While most people are still focused on their New Year’s resolutions in January, UNC brought two people to campus Thursday who have fought their struggles with weight loss.
Ed Brantley and Heba Salama are a married couple and finalists from season six of “The Biggest Loser,” a reality show where contestants compete to lose weight and overcome obesity.
Standing in front of two life-sized pictures of their overweight selves, the North Carolina natives shared their thoughts about reaching a healthy mental and physical state.
The couple first talked about the importance of living a balanced lifestyle and having healthy and satisfying meals along with time spent exercising.
After going over the mental roadblocks that kept them out of shape before participating in “The Biggest Loser,” Brantley and Salama answered audience questions.
Do you weigh yourself daily, and do you think that is an effective strategy for maintaining weight loss?
HS: I would say it’s an ineffective strategy because, case in point, we’ll go to a hot yoga class and we’ll sweat out five or six pounds. Now those five or six pounds are going to be right back there in the morning, because most of it was water. Now, is that going to help me? Once a week just to keep yourself in a range, I think that’s effective.
EB: The best gauge for us, I think, is how your clothes fit.
How do you respond to criticism that rapid weight loss is unhealthy?
HS: If all you’re doing is exercising, but you’re taking a healthy number of calories and you’re being observed, I think it’s fine.
EB: A lot of doctors have a lot of different opinions on it. We lived through it. We’re standing here today to say that if you’ve got that time to get to working out and you want to lose that much weight, then go for it with the assistance of a doctor, absolutely.
Since the finale, it seems like you’ve put on some weight. How does that feel? Does it feel worse?
HS: Obviously we don’t look like that now. That was a huge accomplishment, but I think so is this. I think there’s a lot to be said for what we did, but then there’s a lot to be said for where we are. We’re 14 months out of it, and we’ve beaten it.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
