He nearly missed out on The Biggest Loser Asia auditions, but now Carlo Miguel is extremely grateful for his life-changing experience. The Filipino chef has lost more than a third of his body weight and waved goodbye to a whole host of health problems. He relishes life more than he could have ever imagined.
All work and no play
Carlo's unhealthy habits and weight loss problems began at a very early age. He describes his upbringing as "typically Asian" – hard work was encouraged at school and for home duties but sport was discouraged, despite the fact that Carlo spent part of his childhood overseas in the US and in Australia, two countries with a strong outdoor and sporting cultures.
For as long as Carlo can remember, food has taken centre stage in his life. The 32-year-old chef hails from a family of cooks and said that being surrounded by food and foodies has made it all too easy to eat constantly. As a result, weight has been an issue for Carlo since he was a small child.
“The first time I became aware of being overweight I was seven and we were living in Sydney. It slowly built from there. I returned to the Philippines about eight years ago and things continued as they had been until one day, I woke up and I was 160kg," he said.
Carlo has also experienced a number of health shocks in the past few years. In his late 20s, he was diagnosed with hypertension, raised blood cholesterol and sleep apnoea, all compelling reasons to lose weight.
With the help of a personal trainer and a nutritionist, Carlo got his weight down to around 125kg before stalling.
Click to enlarge photos
Carlo before
Making progress
Red team challenge
Carlo
Chef Carlo
Introducing The Biggest Loser Asia
Around the same time, Carlo’s wife, Ria, and his sister-in-law told him about the advertisements they had seen for the Asia show. Carlo said, “I had seen the US version of The Biggest Loser and found it really entertaining. I thought, why not?”
Ria was very quick to encourage Carlo in his plans to get healthy. The couple had been married for just under a year and, having worked 12-15 hours a day, Carlo usually felt exhausted by the time he got home. Once or twice, he had even fallen asleep in the middle of a conversation with his wife.
In the team colours
So before he knew it, Carlo was wearing red and throwing himself into his challenge on The Biggest Loser.
“Actually, being in the Red Team was a little discouraging at times – we kept losing challenges and it got a bit draining. Yet my teammates were great and I was determined to change my life,” says Carlo.
“One of the biggest highlights for me was when Ria and I spoke via Skype and she told me we were going to have a baby. It really brought me to tears and it definitely encouraged me to do the best I could.”
Comfort zone
The most difficult aspect of being on the show for Carlo was being out of his comfort zone in almost every area. He said, “Everything was so totally different from home life, from the food we ate to the activities and the people around me. At home, Ria and I talk things through and she helps me reason through a lot of things. It was hard not having her around and it was difficult that I missed the first trimester of her pregnancy. Yet I knew that I was doing what I needed to give us the best opportunity for a healthy future.”
A big fan of The Biggest Loser Club’s diary, Carlo said it all finally made sense when he started including everything that he was eating and all the exercise he was doing while in the house.
“The energy equation really works – it opened up my eyes about where I had been going wrong. Well you have to go with what works – you can’t argue with science, can you?”
One third less of him
Since starting his journey on The Biggest Loser Asia at a weight of 132kg, Carlo has lost an impressive 49kg to reach his Finale weight of 83kg. That’s a loss of 37% of his starting body weight. Seeing him on his return from The Biggest Loser House, Ria gasped, “My teddy bear became an action figure!”
Since coming home, Carlo has appeared on TV shows, been interviewed for newspaper articles and has been asked to get involved in a number of motivational speaking roles for major companies.
Looking forward
Every day holds a new challenge for Carlo. “This is the whole new me. My body can do so much more now. I go to the gym every day and row, jump and run. I push myself to the limits.”
“Now, I don’t dread getting out of bed and I can do everything so much faster. Being fitter, I no longer have the hang-ups and the negativity and self loathing that kept me back. I am even focusing more on people that radiate positive vibes – I want to live life surrounded by positives and no more negative influences.
“I feel like I am a different man. When I go out and around with Ria now, I know that people gossip because it looks like she is with someone else – they don’t recognise me.”
Yet his experience on The Biggest Loser almost never happened. “Looking back,” said Carlo, “I am so glad that Ria encouraged me to go. The audition was early, which meant that I had to get up at 5am. I was exhausted after a heavy night of work and I really didn’t want to go but she was pretty insistent. She got me going and now I am thankful that my life has really changed. I am a very lucky person to be where I am right now.”