"The group as a whole on average burned 2,607 calories per day at rest before the competition, which dropped to about 2,000 calories per day at the end. Six years later, calorie burning had slowed further to 1,900 per day, as reported in the journal Obesity, May 2." Ouch!
Biggest Loser is not realistic weight loss. All of us could do really well and have a super metabolism living on a ranch with nothing but workouts all day long and controlled eating and vacation from jobs and family. But when these guys go out in the real world and get back to their jobs and having to feed themselves, it goes back to previous habits.
CALORIE UPDATE Reviewing my food journals and counting after discussions and it looks like my caloric intake is in the 1300-1400range with the extra coming from fats and some protein. It fluctuates depending on days I do an activity or days I am busier with work. Fat content calculations came out closer to 40-50grams daily I believe plus fish oil supplements. Knee sitffness and pain has disappeared though I have not done as much running/squats as usual but today playing hoops (don't feel like lifting today).
Calorie wise I will be right there with you in about a month. I'm doing 1,600 per day right now, and at the end of this week I'm dropping it to 1,500 for two weeks, and then I will drop it to 1,400 after that. I'm doing a high carb diet though, so my breakdown is 50% of calories come from carbs, 25% from protein, and 25% from fat.
No time for hoops or running to the gym so did pushup pyramids and 500m row sprint intervals on Concept2 rower. Not a major workout but just to get something in both "resistance" and cardio. Energy levels still pretty good.
Weigh In First I adjusted my 5/21 weight back to 5/18 when I did a more official weigh in on a different scale which is not the same as gym scale- notied a difference so want to only post weights on one consistent scale I use. Weight as of 5/24: 233.1 lbs. Next week will scale up my lifting/workouts because after a few initial sessions my energy feels almost 100%. Minimal brain fog in the morning but my sleeping habits are still shit. Despite full knowledge of the research on sleep and weigh loss...I still am a night person (part work/part NBA playoffs). Rest of day usually pretty solid and no lapse in energy.
Doing the Keto thing for a month now. Pretty good, so far. Definitely lost my desire for high-carb things. I still eat sweets using erythritol and almond flour/ coconut flour. You can do a lot with the alternatives, but you have to learn to cook differently. I already do a LOT of cooking so it wasn't too bad. I encourage people to try it. Reducing carbs solved a couple of persistent health problems for me - most notably heartburn. Had it bad, but not a single episode since I went keto. If you have heartburn - try it. It will probably help a lot.
Good luck with it, I also noticed some usual joint aches after workouts have gone away. My tastes have changed slightly (not on it long enough to be completely changed) and certain cravings are truly gone. Now it is more salty than sweet.