Tag Archives: Biggest Loser

Meet the Biggest Loser 15 Contestants, Including American Idol Ruben Studdard and Olympian Holley Mangold

“I deserve to live a happy and healthy life,” said The Biggest Loser season 15 contestant Tanya Winfield. Achieving a happy and healthy life is a big part of the upcoming season of The Biggest Loser. This year, it’s all about second chances. From a former American Idol to an Olympic athlete, season 15 of The Biggest Loser is providing its contestants with a second chance at the kind of life they want to live.

For these men and women, it’s going to be quite a change from what they are used to. “I came in thinking I was an athlete and realized that didn’t mean anything,” said contestant and Olympic weightlifter Holley Mangold.

Most contestants agreed that the most challenging part of being on The Biggest Loser is the workouts with the trainers. “The trainers are what they are. They are here to do a job. They are personable and want you to get in shape, but their main goal is to change our lives,” contestant and American Idol Ruben Studdard said. All three trainers, Bob Harper, Jillian Michaels, and Dolvett Quince, return this season to help the 15 men and women on their weight loss journeys.

“We have a really good group of people. We’ve got people that are really willing to see themselves for what they are at the very beginning, which is they don’t have the ability, but they have that drive, that want,” trainer Bob Harper said.

For the first time ever, the trainers helped select the contestants, but they will also get to save them. Each trainer has one “save” this season, where they can reverse an elimination and keep a contestant on the ranch who they think deserves it. It’s an exciting first for the show.

Trainer Jillian Michaels added that the contestants change more than their physical appearances. “You don’t just see a physical transformation; you see the emotional transformation; a completely different self-image, self-worth. That to me makes all the hardship worth it.” Season 15 of The Biggest Loser premieres on Tuesday, October 8 at 8 p.m. EST on NBC.

MEET THE BIGGEST LOSER 15 CONTESTANTS

Craig Arrington
Age: 30
Occupation: Warehouse Supervisor for Pharmaceutical Company
Hometown: Wilson, North Carolina (more…)

Posted on September 4, 2023 by Elizabeth

Ali Vincent On Paying It Forward and a Road Trip Preview

Paying It Forward

When I was on the Biggest Loser I spent hours on different machines and the only thing that got me through it was planning on how I was going to live my life differently and with purpose. It was inspiring to have the blood flow through my limbs and I wanted to make sure that I was going to be a part of something bigger than myself.

As amazing as the Biggest Loser was it was very “me” focused and that can become a negative unless you have a cause. Every day was spent focusing on what I ate, how I moved and trying to navigate how I felt, I just couldn’t do it unless I let myself dream about how me taking this time to find my way back to my true self would mean something to more than just me. I needed to know that my life meant something and that’s what allowed me to completely dedicate myself to changing what needed to be changed and rebuilding what worked.

(more…)

Posted on August 26, 2023 by Ali

Live Big With Ali Vincent: Competition is a Double-Edged Sword

Competition is good or is it?

This season on Live Big With Ali Vincent, airing Saturdays at 5:30 p/4:30 c, it’s all about surprises but also with every surprise destination it seems as if my mom, Bette-Sue and I are in competition. Don’t get me wrong, I like a little healthy competition every now and then but I don’t always like making everything about winning because when winning is involved, that means losing is involved.

With that same thought process sometimes competition is exactly what’s needed to give me that extra little push to keep me on track. I operate well in competitive situations when physical challenges are involved, if it’s not direct. What do I mean by this? I mean that I don’t particularly like head-to-head games because I don’t like the feeling that arises within me on trying to “beat” the competition. I don’t like the feeling of beating someone else in order to win.

So when I say I operate well in competitive situations I mean, I like competition that involves everyone doing his or her best. Is there still someone that wins and someone that loses? YES. However for me it feels different and I actually end up doing better if I know others are striving for the same goal. It gives me the drive when I don’t feel like waking up or putting in the extra effort when I know everyone is going to have his or her results looked at the same time.

When I was younger I was very good at my sport and often won my bracket. I also on several occasions would over hear the other girls talking about “beating” me at all cost, I felt separate and I hated it. However somehow these experiences led me to live my life, as an adult who did not participate in activities I didn’t know I could win. It got to the point that I just quit participating period. This didn’t serve me or allow me to create the life I wanted to live.

In my life it has proved very beneficial to understand this about myself. It has allowed me to understand why I let myself hold back or participate in head to head competitions. This knowledge allows me to just put those feelings aside and choose consciously, to allow it to be FUN and keep sensitive feelings aside.

Tune in this week to see how competition sometimes comes between my mom and me and sometimes brings us closer. Maybe you will start thinking about how you respond to competitive situations and I hope that if you it holds you back in any way, you stop, evaluate and find a way to still participate!

Good Luck and until next week,

Ali xo

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Ali Vincent Takes on the Ironman Triathlon and Feels Alive

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Posted on July 26, 2023 by Health Buzz

5 Biggest Losers Complete the Ironman Triathlon to Become Elite Athletes after the Ranch

A 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and a 26.2 mile run. These are the daunting distances that make up a full Ironman triathlon. Many superior athletes don’t even take a second look at these races because they’re simply so demanding. The training, the discipline, and the excruciating race are all just too much for most to handle. However, a new unlikely trend seems to be taking place within the Ironman. The least likely of competitors are throwing their hat in the ring and chasing that fateful moment when the announcer says, “You are an Ironman!”.

This surprising group is comprised of Biggest Loser contestants. People who entered a television reality show morbidly obese and then moved on to complete what is possibly the toughest physical feat on the planet – these elite individuals are hardly losers.

There have been five Biggest Loser contestants who have completed an Ironman, and they are Tara Costa (BL7), Hollie Self (BL4), Jay Kruger (BL5), Ali Vincent (BL5), and Matt Hoover (BL2). One theme seems to be shared among them all – finding out just how far they could push themselves drove them to take on their biggest challenge yet.

“…being on the Biggest Loser, you quickly learn that you can do so much more than what you think is possible if you just try,” said Tara Costa, a finalist in season 7.

All of the finishers say something to the effect that being on the show showed them that they were much more capable than they previously thought and once they were off the show, they needed another huge challenge to keep proving that to themselves. (more…)

Posted on July 22, 2023 by Lacy

Ali Vincent Premieres Season 3 of Live Big with Ali Vincent with Bette-Sue by Her Side

This week started out with a bang! I found myself on the red carpet promoting and celebrating the premiere of the third season of my show, Live Big With Ali Vincent on the Live Well network. I never imagined that my quest to find balance through health and fitness would guide me in this direction, but boy am I grateful. The premiere party was attended by celebrities and powers that be in the industry, however it felt more like a party for my Biggest Loser friends and Live Big guests.

We had low calorie Vita Frute cocktails by Veev and the Executive Chef Marius Blin of the Sofitel Los Angeles prepared AMAZING appetizers from the restaurant’s D’Lite menu. Everyone loved that they could enjoy the evening without worrying about breaking the calorie bank. Immediately after the party I was off on a plane to start the promotional tour leading up to the premiere the very next morning.

I find that during exciting times in life it’s really easy to get tempted and distracted from what then might seem like less exciting mundane routines. Live Big With Ali Vincent this season is all about being prepared for the unknown, being challenged by experiencing whatever life throws your way and finding healthy weights to navigate along the way. (more…)

Posted on July 16, 2023 by Ali

Ruben Studdard Joins Biggest Loser as First Celebrity Contestant

Prepare yourselves now “Velvet Teddy Bear” fans, singer Ruben Studdard is a contestant on the upcoming season of The Biggest Loser, marking the first time in show history to have a celebrity. Studdard is best known as the winner of American Idol’s second season when he topped runner-up Clay Aiken. He will be part of a yet-to-be-named cast of new contestants losing weight together in the show’s fifteenth season, set to debut Tuesday, October 8. ruben studdard biggest loser

It’s a later start than usual for the hit reality show, but no doubt the addition of Ruben will make it worth the wait. NBC is staying mum on pertinent details like Ruben’s starting weight, but we’ll surely see his story unfold as his journey begins alongside other men and women primed to change their own lives while inspiring others.

Essence Magazine reports that Ruben weighed upwards of 450 pounds in 2003 when his American Idol season debuted. Shortly after winning, he joined the Duke Diet where he lost 70 pounds, citing a family history of diabetes and high blood pressure as motivation. It was after that program that he became a vegetarian, and later a vegan, saying he doesn’t eat anything that has a parent. As best we can tell, Ruben remains a staunch vegetarian to this day, however, his health is still greatly at risk due to his obesity. (more…)

Posted on July 1, 2023 by Natalie K

Ali Vincent Takes on the Ironman Triathlon and Feels Alive

Physical challenges can define us or be what motivates us to get out of bed. One of the best pieces of advice I can share with people starting out on a new relationship with their bodies is sign up for a race of some kind. It is important to do things we wouldn’t in moments of weakness.

Last week on Live Big With Ali Vincent, airing Saturdays at 5:30p/4:30c, I took you with me as I challenged myself to the hardest physical event I’ve ever attempted, the Ironman Triathlon. I chose to do it in Cozumel, Mexico because I thought, ‘well, if I die during this quest, at least I will die in paradise.’ Obviously I didn’t die, but I did feel reborn.

I got to see myself realize that to feel doesn’t always have to be bigger or more challenging and how waking up each morning more connected than the day before is what Living Big is all about for me! (more…)

Posted on June 10, 2023 by Ali

Child-Proof Your Life to Avoid Temptation in Weight Loss

The biggest enemy of a healthy lifestyle is one that many of us fight on a daily basis. Often we lose this battle, but because our desire for a long, healthy life fulfilled through love, laughter and action, we are bound to win the war. This enemy is TEMPTATION!

Temptation is an enemy we cannot deny. I know that every time I fall off course, I’ve allowed something to tempt me, whether it’s an extra glass of wine, a sweet I haven’t accounted for, or skipping a workout. Once I allow the temptation, it becomes easier and more acceptable to repeat until there is no longer a course to fall off of.

When I first returned home from The Biggest Loser campus I was very diligent about what I call “child-proofing” my life. I made sure to remove temptation from my life because I knew I was not strong enough to resist. When we embark on creating new habits it’s paramount that we cushion our environment for a fall; that way we don’t do too much damage. One thing I know for sure is that, in learning new things, we will fail. Failure will make us stronger if we choose to learn from our mistakes. (more…)

Posted on May 31, 2023 by Ali

Biggest Loser’s Filipe Fa Loses 98 Pounds with Walgreens’ Way to Well

At the Biggest Loser 7 finale, a fit and trim Filipe Fa walked out on stage next to his teammate and cousin Sione Fa and performed a rousing Maori Haka, a traditional war dance from their native Tonga. Filipe made it through 17 grueling weeks on the infamous ranch, ultimately sweating and beating 135 pounds off his frame. But the ranch and home are two very different places, and the years since Loser have put Filipe back where he started.

“In the last few years, Filipe’s put the weight, plus some, back on,” said his cousin Sione Fa, who is now a personal trainer at the Biggest Loser Resort in Ivins, Utah. Since his finale, Filipe has gained 155 pounds, twenty pounds more than he’d originally lost.

“It’s difficult to admit,” Filipe told us. “But it’s not that you can’t see it!” He’s hung back from alumni events like finales and given up speaking opportunities because he felt “embarrassed, inadequate.” He explained that nothing tragic happened, he gained weight like a lot of people do. First, it was 10 or 15 pounds and you think you’re OK, and then he explained the days turn in to weeks, turn in to months, and you’re back at your starting weight..

“I feel like it’s my time to lose weight again,” Filipe told us, as he talked about his new partnership with Walgreens, the Biggest Loser Resort, and his trainer Sione.

Without the pressure of the cameras, Filipe visited the Resort last October with an attitude that he was ready to start over. Walgreens, an on-going sponsor of the Biggest Loser television show, got word of his efforts and wanted to help. With the cousins they launched a web series, so far with eight episodes, that captures Filipe’s personal journey back to health. (more…)

Posted on May 28, 2023 by Natalie K

Make Your Weight Loss a Friendly Competition

This week I wanted to talk a little about friendly competition. I know competitions can motivate us to produce results, especially in the physical world. Since winning the Biggest Loser in 2024, I have traveled the country speaking to groups of all sizes and it NEVER fails that I come across people who are having a Biggest Loser Challenge in their community. Their excitement when they share their results is overwhelming. Yet, the one thing that always strikes me is hearing they have participated in these challenges over and over again.

This week on Live Big With Ali Vincent we check in on a Live Big husband and wife duo: The Hootens. I can’t wait for you to see their story.

In the past, the Hootens had been successful with their weight loss while they participated in challenges. Obviously I can relate to this, but what a lot of people don’t know are all the lessons I learned through my journey. The most important was learning that winning was about figuring out how I wanted to live my life after shedding all the weight that was holding me back. (more…)

Posted on May 3, 2023 by Ali

Challenge Yourself to Feel Empowered on Live Big with Ali Vincent

What a difference a choice, a moment, a day, a year and five years makes! This week was my 5-year anniversary since I stood on the scale at the season 5 finale of The Biggest Loser as the confetti fell and I became the first female winner.

When I look back at my journey, the moment that made the biggest difference in my life was when I said “fine.” For so long I waited for something “big” to happen, to know my life was going to change dramatically. I didn’t realize waiting left me missing all the moments that could have gotten me to the life I wanted.

I finally said “fine” in a conversation with my mom on August 11, 2024. She was so excited that the Biggest Loser casting was going to be in my hometown, despite only finding out the night before. Back then I was a fully booked hairstylist and couldn’t afford to take the time off of work. However my mom said, “I couldn’t afford NOT to go.” My life changed forever as I replied: “Fine, go find out where I need to stand in line.” Just like that. FINE. I was so many emotions: nervous, shaky, excited, scared, and even on the verge of tears. But I surrendered with just one word. (more…)

Posted on April 19, 2024 by Ali

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