The Week Two Curse

If you spent any time watching The Biggest Loser, you know what the Week 2 Curse is. If you're not familiar with it, it goes as such:

• Contestants lose amazing amounts of weight in the first week (often double-digits).
• Contestants post losses of 1 or 2 pounds or even GAIN weight in the next week.

How can this be? You know the trainers haven't suddenly said, "Hey everyone! Have some ice cream. You did great today!"

I tried to find science-based info on this phenomenon, but since it was late when I drafted this for this canvas, I only spent a few minutes on the endeavor... and came up empty-handed.

Trainers, though, believe that it's a protective mechanism the body is using.

Your body is all "OMG, I'M DYING" - as dramatic as an angsty teenager, hand-to-forehead as she crumples to the couch. Then, like the same teenager, it moves into stubborn mode, refusing to budge. "No! I'm not losing ANOTHER POUND! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!"

So how do you make a tenacious teen and a persistent pound do what you want? According to some of the (very much non-scientific) info on the Internet, you trick them!

Do you usually have a big breakfast and light dinner? Switch it for the week. Do you have a cheat day? Pick a different day for this week. Or you can do like Jillian Michaels suggests and do nothing different. According to her, "you'll typically start losing weight again after about three weeks."

So if you are tracking your weight as part of the 12-Week Shape Up! and find that week two is not playing as nice as week one, don't despair! Just treat it like a troubled teen and trick it or ignore it. You'll get past this rough patch!