No goodbye at the Biggest Loser ranch is ever easy, and seeing Coach Mo walk out those doors was one of the harder moments this season. He could have been anyone’s grandpa, and his consistently positive, encouraging attitude made him all the more adored. At 55, Mo was the oldest player to compete this season, but he never let age become an issue. He competed right alongside 20-year-olds, and offered a face of sportsmanship.
Listen now as Mo discusses what it was like to be Tracey‘s teammate, and what it’s like to finally be leading by example. Then continue reading to learn more about Mo’s journey on and off the ranch.
Coach Mo returned home to find that he had not only pushed himself to lose 43 pounds, but to see his family and community also working hard to lose weight. His wife has lost 35 pounds, his daughter 40 and his son 30, and no doubt the group will continue to lose together.
Mo continues to count his calories and carefully manage what he eats, while remaining extremely active by working out four times a day and walking six miles each day. All of this has contributed to his total weight loss of 80 pounds, half of which he’s lost on his own at home.
In speaking with Coach Mo it is perfectly clear what he is most proud of in this experience, and that’s the affect it’s had on his youth mentoring program, The Village. It’s a non-profit organization he runs to help children and teens live healthy, active, positive lives. He says he used to teach from the sidelines, but now we see him running right along side them. Not only can he now encourage the children to eat fruits and vegetables and less sugar, but he shows them that he does it, too. Plus, the parents are also more interested in implementing these healthy habits for themselves. This, he says, “Is the most pleasing thing that’s happened to me.”
It’s likely that coach mentality that helped Mo’s relationship with Tracey. He says he told himself and the other contestants to “reach down and get a little more” anytime they were struggling. And Tracey’s game-controlling antics seemed to put everyone in that position often. But as her teammate, and only ally in the house, Mo said he knew the real Tracey, knew her heart and that all of her struggles caused her to fight even harder to stay there. He said the control Tracey wielded over the game left a bad taste in the mouth of her competitors, but defends that she was in a bad place and thinks that she acted appropriately.
Coach Mo continues to practice the skills he learned at the ranch: mental toughness, structure and discipline. And says to anyone, including his daughter, who wants to call him a hero, “I’m not. I’m just a man who tried to lose some weight. That doesn’t make me a hero, just a man trying to accomplish something.”
See more of Coach Mo’s journey in this slideshow.
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