Rachel Frederickson – The Biggest Loser

By starrymag | March 16, 2014

Q) Now when you look in the mirror, what do you see?

A) I just see a strong confident woman and I feel great. I’ve never felt this great and it’s very exciting.

Q) Are you at your goal now?

A) I’m excited to be in this journey, this next part of my journey as my body balances and, you know, it kind of finds its rhythm in my lifestyle. So I’m adding back work. Like I was working part time for my voiceover so I’m going back to full-time. I’m going around with the exercises I do and trying tons of new recipes.

Q) Is your maintenance routine going to change after the finale?

A) It is. Now I’m really at maintenance mode. It’s, now it’s going to be about finding, maybe doing a yoga class this day, a gym class this day and I even, I think I’m going to try like dance classes because I don’t have a lot of rhythm but I think it will be kind of fun to, you know, add totally new things in.

Q) After you left the ranch, what did you do to reach your finale rate of 105 pounds?

A) We go home. We all head home after the ranch for, it’s actually quite a long time. It’s three-and-a-half months. And for me, I just continued to follow the support system that I had from The Biggest Loser’s (diet) plan, Dr. Cheryl’s nutritional advice and I worked out a ton. So I just worked out. I worked part-time. Continued to eat super healthy. And now that I’m at maintenance, I’m like trying new things.

Q) Do you believe you’re at a healthy and sustainable weight now?

A) I think that I feel absolutely great. I’ve never felt this great before. I’ve officially found that proud, confident girl that I lost. I was an athletic national level swimmer. And to have that athlete come back again is just truly an amazing feeling. And I’m going to embrace the new me and continue this journey. And my body’s going to balance and find it’s rhythm with the new maintenance and it will be perfect.

Q) I’ve talked to a lot of Biggest Loser winners who, I know they get down to, they try to really, really lean out for the finale and then like as soon as the finale’s over, they start hitting the weights. I was just wondering what your plans were as far as body composition now that you’re, now that you’ve won?

A) Yes, of course. Well, you know, I am extremely proud of the way I lost the weight on the show. I did everything so naturally and the athlete in me really came back. And to just work extremely hard and eat healthy, I’m definitely going to continue on this path with the support of everyone at The Biggest Loser and make them proud while I’m in this maintenance mode of lifestyle and finding balance with exercise and putting in work and eating. So absolutely, I’m going to maintain being healthy.

Q) And do you have any favorite foods?

A) I actually, every day on the ranch I made this French toast. It’s an egg-white French toast and it is to die for. So that is my like go to breakfast or that or I make an egg-white, spinach, cherry tomato and mushroom omelet. And then we made these sweet potato chips for the challenge with Sam Kass from The White House.

Q) Obviously last night after the finale, there was a lot of talk online that you may be too skinny and may have gone a little far. What do you say to the people who have said this?

A) I think I have been on this seven-and-a-half month journey on The Biggest Loser and I went to The Biggest Loser to find that confident girl again. I was that national level athlete and I lost her and I missed her. And little by little, competition by competition, I saw her come out and I fought to be in that Triathlon and win that to be in the finale. So I was very enthusiastic about the finale and I’m really excited about my life here going into maintenance mode. I’m going to try new exercises and continue on this path and see where it takes me finding that balance.

Q) And have you been able to see your trainers or anybody from The Biggest Loser before the finale? It seemed like everybody didn’t know that you had done so much with your weight and stuff. It seemed like Bob and Jillian were overwhelmed when you came out. Were you able to talk to them beforehand or see them beforehand?

A) Yes, Well, Dolvett was my trainer on the ranch. And you don’t see anyone, no contestants. So, you know, the minute you walk through those doors it’s like, wow, look at everyone’s transformations. It’s just, it’s truly. It’s overwhelming, the room. Anyway, it’s exciting then to see everyone and how wonderful they look, it’s truly amazing.

Q) There’s been a lot of backlash on social media, a lot of people tweeting and saying that they feel you lost too much weight. How are you responding to that?

A) I, first and foremost I’m, my goals are to be healthy and strong, I’m an athlete. I’ve been an athlete since I was a little girl. And I went on The Biggest Loser journey to find that confidence that I lost and through the challenges, through the challenge that I fought to get into the finale, I found that girl again. I’m embracing this new part of the journey and going into my life and balancing and adding more voiceover work and new exercises and truly just settling into the rhythm of my body, my life, my eating and my exercise and creating a great lifestyle.

Q) Now we’re still of sticking with the social media so did see a tweet from former Biggest Loser contestant Kyle Haybert who referenced an eating disorder. What do you have to say about that

A) Oh gosh. I didn’t even see that. I feel like I, my journey on The Biggest Loser was my task and I did, I followed the advice and support of the medical team at The Biggest Loser the entire journey so it’s been natural and I’ve just enjoyed every part of it. So I’m going to continue on that path and maintain this healthy lifestyle and just really enjoy this new life.

Q) So tell me what’s kind of your takeaway now that you’ve been a bit of a motivator for other people who have watched you go through this journey?

A) It’s inspiring for me. To be on this journey, I was inspired by former contestants on the show and so to be inspired by so many people messaging me saying that they’re adding exercise to their lifestyle and just because they’ve seen me as an athlete that lost that and is now adding it back to mine, it’s just, it motivates and inspires me every day. So it’s very, very exciting.

Q) What are you planning to do with the prize money?

A) To tell you the truth, I’m just so open to the possibilities of my life that I’m going to save it. I want to, I want to just enjoy the moment so, you know, I just don’t want to spend it on things. I’ll need to get some new clothes and figure out my style so that’s the first part I guess. And then the rest I’ll save for just this new life.

Q) There has been a lot of talk about how much weight you lost and we seem to be, I think, dancing around the subject. Can you directly address the question of whether you’ve lost too much weight?

A) I think that with my journey I truly found the person I want to be so it’s about the lifestyle for me and now adding in the maintenance lifestyle of adding work and finding the balance then adjusting the exercising, I think that this is all going to become a rhythm and it’s all going to be so exciting. Like you said, I never have felt this great and I know I’m going to feel like even better. You know, it’s just that life is so open to me and I can’t wait to take charge because that’s what came back is this confidence, this assuredness of myself to just take charge and conquer this life.

Q) Have you gone too far with the weight loss though?

A) I have had support system in place the entire time that I was on the Biggest Loser. And we are given a calorie budget and I stuck to that. I’ve done lots of working out and, you know, the scenario. I was very enthusiastic. I won the Triathlon to get into it and now it’s about putting on the pendulum swing and finding that balance. I went to an extremely heavy weight and now it’s about finding that balance in my lifestyle and just maintaining this active, healthy, strong person that has just come out through this seven-and-a-half month journey.

Q) I would like to know like what was your daily schedule like once you got home? Like leading up to the big finale, like what was your kind of day-by-day kind of stuff like?

A) Well I worked out really hard so. I’m a freelance voiceover artist so I auditioned throughout the day. I have actually a walking treadmill so I can edit while I’m working. While I’m working, I can be on my treadmill. I followed The Biggest Loser exercise and healthy eating routine and so I actually eat five times a day. It’s better for your metabolism, adding the protein at every meal and then when I had downtime, my butt was in the gym. I was on the spin bike. I was at the exercise classes. I was swimming in the pool and just connecting too with all the people in the classes which was my favorite part. I had hid myself so much so to be open to going to classes and making the connections with the motivation in the room, that’s been the best part about all of it.

Q) How would you describe your overall experience on The Biggest Loser?

A) Once in a lifetime. It’s truly given me that second chance to find that girl, to just embrace everything about her and it’s okay to have your own path and to be different and to celebrate being you. And I think that’s so important and I found that in myself. And I’m never going to let that go again. So I think that, to have that back and to go forth in life with that, that’s pretty empowering for me.

Q) Rachel, can you talk a little more about you team leading up to the finale. Kind of maybe like how many hours were you exercising a day?

A) Sure. Yes. Of course. Well when I’m working and I’m working on my treadmill I work kind of all day. So I’m walking or I’m standing. So before, if you saw my casting video, I was sitting eating a candy bar so I put that stool on the treadmill. So now I actually got some good dusting off and some work. I would take maybe three, four classes a day and just really have fun with all the people in the room. It was pretty cool. I’d be in Zumba. Then I’d be going to spin class and actually I never used to like running and so now I really like running. And so I’ve been out running and I even went home over the holidays to Minnesota and I went running outside. And I don’t know how they do it because they get all those ice crystals on their, on your eyelashes and I’m like I don’t know. It’s too cold. Tomorrow I’d be a freeze bunny there. I just continued to do the same kind of exercise routine that we had at the ranch and continued to work out.

Q) And did you have kind of a calorie value that you were trying to stay under every day, your diet?

A) Yes, I ate 1600 calories. That’s what my budget was. It’s from the support system that I had at The Biggest Loser. So they, they give us our calorie budget.

Q) And were you cooking for yourself. How were you doing all that good stuff?

A) I was cooking for myself. And we cook for ourselves on the ranch everyday too. So that’s all carried over at home. So I, before I was on The Biggest Loser I didn’t cook. I ate everything fast food. So I had to learn real quick when I stepped on that Ranch how to cook a chicken breast and how to steam vegetables and put the salads together. And now I cannot be out of the kitchen. I’m like, have this zest for looking-up recipes and trying them and adding new vegetables. It’s really exciting actually and I can’t wait to share all the recipes that I’ve tried. And that’s what I’d really love to do is show how much I’ve learned over the past seven-and-a-half months on this journey.

Q) What kinds of recipes do you want to share?

A) So I make, it’s really cool. So wait. I make these like crepes and then you can make, I make them savory and sweet and I’ve gotten so good at flipping them. It’s insane. So I have those. I have some desserts. I make a gelato protein ice cream. Because I used to own a gelato business and we used the whole fat cream. We used all of that. And now I make it a protein recipe. And I, it’s 200 calories for a pint of ice cream and ice cream is like best my heaven. So to be able to have that as like kind of a cheat and it’s not a cheat but it’s not a cheat because it’s a balanced good food with the fat, the protein and carbs together which is what Dr. Cheryl, our nutritionist recommends that at every meal and snack is to have a balance carb, fat and protein. It’s kind of, I kind of feel like I’m getting away with something, you know.

Q) you mentioned about being a competitive swimmer. How long ago was that? What age to what age did you kind of compete in swimming?

A) I started when I was 8 years old. We got a flyer when I was in gosh, that’s grade school. And I said to my mom, I think it was second grade and I said mom, I didn’t want to swim. And I actually almost drowned in our backyard pool when I was two. And from that point on, they couldn’t get me out of the water. So I joined the swim team. I swam until I was 18 and on my 18th birthday, I actually stopped swimming and I moved to Germany for a relationship. So, that’s kind of where I lost my self-confidence so, and lost that athlete.

Q) Would you say, I mean, how long were you heavy? Would you say that you became heavy after you stopped swimming or I mean had you always struggled with your weight throughout childhood or? Can you talk about that a little bit?

A) Yes, of course. I wasn’t struggling with my weight during swimming. I swam 11 times a week. We would do morning practices, night practices because I was at the national level. I was .05 off the Olympic trial cut. So I had sponsorships across the country. And but the thing for me is I didn’t adopt healthy eating habits throughout my childhood so you’re swimming that long, you can eat quite a bit. So when I stopped swimming, the weight started coming on when I had this relationship and when the relationship ended I just lost myself and then I little by little, as I went to pastry school, I just started to gain the weight and I hid more of myself until I, until I came on the ranch six years later.

Q) Was there one defining moment for on the ranch?

A) Yes. There really was. It was that moment when I walked into the first workout and I said Rachel, you, I don’t know how you’re going to do it but you need to prove to yourself, prove to these trainers that you can be here and that you can do this. You need to get through this workout. You need to keep moving no matter what because this second chance, it’s once in a lifetime. Hundreds of thousands of people have tried out to get this chance that you got and you cannot waste a second of it. And when I walked through those doors and I saw Danni’s poster. It said never waste a second chance I looked at that throughout that entire workout and I said don’t waste it. Keep those feet moving. And from thereon forward, I knew that I had taken the step and just one step, I needed to keep taking one step through this workout and that’s what I have done ever since, this whole journey on the ranch to lead me to this final step, as you know the next, Season 15’s Biggest Loser.

Q) And now where do you go from here? What are your goals?

A) I just want to keep the communication open with all of these followers and everyone that has inspired me. I’ve learned so much on this journey. It’s been seven-and-a-half months and I just, I can’t wait to share the recipes and talk about how I felt like I was hiding my life so much and I realized that so many people have the same feelings and that I wasn’t alone. And so if we can talk and share and throw in some of the recipes, the exercise and keep doing voiceover and just continue to make the connections with people too because I don’t want to keep hiding from that. There’s so much life out there and I’m going to embrace every moment of it.

 

*CONFERENCE CALL*