At the end of last year, 36-year-old Erik Chopin walked away the winner of NBC's reality television show, The Biggest Loser. He lost 214 pounds in 8 months, dropping from 407 pounds to 193 pounds at his final weigh-in.One of Erik's motivations to lose weight was his discovery at the start of the competition (on-air no less) that he had type 2 diabetes:
"The doctor told Erik, right there on television, that he had very high blood pressure, high cholesterol, dangerously high triglycerides - and type 2 diabetes. “I also had sleep apnea,” [Erik] says, “and my knees and back always hurt, but diabetes? I mean, diabetes? It was a shocker. So, I went from wanting to look good to where the whole thing was about surviving. ... The good news is that after I lost 50 or 60 pounds, I no longer had those high blood sugars. I’ll always be a diabetic. But with the exercise, diet and weight loss, the blood sugars corrected themselves.”
- Diabetes Focus, Second Quarter, 2007, Win By Losing
Erik has chosen to capitalize on his win by helping others to cope with their diabetes. He's promoting the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) new"Diabetes and You: Step It Up to Get It Down" campaign. The program was developed by a team of diabetes experts along with Bob Harper, the life and fitness coach from The Biggest Loser. It promotes 6.5 Steps Towards Better Blood Sugar Control.
Last week, Erik weighed in on his post-show activities. You can read about whether he's gained back any weight (a little), how his exercise routine has changed (it's no longer the grueling 5 hours a day), and whether he still runs his deli, on RealityWanted.net's blog post, Where Are They Now - Erik Chopin.
Erik also has a page on myspace.com. You can visit him there at www.myspace.com/erikbl3.
