The Biggest Loser Roundup: Grey Team

Jen Smith
Fancast.com

The Grey Team was the latest team to be kicked off The Biggest Loser. Only two weeks into the show, the father/son team of Tom and L.T. fell below the yellow line and couldn’t recover. L.T. actually gained three pounds, which combined with Tom’s three pound weight loss gave them a total loss of zero. Now that they’re home, many are wondering if they’ll be able to maintain their weight loss. Fancast has the whole scoop: The Grey Team talked to us about eating right, working out, and what they really though of Jillian Michaels (and it isn’t pretty).

You guys were favored to win from the beginning. How did it feel to be gone so quickly?

Tom: Pretty bluntly, it sucks to be gone so early but there’s really nothing we would do. I feel that LT and myself worked extremely hard and the numbers just didn’t fall in our favor. You can only do so much and I know I did as much as I could. LT was at the gym most nights until 1 o’clock in the morning. He worked extremely hard. I don’t know really what happened… it just didn’t work.

In Week 1 you guys had the extra vote and you used that to save the Orange Team, and then Heba and Ed voted against you. Any feelings about that?

LT: We would have liked to have the favor returned to us but it was a game and it’s nothing personal. Business and pleasure are two different things and they did what they had to do to stick around. As much is it sucks that they voted us off and didn’t keep their word, it’s part of the game. It’s just like in football; you can’t trust anybody on the other side. They did what they had to do.

Were you guys happy with Jillian? What did you really think about her?

LT: There were two different Jillians. There’s the gym Jillian where she’s kicking your ass, and then there’s outside the gym when she’s in the house talking to you. Inside the gym, not many people liked her, but it was different for me. I was used to that. In football that’s how our couches worked. We were always getting yelled at. I probably threw a little aggression back at her but that’s how it is with me; I don’t hold back what I want to say. I just say it. She’s kind of got a love/hate relationship with everybody. Outside the gym, she’s a good person. Yeah she did a lot to help us.

TOM: You can pretty much keep Jillian. I didn’t care too much for her. I understand she had a job to do but she really doesn’t treat people like adults. She treated most of us like children which I didn’t take to kindly to. On the camera you see them pretty it all up for the audience. Her mouth is incredible. I have to thank her because she probably saved my life but didn’t care too much for her method.

LT, how did you feel being the only contestant to gain weight?

LT: It was tough to gain weight the second week. I was in the gym until 1 sometimes two o’clock that whole week because I knew it was the toughest week. Jillian sat me down and explained it to me. She upped my calories so I could do a harder workout. At the end of the week, I was confident that we had enough weight to lose to stick around for another week. When the +3 came up I was shocked, angry, upset, a mix of everything. I just don’t know how you go on a show and gain weight and you’re supposed to be losing weight. But it happens. The scales don’t lie.

After you got eliminated, how tough was it to maintain a healthy lifestyle?

LT: It was tough. You’re not on the ranch anymore. You don’t have any temptations on the ranch and as soon as you come back home you have all the temptations come right back to surface. You don’t have the alcohol and all your friends (at the ranch). To go back to that lifestyle was tough. To go out with them and to say “No, I’m not going to eat this,” or “No, I won’t drink anymore.” You didn’t have that out on the ranch. It was healthy foods. All you had to do was eat right and work out. It was a lifestyle.

Tom, In both of the challenges you didn’t participate because of medical reasons. Can you elaborate on that?

Tom: To be honest with you, I really don’t know what it was. Something about the red blood cells… I had too little or too many; I forget which one it was. But they said it would be a risk for me to do the challenge so the doctor wouldn’t let me do the challenge until my blood cells got correct.

You mentioned that being taxi drivers was a bit of a downfall for you. Do you still feel that way?

LT: I think that my experience varies a little bit from my dad’s. For me, it was more of a downfall because I drove in the middle of the night. For me the biggest change is that I bring all my own food. I bring four of five smacks throughout the night. Where everyone else will be eating their meals during they day, I’d be sleeping during the day and eating at night. So I had to learn how to make that change and realize what was healthy, what wasn’t healthy, and it’s been a good change for me.

Have you tried to incorporate some exercise while driving?

LT: Yeah I have this exercise band that I take it with me to work. It’s like a giant rubber band with an attachment that I can attach to my cab door. I’ll use that and get my own little workout in when I’m not busy driving.

Do you have any warnings for other taxi drivers to watch their weight?

LT: Yeah… they all crack jokes and laugh at us when they see us on the side of the road with a rubber band attached to our cabs. They find it comical, but they’re starting to see results from when we started. They’re starting to ask questions and we help them out when we can.

What was the biggest misconception you had about diet and exercise before you went onto the show?

LT: For me it was different because I was an athlete in high school. I played football, so I always knew how to train and condition. I knew how to lift. The dieting part of it was the overwhelming thing for me when I went onto The Biggest Loser. Counting calories and things like that… I never really knew that was important. For me, that was actually misleading because when you read about all these diets like high fiber and Atkins, and they tell you one thing and it works for about a month and then you forget about the diet and put weight back on. So learning it and realizing it has to be a lifestyle change was something I didn’t really understand until it was brought to my attention when we got selected to be on the show.

LT, in the first episode when you did your health screening you said you were a smoker. Is that something you were able to stop or are at least working toward?

LT: I stopped it the day Jillian came to Boston and said you’re my grey team. We talked about it and she was like it’s something that you need to do. I actually stopped that day. Something in my head clicked and I realized how bad it screwed up my system. I don’t recommend anyone do it. I don’t preach to anybody about not doing it, I just tell them that it’s a bad habit that they have to break. I don’t smoke and don’t plan on it anytime soon.

Have you guys had any contact with fellow Bostonians Mark and Jay Kruger from last season?

LT: I haven’t talked to Mark but I talk to Jay on MySpace every once in a while. I know they’re doing a run in October. I might go over and do a run with them, a 5 K. I’ve talked to a couple past contestants. It’s good to hear them and how they feel.

Is it true that the gym at the ranch isn’t air conditioned?

LT: There’s no air conditioning in there at all! It’s like a sauna when you’re working out. There are windows and there are fans and there’s a breeze that blows through, but it gets hot.

Tom, you mentioned feeling responsible about the weight of your family… how is that changing now that you guys are home?

Tom: The change is incredible for my family because now I’ve learned what is good and what is not so good when it comes to simple things like white bread and pasta. I get whole wheat and more fruits and vegetables to snack on versus potato chips and ice cream. I can buy the stuff I’m supposed to be buying now. Everybody is eating healthy and my wife has lost 27 pounds also. It’s actually a great thing.

How much weight have you both lost since the update?

LT: I’m down 92 pounds as of today.
Tom: I’m down to 237, so that’s 77 pounds.

Right now you’re working toward the goal of being the biggest at home loser. Are you worried that after the finale that you won’t have anything to work for anymore and you’ll regain?

Tom: Not worried about it all. It’s real simple. Before I went on the show I was taking nine pills a day when I got up. Now when I get up I look at those bottles that are still right on my shelf and I don’t take any medication at all. And if I want it to stay that way I have to keep the weight off and stay healthy. That’s my motivation to do the right thing, so I think its going to be pretty simple.

LT: I see my uncles and cousins that are overweight and I want to try to help them after we help ourselves. We have our work cut out for us. So, no, I don’t think you’ll see any of us go back to our unhealthy living before The Biggest Loser.

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