A personal note from Adro Sarnelli
Winner of The Biggest Loser, 2006
After losing 62 kilograms (136 pounds) and winning the first-ever series of The Biggest Loser in 2006, my life has changed in more ways than I could ever have imagined.
After looking into my past I would have to say that my main reason for weight gain was bad management. I was raised by an overweight mum who was also raised by an overweight parent, so the cycle continued from generation to generation. Being of Italian heritage, I was brought up with all that good Italian home cooking: loads of pasta, bread, spaghetti sauce, sweets and biscuits … basically all things carbohydrate! My mum was a
single parent who had seven kids to look after. We were her life, and she was very protective. We weren’t allowed to go off and play sports due to her fear that we would hurt ourselves. So not doing much exercise coupled with Mama’s cooking was a recipe for weight-management disaster!
Then, as I grew older, a whole lot of self-esteem and self-worth issues came up. Food offered comfort so you end up with someone who not only doesn’t know how to be any other way, but also sits there telling himself, ‘Why bother?’ I didn’t really think I was worth it.
With no activity, yo-yo dieting, shakes, pills and low self-worth, my weight just ballooned over the years. The biggest contributor to my weight was my extreme eating habits. Sometimes I’d get up, go to work and not eat all day. When I came home I’d be so hungry that my loving wife would cook me a full bag of spaghetti, or something similar, and I would gorge myself silly. Other days I would start eating and not stop the whole day. I didn’t bat an eyelid at the thought of eating McDonald's more than once in a day or munching through an entire loaf of bread with dinner! I ate a lot of simple carbohydrates and paid the price for doing so.
Then along came The Biggest Loser, and I lost 51.3 kilograms (113 pounds) during the show, and an extra 10.7 kilograms (24 pounds on top of that)—my life turned around and for the better!
Apart from the obvious—calories in went down and calories out went up—being involved in The Biggest Loser helped me to believe in myself. I was put into a situation where I told myself that giving up was not an option. I was given this opportunity and I wasn’t going to waste it—although with that said, I never actually thought I would lose enough weight to be where I am today!
The journey was a tough one. My newfound selfbelief was challenged when I was kicked out of the house in Week 11 by a surprise twist, and then found out on the day that I left that I had lost my business! Thanks to hooking up with Ray, two days into being home, I had a new mentor and motivator and my spirits were lifted again.
The main thing that Ray did for me as a trainer—aside from helping me lose 27 kilograms (59 pounds) in the seven weeks before The Biggest Loser grand finale—was to not allow me to give up. I went from 102.3 kilograms (225 pounds) when I left the house up to 112 kilograms (246 pounds) a week after I left! He was there for me in some of my darkest hours during the final parts of The Biggest Loser. Apart from helping me and being with me every step of the way he was also brilliant with his knowledge and his empathy. I remember one time we were running along the road and I asked him when in his life was he overweight. His answer was ‘Never’—but the empathy and understanding he had for where I was coming from and, more importantly, where I was at, at that time, was beyond comprehension. Ray had a real passion for weight loss, even though his background was a lot about sport-specific training. You could see he had a spot in his heart for the joy felt when an overweight person achieves their goal. That’s one of the things I love about Ray. I highly recommend him as a top trainer and motivator!
Since The Biggest Loser, I have lost a little more weight and managed to keep it off, and my life has been fantastic! After putting in the hard yards, I now basically eat what I want, although there is a noticeable difference between how I used to eat and how I eat now. I don’t really eat carbs anymore (aside from fruit and vegetables of course) or when I do they’re very limited and I am able to treat myself with just a small serving; I don’t need the massive amounts I used to have anymore. Other than that, I haven’t eaten fast food (besides Subway) since December 2005 and everything I eat nowadays is a diet product—I have a substitute for everything to make it more diet-friendly. But I feel that the most important and significant thing is that I don’t think I’m missing out on anything. As for exercise, I now work out when I train my clients. Other than that I go for a run and a cycle when I can, or when I’m with Ray we keep each other company doing weights so that I can feed off his knowledge and we can just hang out as mates. The exercise I do now is more for fun, and believe me, you will get to thinking this way about exercise, too!
On winning The Biggest Loser, I made a commitment to help as many people as I can to overcome obesity and its related issues and be a role model for my family and every other Australian family. This prompted me to become a personal trainer.
So, as you can see, my life has taken a complete 180 degree turn. I now do everything from promotional work for Subway, to motivational talks which touch people, to getting into a whole new line of work—I don’t think that it would be possible to have a more different life. I love my new life and I love the new me!
What’s my best weight loss tip for you? Weight loss is actually simple—it is the absolute opposite of weight gain: weight gain is a bad attitude, too much food and not enough activity; whereas weight loss is a good attitude, less food and enough activity. Once we are educated on how simple weight loss is, it does make the journey a lot easier.
My advice for you is to believe in yourself; believe that you can become who or what it is that you want to become. And the other thing is that no matter how hard it seems to get, or does get, don’t ever give up! The only way we will ever make it to the end is if we keep heading towards it.
Tough times don’t last; tough people do! That is one of the most powerful statements I think there is, as well as another famous statement: ‘Think you can or think you can’t, either way you’re right!’
My final word to you, my future friend in weight loss, is this: you choose to be how you are so why not make that how you want to be. We are in as much control of our weight gain as we are of our weight loss. The strength and power we have over our own destiny is phenomenal, we just need to realise it. We control every part of our being so to harness and control this part is the key to winning the battle of the bulge. Thinking positive and believing in yourself—these are two of the greatest things you can do.
Don’t underestimate your own ability to be who you want to be, because when you do doubt yourself you are doing nothing more than giving up.
Ray helped me to take out victory and learn more about ‘successful losing’. I believe he can help you too, by teaching you to become your very own biggest loser and reap the rewards that I have!