Ship Shape - An Interview with the Navy Wives of The Biggest Loser: Special Edition

My goal wasn’t to become a skinny little waif, it was to lose some weight that would make me feel better and become healthier. Being totally skinny is not my reality. I like being healthy, yet buxom. I wanted to be comfortable in my own skin. I met and exceeded my personal goal. It wasn’t about anybody else’s goals for me… it was about what Jessica wanted and what was going to make her healthier.

Brian: As it should be!

Tami: It was a lot more difficult than I thought it was going to be. I was the only one of the girls working full time so it was rough. Not to mention I was driving my kids an hour away for school and then had to pick them up again after work, another hour, and in traffic.

At one point the producer called me on a Friday night and asked me to call the doctor that I work for to ask him if I could go either part time, take a leave of absence, or quit. I ended up going part time, but once the show was over I had to find a new job because they had to replace my full time position. I have to admit after I stopped working full time, a lot of the stress I had was gone.

While all of this was going on, Jessica and I were planning the ships homecoming... which was almost like a fulltime job itself. Then we had the homework, dinner, all of it.

I don’t think people that aren’t military really have any idea what the spouses of service members go through. I don’t think they could even imagine it until they have lived it, especially for Jessica who is the ombudsman and myself whose husband is the XO of the ship and I'm also the Family Support Group leader. Lets just say it was a rough transition for me.

Brian: I had surmised in my original article that your story was partly about the busy lives of military wives, but this spells it right out.

Dari: We had a completely different way of looking at food and the thought of screwing it up for my team was always a weight on my mind. The workouts were not so hard. Working out only two hours a day was like a vacation. Some times I felt guilty, only spending two hours on my workouts. I took spin classes five times a week and spent an hour with my trainer five times a week. The show did make it easier for us in that they gifted us with 36 personal training sessions and gym memberships.

Brian: Tell us your thoughts as you received the “Biggest Loser-Gram.”

Jessica: I honestly didn’t know what it was, but had a slight suspicion it was a picture of the Marine wives when I saw the envelope.

Tina: We were surprised. It was nice to see what the other girls were looking like. We had heard rumors from our trainers that they were not doing as well as we were. That motivated us. The picture helped us kick into gear even more. We had actually paired ourselves up against one particular wife from the other team.

Tami: When I saw the Biggest Loser-Gram I kind of thought it was going to be another challenge. I was kind of hoping they would give us a second chance at the rowing. Then again…

I thought Amanda looked great. I can’t remember the young one’s name…

Brian: Amber?

Tami: Right. I kind of thought she looked like she had gained.

Brian: You seemed genuinely surprised when Bob came running up on ship in the second episode. Were you acting? And has Navy security gotten THAT lax?

Tami: I was pissed about that whole thing for about a week! We were told my husband was going to work us out on the ship, and none us girls were happy about that. Needless to say, my husband ended up telling me in a roundabout way so I didn’t kill him before the day of filming. I think the other girls had an idea he might come on board but I don’t think they knew for sure... or, maybe they did.

Tina: Bob’s arrival was a surprise to us. We were told that we were going to do a workout on the ship and that is all.

Jessica: We were definitely surprised. But with the producers and crew trying to be all “hush-hush” about it, we suspected something was up. So yes, the reaction you saw was genuine.

Dari: I was just so happy to see him for the sheer fact that I could stop doing jumping jacks. I hate jumping jacks! By the time Bob came on the ship we were up to something like 25 for the third time. There are no “for television” workouts. Even when they say this shoot is for television, it is no walk in the park.

Jessica: As far as the Navy’s security being lax… are you kidding? NO WAY! NBC, 3Ball Production, and Reveille had to jump through hoops to get clearance. The base folks were very nice and accommodating though, and there was somebody who escorted them during their time on base.

It was quite the opposite for the Marine wives – they wouldn’t let the camera crews on Camp Pendleton at all.

Brian: I understand there were some problems that kept members your team from working out as much as you might have intended when you got home. Can you elucidate?

Dari: I came home from the ranch with an injury. The top of my tibia had a bruise. It was a bone bruise from running on the treadmill for an hour and sprinting every 90 seconds. I was in a full immobilizing leg soft cast.

Tina: Basically all of us had injuries on the blue team. I had cancer the entire time and did not know it. I felt very tired a lot of the time. I laughed it off thinking that I was lazy.

Brian: The best wishes of your many fans at RealityNewsOnline are with you, Tina. Too many people know of what you speak, and they all hope for the best of outcomes!

Tami: I ended up having emergency surgery done in August and couldn’t work out at all for six weeks. That was not in my plans, but I still lost weight by watching what I ate. I probably could have lost a lot more than that if I would have been able to exercise my 90 minutes in the morning and 90 more at night.

Jessica: I had some issues with severe swelling in my legs and knee problems that prevented me from doing certain exercises such as running, jumping, etc. and I wasn’t able to work out as hard as I wanted to. Thank goodness for my Precor Elliptical and the help of a personal trainer that could help me modify my workouts. I still don’t do any high impact exercises. Hurts too much.