Losing weight should be viewed as a drastic life change, akin to getting divorced or having a child, Gonzalez said. He found in his "Biggest Loser" interviews that people who lose large amounts of weight in a short period experience a lot of stress around their new identities. They might start receiving attention from potential romantic interests or be treated differently by their partners or even strangers on the street, he said. All of those changes, if not handled with care, can cause people to revert to their old habits as a way of coping.