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Post Ranch Fallout with Rebecca Meyer of The Biggest Loser
by Troy Rogers
 The
latest episode of The Biggest Loser was makeover
week for the Biggest Loser competitors, as fashion
expert Tim Gunn and hairstylist Tabatha Coffey
were on hand to work their magic on The Biggest
Loser ranch mates. As a Biggest Loser surprise,
the families of the contestants were also on hand
to give support for the final push before The
Biggest Loser finale. When the Biggest Loser ranch
hands got back to business, they were challenged
by a wire crossing test before a last chance workout
with Bob and Jillian.
With six Biggest Loser competitors remaining after a string of second chances, including Rebecca Meyer of Iowa, the weigh in was the Biggest Loser deal breaker as both Rebecca and Liz fell below the yellow line. Although the emotions ran high when it came to Biggest Loser voting, sparks flew when Rebecca Meyer became the latest to be eliminated from The Biggest Loser and went toe-to-toe with Rudy in a heated verbal argument.
The next day after Rebecca was voted off The Biggest Loser, we got a few brief minutes with Rebecca to learn more about her Biggest Loser fallout with Rudy and how she feels about Liz and comments about her age and weight. Also, we learned more about the status of Rebecca and Daniel who are now enjoying a post Biggest Loser relationship.
THE DEADBOLT: Which was worse at the time, being eliminated or Rudy's opinion of you?
 REBECCA
MEYER: I think probably Rudy's opinion,
because I thought it was (Allen). I mean, being
eliminated was something that I never even fathomed
happening. When we were ever interviewed about
whether or not I thought I was going to be below
the yellow line or was going to go home, I just
never even put it in my mind. So I haven't even
wrapped my mind around the fact that I was being
eliminated.
So having someone who I called a friend and who I looked up to in some ways, [who] had this opinion about me that was completely out of left field, that was probably the hardest thing to hear.
THE DEADBOLT: How do you feel about the rationale of Liz, that you're only 25 and she doesn't have a lot of time left?
REBECCA: I think that people will say anything to stay on the ranch. I think that we learned something from Shay in the very beginning of the show, that we can't compare ourselves to anyone else, because my journey is no more important than hers just like her journey is no more important than mine.
My 25 years of life got me 279 pounds. Her
almost 50 years of life got her to 257 pounds.
So for her to say that her journey is somehow
more important than mine, I didn't respect that.
 But
I mean, it's like I said, it's people are going
to fight to be there and I'm glad that she actually
fought for herself. That's what I wanted her
to do the whole time, but not at the expense
of my journey. But it is what it is.
Other Conference Call Highlights:
I wanted to know, do
you guys [Rebecca and Daniel] have any definitive
plans for the future? You said that keeping
a long distance relationship wouldn't be forever.
Do you have plans of either moving to each other's
state or anything like that?
REBECCA: I'm definitely not moving to
North Carolina, and Iowa is not a place that
we both want to be right now. We're not real
sure about what we want to do or where we want
to go. We know that we would like to figure
it out together. And that after the finale,
the world is sort of our oyster and we get to
sort of figure it out. There really is no definitive
plan yet. We just know that we want to be closer
to each other.
I know that the ranch
experience wasn't the easiest for you. So what
do you think was your hardest challenge on the
ranch? And when you look back on it, what did
you learn from it?
REBECCA: I think it wasn't a physical
thing for me. I was able to take those things
and run with it. I realized that I was holding
myself back, mentally and emotionally, and I
was stopping myself from doing the things that
I wanted to do most in the world. Bob looked
at me at one point and he's like, "Rebecca,
why are you fat?" He's like, "Your drive and
determination, you should not be heavy. I don't
understand it. Explain it to me." And I couldn't,
I had just stuffed things down with emotional
eating and I'll think about that tomorrow kind
of a lifestyle. It got me to almost 300 pounds.
I was at 300 pounds at one point.
 So
for me it was really hard to realize that I
had to change, not just physically but emotionally
for this to really work. For my journey to be
complete and to have to dive into that on the
ranch was hard for me because I was ready to
do it. But I didn't really know how to do it
and I needed people's help. I'm a control freak
and asking for help was really hard for me.
But once I did, it was the most amazing thing
ever. I'm much more open to doing it now. It's
still hard, but I know that I need to do it
to invoke real change in my life.
Now you ran a half marathon.
What's next? Are you going to run a marathon,
Iron Man?
REBECCA: Oh, yes. Yes, yes, yes. When I was in North Carolina, finishing my second half marathon, Daniel and I ran together in Raleigh - I decided that by the time I'm 30, so I have five years - that I want to complete a road race, whether it be biking ... I want it to be some sort of road race in all 50 states, whether it be a 5k or a Race for the Cure or a marathon, or a triathlon, or a half marathon. I want to try to complete one in all 50 states.
It's just one of those things. It's key for me that Biggest Loser doesn't end December 8 at the finale and it starts for me, for my life. If I'm always training for something then I will keep myself accountable and keep this up. So it's something I'm really excited for.
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