The Biggest Loser

Fifty people from 50 states competed, and the big man from New York, Erik Chopin, took top honors to become The Biggest Loser 3. The third season of the highly motivational, highly competitive show drew to a victorious close on Wednesday night at NBC Studios in Hollywood. And it can be said that the man with the most to lose, gained the most: a $250,000 prize, his health, his self-esteem, and a new way of life.

Erik Chopin started the season at the ranch weighing in at 407 lbs., one of the largest contestants to date on the show. He made it through three months of challenges and eliminations, and when he left the ranch he had lost 124 lbs. (that put him at 283 lbs.). He went home, as did the other three finalists, Kai of Alaska (who took runner-up at the finale), Wylie of Florida (who took third place), and Heather of Utah (who surprisingly left the competition, then showed up at the finale with a lovely five-month pregnant belly that explained all). In the subsequent six months, Erik continued his change while back at work and at home with his wife and two red-headed daughters. He was the last competitor on the scale at the finale, and took the prize at 193 lbs., a total body weight loss of 53 percent.

Right after the finale, we had a conversation with Erik and trainer Bob Harper who worked so hard together while at the ranch. Erik told us what he learned: "I thought that I was the guy that needed to be pushed....That is true, but I found out that there is a fire in me. Bob found it. Then I had to take control of it and go on my own." He continues, "It was discovering that I am capable of taking control of my life and taking the reins back."

Reflecting on how he got so heavy, he says, "I was out of control. I was eating and drinking and not considering any of the consequences." His much loved trainer got to the root of Erik's weight issues saying, "His thinking was all reactive."

"There has never been a time in my life ever before that I got that far with a diet," Erik tells us of his previous struggles. "It was always 10, 12 [pounds], but now [at the ranch] I'm talking about 40 to 50 pounds, waist size changing, face changing. It was like, 'Let's do it!' That was the point at the ranch that I started feeling better about myself. I told Bob, I said 'I gotta thank you because I like myself again.'"

Now what? Erik says, "I have to experience the new Erik and the maintenance part of this." His "extreme part" consisted of 4 hours of exercise and 1,500 to 1,800 calories per day. Erik says that remembering the struggle of just how difficult it was to fight off the weight will keep him motivated. Bob Harper swears, "He's really changed his life."

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