Former ‘Loser’ contestant embraces healthy lifestyle

When Canton resident John Forger returned home in the fall of 2011 following his experience as a participant on Season 12 of NBC’s The Biggest Loser, he immediately made changes in his personal life.

John Forger following his stint on the ‘Biggest Loser’

He had learned that making good food choices, exercising regularly and having healthy sleeping patterns are most important in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. He went to Fuzion Sports Club, using the equipment and working out with personal trainer Carlton Soberanis. He also began to throw punches with a sparring partner but sometimes did the same activity on his own. One day Forger threw 3,000 punches while in water up to his chest in a pool.

“You need to have some motion in the ocean,” he said with a laugh.

Forger is keeping the motion in his ocean as he heads into 2014, but admitted that he sometimes doesn’t feel like heading to the gym for a workout or to the YMCA for a swim or going for a long walk. To counter the negative thoughts about exercising, he has found a few simple solutions.

“I start counting,” he said. “I focus on the next number and not the negative thought.”

He counts while he uses a machine at Fuzion. On one of his walks through his neighborhood, he counted from one to 1,400 door to door.

Forger also wills himself to not look at the counter on a machine so that he is not aware of how much time has gone by. He plugs his headphones in and watches television to take his mind off what his body is doing. He has asked his wife or a neighbor to drop him off at Cobb’s Corner and then walked back home.

At Fuzion, Forger uses the mountain climbing machine. One day, his trainer, Soberanis, told him that most people found the machine so difficult that they stopped using it after about four minutes. Forger had used it for four and a half minutes.

“I took that as a challenge,” he said. “It’s mind over matter.”

On subsequent workouts, he increased his time until he reached 62 minutes. He said that he has learned that muscles are resilient and will come back.

When it comes to his diet, Forger described himself as a musician. “I always sang the song Tomorrow,” he said. Now he eats more fruits and vegetables, such as apples, blueberries, strawberries, string beans, and one of his favorites, sweet potatoes. He is trying to eliminate anything made with white flour and sugar.

He also learned that he could still have an omelet made with three eggs, but to use one whole egg and only the whites of two others. “It has fewer calories,” Forger said, “and you get a lot more volume to it. Add some green peppers, red peppers and onions. Cut up some broccoli, some blueberries. You can have a tasty, low-calorie meal.”

Forger counts calories and urges others to do the same, but not to let it take control. “Counting calories is important,” he said. “You don’t have to go crazy. Find the thing that works for you.”

He also avoids foods that contain high fructose corn syrup. “I won’t eat anything that contains that,” he said. He’s concerned that people drink diet sodas, thinking that they will help them lose weight or control their weight. He said that drinking drink diet sodas may actually lead to a weight gain.

Being on The Biggest Loser and then changing his lifestyle made Forger realize that he wasn’t getting enough rest. Before he embarked on his weight-loss journey, he estimated that he was sleeping five to seven hours a night. He told himself that he didn’t need to sleep because it was a waste of time. He has since changed his mind.

“Sleep is the great rebuilder of the human body and mind,” he said. “If we don’t get enough sleep, then we rely on coffee and the good feeling of carbs.”

Forger, who said he was a tough and physically fit kid in his youth, said that before changing his diet, he might stop for one of his favorite carbs, a chocolate éclair, on the way home from work. He would buy a box of them and eat them all. He no longer does that, but occasionally has a cheat day and knows that other people do as well.

“You have a cheat day,” he said, “just don’t make it a repeat for seven days.”

Forger lost 120 pounds through his television experience, personal workouts and lifestyle changes. In the past two years he has gained back 30 pounds, but he is taking his own advice to get proper rest, watch what he eats, and keep the motion in his ocean.

“I successfully maneuvered those waters,” he said.

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Jan 1 2014. Filed under Features. Both comments and pings are currently closed.