Roughly 250,000 people apply for one of the few coveted positions on Biggest Loser each season. Once you’ve earned that spot, no one gives it up without a fight. Except for Tina Elliott, who surprised her fellow contestants, trainers and fans watching at home as she declared a tearful desire to leave the ranch, stating that she was going to ask to leave. This came the day after Tina fell below the yellow line with Allie Ishcomer, who became the first elimination of the season. Agasp, her fellow contestants couldn’t understand why she’d allowed Allie to go home when she didn’t want to be there.
Her defense was that she felt she was just as capable of losing the weight at home as she would be on the ranch. We asked Tina in her elimination interview what had changed in three weeks to where she could do it at home now, but she hadn’t been able to when she applied. She tells us she learned a lot in that brief time, and having lost more than 58 pounds so far at home on her own, she must have known what she was talking about.
Listen now as Tina talks about what she learned, and the three most important things she is now implementing in her life at home.
“Everyone knows the opportunity is awesome,” said Tina. “I don’t think I was prepared for the emotional part of it. I missed my family tremendously,” she continues about her desire to leave Biggest Loser.
When she fell below the yellow line, she expected her elimination and was not surprised when the votes ousted her.
Season 10’s theme is “Pay it Forward,” and while people were put off by Tina’s lackluster interest in her position on the Ranch, she is doing her part to share her new-found knowledge and healthy living tips with those around her who need it most. Her two daughters, one of which was featured on the show, run with and get diet tips from Tina. One daughter has even lost 85 pounds since this journey began! She says her two sisters-in-law are also jumping on the bandwagon and doing what they can to live healthier lives.
The one person who hasn’t is her husband. “He’s not on board, he eats his own food,” says Tina. But it’s not a problem for her. While it makes mealtime a little crazy, she eats her own food.
Her diet now is comprised of primarily organic, clean foods. She learned on Biggest Loser that our foods are so full of pesticides and poor ingredients that it causes our bodies to store fat, whereas organic foods create a body that burns fat.
You’ll find Tina out moving each every day. Her workout schedule starts with a 7:30 a.m. trip to the gym for circuits with her trainer, then a mid-afternoon 2-mile bike ride or swim, and then she finishes the day with a five-mile run in the evening.
Tina hasn’t given much thought to the $100,000 at-home prize that she’s now eligible for, whether or not she reaches her personal goal of weighing 150 pounds.