How does biggest loser determine winner

The initial two trainers who debuted in the pilot episode of the show were Bob Harper seasons 1 through 17 and Jillian Michaels seasons 1, 2, 4 through 11, 14, and These two trainers are arguably the most well-known and have come to be associated with the show.

Perhaps the next well-known trainer is Dolvett Quince seasons 12 through An Excel version of the data file can be downloaded here. Figure 1. A subset of The Biggest Loser data file. Figure 1 shows a subset of the data file as displayed in SPSS and provides descriptions of the variables. SPSS is also used to produce all the numerical and graphical summaries in this article.

The data was extracted from Wikipedia on July 2, This web page provides a detailed description of each of the 17 The Biggest Loser seasons. To obtain data that could be used to demonstrate descriptive statistics and graphs, only portions of the data available on this web page were extracted and input to the data file.

All contestants to date have participated in the initial weigh-in. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , evidence shows people who lose weight gradually and steadily about one to two pounds per week are more successful at keeping the weight off.

The rate of one to two pounds per week is based on what is deemed a reasonable amount of weight for a typical dieter to lose. It is well known that The Biggest Loser contestants lose mind-boggling amounts of weight in the initial phases of their exercise and diet routines—far exceeding one to two pounds per week.

But how many pounds does a typical The Biggest Loser contestant lose in the first week of the competition? Note: The quartiles given above were calculated by SPSS using what is called a weighted average technique. These values may not be the same as the values given by a TI Calculator or other statistical software. However, any difference would be negligible and the interpretation of the values would be the same.

From the numerical summaries provided in Table 1, we can see that a typical contestant loses Fifty percent of the contestants N have lost 16 or more pounds during their first week median. Astonishingly, the maximum amount of weight lost during the first week has been 41 pounds. Because the mean is pulled in the direction of skewness away from the median, the mean is larger than the median.

Figure 2. Histogram of the distribution of pounds lost during week one. Beginning with Season 2, the rules were changed so the weigh-ins were judged based on percentage of weight loss, instead of the number of pounds lost. Percentage of weight loss is calculated as. The reasoning behind this change was the theory that contestants with higher starting weight should be able to lose more weight and would therefore have an unfair advantage if the competition was based solely on number of pounds lost.

Figure 3a. Scatterplots showing the strong positive relationship between starting weight and number of pounds lost. Figure 3b. Scatterplots showing the weak relationship between starting weight and percentage of weight lost.

Figure 4a. Side-by-side boxplots comparing the distributions by gender of starting weight. Figure 4b. Side-by-side boxplots comparing the distributions by gender of pounds lost. Figure 5. Comparing weight loss percentages at the finale for males and females.

But does the data support this theory? To see, we can look at the relationship between starting weight and number of pounds lost at the finale in a scatterplot, as in Figure 3 a. The scatterplot shows a positive linear relationship between starting weight and number of pounds lost; that is, contestants with a higher starting weight tended to lose more pounds, and contestants with a lower starting weight tended to lose fewer pounds. The positive sign of the correlation signifies the positive direction of the linear relationship, and that the correlation which always takes values between -1 and 1 is relatively close to 1 demonstrates that the linear relationship is fairly strong.

But does focusing on weight loss in terms of percentage, rather than number of pounds, indeed level the playing field? Use the weigh-in sessions to share healthy eating tips and exercise ideas. Consider spending the lunch hour walking as a group, for example. Determine the winner at the final weigh-in. The winner gets the money everyone contributed at the beginning as her prize. If your group prefers to award a non-monetary prize, you might opt for a special perk such as a guaranteed prime location parking space for a week.

As a national security analyst for the U. Related articles. Which country has the lowest cost of living in the world? Windhoek, Namibia. Zurich, Paris and Hong Kong tied for the most expensive city, according to the. For the fourth year in a row, Switzerland is considered the No.

They prefer shallow coastal water, which means they can often come into contact with. Allow others in the office to partake as well. Remember to keep these workouts low-intensity.

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. The workplace is not the only place where you can organize a Biggest Loser challenge. Consider challenging people in your neighborhood, family, school, house of worship or social media community to take part in a weight loss challenge. Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0. Join The Biggest Loser League online. Your weight loss challenge will be visible to the Biggest Loser community, which will reinforce your weight loss commitment.

Always check with your doctor before starting a weight-loss regimen, and encourage your participants to do the same. People who are already at a healthy weight should not take part in a Biggest Loser contest.

Helpful 23 Not Helpful Related wikiHows How to. How to. More References 8. About This Article. Co-authored by:. Co-authors: Updated: February 23, Categories: Weight Loss Goals. Nederlands: Een wedstrijd afvallen op je werk organiseren. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read , times. This article helped us a lot in coming up with rules, guidelines and tips in ensuring that we are doing it right.

Thank you. More reader stories Hide reader stories. Did this article help you? Yes No. Cookies make wikiHow better.

By continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Gem Simbulan Sep 23, Sharon Cobb Jun 15, All parties are ready to do this, lol. Wish us luck. Jun 7, One click and I found everything I needed to facilitate a challenge at my office. Tammy W. Dec 27, Michelle E. Jan 11, Share yours!

More success stories Hide success stories. By signing up you are agreeing to receive emails according to our privacy policy. Follow Us.