Weight Loss Success Story - Rebecca Meyer (The Biggest Loser)

Rebecca Meyer (age 25) joined Season 8 of "The Biggest Loser" weighing in at 279 lbs.  On the show she lost about 140 lbs and nearly 50% of her total bodyweight, winning the at-home "Biggest Loser" prize of $100,000. She also found the love of her life at the ranch and they are now building a life together. Watch more about her incredible journey below:

Rebecca Meyer on the "Jay Leno" show  (2009)

Rebecca (a former nanny), is now a certified personal trainer in Des Moines, Iowa and is using her experiences from the show to help motivate and train others to eat right, exercise  and live their best lives.

"I just became the girl and the change I always wanted to be."  Rebecca Meyer (Season 8 at-home winner, "The Biggest Loser")

A brand new season of "The Biggest Loser" kicks off Tuesday Sept. 21, 2010 on NBC.

Weight Loss Success Story - Ali Vincent (Biggest Loser)

As I work towards becoming my own weight loss success story I like to read about others who have achieved remarkable success.  I'm truly inspired by weight loss success stories! 


One such woman I have tremendous respect and admiration for is ALI VINCENT -- the first female contestant to ever win "The Biggest Loser" reality show competition. With her astounding 112 lb weight loss, the very spunky and stylish Ali has now parlayed her success into a career as a motivational speaker, author, and on-air spokesperson.

Ali Vincent Before and After

A picture is worth a thousand words and this one says it all! At 5'5" and 32 years of age, Ali weighed in at 239 lbs with a BMI of 39. Through healthy nutrition and vigorous exercise Ali worked her tail off to lose 47.9% of her body fat and weigh in at the finale a slim and adorable 122 lbs.  Even though she and her mother were eliminated in week 4, she earned a spot back at the ranch after winning a weigh-in of eliminated contestants in a unique, curveball production twist.

The Biggest Loser show filmed here in Los Angeles is a fat camp for adults on speed! Contestants work out for 6-8+ hours a day with hard-charging trainers Bob and Jillian. For most of us in the real world this simply isn't feasible or practical, but we have to remember that many of the contestants at the ranch are over 300, 400 and even 500 lbs.  This is a very accelerated weight loss program for them which might take 2 years under more normal circumstances. Sometimes the soreness from my 1 or 2 hour workouts is almost unbearable so I can't imagine what these contestants go through...and it's all edited down for a 1 hour show so we really have no idea how difficult this is....

Ali Vincent at "Biggest Loser" Finale Show

But Ali and all of the other successful contestants prove what can be done when you have enough drive, desire and determination. There's no lap band or gastric bypass here. Just lots of running, lifting, kicking, squatting, punching, rowing and yes, hurling to go along with it. Sweat equity at its best!!!

"Big sweeping life changes really boil down to small everyday decisions." - Ali Vincent (Biggest Loser, Season 5)

Ali's life has completely changed since the show and she even wrote a book called "Believe It, Be It" about her experiences before and after "Biggest Loser."  The book is an easy read and gives you some insight into her struggles and triumphs with weight, what she experienced  on the "Biggest Loser" campus and how she's maintaining and keeping the weight off now.

Congratulations to Ali for all of her success and for proving that losing weight is about more than just dropping pounds!! It's about transforming from the inside out. Ali reminds us that anything is possible when you follow your dream.

Success Begins With Setting Goals

I was just having a conversation with a very nice guy I met the other day. He had been down on his luck and going through a rough time since he lost a job he'd held for 10 years in the recent recession. There was a negative domino effect once this happened and his life seemed to spiral out of control.  He was pondering about how to bring positive changes to his life, turn things around, and get his life back on track.

As I was thinking about my own life I realized that anything positive I've ever achieved in life started with dreaming a dream, setting goals, and then executing on them.  Dreams are really just goals with an end date. For example, a dream might be "someday I'd really love to lose weight and get in shape." On the other hand, a goal is "in 12 weeks I want to lose 25 lbs."

As I look back at some of the great milestones in my life, many of them started simply with a desire and a little faith.  Next, I set a goal and figured out the small steps or milestones needed to reach that larger goal. I wrote down specifically what I wanted to accomplish and gave myself a deadline. Sometimes I reward myself for reaching the goal but oftentimes the accomplishment is reward enough.  :)


This approach has worked well for me in many areas of my life including: 1) securing some of the best contracts with desirable companies in my industry,  2)  gaining admission to and graduating from the Ivy League university of my choice,  3) eliminating all credit card debt , 4) buying my first home, 5) winning a sizable sum of cash on a game show, and 6)  purchasing and paying off the luxury car I've always wanted.

I've also used this method when it comes to weight loss and fitness too.  Once I determine my goals I really try to review my goals on a daily (yes, daily) basis to keep them top-of-mind and stay mentally focused. This is what I call my daily mental exercise:

Stacie's 12 week Body-For-Life Transformation Goals:

Start date: 8/2/10           End date: 10/22/10


I am building my best body for life to:

• Lose 20 lbs 
• Lower my bodyfat by 10% 
• Drop 2 dress sizes
• Lose 3-4 inches in my waistline
• Increase my strength, endurance and flexibility

When It Comes To Goal-Setting:

• WHAT do you want to change?   (Visualize your dreams; WHAT inspires you & gives you joy?)
• WHY do you want to change?  (Write down all of the reasons WHY you want to change)*
• Set SPECIFIC goals that are ambitious, but attainable and document them
• Measure your progress against your goals periodically to stay on track
• Celebrate your accomplishments!!!

*I once read about a Harvard study that showed that alumni who had written down their goals were more accomplished years later than their peers who had mentally established goals but didn't document them, and substantially more accomplished than their peers who had not established any goals at all.

Here's to continued happiness, health and abundance.

Stacie's Top 5 Tips for Losing Body Fat and Getting Fit

Did you know that just a 10% reduction in body fat substantially improves your health and reduces your risk for heart disease, hypertension, stroke, cancer and diabetes?!  As someone who has a family history of all of these diseases I realize how important it is to take ownership of my body and my health before it's too late.  I've lost a total of 7-8% body fat thus far so I am well on my way to achieving that milestone.  What goals have you set for yourself and what milestones have you achieved?

"Strive for Progress, not Perfection" - Bill Phillips (Body-for-Life) 

You'll probably notice that I reference Body-for-Life and Bill Phillips a lot in my blog. When I began eating healthy and working out several years ago, his book was my referential bible for fitness & nutrition. If you're just getting started or just want a refresher it's a great read. Available at Amazon.com.....


Ok, I wanted to share my "TOP 5 TIPS" which have worked for me in losing 16 lbs thus far. Some of these may look familiar to you but I guess a little positive reinforcement is never a bad thing.  :)  Okay so here goes:

First of all you've gotta EAT, you gotta SLEEP and you gotta MOVE!

1)  (EAT) -  Eat 5-6 small meals a day which include a protein and a carb to balance your blood sugar and avoid the spikes which will cause you to get hungrier and eat more.  Focus on eating complex carbs like vegetables, brown rice etc.

2)  Write down and document everything you eat and calculate your calorie burn every day. You may say, "well that sounds like a pain in the a$$" or "I don't have time to do that", but if you want to see good results you have to know what's going in your mouth. The bottom line is we all too often underestimate the calories we're consuming and overestimate our level of activity or exercise.

3)  Drink water, water, water all day, everyday!  Your body needs it more than you'll ever know. Our muscles are made up of about 70% water. Water is essential to transport nutrients like vitamins and minerals throughout your body. If you've ever felt sluggish and tired, it may be because you're very dehydrated and your body's ability to transport nutrients is compromised because you're not drinking enough of it.  There's often a buildup of waste (i.e., ammonia, urea, uric acid and other  junk in your body). So drink at least 8, 8-ounce servings of water a day.

4) (SLEEP) - Get 7-8 hours of sleep a night.  Lack of adequate sleep is linked to excess fat and increases the risk of abdominal obesity (or the dreaded belly bloat).  This one was hard for me because I'm a night owl and I love to stay up late watching TV and  surfing the 'Net.... but lack of adequate sleep alters hormones that control hunger and increase your appetite for calorie-dense foods like bread, candy, and chips. The later you stay up the hungrier you get and you're more likely to snack on foods that will completely ruin your calorie deficit. So word to the wise -- get plenty of sleep.

5) (MOVE) - This tip has made the biggest difference in my progress. Exercise burns excess calories so they don't get stored as fat. Simple as that. The best exercise for you to do to lose weight is that which you love. Some people like to run. I personally hate running. So I'm not going to force myself to run and be miserable. Instead, I do other forms of cardio like kickboxing, dance classes and elliptical machines. But also, (and I can't stress this enough especially to all of the women out there), we need some form of resistance training or weight training in our exercise regimen (about 2-3 days a week). While cardio provides the quick calorie burn that lasts only as long as you're exercising, resistance training gives you a slow calorie burn so you burn calories even when you're at REST! It's also the best way to re-sculpt and reshape your body!! So start off with a few days of cardio and a few days of weight training if you're a beginner. Try to work your way up to a total of 6 days of exercise a week (1 hour sessions) to see maximum results.

In the future I'll be featuring a few of my favorite Jenny Craig snacks and meals. For anyone who has not tried the program, it definitely works and the food is tasty. If you are busy like me and don't really have time to shop for groceries, prep, cook, & clean up the kitchen etc.,  I'd highly recommend a program like Jenny Craig to get you started.  Until next time.... :)