Many women don’t let anyone know their number on the bathroom
scale.
Ada Wong stepped on the scale for the entire world.
To watch the finale on NBC.com , click here.
By Leigh Lawson – Special to the Dispatch
Many women don’t let anyone know their number on the bathroom scale.
Ada Wong stepped on the scale for the entire world.
Wong, 28, did amazingly well on “The Biggest Loser,” starting at 258 pounds and losing 99 of them. At the Dec. 14 season finale, Wong finished as one of three finalists competing for the show’s $250,000 grand prize. She and contestant Alfredo Dinten eventually lost to winner Patrick House.
Wong attributes her success to keeping strict weight loss goals. For her, the show was kind of a last resort.
“The show was my one opportunity. If I couldn’t lose weight on the show than I knew I wouldn’t want to ever do it.”
Wong had been heavy all her life. Though Wong recieved good grades in school and had a job at Google, she wasn’t happy.
“Weight loss was the one thing I didn’t have a handle on.”
She knew of the reality show before she applied.
“I couldn’t watch the show before. It made me sad to watch others who were losing lots of weight when I couldn’t.”
When she finally did let herself think about it, she wondered if being on TV would keep her more accountable to herself.
“I though about it, but for a long time I didn’t have courage to do it. I didn’t want to be embarrassed. I didn’t want to be displayed in front of America.”
One day, Wong had a burst of courage. Before she could talk herself out of it, she told her friends she wanted to audition for the show and asked them to help her make an audition video. Wong said she and her friends took so much time doing the audition video, she couldn’t back out of it.
“I didn’t think my chances were good since many people were competing to be on the show. I just submitted it and thought that, well, at least I tried.”
The studio called her back.
From there, that initial momentum that led her to apply never let off.
Wong’s initial challenge was a stair-climbing contest with two other contestants to qualify for the show’, according to the NBC’s website. She qualified and moved on.
“I was thankful for the opportunity. I didn’t want to waste it. Once I started losing weight, I wanted to succeed,” Wong said. “And part of it was luck, there were people who did lose weight and still were eliminated.”
Once at the ranch, Wong held tough. She wouldn’t let herself be eliminated. She kept her weight loss above the show’s set minimum to avoid competing in weekly elimination challenges.
On the show, contestants compete to win $250,000 by losing the highest percentage of body weight. Each contestant receives a personal trainer. Each week, contestants are in danger of being eliminated from the show if they don’t lose a set amount of weight. Eliminated contestants competed for the $100,000 at-home prize based on the highest percentage of weight loss.
The show was filmed outside Los Angeles in Calabasas. Contestants stayed at “The Ranch,” a health resort complete with exercise equipment, nutritionists and chefs. But contestants weren’t there to relax.
“It was definitely stressful because everyone was up for elimination each week. You had to bring your A-game and stay above that yellow line,” Wong said.
On the show, the yellow line determines which contestants have to compete for elimination that week. By not losing a set number of pounds, contestants fall below the yellow line and must compete in the elimination round.
When Wong did compete, she did tremendously well. Near the end of the show, the contestants ran in a marathon. Wong beat the show’s record for a female runner, finishing in 4:38:48, according to NBC’s website.
“I set goals for myself. The record holder was Tara Costa for females. I wanted to beat her. Now, I hold the record.”
Wong realized how much weight she had lost during the show on a challenge where contestants were made to compete with added weights strapped on them to signify the weight they had lost, she said.
“Prior to that I didn’t see see how much I actually accomplished. When I looked in the mirror, I couldn’t see the weight I was losing.”
At that point, Wong had lost 73 pounds. She had to wear weights around her ankles and knees. She wore a weighted vest.
While contestants were competitive, she said everyone on the show got along, and there are a handful of people on the show she became good friends with.
“You go on the show with a bunch of strangers and you don’t think you’d be making good friends.”
Wong almost won a new car on the show, but instead allowed another contestant to win it. Wong was first going into the competition, and would’ve easily won the vehicle. “One of the contestants had been laid off prior to the show,” she said. “He had a1992-something, it was obvious he needed the car. I was pretty much first so I would’ve won the car. I let him win.” That contestant ended up winning the car. “He was definitely thankful, we all had an emotional moment afterwards.”
Before the show, Wong tried a range of diets that didn’t work for her. Sometimes she lost weight with crash diets but she always gained the weight back. Other times, she didn’t lose any weight at all. Before the show, exercise was never a part of her diet. “I didn’t like it, I wasn’t motivated to do it. It was easier to just not eat.”
On the show, Wong learned healthier eating habits, and now that she is home, she’s been putting that knowledge into practice. On the ranch, a huge part of her weight loss came from exercising.
“I just kept moving, I didn’t necessarily run 10 miles at any point or all day long. Now (exercise has) been a routine and I’ve grown to like it. Now I run, hike, snowboard. I have more energy than I used to to do some of the things I like to do.”
Prior to the ranch, Wong always knew the healthly foods to eat but she wasn’t eating them. At the ranch, she had access to high quality foods and nutritionists. Wong said she learned the importance of eating organic food, and she learned healthy recipes. Now she eats things such as egg white omelets instead of whole eggs, because egg whites are very low calories and she can eat more of them.
“I have a hearty appetite. I eat more than other people to feel satiated.”
Another new staple of hers is Greek yogurt, which is denser than lowfat yogurt. Before the show, she went for rib eye steaks marbled with fat. After coming home recently, she ate a rib eye steak but the richness of the steak gave her indigestion.
“After eating a clean diet, I no longer crave fatty foods. Now I naturally gravitate towards leaner meat.”
Since she’s returned to her home in Santa Clara, Wong’s life has changed dramatically.
Her and some of the other contestants on the show are in the early planning stages of starting a weight loss charity. Much like the show, the charity will select overweight individuals and fly them to health spas.
Wong has bought a whole new wardrobe. She said she’s been shopping a whole lot more than she used to, and she buys styles she wouldn’t when she was heavier.
“I didn’t buy dresses before, but I buy a lot now. And I can wear skinny jeans.”
People often ask Wong for weight loss advice. For the most part, she said, Americans know what foods to eat and that they should exercise and lift weights. But they have to want it.
“If you can’t commit fully to anything in your life, it won’t happen for you. You have to think about your commitment everyday.”
Wong said people don’t need to overdo it and burn out on a new exercise routine, but there’s a balance they need to be aware of.
“You need to put in the work,” she said.
To watch the finale on NBC.com , click here.
