Vicky Andrews began her Biggest Loser weight loss journey at 358 pounds. She was eliminated during the beginning of season 9, then returned by the request of her fellow contestants during week 11 following a 30-pound weight loss that she managed all on her own in her hometown of Houston, Texas. She was eliminated for good in week 14.
Today, she is 230 pounds and is just 44 pounds away from her ideal weight loss goal, which she intends to hit before the Biggest Loser finale.
Listen here as Vicky discusses what she misses most about the Biggest Loser Ranch and why she feels the time she spent at home losing weight has equipped her with the tools needed to help her achieve her weight loss goal.
For so many years she woke up thinking that today was the day she would finally take her health into her own hands, but it never happened, until she stepped on the Ranch.
Always considering herself as the “pretty big girl,” her proudest moment came one morning on the Biggest Loser Ranch when she experienced the proof firsthand that she was actually doing what she vowed to do so many times before: Lose weight.
Vicky’s stay on the ranch was short; just a little over a month. While at home she credited her amazing support system in helping her to lose 30 pounds in 30 days. But when she came to the Biggest Loser Ranch, she was met with a drastically different environment as cliques and groups were already formed, placing her as a bit of an outsider having to prove herself and make quick connections.
Despite her abrupt entry into the series, the most important thing she took away from her experience was when Jillian Michaels asked her why she was there.
With a risk of breast cancer, stroke and diabetes running high in her family, her health profile before the Biggest Loser was literally taking years off her life, according to the show’s team of medical doctors. Once she was able to find her own truth as to why she was now finally choosing to lose weight, her goal and motivation took on a whole different meaning as she knew she was doing this only for herself.
Now at home, her day begins at 7 a.m. when she fuels her body with a smoothie and a piece of fruit or an egg white omelet. While the cameras may have tried to portray her as slacking off during workouts, at home Vicky is as determined as ever to keep losing weight. Clearly not afraid to sweat, every morning she hits the gym hard for at least two hours. She takes a break in the early afternoon and heads back to the gym or takes it to the streets on her StreetStrider for at least another three hours throughout the afternoon and evening before turning in for the day.
In the past, Vicky struggled with a food addiction, so she is also trying to learn how to get a firmer grasp on how to balance both the biological need for food as well as her emotional dependence on it.
Now, rather than eating bowls of buttered popcorn while watching her favorite movies with her mom, Cherita Andrews, they now pick up the latest releases from the video store and munch on carrot sticks and bell pepper strips dipped in hummus.
With her confidence booming now, she says she has finally found genuine happiness.
