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.

Making the Decision to Change

I decided to start this blog to share my weight loss/fitness journey with others and help keep me accountable.

Over the last decade I have tried numerous diets and weight loss programs -- everything from Slim Fast to Weight Watchers to Jenny Craig. What I've realized is that there's no magic pill for getting fit. If you burn more calories then you consume you will lose weight and if you fuel your body with the right nutrient-dense foods you will have the energy to fuel your workouts.

My battle with weight began in my mid to late 20s. Prior to that I rarely worked out and effortlessly maintained a nicely sized 3-5 figure. With age, my metabolism slowed down and I started to pack on the pounds. Even though my eating habits hadn't changed, my sedentary lifestyle caught up with me. My dress sizes were creeping up and up and soon going shopping was a depressing event instead of the fun adventure it used to be. I had gone from FAB to FLAB!

In 2003 I tried a body transformation program called "Body-for-Life" which was quite successful. I managed to lose 17 lbs over the course of 12 weeks, and not only was I really liking the changes I saw in my body, but the compliments were flowing in from friends, family & co-workers alike. My skin was radiant and I had more energy than ever before. Unfortunately, I got a bit over-confident, started slacking on my workouts, and returned to some of my old eating habits indulging in cheeseburgers, fries, chocolate shakes etc.  I thought that because the fat had started melting off of me I could afford to "cheat" on my diet here and there. Well...the result was that I gained all the weight back and then some. For the next 5-6 years I struggled with trying to lose the weight again and get fit but it seemed like every time I would make an attempt, life would get in the way. Work came with its demands and then there were household chores to do and friends, family and significant others to spend time with. I just never seemed to be able to "cross the abyss."

Then in the Fall of 2009 I finally said enough is enough! I had reached my highest scale weight and body fat percentage ever. I no longer recognized myself in the mirror or in pictures. My mother (God bless her),  who has probably been one of my biggest supporters, was also my most vocal critic.  I knew deep down inside that I had let myself go and needed to make some changes. I knew I wasn't "living my best life." I said to myself "I really should be a better steward of the body God gave me since it's the only one I'll ever get." So I joined Jenny Craig in 11/09 and started my weight loss journey to build my best body for life. As of today I have lost 16 lbs on the program. The biggest benefit is the convenience of not having to cook your own meals and the fact that the meals are calorie-apportioned so you don't have to count points or calories. I am on a 1200 calorie-a-day diet. When combined with some light to moderate exercise, it creates the calorie deficit I need to lose weight.

Kimberley Locke (American Idol) dropped 40 lbs on Jenny Craig
going from 178 lbs to 138 lbs and a size 14 to a size 6.

I'm going to continue the Jenny Craig program but I have also decided to accept the BFL (Body-for-Life) challenge again starting on 8/2/10.  It's a 12-week body transformation contest involving healthy nutrition and supplementation as well as cardio and resistance training 6 days a week. There are multiple monetary prizes of $10K and $25K for winners in different categories. It would be an absolute honor for the judges to select me for one of the prizes and the competition aspect is very motivating. The end of the 12 weeks coincides with my 39th birthday. I see this as being the greatest gift I can give to myself.

I'll be sharing all of my 12 week goals in a future blog update as well as info about my meals and workouts. I've learned if you can't measure it, you can't manage it, so I try to document my goals and measure my progress against them.

Thanks for going on this journey to wellness and fitness with me and I hope we can learn many things from each other. :)