Interview, American Heart Association.

Oklahoma’s Biggest Loser

Bethany, OK residents Neill Harmer and his wife Amanda were contestants on the last season of NBC’s hit show “The Biggest Loser.” If you’re unfamiliar with the show, the basic premise is that overweight people come to a “boot camp”-type ranch at which they compete to see who can lose the most weight over the course of the show.

Neill and Amanda before The Biggest Loser

Since coming back, Neill and Amanda have continued losing weight and are now active volunteers for the American Heart Association’s You’re the Cure network, helping us fight obesity in Oklahoma.

I recently caught up with Neill and had the chance to ask him a few questions about his experience on The Biggest Loser and how his life has changed since then.

Wes: What inspired you and Amanda to apply for The Biggest Loser (TBL)? How did the process work from there?

Neill: We were sitting on the couch one night watching the show like we did every week (with ice cream and cookies in our hands!), The Biggest Loser was about the only show we watched as it happened, instead of DVRing it and watching it later, fast forwarding through commercials. Well, it paid off, during one of the commercial breaks they had a “Do you want to be on The Biggest Loser” commercials. I looked over at Amanda and said, think we could do that? She said yes!

They had a deadline for video submissions in less than 2 weeks from the day we saw the commercial, so we had to get moving! I called my cousin who happened to be a video producer, he came and shot us talking about why we would be good for the show, we sent it in. Full expecting never to hear anything about it again, thinking they get hundreds of thousands of submissions, ours won’t stand out. Wrong! Exactly 4 days after we put the video in the mail box I got a call saying, “We like you and want to pursue this further”. SHOCK. The rest is history, they saw something they liked and we made the show, just by being ourselves.

We always knew we needed help to lose weight, we had both tried and tried every fad crappy diet to lose weight, which we both had lost weight many times, but just as many times, put it back on plus a few more. We knew we had to learn how to do it right. The Biggest Loser just happened to come along and offer us the chance to learn these things, and to get a great start at a new way of living.

Wes: What were your first thoughts when you got to the ranch and learned what you would really be doing?

Neill: The first thought was OH CRAP?! What did we get ourselves into?!

Right out of the gate we had to run up a mountain to touch a flag to be able to pick our trainer, of which we picked Jillian, then shortly after that challenge we were in the gym for our first workout. And we are not just talking about a short little walk on the treadmill for 30 mins workout. I’m talking a 4 hour session with one of the best trainers in the world. It was intense! (Sidenote: this was also the most memorable workout for me and people that happen to recognize me, as I fell off the treadmill in spectacular fashion!)

Every day of our time on the ranch was intense, difficult, just as emotionally draining as it was physically. Short and sweet…it was HARD! What you see on the T.V. is only a snippet of what really happens. The show is 1-2 hours long, 1 time a week. Where in actuality we worked out up to 8 hours each and everyday.

Wes: Describe a typical day for a TBL contestant.

Neill: A typical day on the ranch was sleeping till about 8am or so, getting up and changed. Going to eat a quick (need I say healthy here? haha) breakfast. Then would go do our morning “homework” for 2 hours. (Homework consisted of Jillian telling us to get a specific workout in before she got there) Then after homework we’d have lunch and relax for a little bit before Jillian got there. Once Jillian got there, IT WAS ON. She would work us for at least 4 hours, sometimes 5. The only breaks during workout would be a snack, or if you got lucky enough to be called back for an interview with the producers or whatnot for the show. After Jillian would leave, we would eat dinner and then go do the last 2 hours of homework she had given for the night.

I also should mention, we did all our own cleaning, cooking, laundry, etc, same as we would at home. We had to learn how to do all this while still balancing the needs of running a household.

Wes: Are the trainers as mean and hard-core as the show makes them appear to be? It seemed like Jillian really rode you hard, but it also seemed that she genuinely cared.

Neill: The trainers are WAY harder than you can ever see on the show that you see aired…but, you also don’t get to see how incredibly caring they are, and how much they want you to succeed. Most people are overweight due to emotional or mental type issues, I was one of those people. I had tons of emotions tied to my weight, and once those pounds started dropping those emotions came out, like it or not! She helped me work through alot of those issues. Jillian was a trainer, a dietitian and a therapist rolled into a small, but LOUD, package.

Jillian: The Total Package.

Wes: During the course of the show—for right or wrong—you were sometimes thought of as “the lazy one.” (Although, to be fair, you did have a couple of injuries.) How did that make you feel and have you been able to use that as motivation?

Neill: Oh yeah, there’s that “lazy” word again. As I said , we worked out for 8 hours a day, every day. Everyone, and I mean, EVERYONE had bouts of laziness/exhaustion. It all depends on how the show is cut and aired. Not only did I show some laziness, I was also running circles around people at other times.

I have to admit, I hated and still hate being called lazy. That being said, I have used that word, and that word alone, to fuel my fire. I still use it to this day to make sure I am working as hard as I can, doing as much as I can.

Wes: Describe a typical day now in the life of Neill and Amanda as far as your diet, workout routine, etc.

Neill: A normal day now for me is to wake up at 5:30 every morning and head over to the Bethany YMCA and workout for an hour or so with my best friend, Matt. Then come home help get our son ready for school and get out the door myself and head to a days work. I work as a project manager/web developer for Element Fusion in Oklahoma City. After work I come home, eat dinner, spend time with my family. I try to get a run in before I head to our 8pm 5 night a week bootcamp where we try to impart our love of exercise and eating right to our campers. After bootcamp we come home and try to spend some quality time together while our son is sleeping.

Wes: I know you’ve started your own “boot camp” style training since you’ve been back. How is that going?

Neill: We wanted to be a part of this bootcamp since we started it back in December last year (after we got sent home after elimination from the show). I had worked with the owner of the camp, Mike Cejka, at a company I had worked for on his website. I looked him up once we got home and was like, “Do you want to train some losers?” He was happy to help! And by help I mean, kick our BUTTS. He helped continue what Jillian started, and we owe him alot of credit for helping us out like he did.

Once the show was wrapped up, we wanted to become a part of Operation Bootcamp to try to show other people that it CAN be done, and SHOULD be done. So he got us setup and on the path to becoming lead trainers. We have been training at the camp for almost 6 months now, and enjoy every bit of it. The best part is seeing the look on the campers face when they realize, “Yes! I can do this!” That makes us really proud and allows us to give, if only a small part, of what we have learned in the last year.

(Note: for more information on Neill and Amanda’s boot camp, visit http://www.operationbootcamp.com/.)

Wes: So what’s new in your life since you left TBL?

Neill: So much newness going on! The biggest news is that we are expecting our 2nd child! We are 23 weeks along and just found out we are having a baby girl. That will round out our family and be a handful for some time to come.

Aside from that we have done some other things we would have ever thought to do: run a 5k, run a duathlon (2 mile run, 14 mile bike, 2 mile run), rock climbing, a ropes course, etc. With even more upcoming: run a triathlon, run a leg in the Bombing Memorial Run, sky diving, etc.

It’s amazing, once you open that door, it’s like a new freedom comes along with it. No more of that fat blocking aspects of your life! It’s not just a physical limitation, not at all.

Better. Stronger. Faster.

Wes: How did your own experiences drive your interest in helping the American Heart Association fight obesity in our state?

Neill: We want to see everyone be healthy and live a long time. The easiest way to be healthy is just to take care of yourself, it’s not hard! You don’t have to go out and run a marathon, you just need to do something, every single day. Go for a walk with your family, park in the furthest parking spot at work, take the stairs, eat less, pass on the fried and eat the grilled, etc. And certainly changing state policies to help fight obesity can be a big help, so we’re glad we’ve gotten plugged in with You’re the Cure.

Wes: So what’s the before/after on your weight loss (and Amanda’s)? And, aside from the pound numbers, how has your weight loss changed things for you?

Neill: I started the show off at 317lbs, but for the record, that is far from the heaviest I had been. My heaviest was well over 335lbs! For the shows Finale I was down to 229, which means I lost 28% of my body weight. Since the Finale in April, I have continued to drop and am now at 215lbs, and still dropping. I have started running races (ran the Komen Race for the Cure 5k race a few weeks back), and just last weekend ran in my first duathlon (2 mile run, 14 mile bike, 2 mile run). It keeps getting better and better! On the horizon I am looking to run in a triathlon and also in the Bombing Memorial run.

Amanda started the show at 204lbs, same goes for her tho, that was not her heaviest weight ever, that was in the 220lb range! For the Finale she was down to a very nice 140lbs, which means she lost almost 32% of her body weight. Since the Finale, she lost more weight, but then we got pregnant, and weight loss rules do not apply quite the same. She has been ordered by her doctor to cut the workouts to just walking, which is NO FUN for her, and she is itching to get the kid out so she can get back to the new life we have of being gym rats!

Neill and Amanda. 160+ pounds later.

For more information on Neill and Amanda, visit http://neillandamanda.com/.

(Original interview here: http://yourethecureok.blogspot.com/2008/10/oklahomas-biggest-loser.html)

Biggest Loser Diary, Take 2!

I’ve posted emails, and now I thought that I should post the REAL diary we had to keep every day at the ranch. Each and every night we had to sit and write these damn things out. So here ya go!

Week 1

10/23
It sucked. It sucked bad. From challenge to treadmill. No fun.

10/24
I think I just went thru the worst hell I’ve ever been thru. EVER. I worked out for 3.5 hours. Puked once. Wanted to give up a few times. I was also unable to eat dinner cause of being so damn nauseous that even the smell of food was sickening.

10/25
It was a slow ass day. I wish it had gone faster.

10/26
Today was a much better day today. I wish we did not have to do as much production out of the gym time. We did our last chance work out today and it was awesome. I think I will do well in the weigh in. We will see.

10/27/07
The Dr came in and lectured us on how to do stuff right and to take certain stuff in our water…etc. Not a lot of fun, but that led into a workout that Jillian and Bob decided to work with both teams, which was awesome, cause now we get to see Bob as much as Jill. Bob, not as nice and as easy a trainer as I would have thought…he is just as hard as Jill, but does not cuss as much!!

10/28
Morning was great, we did not start till late in the afternoon, cause the trainers let us get some rest to make up for all the late production nights.

I had an anxiety attack right when we started, ended up going outside to catch my breath and had my emotions overtake me. Jillian walked up to me and talked with me and pulled me off where I was sitting and said let’s go work out…I went, she worked my ass off. She keeps saying she thinks I am one of the strongest people here, but don’t have the strongest mind. I agree with the mind part, but I don’t think I’m one of the stronger people.

10/29
I lost 1 less pound than Amanda. Suck. Jill is going to kick my ass in the gym tomorrow because of that!!!!

Week 2

10/30
First day after the elimination; kinda weird vibe around here. Missing Lynn and Jenni, but I think they will do well outside the house.

Jill and Bob worked us out hard. Yay!

10/31
Today was one of the worst days I’ve had since being here. I am SERIOUSLY homesick. All I could think about all day long is my son; he was top of my thoughts when I was walking on the treadmill, when Jillian was yelling at me. I just wanted to see him, to hold him, to TALK to him. I hate how we cannot talk to anyone outside the house.

Aside from missing my son like crazy…worked out hard today. Still sore from the workout and have been icing my back due to it.

11/1
Well we did shitty at the challenge. SHITTY. We did not finish which I think reflects poorly on us, mostly me…cause it was my doing that we did not finish. Amanda was rearing to go, but my left knee lost all its strength, and was occasionally tingling on the drop. We finished close to last. That being said tho, Mark and Jay gave us the only thing I wanted for the last few weeks, just to talk to my son, to know he is okay.

Now I get to do that and can move on with making my body better…stronger…healthier.

11/2
It was a great day, got to call home. That was the best phone call I have ever made in my entire life. Got to talk to my son, and it was the best!!!

11/3
Today was a nice day, it was slow. Bob and Jill worked us out for about 4 hours, but that was nice…it was the shortest day we have had in a long time. I am still on cloud 9 ‘cause I was able to call home last night. Since talking to Aiden last night, all I can think of is “the moon is a circle” (his favorite phrase) I miss him so much, but I know what I’m doing the right thing. I love him more than anything, and I really want to see him grow up and become the man I think he will be.

11/4
We had a nice start to the day today; we walked up the mountain and took some pictures. It was extremely enjoyable, I wish we had more places at home to sight see like they have here.

11/5
The temptation was hard, but not that hard. I never had any inkling that I was going to eat anything, I went in KNOWING I would not eat anything. I poked a Twinkie…but that’s it. It smelled GOOD, but not worth it, that food was the reason I am here in the first place. No need to touch it anymore.

For the record, I am HIGHLY disappointed in Mark for eating food, especially 2 days after telling me he was disappointed in me for how hard I have been working out…hypocrite.

11/6
Today was a good day, not only did I lose 6 pounds, but Mark and I talked and got things worked out. So all is well in the world…well accept for the fact that Mal and Curtis got voted off the show…I will miss them dearly. I can honestly say I was closer to them than anyone…partly because we were roommates, but we also just clicked. I will miss them everyday and hope they do very well on their own. I have faith in the fact that they will…and I told Curtis, next time I see him I better be able to get my arms all the way around him when I give him a hug!!!!

Week 3

11/7/07
Another good day…that’s 1.5 in a row. Lets see how far I can take this. Jillian worked me hard in the workout, but it felt great cause I made it thru.

Wrote my parents a nice letter…beyond that, it was all working out, eating or sleeping.

11/8/07
Was able to sleep in today…which was VERY VERY nice. Had to go right to working out tho because of the morning homework. Once Jill got here we worked out asses off for about 4 hours.

11/9
It was a very nice evening. Just played a game of chess, and chilled. Even took an evening dip in the pool. More days should be this nice.

11/10/2007
Had the challenge today. It was actually fun, except for the fact that we got put out of the challenge pretty quick, second team to get taken out actually. The drama in the house afterwards was strange, VERY negative around here. It sucked.

11/11/07
Today was a slow day…worked out for a few hours. After that, chilled and hung out with everyone. I wish all the days could be like this.

11/12
Today sucked. I hurt just about everywhere below the waist. I thought the pain was supposed to go away after a while…not so much.

11/13/07
Today was a little bit better, found out I have tendenitis in both of my legs…fun. It explains why I had trouble with the last chance workout. The running was kicking my ass yesterday!! Today I was able to do a little less and let my legs take a break…I’m hoping to do it again for another day so I can come back as close to 100% as possible!

11/14
Had a good workout today with Bob…he kept easy on my leg, which was nice. 1 more day to let my leg heal.

11/16/2007
Gone daddy gone…White team’s gone.

We will see where we stand in other people’s eyes. See you all at the finale…THIN!

Thank you Bob and Jillian. We will miss you most. We wish we could have stayed longer.

The Biggest Loser Diaries.

Today is the day that 1 year ago, we got our first call from a producer of The Biggest Loser saying they were interested in us being on the show. We had sent in our audition tape on the 14th, and heard back from them today, one year ago.

So in honor of this event, I decided to post some of the emails I sent before, during and after the shows taping. Some are funny, some are serious. These have not been altered at all, I have however, only showed you my side of the conversation on all emails. Enjoy.

Sent 10/01/2007, to Casting

Amanda and I both have tattoos.

I have 2. A tribal band on my left calf (all black) and a tribal half  sleeve (still being worked on) on my right upper arm and shoulder.

Amanda has a small butterfly tattoo on her left shoulder.

I have attached and named the photos to this email.

PS I will have the faxes of the background checks sent to you tomorrow 
morning. And they will be put in the mail later in the afternoon.

Sent 10/9/2007, to Casting

1. Current weight: 321
2. Not color blind
3. I can swim
4. No food allergies that I know of.

Sent 10/11/2007, to Booking

I just wanted to verify. You had my name (and also Amanda’s) spelled  has Harner (with an N instead of an M)

Will that affect our boarding the planes or any TSA checks?

Note 10/23/2007

Today was the first day of shooting, so no more notes till we got home from campus on 11/19.

Sent 11/20/2007, to Jillian

Things are going pretty well…we did not do great on Friday since we were in that hotel, then spent the rest of the day at either airports or on airplanes…so we did not end up counting calories that day and no exercise. It was the best moment to see our son at the airport when we got to Okc. We had both been dreaming of that moment since we left!

We have been working out. Worked out Sat (did walking and a small circuit. my legs are still bothering me, so I’m trying to take it easy on em this week then I will kick it out hardcore next week). Amanda worked out Sunday (walked) and yesterday we both worked out 2hours (walking for an hour on treadmill high speed and incline) and then did a full circuit.

We are having trouble knowing what to do when as far as exercises…it would rock if you had a cheat sheet on what we could/should do on days. Unfortunately we were not there long enough to get what and why as far as exercises go.

Calories for both of us are as follows (we will be updating BodyBug soon, fucking thing don’t work on Mac and I have to use my work computer to update)

Friday — did not track, no exercise
Sat — did not track calories, Neill worked out for 1.5 hours.
Sunday — Amanda (1240 cal, worked out)  Neill — (1823 cal, no workout)
Monday — Amanda (1260 cal, worked out) Neill — (1675 cal, worked out)

We are still working on getting a workout routine, I started back to work today (Tuesday) so we will have to work around that, but since the YMCA is next door it should not be too hard.

There is no way we can keep up the 4-6 hours a day working out…what would be the bare minimum you think we should do to make sure we are not hurting ourselves as far as losing weight? I’m thinking we can get 2-3 on weekdays and 3-4 on weekends. But the shitting thing is that life is getting in the way here.

Oh oh, we cleared our cabinets of the shit food, and spent $500+ on getting good healthy food (we did find a decent health store here that had most of what we needed). Could you send those websites you can buy stuff on when you get a chance?

No matter what the other contestants say…we do miss being there and did put all we had into it (after the first week). It was great working with you, and we both credit you with lighting that fire in us to do this…and showing us we COULD do this.

Tell everyone we said HI!

Sent 11/22/2007, to Jillian

10 hours is more than doable…we are on track to hit that now. Even got a list of classes for one of the Y’s here that has spin classes! Actually grew to like that god damn spin bike…eeeek!

I do know a guy here that is a pretty good personal trainer (not you or Bob, but pretty good still!)

We basically bought as much organic as possible. There are some things that we could not find organic, but not much. As a whole, we have the same stuff that was available at the ranch…down to the same brands even! And the best news is that we even found some Kombucha! Shit is expensive, but worth it!

The hardest thing right now is…I am having a really hard time, mentally, letting go of the fact that we are no longer there, and it’s my fault we are not there. So it’s affecting my working out. Watching the show last night I just kept getting madder and madder at myself, and ended up REALLY down on myself. I feel I’ve let myself and Amanda down cause I did not do as much as I should have to make sure we are still there. It’s the same old story in my life…good things are put in front of me, and I fuck it up, then regret it! I’m trying to get past it, becuase we can still show everyone (and the world) that we can do this (by losing weight and kicking ass at the finale) but its a slow go to get past this. I wish I could just let stuff go…but I hold on to it forever. I think I not only need a trainer, but a therapist!

Sent 11/28/2007, to Jillian

Just wanted to update you on the haps.

Just got done doing a 2 hour workout, pretty good one too! (all while watching tonights BL episode)
- 30 mins on treadmill, speed 3.0 incline 15
- 30 mins on treadmill, speed 3.6 incline 5
- 3 sets each on treadmill, speed 2.8 incline 4 — with 12 lb weight
— curls, tricept presses things, raises (pushing the weights over my head)
- 3 sets leg curls, leg presses and calf raises.

I did a 2 hour workout yesterday too…but I did arms instead of legs.

I am burning on average 3500 calories a day… and am keeping really close to 1600-1700 calories a day.

Am I burning enough to be doing well with weight loss?

I weighed myself yesterday (at the end of the day with clothes on at the YMCA) and I was 290lbs … so I’ve not dropped much since leaving campus. That being said I feel GREAT!

I just wanted to drop you a line and let you know. My “official” weigh in day is on Thursday morning (I’m using that as my high calorie day, since it is my birthday… 29 woohooo) so I will fast starting at 5pm the night before… and we will see how well I am really doing, and I will then mail you my weight.

I still miss being there, and have some demons/emotions to work thru right now that I have not dealt with in a long time… which I guess is good and bad. I had a bad bad bad bad week last week (as you can prolly tell by my emails) but this week is feeling SOOO much better!

Tell everyone I said hi!

Sent 12/6/2007, to Producers

My weight as of this morning is … 282 pounds.

We do have a personal trainer now too. Working our asses off! I’m still sore from the Monday workout! What rocks is he had us run a mile to see how long it took, and we both did it in under 11 mins. Which is a far cry from how long it took when we did it there (took me 17 mins when we did the Presidential Fitness thing)

Things are going ok…we have both been somewhat sick, between pink eye (the whole Harmer clan had it) and colds… we will get back to hardcore working out soon. Luckily today is a high calorie day!

Amanda will send her weight soon!

Sent 12/11/2007, to Jillian

How goes it in the land of Cali?

Goes pretty shitty here, been sick for like the last fucking week, between pink eye and now a full blown cold, I’ve been unable to work out.

Now to add to that, we have had a massive ice storm (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/weather/12/11/winter.storm.ap/index.html). So much so that we are without power (as well as most everyone we know and most businesses) so we have been hard pressed to get to working out. That is life throwing curves at us. I am going to try to get back on the wagon tonight, but most of the gyms here are closed and its impossible to run outside.

What do you do in situations that your sick and/or unable to work out?

We have still been eating well, and according to the body bugg have been burning more calories than we are taking in, so the good news is that we should not have gained anything but some water weight. But don’t be shocked when you see that we did not do as well with weight loss this week as we did with last.

The best news is, we went shopping this weekend and bought clothes… I am wearing a 44 in waist now when I was in a 50, and a 2XL instead of an 3XL. It’s a small victory…but a victory non-the-less. We also cleaned out our closet of clothes that are now too big for us…and got rid of 3 large bags of clothes! It was so amazing!

We have high calorie on Friday, so we will email you our weights then.

Sent 12/14/2007, to Jillian and Producers

Did not have near as good a week as last weeks 8lbs. Still  lost weight  and you can never shake a stick at that!

Down to 279 this week. Down from 282, so 3lbs. Being sick makes it hard  to workout, and the ice storms have not helped much…but no excuses. We  are continuing down the path!

I told Jill in my last email to her that we went thru our closet and got rid of 3 extra large garbage bags of clothes that do not fit us  anymore. This was the first time in my life I’ve gotten rid of clothes  cause they were too big for me! It used to be cause I was too big for  them! We went shopping and my waist is a solid 6 inches, close to 8  inches, smaller than it was. I am also fitting into 2XL shirts…whereas  when we got to the ranch 3XL shirts were tight!

This is one battle won … we still have the war to finish!

Sent 12/18/2007, to Jillian

Question… I had a 2 day stretch of higher calories. Between my company xmas party (Fri) and Amanda’s birthday dinner (Sat) I ended up eating much higher calories both days. How much I’m not exactly sure…it was stuff that was almost impossible to count.

Would it be best to A. just continue on now as if those days did not happen. or B. eat less calories for the next few days to make up for it?

How are things going there? Getting ready for the Finale tomorrow? I am very excited to see it! Then after that, our season starts! I’m VERY nervous about that.

Sent 12/18/2007, to Jillian

I have been at 1600, so I will go on like it never happened.  ;-)

We have been doing really well. Working with the personal trainer 3 days a week, last night he had us doing a bunch of MMA stuff. It was SOOOOO fun, and stuff I NEVER thought I’d be doing!

My tendinitis/posterior shin splints are still lingering. Some days down right PAINFUL. Aside from that, I have been enjoying workouts, and feeling like a slob on high calorie days when we have not worked out! It’s such a strange turn of mindset for me.

I just thought of something tho… I sit at a desk, each and everyday for work. I park in the furthest parking spot I can so I get some walking there, but my job is not something I can do standing or whatnot. What are some things I can do while seated that can burn more calories? Or stop every once in a while and do? As an example Amanda gets close to 10,000 steps in a normal workday (teacher) I am lucky to get 2500 (thats walking to and from car, and walking to lunch).

Sent 12/19/2007, to The Biggest Loser Club Online

Name
Neill Harmer

Starting Weight
317

Eliminated Weight
292

Hometown
Bethany, Oklahoma

Favorite Cheat Food
Pizza or Hamburgers

Goal for ‘08
To, for the first time in my life, be happy with my body.

1.) What was your big turning point — either during the show or before that made you realize you needed to lose weight?
Starting a few months before the show I had started to notice that after work (in which I work at a desk for 8+ hours a day) I would get home and have NO energy to do anything! All I wanted to do was sit on the couch and watch tv. I know now it had to do with my diet, all the soda I was pumping through my body and horrible fatty, greasy foods (looking through a calorie book now, I was eating/drinking well over 3,000 calories a day!). I was tired of not being able to have energy to play with my son, do stuff around the house. I knew I needed a change and The Biggest Loser came along and changed my life for the best!

2.) If you could go back in time would you go on the show with the same weight-loss buddy? Why or why not?
I would 100% of the time pick Amanda to go to the show with. Not only did she help push me, but it has brought us closer together. Our marriage has been so much better since the show, not only have we never felt better, we are getting along better than we ever have!

3.) Who worked harder at losing weight — you or your partner? Tell us why.
Totally Amanda…she was/is a machine!

4.) What do you think your biggest weight-loss obstacles will be now that you’re dieting on your own?
The hardest thing for me now that I’m home is moving enough. I sit at a desk for 8+ hours a day! I get an hour workout in the morning and an additional two more hours at night…but during the day I’m locked to my desk.

The one thing I thought would be an obstacle but has not been has been eating right. The day we got home we went through our cabinets and got rid of TONS of food, and went out and spent well over $500 on good, healthy food. And even tho my office caters food every Monday (usually pizza, or Mexican or whatnot—always unhealthy) I sit and watch everyone else eat that while I’m eating my hummas burrito and carrots.

5.) Who do you think will make it to the end of the show and why?
I think grey team (Trent and Roger) will make it to the end…because they are the biggest guys on the show (and guys do seem to have the advantage on the show). As far as the team I WANT to make it to the end, that would be yellow team (Kelly and Paul). We just got along with them so well cause we had alot in common. I want to see them do really well!

6.) What is one thing that happened behind-the-scenes that no one would know from watching the show?
I think the question that most people ask is, “What did they cook for you?”, and I always have to tell people…we did our own cooking, cleaning, laundry…everything. It was no different than being at home, cept for the food was bought for us and we had trainers telling us to work out!

7.) What advice can you give other people who are hoping to lose extra pounds?
Get a personal trainer who will yell at you and hold YOU accountable. Had I not had someone like Jillian, I don’t think I would have ever succeeded. And as cliche as this sounds…JUST DO IT.

8.) What strategy did you use to try and stay on the show? Why don’t you think it worked?
You know, our strategy was to be ourselves! Not to change who we are just to stay longer. I did not want the people who knew me at home to think, that’s not the Neill I know. In hindsight we would have lasted longer maybe had we been more political and used a different strategy. Or just not fall below the yellow line, but that’s way easier said than done!

9.) Do you think anyone was portrayed unfairly on the show?
As narsacistic as this is going to sound, I think I was. I was shown to be LAZY. I am not lazy. I freely admit I had the hardest time the first week there, being that I was in a new place, new food, working out 4-6 hours a day, away from my son, away from family and friends…etc. I DID NOT handle that well. But then you see a turning point in me and I worked my ass off. But for some reason people still saw me as lazy because of the first week. All I can do is prove I’m not lazy—and you will see that at the finale!

10.) Did anyone act differently when the cameras were off?
I think we all acted a little differently, just because it can be hard to get used to being comfortable in front of the cameras.

Sent 12/19/2007, to Producers

Watched the finale last night, it was AWESOME! Got me VERY excited to see where I can take my body!

Saw our season preview too… did they HAVE to use me falling on the treadmill?   :-)

I will be weighing in on Sat this week, can I send you my weight then?

Sent 12/21/2007, to Jillian

I don’t know whats up, I don’t know if I’m just a big sissy, or what, but I seem to have ANOTHER fucking injury.

The front of my quads have been hurting since Monday…we worked with the personal trainer and worked legs pretty hard that day. It was fine that night, but since then I can barely walk! And last night my son accidentally hit my left quad a little bit and it sent me up the fucking wall!!! it hurt
so bad.

I don’t get it, I know we have been working out really hard, but how come I seem to keep having problems? It’s REALLY bumming me out. Between lower back problems, posterior shin splints and now these, I’m just stressing!

I have been working out hard when I can because after that elimination I don’t want to look like a douche who came home and did not bust his ASS everyday to lose every single pound he could…but with injuries, it keeps making it so it’s either impossible to work out, or I cannot work out as hard.

Please tell me the injuries will start to go away, or do I just need to work my ass off with em anyways cause it never changes?

Is there anything else I can do to ward off these damn injuries?

I did start taking vitamins (which I have to admit I had not done before) thinking that might help…but what else can be done?

Sent 1/4/2008, sent to Jillian and Producers

Sorry it took so long to weigh in, I wanted to make sure I had time to work off that feast I had on Xmas/New Years!

I am at 269. ;-)

Some news….

I started off the show in a 50” waist…well we went out to get some jeans yesterday to get ready for the where are they now… well…… I am solidly in a 42” waist, but depending on the type of pants, can fit in a 40” waist!!!!!!!!!! AMAZING! I seriously cannot remember the last time I was this low.

More news….

While at my inlaws in McAlester Oklahoma we ate bad…but, they live in a very hilly (well for Oklahoma hilly) area, and I walked/jogged 6 miles! I just started going and had a spot in mind I wanted to get to (the lake) and I made it! I only jogged a little over a mile, but the rest of the time I walked at a fast pace and did exercises with my arms while walking, and occasinally stopping to do squats and stuff.

Even more news….

Been doing MMA/Jiu Jitsu with our personal trainer, a 4th degree black belt, and we were rolling, practicing with our eyes closed to get technique. We’ve been working on our knees just to make sure we do not get any injuries, so we shook and went arm to arm. I pulled him left and he lost his balance, I fell forward, turned over, got my hooks in and was able to submit him in a rear naked choke!!  It was awesome!  Now, I’m sure he was not going at anywhere near 100% but the fact I was  able to do that, and can even do the Jiu Jitsu is fucking awesome to me! I enjoy it so much! I seriously think this will be something I continue doing for a long time.

Last news….

My best friend and I are training for the Oklahoma City National Memorial Marathon at the end of April. We are going to try the half marathon.

My best friend is SOOOOO excited that we are back and I am able to do things like go running with him, biking, exercise… etc. He said to me the other day, “It’s so great, when I used to call and ask you to do things [like exercise or sports related] you would always come up with an excuse, now, you have said YES to just about everything, in fact YOU have called me to ask me to do stuff with you. And we are not just always playing video games or watching tv.”

I cannot thank everyone enough! I feel like a different person with a CAN DO attitude instead of a CANT DO. I was even telling my mom just yesterday that I amaze myself with the stuff that comes out of my mouth anymore, it’s almost like somewhere inside of my I did have all this stuff.

Thank you very much!!

Sent 1/13/2008, to Jillian

Sorry its been a bit since I emailed, gotten really busy here at work and at home.

When I weighed last Wednesday I was at 266. My goal is to be in the 250’s by this Wed.

I had to take some time off of running/jogging due to my legs. Per my Dr I should go see a physical therapist  because of all the tendonitis in my legs (posterior shin splints and achilles tendonitis)…but I have not gone to one yet. I told him I had not taken any time off from beating up my legs, so I took last week off of my legs (I still did elliptical cause that does not seem to hurt, but walking and running hurts like a mother fucker!) I am also on a perscription anti-inflammatory per the Dr. It seems to be helping…but I’m almost afraid to start running cause the pain is almost unbearable at times. We also went last week and spent some money on shoes that are made for the problems I have been having…they seem to help so far, at least in everyday walking. They said my next step if this does not work is custom orthotics.

I tried pull ups again for the first time since the Presidential Fitness, and I got SOOOO close to a full pull up!!!! Got the bar to about my nose, but could go no further. It’s only a matter of time!

Sent 1/25/2008, to Producers

Weighed this morning. At 258.

Not much of a loss, but I’m surprised I had any loss after all the  traveling and eating pretty bad and not working out much, if at all, for a week.

I’m 1 pound away from 2 inches!  YAY!

Sent 2/11/2008, to Producers

Weighed in yesterday at 249. Dont have any recent pics, the last pics  we have are from our trip to NYC.

Sent 2/11/2008, to Producers

Oh yea it’s on… I’ve got the drive like no one would believe. 5+ hours  a day  workingout…while still working a full time job!

Still got a bunch to go…but I will be at my goal weight come April 15th!

Got some questions tho… how many tickets do we get to the finale? Do those tickets include airfair and hotel, or are they just tickets to the finale? Will you be sending out hotels and stuff close to where the finale is shot so we can pass that along to our families/friends? Also, do we need to come with our finale dress clothes? I think I head someone  say that you guys got those for us…

Sent 2/20/2008, to Producers

Have the perfect NBC tie in show idea…Biggest Loser’s on American Gladiators!

That would be awesome! I sign up… Wolf is all mine, he’s going down!

Sent 3/13/2008, to Jillian

I’m sure you’ve heard the following words hundreds of times in your life, but I had to say it to you because this is the first time I’ve ever said them to anyone. You have helped me completely change my life…my outlook, my mindset and my body.

You were instrumental in my progress to what I am today. Not in just how much weight I’ve lost for the show, that weight means NOTHING in the grand scheme of things. But the new Neill that is in place of that guy that showed up at the ranch is an amazing transformation, a transformation that I think might have never happened had I not taken
that plunge into the unknown and signed up for the show and met you.

The transformation is an amazing one…and these are not just words… I swear…I’m an I CAN person now. Not just that I can…but I DO.

Some physical examples are I went from a 17 min mile to about a 7 min mile, that’s 10 mins in about 5 months!!! I can do almost 50 sit ups in a minute, whereas before I could barely do one sit up! I just got done doing a 45 min spin class and left all I had on the bike THEN went and hit weights for an hour. now I’m going running. me running… and enjoying running and biking and everything.

I’ve lost 80+ lbs… but I’ve GAINED so much more…confidence, self worth, a good self image and a healthier life.

Long story short; I want to thank you from every cell in my body and to let you know that you are one of a very short list of people that have helped me completely change my life by just being a part of it.

I cannot wait to see you again come finale … a happier, healthier person.

Sent 3/17/2008, to Producers and Jillian

Back on track!  WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Taking some time off helped alot. Overtraining is a bitch! And an ugly bitch to boot!

I am at 238. That’s 6 pounds.

We totally forgot to take some pics. We will soon, I promise!

Sent 3/27/2008, to Jillian

I had stalled out for three weeks (overtraining) and have not hit even close to my goal weight. And I had a good schedule setup for the next three weeks to hit my goal of 205. Not even close to possible now.

And I just have the fear of if I dont lose enough weight that “lazy” tag is never going to leave me, and this is my last and only shot to prove I’m not lazy.

I know I’m not lazy … but I feel I have to prove to the world I’m not!

The End

That’s it. I hope that read was fun for you! It was somewhat liberating for me to post it!

How Can You Not Watch?

I’ve been asked, time and time again, and my answer has not faltered. “Are you going to watch the new season of The Biggest Loser?” My answer? “No!”

What the?!

How can your answer be no when the show did a laundry list of great things for you? (not including all this stuff)

• I still workout 2-3 hours a day
• I am much much happier and healthier
• I am way more positive in every aspect of my life
• I have a new founded confidence
• I am 105 steps/pounds closer to my dream body
• From a 50” waist to a 34-35” waist
• From a XXXL shirt to a L shirt
• I can not just walk up 5 flights of stairs to my office, but I can run up them and not be sucking for air!
• Amanda and I teach a fitness bootcamp at night, 5 days a week, been doing it for months now
• I get up at 5:30am everyday to hit the gym for over an hour
• I regularly ride my bike to work, instead of driving my car
• We met and became very close with and still keep in touch with, Curtis & Mal and greenteam Jenny.

Then Why?

Here’s the deal. That was one of the worst few weeks of my life. WORST! BUT, it caused some of the best changes in my life. I admit, we went into the show as unprepared and unknowing as we could. Sure, we had watched every season of the show, but watching it does not prepare you for:

• being away from all my friends and family, missing our son so much we cried about it almost daily
• looooooooooooooooooooooooong stressful days
• working out at least 8 hours a day
• exercising, which was a completely foreign thing for me
• in a strange place, bed, city, house, etc.
• with people that some you like and others you cannot stand, but, have to be around them all day long
• being yelled at constantly
• no access to the outside world, no tv, no internet, no newspapers, nothing
• having gone cold turkey from soda (from a 12 pack a day, to none) and no caffine at all
• eating strange foods
• being sick to my stomach for the first week, throwing up regularly
• barely able to walk due to shin splints in both legs, but being forced to run/jump/squat/etc.
• being told where to be at all times, but not knowing what’s going to happen at any given time (I am a planner, so not knowing what I was going to be doing all day throws my world into weird place)

So watching the show only brings back some of the feelings I had when we were there.

Not to mention, I was not seen as the most productive person on campus. This is true, I will not deny this at all. I was not as motivated as I wish I would have been in hindsight. I cannot change that, however, once we got home and in a place we could be comfortable… I excelled. Still working out 5-6 hours a day, while working a fulltime job, being the best father and husband I could be. I did not lose quite as much weight as some of the others come the finale, but that comes back to us going to the campus for one and only one reason, to get healthy! Not to lose weight to win money. I could care less about money, Amanda and I make enough money to live a very comfortable life, a life we were cutting short being as unhealthy as we had been. We did everything the best we could…and still do!

Since the wrap up of the show I have lost an additional 15 pounds, andput on an unknown amount of muscle. I still have more to go, but the change in lifestyle and mindset was not just for the duration of the show… it was a LIFE CHANGE. So much of a life change that Amanda and I both run a bootcamp teaching people how they can also make this change in their life and health.

In Conclusion

I am a very very emotional person. I wear my emotions on my sleeve and things affect me more than I should let them sometimes, it’s for this reason and this reason alone I am not going to be able to watch the show without those feelings surfacing. (Trust me, I tried watching the teasers and it’s been hard!)

I am hoping by next season I have worked thru these painful feelings and move past it and am in a better place.