It’s the final weigh-in and the tension is high. The contestants have endured 17 weeks of intense exercise, strict diet, and even strict trainers. They have focused all their energy on one thing: losing weight. It all comes down to this moment. What will be said when the last contestant climbs that ladder will determine whether he has successfully “changed his life”. But will these changes last? Presumably, if you have successfully changed, they will. However, is there not more to the change of life than what is registered in the balance? What about your perception of yourself? Do you really see yourself as a skinny guy? Season 4 winner Bill Germanokos doesn’t. “I still consider myself a morbidly obese person within the body of a fit person.” In fact, although Bill now owns a weight loss company with his brother, Jim, and advises others on how to lose weight, this remains his sentiment.

So has it really changed? Well that depends on how we define change. On the scale, he is different, more than 100 pounds different. However, the feeling he has about himself has not changed.

Well, when it comes to change, in fact, there are more ways to change. However, some changes are more likely to lead to high levels of life satisfaction than others. The change described above by the Biggest Loser contestant, as you can imagine, is not particularly related to high levels of life satisfaction. Much of the reason for this is because the change is not authentic. Since it was not generated by a feeling, the change was superimposed on the person. This is what we call a first order change. First-order changes are changes that we make because we have to, or we convince ourselves that we do. Examples of major changes may be adjusting our schedule to accommodate a new job, learning to bite our tongues while at the new job, choosing a career to please our parents, and losing weight to meet someone else’s ideal for U.S. When we make changes of the first order, we don’t necessarily feel like making the changes. We do them because it is more convenient to do them than not. In this way, not making the changes would lead to negative consequences that would be more uncomfortable than going against our feelings about the changes. We then learn to repress our feelings and make the desired changes to avoid these negative consequences. For example, not adjusting our lives to accommodate our work schedule would lead to financial catastrophe. On the other hand, not biting our tongues at work, choosing a particular career, or losing weight could disappoint someone in our life and lead to rejection or recrimination. Because these negative consequences evoke more fear than suppressing our feelings, we make the changes. However, we really didn’t feel like doing them, and in that sense they don’t feel natural. On the other hand, when they feel forced, our attitude towards them becomes resistant. This prepares us for a lower level of satisfaction with life in the short term and a propensity to react to changes in the long term. So even though Bill has surrounded himself with weight loss reminders, his chances of experiencing high levels of life satisfaction are limited.

However, not all changes are forced. Some changes are generated by a real feeling about the change. These are things we do because they seem natural to us. An example of this is having children. As the maternal instinct takes over, the new mother finds herself doing things very differently than she did before. It can become less rigid, more flexible and forgiving. Her need for accomplishment may be reduced as her need to be nurturing and motherly takes over. Another example of this is learning a new skill and developing a passion for it. For example, as we learn to play tennis and find that we are good at and like the way we feel when we play, we may set aside other obligations in our life to play tennis. Both changes will occur viscerally, almost out of our awareness. This is because we do not have to think about them, they are not imposed on us, nor forced in any way, and therefore they do not require a conscious effort. These changes are called second-order changes, and as you can imagine, they are related to higher levels of life satisfaction than first-order changes. This is because we are doing things that we love. Just as the new mother loves her son, the changes in her life seem natural, the new tennis player loves tennis, and therefore the changes in her life also seem natural.

So does the Biggest Loser have it right? Does the program generate changes of the first order (low satisfaction with life) or of the second order (high satisfaction with life)? Next time you watch the show, ask yourself, are contestants encouraged to find the things they love? Or, instead, they are trading life satisfaction for weight loss. Ultimately, the two should go hand in hand.