Cheryl Forberg - The Biggest Loser: 6 Weeks to a Healthier You: Lose Weight and Get Healthy For Life!

A s the editor of BiggestLoserClub.com, I am in touch daily with current and former Biggest Loser contestants, many of whom I have known now for years. And I am in constant contact with The Biggest Loser team, including the trainers, Dr. Robert Huizenga, and nutritionist Cheryl Forberg, who share their advice for our online subscribers and keep me in the loop with training tips, medical advice, and new recipes. I also visit the Ranch a few times each season to get to know the contestants in person.

The day before the Season 8 finale, I took a colleague to visit The Biggest Loser Ranch for the first time and to meet some of the Season 9 contestants. Cheryl Forberg had just taken the group grocery shopping, and they had come back to cook lean beef, slaw, and other delicious, healthy meals. Everyone was chatting in the kitchen, the Ranchs heartbeat as it is in every home. My colleague marveled at Daris Georges thick curly hair. She admired Michael Venterellas big blue eyes. She appreciated Sherry Johnstons personality. We were catching up with ONeal Hampton when a cheer erupted. Coach Mo DeWalt from Season 8 was in the house! Ever the coach, he wanted to drop in on his way to the finale and encourage the new crop of contestants.

When I got here, I was extremely overweight, he told them. I was sick, I had diabetes, I couldnt walk to the gym without pain. I was 55, but my body was 70. This turned out to be the journey of my life. This is not about the show, he said. This is about getting your health back, your life back. Youre part of a family now.

As my colleague and I left the Ranch, all hugged and kissed from meeting our new friends, we felt part of a family, too. What an amazing group of people, she said. What great stories, what heart and soul.

Its the one thing critics of the show always get wrong. These people dont come to the Ranch for money, they come for love. Sometimes they know its because they love someone else (Why do you think I came to this dumb old place? Bette-Sue Burklund tearily asked her daughter Ali Vincent during Season 5). But often its because they fall in love with someone elsethemselves.

Good health is self-love, in the end. And its something every single contestant leaves with. Everyone wins. And they win the most important prize of all.

As one of the newest contestants, ONeal Hampton says, For me, the prize is my health. Not just about how many pounds I lost in a week. My new healthy lifestyle is the most important thing to me.

And from one of the first contestants, Dave Fioravanti of Season 1, My weight loss and knowing how to live healthy makes me live in the now and keep it real. I have a whole, loving, healthy life and before the show, it was bedlam and chaos. Today, I live in complete peace.

Cheryl, Lisa, and Iand The Biggest Loser experts and casthope this book not only gives you the tools to a healthier you but also brings you the life you deserve. Its something everyone should have.

Melissa Roberson

C ontestants come to The Biggest Loser Ranch for a variety of reasons. Yes, the grand prize (and the bragging rights) provides some motivation, but every Biggest Loser is looking to win big in other ways. For the Season 9 contestantsthe heaviest cast in Biggest Loser historyits about winning back their health, their lives, and the ability to be the person theyve always wanted to be.

At 403 pounds, Gray Team member Koli Palu says he knew he needed to change his life because death is at my doorstep; it really is. Lance Morgan, the 365-pound Texas rancher, says he felt he had two options: Get healthy or end up in a pine box. For twins James and John Crutchfield, weighing in at 485 and 484 pounds respectively, coming to The Biggest Loser Ranch was about not becoming another statistic in a family that has seen numerous members suffer from obesity-related health issues such as diabetes, stroke, and gastric bypass surgery.

As the title suggests, this book is about reclaiming healthand you! Since the end of Season 8, more than 18,200 pounds have been lost by contestants on The Biggest Loser. And when they shed all that extra weight, they also shed things like blood pressure medication, type 2 diabetes, depression, and all the inhibitions that have kept them from living their fullest, best livesboth mentally and physically.

Twenty-five-year-old Daris George, who came to the Ranch for Season 9 with his mom, Cheryl, says that taking off his shirt and showing the world what he had become was one of the scariest things hed ever done. Change is never easy, especially when you dont recognize yourself in the mirror. But every season on The Biggest Loser, we watch as the contestants fight hard to take back ownership of their lives. And once they get a taste of what its like to feel healthy, happy, and just plain goodthey never want to revert back to their old habits. As Season 9s Maria Ventrella says, Overcoming your fears is so important. If you dont overcome them, youll just bring them about in a different way.

Brown Team

James Crutchfield

AGE : 30

STARTING WEIGHT: 485 pounds

HEIGHT: 6'5"

HOMETOWN: Orlando, Florida

John Crutchfield

AGE: 30

STARTING WEIGHT: 484 pounds

HEIGHT: 6'5"

HOMETOWN: Orlando, Florida

With a combined weight of almost 1,000 pounds, the Crutchfield brothers nicknamed themselves the half-ton twins. Brown Team members James and John have been overweight since they were 10 years old. Amazingly, theyve always been within a few pounds of each other. Though they played sports in high school, now that theyve turned 30 and their weight has reached an all-time high, the twins are no longer able to participate in activities they once enjoyed.