'The Biggest Loser' trainers Steve Cook and Erica Lugo discuss the show's emphasis on 'overall health'
When you think of weight-loss shows, we are sure ‘The Biggest Loser’ would have crossed your mind. After a hiatus of nearly two years, the show is back with a reboot on USA Network. Ahead of its premiere, we caught up with the upcoming season’s trainers- Steve Cook and Erica Lugo to discuss their thoughts on the changes in the new season, their experience being a part of the show, and their learnings.
In the past, the show was heavily criticized for the extreme lengths they went to achieve weight loss, and its excessive emphasis on weight loss, the showrunners seem to have heard these criticisms and tweaked some aspects of the show, like the upcoming reboot version will place more emphasis on health rather than just weight-loss. So we wanted to ask these two trainers their thoughts on it. Steven Cook says, “ I think fitness has changed since the show was on last time, and I think now it's really important that we really delve into health, not just how you look, but some physical markers, lab work, you know, dietician stuff, where we look at food being a very powerful tool in your weight loss journey. And it's, it's not, you know, good or bad food, it's just food is fuel. And that's how we really go about things. So I think people will really see, there's a lot more emphasis on the health side of things.”
His fellow trainer Erica Lugo too concurs with him and adds, “ Absolutely. And like he said, the fitness world has changed so much that people understand now that you have to change how you think and feel about yourself on the inside if you really want your change on the outside to be permanent.”
We then asked the trainers about how the show helped them with their own health. Erica began explaining how the show “uncovered” a lot of things about her. She explains, “I mean, Steve was here when I had a breakdown. What am I doing? Why am I here? I really had to uncover a lot of things that I thought I was healed from with self-worth and self-appreciation and self-love that I thought I had handled. But the show showed me I really did not." She also revealed how all of them got really close with the people on the show, and that all the contestants have been invited to her wedding.
“I just got engaged. So that was after the show, but honestly, I learned more about myself on this show than I ever thought possible. Going into it, I think we both thought, okay, this is a competition. We are here to win. We're going to work them out. The last thing I ever expected was to get super close with these people, like they're all invited to my wedding and then also to change so much myself.”
The reboot of 'The Biggest Loser' is all set to hit the screens on Tuesday, January 28, at 9/8c only on USA Network.