The Biggest Loser Fab Five on Overcoming Weight Issues

From L to R: Larry, Angela, Art, Hazel, and Raffy

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After four months of training and challenges, the final five contestants of reality show The Biggest Loser Pinoy Edition will be attending their last weigh-in on Saturday, October 8, at the Ynares Stadium in Pasig, where they will unveil their weight loss after weeks out of the camp to determine the show's winner.

Not only have the Fab Five contestants lost weight after joining the show; their outlooks in life have also changed for the better. In an interview with ABS-CBNNews.com, the competitors looked back at their struggle with obesity as they are growing up.

Hazel Chua, who gained her spot in the Fab Five after winning against fellow ex-contestants, says she's been overweight since she was in fourth grade. "Hindi ko na-experience my whole life kung paano maging normal na teenager kasi growing up lahat panunukso and everything," she is quoted as saying. Now the show has given her a second chance at life--and her first at love.

Raffy Tan, who met Hazel on the show and eventually became her boyfriend, shares a similar story. He weighed around 170 pounds in sixth grade, and the number just kept going up from there. "Nung year 2006, dun ako nag-220 pounds, tapos pataas na ng pataas hanggang na-reach ko yung 280 plus."

Meanwhile, Angela Lupangco says she weighs less now than she did when she got married and when she was in high school. She joined The Biggest Loser because she had problems getting pregnant and was ecstatic a few weeks ago when the doctors told her she was ovulating.

As for contestants Art Mendoza and Larry Martin, gaining weight sent their lives on a downward spiral. Art, who admits he's had trouble with his weight since he was young, says he actually trained abroad before and kept himself fit, but upon his return to the country, he gained all the weight back--and even piled on some extra pounds.

For Larry, who was once a policeman, his dramatic increase in weight made him lose his self-respect. "Puro inom, bisyo, ganun. Kaya siguro naabuso ko rin sarili ko na tumaba ako nang tumaba. Pero kasalanan ko kasi respeto ko sa sarili ko nawala (I drank a lot and indulged in other vices. Maybe it was also because I kept abusing myself that I gained more and more weight. But it's really my fault that I lost respect in myself)," he is quoted as saying. With the help of the show, he started believing in himself again, and now he's eager to get back into the workforce.

Like the Fab Five, have you experienced issues with your weight growing up? Be inspired to start your own journey to fitness with these stories about real women who lost weight and changed their lives: