Guts to Glory

How the Biggest Loser
Became the Biggest Winner

By Ken Coleman

My name is Ken Coleman, and you may remember me: I was on the TV reality show, The Biggest Loser, back in 2006. Since that time I have lost more than 200 pounds — and kept it off with diet and exercise.

Let me tell you about my journey.

I consider myself an “obesity survivor.” I wasn’t obese as a child, but over the years, my weight caused serious health problems, including sleep apnea, asthma, high blood pressure, depression, chronic back pain, arthritis, and high cholesterol.

I grew up in Germany, doing all the typical things kids do, and getting my share of bumps and bruises. But I always bounced back. What I remember most is spending time in the kitchen with mom, learning how to cook.

Eventually we moved to the U.S., where I gained an appreciation for fast food, pizza (which is very different here than it is in Europe), and hamburgers. I already loved German food, those rich sauces and gravies, not to mention pastries, bread, and cookies.

I remained active and physically fit all the way through school. I joined the military; it was there that I suffered the back injury that was eventually to become my downfall.

Stateside, another back injury necessitated surgery; this put me into a wheelchair for six months. Now I was a little older...and a lot less active than I was in the military. I couldn’t exercise, and didn’t change my eating habits. I stuck to what I knew about food, and boy, was that a mistake.

I started to gain weight, but I believed that once I was healthy enough to start exercising again, the weight would fall off. Ha! I was wrong. My body and mind were not ready for what happened next: I found every excuse not to work out. I kept saying “tomorrow, tomorrow” and then I’d find a new excuse not to work out.

Eventually I tipped the scales at 410 pounds. I needed pants with a 60-inch waistband — hard to find even in the “big boys” store, but I could fit into workout clothes...even though I wasn’t exercising.

Soon, everyday life, just tying my shoes, going shopping, became hard to do. My doctors, my family, started telling me I had to lose weight. But I said, “I’m going to die fat and happy,” until my father died of a heart attack at age 58. This was in 1997. That’s when the light bulb went off in my head; I realized that I was 15 years away from the age he was when he died. It’s not how I wanted to live.

I tried all different kinds of diets and weight loss programs and all those attempts failed. Since it took me 13 years to gain all that weight, I knew it would take time to take it all off. But I was still consuming between 8,000 and 20,000 calories a day — that meant I was going to eat my way into a diabetic coma.

After awhile, I felt like I had exhausted all my options. I became a hermit. I didn’t go out. I stayed away from friends and family. Finally I reached a point in my life where I knew I needed to change or I would end up passing away.

January 10, 2006 is when my life changed for the better. I had made up my mind and went to an open casting call in Seattle for The Biggest Loser. Eventually I was chosen to compete on the show for the Red Team. As happy as I was, that’s when my fear kicked in. The thing I wanted most now turned into, “What excuses can I use?” and boy did I give my trainer Kim Lyons a ton of them those first two weeks.

Once I found out what my caloric intake should be and got my exercise routine down, the weight came off fast. Understand I was under constant medical supervision and care. My results are not typical because I put a lot of hours in the gym — we’re talking about six to 10 hours a day and ate only the foods provided. I do not recommend this kind of weight loss program. Any weight loss must be supervised by your physician.

I am not trying to discourage you. Weight loss can be done, and must be done sensibly. The key is a low caloric intake, no processed foods, and a high caloric output through exercise. There are no magic pills, no surgeries, no short cuts, just hard work and sweat. That’s what made me lose the weight. It can be done, it was hard, but I did it, and so can you.

Don’t try to lose weight fast, do it slowly. If you lose it fast, you’ll gain it back fast: Studies show that 80% to 90% of people who lose weight in a very short time period are prone to gain it all back, and some will gain additional weight on top the of the original weight.

Don’t give up — find a good support group with family, friends, and others who are trying to lose weight. Set yourself a realistic goal on the amount of weight you want to lose and the timeframe in which you want to lose it. See your physician.

I made the biggest change of my life by becoming a personal trainer. I work for Cascade Athletic Clubs now, showing people how to use the same tools that helped me achieve my weight loss and health goals.