Are Biggest Loser contestants reverse cheating?

Biggest Loser Season Three Winner Erik Chopin Talks To Oprah About Regaining 122 Pounds.

Are you cheating on your diet or reverse cheating?

Are 'The Biggest Loser Couples' contestants cheating after they're voted off the ranch? Is it possible to lose unreal amounts of weight in record time in a less than optimal environment at home? These questions have been raise by fitness experts and the media alike.

According to TV Guide reporter Rochell D. Thomas, she questions whether the contestants are "stretching the believability when it comes to postshow reality?"

Several of this season's 'The Biggest Loser Couples' contestants who were voted off the show have gone home and recreated the rigors of the ranch. They transformed their own homes into mini versions of The Biggest Loser Ranch. Training 6 to 8 hours a day and eating strictly, they've achieved phenomenal results. Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels need not apply. No doubt that the two beloved Biggest Loser trainers, as well as the ranch's support staff, have deeply impressed upon these contestants the value of a healthy lifestyle. But this season's contestants have taken the message to heart, as well as home.

A few of these weight loss renegades returned home and informed no one, including family, friends, and coworkers, that they were off the ranch. Read more and find out if the contestants are at risk for exercise addiction.

Your mini guide to Oprah's Best Life week

Starting January 5th, Oprah launches a new series of television and radio programming, as well as online support, to help you achieve your best life. Oprah's recent confession that she's gained back forty pounds has inspired her to launch a new Best Life series that addresses weight issues, but also covers health, spirituality, money, and relationships.

Don't miss these must see shows! Read more.

Oprah, queen of denial on her forty pound weight gain

Oprah says of her weight gain "I'm mad at myself, I'm embarrassed" Has Oprah been the queen of denial when it comes to weight gain? The answer is a definitive yes. Fans have watched all year as she slowly grew to 200 pounds. Sometimes our loyalty and love for someone blinds us, or causes us to overlook their faults and frailties. Several times, my husband has said, "Oprah's getting fat again." He's not one to mince words. I've repeatedly said, "I don't know, she's always been a big girl." Perhaps fans like me we're in denial also.

Oprah's trainer Bob Greene tells her "you're depressed." Oprah has gained 40 pounds in the past year due to upsetting circumstances in her life. Her best friend Gayle Greene, editor at large of O Magazine appeared this morning on "Good Morning America" to talk about Oprah's weight gain and her issues with a thyroid problem and depression. Gayle says, "I see a sadness in her face." Upset by the trouble that beset her girl's school in Africa, while strapped for time working on her show, magazine, and radio station, Oprah apparently has let herself go...again. Read more at my Examiner column.