Elfin Recite

The first thing Vilcan did when he returned home from the ranch was buy a food scale. “Portion size can get away from you in a heartbeat,” he says. “If you want to lose weight, you have to know what a serving is and how many calories are in it.” Do you really need to order that 16-ounce filet when the 8-ouncer will fill you up? Each Biggest Loser contestant’s daily calorie limit is calculated using a formula that considers starting weight, body-fat percentage, activity level, and goal weight- For Vilcan, it’s between 1,750 and 2,000 calories, depending on how-much he’s exercising. “Realizing how much exercise it takes to expend the calories in food really puts things into perspective,” he says. “I mean, look at these cheese fries from Outback Steakhouse. They’re 2,900 calories. No friggin’ way am I gonna eat that.”

It took sometime, but Ed Brantley finally realized he had a food addiction. “The cravings would come and I would ho like, “hey, let’s get high,” says Brantley. “I was literally hooked on the euphoria of eating.” It didn’t help that he and his wife. Heba, had a full social calendar with many an opportunity to wine and dine. “If we want to have children, and we do. We knew we had to change our lifestyle and take control of this,” he says.
Brady Vilcan took a hard look at his life and realized he was setting a poor example for his two kids. “We rarely got a lunch break at CVS,” says Vilcan, a pharmacist. “I’d often go all day without touching food. If Vicky cooked, I might have three large servings. But mostly, I’d pick up cheeseburgers or pizza.” He would also bring candy home from the pharmacy for the family. While watching TV he might have two or three howls of ice cream. “My grandfather was heavy. I remember going to Weight Watchers with my mom when I was a kid. Now my 4-year-old daughter, Lucy, outweighs my 7-year-old son. Chance, we’ve got to break this chain.”