by Gina Scarpa

 

On last week's episode of The Biggest Loser, Lisa stepped on the scale at the weigh in, only to realize that she had not lost a single pound. She has largely been portrayed as the player who wanted to leave and give up on her time at the ranch. When she fell below the yellow line, she was granted her wish and headed home to reunite with her family and continue her weight loss journey on her own terms. Today, we caught up with Lisa to get the real reasons she wanted to leave, what she learned from the ranch, and what she's doing to keep the weight off.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What made you realize that you needed to try out for The Biggest Loser?

A. Lisa: I had watched it for so many seasons. I always thought it would be amazing to be on there. We had a little health scare with my daughter. She's 12 and being the smart girl that she is, she didn't want to have the same weight issues that I do. I knew that my obesity wasn't just affecting me. It's teaching your children what to do or what not to do. When that happened, I knew that there was something that had to change. There was a casting around that time and I was ready to save my life and my kids' lives.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What was the biggest wakeup call when you arrived at the ranch and began the workouts with Bob and Jillian?
A. Lisa: I think within the first 30 minutes, we were into our first workout. I remember crying because I was in so much pain and I was like, "Wow this is real. I'm going to die. I came here to save my life and I'm going to die!"

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Was it difficult to be separated from friends and family during your time on the ranch?
A. Lisa: It was horrible! You know you're going to miss them but you really can't even imagine how much you're going to miss them, especially your kids. You're going through something so traumatic and it really is traumatic to tear yourself apart in front of everyone and in front of the cameras. You don't have the people you can depend on, that can calm you down.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You developed a reputation for not wanting to be on the ranch. What was going through your mind during your time there?
A. Lisa: It wasn't the entire time. It was when people were being sent home that were working hard and were a threat. It was really hard for me to see people being punished for doing well. It should be a supportive, positive place and for a long time, it wasn't that way. When I had my nervous breakdown episode, as I call it, it changed everything. It cleared the air in the house. It got negative emotions out of me. Confrontation is one of my hardest things. As hard as it was, I'm glad I did it.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Do you feel like you were misunderstood?
A. Lisa: I do think that unless you're there, people watching are going to misunderstand. They think it's a certain way. Bob and Jillian said it best to us when we first arrived: "You think you know what it's like here and you don't have a clue." It's not a horrible place and I'm thankful for every second I was there. Watching it at home, you don't have a clue. It made it look like I wanted to go home because it was hard and I missed my kids. I wanted to do this in a positive, supportive environment and that's not what the ranch was for a long time.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What factors do you feel contributed to the 0 on the scale on last week's episode?
A. Lisa: Obviously, you don't get to work out as much during makeover week. Against doctor's orders, I had completely cut carbs out of my diet and I started to get sick. I had to incorporate carbs back in at the beginning of makeover week. They told me it would affect my weight on the scale but I didn't think it would that much. It was so disappointing. I was so upset. It was horrible.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How did you feel when you first arrived home?
A. Lisa: Amazing! It was so good to be home and to see my kids and to put my kids in bed and wake up and see them. There are not words to describe how I felt.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What are you doing to continue losing or maintaining your weight?
A. Lisa: I obviously still do the strict dieting. I have a personal trainer 5 days a week. I do a lot of personal training of my own. I'm training family and friends. I work out with them when I train!

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How do you feel about your overall experience on The Biggest Loser?
A. Lisa: I wouldn't take it back for anything. Even the negative experience that I had, it was what I needed. God put me in the situation that I needed to fix what I needed to fix.

 

The Biggest Loser airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on NBC.

 

(Image courtesy of NBC)

 

Follow Gina @ginascarpa

 

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