THE Biggest Loser champion Danny Cahill is planning to overhaul his diet after revealing he has put all of the weight back on since winning the show.
Danny, 56, appeared on season 8 of the NBC series back in 2009 and initially tipped the scales at 460 pounds with a 69-inch waist.
Danny Cahill seen when he first started his weight loss crash course on the show[/caption]
Danny looked unrecognizable at the finale of The Biggest Loser in 2009[/caption]
The former musician, here this year, appears on the new Netflix documentary, Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser[/caption]
Danny Cahill ran with Liz Young, Jillian Michaels on the set of his season[/caption]
He battled with obesity after his music career ended, and he dealt with a difficult marriage, eventually turning to gambling and food bingeing.
But Danny was determined to turn his life around and was named winner of the reality TV show after losing a staggering 239 pounds.
This month, he appeared in the new Netflix documentary, Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser, which looks at how the series prioritized dramatic weight loss for television ratings.
Viewers were saddened to see Danny, along with many other contestants, put the weight back on after leaving the show.
A report in the New York Times in 2016 found that they regained weight due to metabolic changes caused by fast weight loss, including a slower metabolism and increased appetite.
A study tracking them for six years found that their metabolisms slowed down during and after the series, and these changes persisted even when they put the weight back on.
In an exclusive interview with The U.S. Sun, Danny explained he has no regrets about going on the program but is set to go about his next weight loss journey in a different way.
“What we did was very extreme. Low calorie intake, very high calorie burn,” he said. “And what the study showed five or six years later… That was disheartening.
I do want to lose weight, but I’m going to do it a lot slower.”
Danny Cahill on his next weight loss challenge
“But it also confirmed some of the things that we were seeing because some were working out, and still, we would gain pounds.
“And we were like, ‘Golly, what is going on?’ Well, we were at a deficit.
“I burned 800 calories less five, six years later than a normal guy my size. And that was a little bit scary.
“I’m almost back [to the weight] where I started the show. And yes, I do wanna lose weight, but I’m gonna do it a lot slower.”
Danny explained he kept the weight off for the first three or four years, but was struggling with the amount of exercise he needed to do to maintain his weight, and suffered from injuries.
“I was working out so much, we worked out seven to eight hours a day [on the show].
“And so when I went home, I would ride my bike everywhere. I would jog to the post office. I would walk to the grocery store. I just didn’t really drive because it just integrated into my life.
“And that caused injuries and caused my joints to break down. And so yeah, an injury would happen with my foot, say, and I couldn’t walk or run or anything for a period of time.
“It would become depressing when you couldn’t work out because you’d start getting scared, like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m gonna put all this weight back on.’ And yes, it kind of fed itself.”
EATING HABITS
Danny has considered taking Ozempic, the FDA-approved injectable medication, primarily prescribed for managing type 2 diabetes.
The drug has been responsible for many Hollywood stars who have transformed their look in recent years, but many are warned about side effects.
Many who take Ozempic also find themselves piling weight back on if they stop doing the injections, which for some can be costly.
Danny said, “I know many people are taking the jabs. I considered that, but I just haven’t found peace with it.
“And I’ve actually had doctors say, you know, you have to weigh the positives and negatives ’cause it’s not healthy to be my size.
“Even though I’m a relatively healthy person, it’s not the best thing for my body. And for my heart. So yes, I need to lose weight.”
He said he and his wife have now started a health program, and taking part in the Fit For TV series has spurred him on to get back in shape for the sake of his health.
“This documentary has kind of got me a little bit excited about making a change in my eating habits and moving some more and giving my Boston Terriers a walk every day,” he said.
“We’ll be eating very clean, somewhat like I did on the ranch on The Biggest Loser. But I’ll be eating the right amounts, the better amounts.
“When on the ranch I just ate so few calories. It was definitely a quick weight loss.
“I would’ve lost that weight in just a little bit longer time had I eaten, you know, 800 more calories a day.
‘NO REGRETS’
“So we’re going to eat a good calorie amount that’s healthy, and we’re going to move a lot more than we were, and we’re gonna cut out some fried foods and some different things. So we’re just gonna try to do it the right way.”
Despite having been through hell and back with his weight loss journey, he says the show changed his life, and he does not regret taking part.
Social media users who were unfamiliar with the show were stunned to see archive footage of the fitness trainers berating the contestants and even throwing water over them.
But Danny said, “I absolutely do not regret it. People say, ‘Would you do it again knowing what you know now? And I’d say, yes, I’d probably do it a little differently. I would eat a little bit more calories than I did, but I’d still work hard and do it because it did change the trajectory of my life.
“Even things like this documentary, to be able to inspire other people that, number one, you don’t have to hide if you’re overweight.
“I feel free after that documentary, that people know where I’m at now instead of wondering, ‘Oh, what are they gonna think when they see me?’
“It’s good to come out of the closet and be real and just try to better yourself. So I don’t have a lot of regrets.”
However, he does feel the series should have been judged on who had the healthiest weight loss, as opposed to just pounds on the scale.
“Dr. Robert Huizenga said it best when he said, ‘You can’t have a show based on [the] amount of weight lost and have it healthy,’” Danny said.
“The whole thing is to try to do it quicker than the other person. He always wanted to have it by body composition.
“That amount of muscle mass, retention, and gain. And then fat loss, measuring your body that way.
“And he was adamant that the prize should be given for a healthier body and not necessarily just a skinnier body.”
The Biggest Loser champ is seen working out during his time on the controversial reality TV series[/caption]
Danny Cahill is pictured far right with his fellow contestants and trainers on The Biggest Loser[/caption]
