggest Loser lost 60 percent of her body fat — a dangerously unhealthy final weight.

jillian micheals naked

Jillian Michaels

Speaking of (former) Biggest Losers, Jillian Michaels stripped down to show off her gorgeous body for Shape Magazine this summer. At 40 years old, the star trainer is truly in the best shape of her life, and quite the inspiration to us all. Her online weight loss program came in at #7 on our Most Popular Diets of 2024 list. (more…)

The 25 Most Popular Diets of 2024: The 17 Day Diet Dominates Weight Watchers and Jillian Michaels Once Again

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** UPDATE: Our 2024 Most Popular Diets List is available

It’s time to reveal our 2024 Most Popular Diets List, and this one even threw some surprises our way. It’s the seventh annual publishing of our list that started in 2024, and one of the few curated exclusively by the readers. That’s right, we use your traffic behavior* throughout the year to determine which diets, programs, books, pills, and the like are the most talked about, searched, and used for the year.

Here are the 25 Most Popular Diets of 2024 as determined by our readers:

1. 17 Day Diet

2. Plexus Slim

3. Medifast

4. Nutrisystem

5. Weight Watchers

6. 21 Day Tummy

7. Jillian Michaels

8. Skinny Fiber

9. Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle

10. Diet to Go (more…)

Life after a Weight Loss Reality Show? Martha Byrne’s Laughing at the Lighter Side in a New Web Comedy Series

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Ever wondered what happens when you go from a reality show and back to your real life? Especially a weight loss reality show, where a complete transformation has taken place within someone? Well, real life holds temptations, obligations, children, husbands, social meetings, and everything in between. Transition is hard.

Weight, a new internet comedy starring Martha Byrne, from As the World Turns, explores the transition. Weight focuses on Claire, a mother who returns home from a weight loss competition after losing 100 pounds. Adjusting to her new body, Claire also has to struggle through getting used to being back home, handling mixed reactions from her friends and family, and an attempt to to balance everything at once.

“As a mom I know how hard it can be to stay on track with your health. It’s not always convenient to prepare a home cooked meal that satisfies the kids and yet is healthy for everyone. This issue is addressed in a very funny way in Weight,” Byrne told us. (more…)

Jillian is Out, Two New Coaches are in. Biggest Loser Shakes it up for Season 16

jessie pavelka jennifer widestromThe season premiere of The Biggest Loser is still 71 long days away but NBC is already announcing big changes for the 16th year. This year, Jillian fans will mourn her departure as two new J-name trainers take center stage.

Why, Jillian? Why?

On June 25, NBC announced the news of Jillian’s departure saying, “The Biggest Loser and Jillian Michaels have decided to part ways and she will not be returning for season 16 when it airs in the fall.”

This will be Jillian’s third exit from the popular weight loss program.

Whoa! Jillian Michaels Exposes Nude Figure in Shape Magazine July Issue

New Coaches? Hold me. I don’t even know.

In Jillian’s absence, NBC will have big shoes to fill, and evidently it takes two new coaches to do it. With the addition of Jessie Pavelka and Jennifer Widestrom, the coach tally climbs to four. Dolvett Quince, Bob Harper, and host Alison Sweeney have all signed on for season 16.

This will be just the second time in BL history that four coaches have been available to help contestants. (more…)

Sweat like a Celebrity: 3 Hot Workout Spots Frequented by Stars

I know I shouldn’t be more inclined to try a workout routine or class or gym based on which celebrities endorse it, but I can’t help myself—I’m attracted to places know my favorite actors and actresses also enjoy. Spin classes are a Hollywood haven for A-list actresses? Sign me up! The High School Musical cast loves Pilates? Awesome—see you on the Reformer! Crunch has a catchy name and I might run into Leonardo DiCaprio?! I. Am. In.

Let’s discuss three of the hottest workout spots for some well-known names and faces, shall we? Maybe I’ll see you there!

Wundabar

1. WundaBar
WundaBar is a Hollywood Pilates studio, and we all know how celebrities love their Pilates. (Well, who doesn’t?) The recently engaged Ashley Tisdale was introduced to WundaBar through Vanessa Hudgens, her High School Musical co-star. (I love when co-stars remain friends, especially through workout routines!) Tisdale reportedly works with a personal trainer most of the time, but also has lessons with WundaBar’s Amy Jordan, the founder of the gym. (more…)

Biggest Loser Nutritionist Cheryl Forberg, RD Approves Rachel’s Dramatic Weight Loss

Nutritionist Cheryl Forberg, RD, has worked with contestants on “The Biggest Loser” since day 1. The James Beard–award winning chef and educator has been a behind-the-scenes fixture for almost all of the 15 seasons, coaching contestants on all things food—from portion control, to nutrient content, to to healthy recipes. In fact, she was in almost constant contact with season 15’s controversial winner, Rachel Frederickson, according to an article Forberg just penned for the Huffington Post.

cheryl-forberg

Here’s what she had to say about Frederickson:

I am always asked if I’ve had favorite contestants over the years. Naturally I do, but I haven’t singled anyone out. Rachel Frederickson would definitely be high on this list. From the beginning of the season, she has been positive, inquisitive and focused, in terms of learning and living the eating plan I teach. 

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Biggest Loser Trainers Speak Out About Rachel’s Weight Loss

The public has spoken up about Rachel Frederickson’s shocking weight loss on “The Biggest Loser” season 15. So has the media. Finally, the trainers from the show are releasing statements. Although between you and me, it’s pretty easy to read between the lines on this screen shot from the big reveal:

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Here’s what the stars of “The Biggest Loser” have to say:

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Biggest Loser’s Rachel Makes Headlines with Her Weight Loss

On Tuesday, February 4th, our own Brandi Koskie tuned into the season finale for “The Biggest Loser” season 15. She was watching the program from her living room, which was unusual—she’s been in the audience at well over half of the past season’s finales. What she saw shocked her, and she’s not alone.

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The winner of the contest had lost a shocking 60% of her body weight, reducing her 5’5″ frame to a painfully thin 105 pounds. Although Koskie was one of the first to rally against NBC and the show, telling them they’d gone too far, other news outlets soon followed suit. Winner Rachel Frederickson said she feels “absolutely great”, but this didn’t stop any of the concern for her and criticism for the way the “game” is played.

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“I Feel Absolutely Great.” Biggest Loser’s Rachel Frederickson Speaks About Her Win and Shocking Weight Loss

Last night’s Biggest Loser finale wasn’t exactly the celebration we were all hoping for. Rachel Frederickson, a favorite to win, and one of our favorite contestants to watch, was named the Biggest Loser over Bobby Saleem and David Brown. Her victory should have been wonderful, but instead had a sour taste to it.

Rachel Biggest Loser Finale

What stuck out was how thin she appeared to be. At just 105 pounds, Rachel lost 60 percent of her body weight during her Biggest Loser journey, setting a new record for highest percentage of body weight lost during the show. NBC has offered “No comment” about Rachel’s weight loss.

Mary Hartley, R.D., spoke out against the speed at which Rachel lost weight.

“Fast weight loss is often associated with muscle loss and protein-calorie malnutrition since protein from the muscles and organs is converted to glucose to feed your brain. Muscle glucose makes up for the lack of glucose coming in. Rapid weight loss, and any starvation, leads to psychological changes that promote binge eating as the body attempts to replace lost mass.”

From a starting weight of 260 pounds, Rachel lost 155 pounds in 7 months. What concerns us about her weight loss is Rachel admits to being 5’5″ tall which puts her current BMI at 17.5. That’s solidly in the underweight range, and she is the only contestant in Biggest Loser history (worldwide) to end their season underweight.

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