EXCLUSIVE | ‘The Biggest Loser’ winner Jim DiBattista calls Erica 'greatest weight loss trainer in the world'
Losing 144 pounds in eight weeks is no cakewalk, it takes an immense amount of determination and dedication, which is exactly what ‘The Biggest Loser’ contestant Jim DiBattista tapped into in order to become the winner of the series. The 47-year-old Philadelphia based football-coach walked into ‘The Biggest Loser’ campus weighing a whopping 385 pounds. For the sake of his wife and children, Jim decided to turn a new leaf in his life and wanted to lose weight and focus on achieving a healthier lifestyle so that his life wouldn’t be cut short owing to a myriad of health issues that come alongside being morbidly obese.
When we asked Jim about his experience being on the show, he described it as “the greatest experience” of his life, outside of the birth of his children and marriage. He adds that he needed to be “completely broken down” and mentally built back up, which his trainer Erica Lugo managed to accomplish.
We have seen Jim work really hard and give his best shot in every challenge. But did he ever think he had a shot at winning the competition? Jim says, “I had a full belief when I joined the show and attempted to join the show that I would have the capabilities to win. But there were definitely times I wasn't sure I could win, but I believed if I stayed disciplined and I stuck to my strategy of not worrying about winning and instead of worrying about physically changing mentally who I am. That if I stuck to that strategy, in the end, no matter what, I couldn't lose, it didn't matter if I wasn’t the contest winner.”
This season of ‘The Biggest Loser’ saw the contestants being encouraged to focus on their emotional well-being alongside their physical health. So, we asked Jim what was his biggest learning or take away from the show. “One of the key takeaways I learned on the show from Erica (Lugo), from Bob (Harper) was you're gonna make mistakes in life. You're gonna have bad days. You're gonna eat a bad meal, you're gonna miss a workout. But really the key is to love yourself enough to forgive you. Forgive yourself for that. Don't beat yourself up. You know, just try to move forward and make good decisions,” explains the football coach.
“Give yourself some grace and move forward," he also added.
Appearing on a reality show certainly changes your life. So, we wondered if Jim has noticed any changes in his day-to-day life after his stint on the popular show. Jim responds by explaining how he is able to shop his clothes off the rack at a departmental store, and doesn’t have to worry about whether it would fit him or not because he is an “average-sized man”.
Throughout the interview, we kept hearing Jim sing praises of his trainer Erica and mentor Bob Harper. So we asked him to describe his experience of being trained by them. Jim immediately declares Erica as “the greatest weight loss trainer in the world”. He then expresses the immense respect he has for her owing to the fact that she too has been on a similar weight-loss journey and has managed to keep her weight off for over four years. When it came to Bob Harper, Jim couldn’t stop gushing about the veteran of the weight loss industry.
“Bob has seen and done it all. So, you know, hearing every time Bob would talk, you know, I listened. I'm one of those guys. I absorbed everything that was given to me from the show,” revealed Jim.
So in the past, many winners have struggled to maintain their weight after the show. So, we asked Jim if he was facing any such challenges. “I think to say I'm not facing challenges would be a lie. I think everyone who loses weight, it doesn't matter if you're on the show or not faces the same challenge. The challenges, am I going to wake up today and follow my process to stay healthy? You know, and, and so that I would say, yes, I'm facing challenges,” explained Jim.
He added, “But am I facing medical issues? Absolutely not. My metabolism, I think is absolutely perfectly fine, and I, I'd be willing to bet I am 100% on it because I've upped how much are meeting on a daily basis since the shows ended. I mean, the show ended. Four months ago. I've lost weight since then in a really healthy way. I've lost it about maybe like a pound every two weeks, and I've eaten more and I've worked out less. I'm only working out about an hour a day, five days a week, and a meeting, what I would consider a very average diet as 2000 calories, you know, 1800 to 2000 hours a day. So know personally, I feel like my metabolism and my body has responded well, and I did it the right way. I'm staying strong.”