GUEST BIO
The Biggest Loser Secrets to Keeping it Off
By
The 700 Club
CBN.com- GROWING UP HUNGRY
Pete grew up in Michigan and lived in 12 cities before he was 10 years old. He was used to moving and being hungry. Pete never knew his father. When he was 5, Pete's mom told him she was leaving.
Unbeknownst to him, she was mentally ill. She left him no food but instructed him to go to the neighbor's house three times a day to eat. She came home with his little sister. "Maybe this was the beginning of my struggle with food," says Pete. Two years later, she abandoned both of her kids; this time the food ran out and it was winter. The first house Pete and his sister went to took them in, fed them and called the police. They were put in foster homes, and Pete says he hasn't seen his sister since he was 8. Pete recalls wolfing down food when they had it. To this day, when Pete feels hunger pangs he feels a sense of panic that manifests in a desire to overeat. Fortunately he has learned the reason for this and has learned to control it.
AT HOME WINNER
Pete was working as a software support technician and computer programmer for a nationwide book diatributer. He would eat 2 bowls of cereal for breakfast, spend $5 a day in vending machines, eat a fast food lunch with more snacks in the afternoon and eat a high carb meal for dinner.
When Pete sent his videotape into producers for The Biggest Loser, he weighed over 400 pounds. He was one of the first contestants to weigh that much. After passing a battery of psychological tests, Pete flew out to Los Angeles with the other contestants. After giving the news to his aunt that he was on his way, Pete told her he wanted to find his father. She informed him that he died when Pete was a little boy. Devastated, Pete prayed to the Lord and found the strength to lose the weight on the ranch by himself and for himself.
Up until this point, Pete had never been pushed so hard physically or emotionally. He consumed 1,900-2,000 calories a day. Two months later, he was voted off. At that time he lost 85 pounds. He recalls Jillian Michaels telling him to lose 100 pounds at home. Pete joined a beginner's running class after he got back. Still at 318 pounds, Pete says he was still heavy. He took up cycling and swimming. After four months at home, Pete was at his goal weight, but then he took his workouts up a notch to lose more. When Pete attended the live finale in November 2005, he lost a total of 185 pounds!
Seven years later and counting, Pete says he lost not only the weight but the unhealthy lifestyle associated with it. Today he is armed with knowledge about nutrition and exercise. His body fat is in the single digits. Pete and Pam run every day and work out with resistance training 4 days a week. His 4-step process includes:
- Your Power: Find the “why.” What is the cause for your overeating?
- Your Plan: Understand 1 pound = 3,500 calories. Reduce caloric intake by 500 calories every day.
- Your Pursuit: Sharpen your focus and apply healthy principles based on his Forever Habits, like food is fuel, write down daily caloric intakes, reduce calories, avoid white sugar, white flour and salt (“white poisons”), etc.
- Your Purpose: Maintain healthy choices; Review, Revise, Repeat, Reward and Reach back (his 5 Rs).
Pete came to know the Lord in college in 1991. Today he is a personal trainer and helps clients with his weight-loss program and boot camps in the Ann Arbor area and nationwide.
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