Meet Erica Lugo, The New 'Biggest Loser' Trainer With A Weight Loss Journey Of Her Own
Her story is so inspiring!
instagram Of all the shows making a comeback, the comeback of The Biggest Loser is poised to be the most exciting one so far. Promising to be world's away from The Biggest Loser of yester-year — in which overweight contestants are bullied, shamed, and humiliated into losing weight, sometimes to a point of jeopardizing their health — this version of the show promises to use positive reinforcement and sensible diet plans to help overweight people lose the weight they need.
One of the newest stars of The Biggest Loser is also making headlines, mostly because unlike previous break-out star Jillian Michaels — who always seemed to have a "perfect body" from the day we first met her — this trainer has an inspiring weight loss journey of her own.
So who is Erica Lugo?
Let's look at what we know about The Biggest Loser's breakout star.
1. The show will air on the USA Network.
According to Women's Health Magazine, the new version of The Biggest Loser will air on the USA Network, and will feature two trainers: Steve Cook and Erica Lugo. Lugo said that she preferred to focus on mental and physical health, rather than on appearance, when it comes to weight loss.
2. Erica Lugo lost over 160 lbs.
Erica Lugo told People Magazine that she lost over 160 lbs. since 2013. She said that she was inspired to lose weight when she would get tired just running after her son, so she began trying to lose weight. She also said that because of where she used to be, she understands where the contestants are in their weight loss journey.
3. She was featured on The Today Show back in 2017!
"Growing up, Lugo struggled with her weight: She never really understood nutrition or exercise. After realizing she had to slim down, she simply downloaded an app to help her track her calories and exercise. She followed the app’s recommendations to eat 2,000 calories a day and work out four times a week. She relied on smaller food portions, low-calorie frozen dinners and exercised for 20 or 30 minutes, four times a week," The Today Show shared, and added that even back then, she was happy to help others on their weight-loss journey.
4. Erica Lugo swears by a particular cardio machine.
According to PopSugar Fitness, Erica Lugo says that she swears by her elliptical cardio machine. She also said that the MyFitnessPal app helped her with portion control.
5. Producers of the new Biggest Loser say that Erica Lugo is important to their rebranding.
"We’re re-imagining The Biggest Loser for today’s audiences, providing a new holistic, 360-degree look at wellness, while retaining the franchise’s competition format and legendary jaw-dropping moments. USA’s recent reboot of Temptation Island brought both new and younger viewers to the network, and we’re excited to add another big, buzzy show to our growing unscripted lineup," said USA Networks president Chris McCumber, to People Magazine.
6. Will the reboot have the same controversy as the original?
According to The New York Times, when the first Biggest Loser went off the air in 2017, it came with a lot of controversies. The outlet reports that many of the contestants who went on the show gained their weight back shortly after their time on the show because their resting metabolisms slowed down so much. It will be interesting to see if the new version of The Biggest Loser faces the same controversies.
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, and photographer whose work has appeared in People, Teen Vogue, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, and more. She is also the author of The Uprising series. For more information about Bernadette Giacomazzo, click here.