HEALTH
Former NFL quarterback, ‘Biggest Loser’ contestant refuses to let obesity win
Mar 21, 2019, 9:13 AM | Updated: 9:19 am
Scott and Melanie, hosts of Really Healthy Podcast.
Salt Lake City, Utah — From weekly weight checks in the NFL to weekly weigh-ins on national television, Scott Mitchell has been through a lot when it comes to his weight and trying to find the healthiest version of himself.
Now he is committed to finding out what real health — mental, physical and emotional — looks like for him on Really Healthy Podcast with his co-host, a certified trainer and registered dietician, Melanie Douglass.
Douglass is committed to spreading helpful information about health while helping Scott achieve his own version of optimal health.
Finding The Motivation
Mitchell lost his dad a few years ago. His dad died from complications relating to type II diabetes.
“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, I spent six years watching my dad die an awful, painful death and I saw my own future if I didn’t make a change,” said Mitchell.
His motivation comes from his father.
On the podcast, Mitchell shared a recent check-up with his doctor revealed he needed to be on high blood pressure medication.
His weight put him in the “morbidly obese” category of the common Body Mass Index (BMI) chart. That classification can put you at risk for numerous health problems including diabetes, heart attack and stroke.
Dreading NFL Weigh-Ins
In the NFL every player is given an “ideal weight.” Each week players weigh-in in front of their entire team to ensure they are maintaining the ideal weight. Scott always struggled to maintain his given weight and dreaded the weekly weigh-ins.
Mitchell recalled his first NFL coach with the Miami Dolphins, Don Shula, humiliating players who were above or below their ideal weight. He witnessed his teammates being called “fat” and a “disgrace” for being overweight.
“It was 100% intended to humiliate you and it worked,” said Mitchell.
Although he was never overweight, he was always right on, and sometimes went to extremes in order to make his ideal weight. Those extremes would sometimes include starving himself the night before and binge eating immediately after he made weight.
He recognized that this was unhealthy behavior, but did what he needed to do to have a successful career as an NFL quarterback.
LISTEN to Scott talk about the grueling physical side of playing in the NFL on Helmets Off Podcast.
The Biggest Loser: Living In A Vacuum
In 2014 Mitchell went on season 16 of NBC’s hit show The Biggest Loser. This particular season was called “Glory Days” and focused on former athletes. Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, a lot of former athletes struggle with weight gain later in life.
He was 366 pounds when the show started and lost over 120 pounds in four and a half months. Although he didn’t win the show, he said he gained his life back.
“It changed me in ways emotionally that still stick with me today,” he said as he recalled the daily journals he kept while on the show.
He realized losing 120 in pounds in three months was not healthy or sustainable long term.
He explained the show was heavily focused on low calories and lots of cardio exercises.
“All I did was exercise and eat healthily, it was like living in a vacuum, no one actually has the time for that,” said Mitchell.
He recalled doing 8 hours of cardio per day and being told not to lift weights because strength training adds pounds in muscle and the show was a competition based on the number on the scale each week.
On Really Healthy Podcast, Douglass has told listeners time and time again how important strength training is and recent research proves it. Building muscle has countless benefits including speeding up your metabolism, protecting your joints from injury and protecting your bones as you age.
Like most contestants on The Biggest Loser, Mitchell gained all the weight he had lost and more.
WATCH Scott talk about the lessons he learned from The Biggest Loser on Really Healthy Podcast.
Really Healthy Podcast
In August of 2018, after months of planning, Mitchell and Douglass launched Really Healthy Podcast. They describe the show as a way to get honest, unbiased health information to people without trying to sell anything.
The journey hasn’t been easy. There have been ups and downs. There have been experiments with different diets and types of movement for exercise, but Mitchell’s goal is simply to find what health means for him.
Mitchell has tried intermittent fasting, high fiber, high protein and is currently experimenting with the Keto diet. He is determined to take things from some of these popular methods and build a healthy lifestyle that works for him.
Not only does he want to find the answers for himself, he wants to share his discoveries with others who may be struggling with their own issues related to health and well-being. You can join the community by subscribing to Really Healthy Podcast wherever you get podcasts or on the KSL Newsradio App.
