Lisa Rambo Hopes to Win $100,000 "Biggest Loser" At-Home Prize Tonight

Lisa Rambo, a special education assistant at Hudson High School and mother of four who is  weighed 246 lbs. last September when she began her journey at the "Biggest Loser" ranch.

Rambo was eliminated from competition for the $250,000 grand prize in mid-November at 209 lbs. As recently as Feb. 4, she appeared on the TODAY Show weighing less than 165 lbs.

Her final weigh-in will take place at the live finale tonight. The show begins at 7 p.m. CDT on NBC (KARE-11). A viewing party is planned at The Village Inn Sports Bar & Grill in North Hudson.

Hudson Patch caught up with Rambo last Tuesday between workouts at Riverfront Athletic Club for this one-on-one chat.

Hudson Patch: How excited are you for the finale?

Lisa Rambo: I am so ready for the finale. I worked really, really, really hard. Money or no money, I have already won. I also know that I can stand on that scale and know that I have done everything I possibly could from start to finish. 

Patch: In a few sentences, sum up your journey from the moment you started at the ranch in September until now.

Rambo: This has been better than I could have ever possibly imagined. My life is totally, radically changed, and I'm forever grateful for this experience. 

Patch: Can you say how much weight you've lost at this point?

Rambo: I can't. You'll find out Monday. 

Patch: Do you feel like you've got a shot at the $100,000 "at-home prize"?

Rambo: I feel like I'm a contender for the "at-home prize" for sure. I have all the hard work and dedication that Dolvett taught me. And that's what I've done. I believe it could be enough.

Patch: How much have you kept up with the other contestants in recent weeks?

Rambo: We don't really ask each other our weights. We all encourage each other and cheer each other on. We're all in contact and rooting for one another, but we really haven't talked numbers or weights. I think it's out of respect for one another. It is a game, and we're all playing it. I know everyone is working hard. We did watch Gina's at-home footage on the last episode. She was at about 144 lbs. Am I keeping up with her? I think so. You never know what'll happen. Weight loss is a journey. Some weeks we're up and some weeks we're down. We have big weeks and we have bad weeks. I don't know what cycle Gina is on, or I'm on, or where's Joe in the madness. He was a skinny dude last episode. I know competition is going to be really tight. I think it's going to be an amazing finale, because nobody's even kind of backed off. It's going to be incredible. It's going to be one to watch. 

Patch: Have they told you what to expect at the finale?

Rambo: No. We just show up, and I think we'll do a walk-through the day before. But that's all we know. But we don't get to know anything. All we know is that we're going to weigh in, live on stage in front of everybody.

Patch: What are some of the workouts you've done since coming back home the week before Thanksgiving?

Rambo: I have diligently worked out four hours a day. Some days I would get in up to six hours a day. I always did 90 minutes before work, and 90 minutes right after work. And I would always take one more class in the evening. Sometimes I would fill in that 90 minutes with another class. On Saturdays I would always try to get in six hours because I was able to. 

Patch: What specific types of workouts did you do?

Rambo: Monday-Wednesday-Friday mornings I always did the 5 a.m. spin class here at Riverfront. Typically I would follow that up with a Total Core or running on the treadmill for half an hour after that. I can do a 5K in a half hour now. I would spin and then run a 5K. After work, on Tuesday-Thursdays I would take cardio-kickboxing, and Monday-Wednesday-Fridays I would train with my trainer here. I also swim at the Y. I have taken their boot camp classes on Saturday mornings, and their body step classes on Saturday mid-mornings. I also workout at Victory4You Fitness with Eric Tostrud for an hour three times a week on Monday-Wednesday-Thursdays.

Patch: What about your diet? How have you maintained that since you returned from the ranch in November?

Rambo: I've been using MyFitnessPal, which links to my BodyMedia activity tracker that "The Biggest Loser" has us all wearing. That tracks our calorie burn, and it also has a food journal on it that we input all of our food in. It tells us how many calories we're consuming, so we can figure out how to create a calorie deficit so we can always lose weight.

Patch: Has your family gotten sick of eating fish yet?

Rambo: My family has not gotten sick of fish yet. We're still doing the fish and lots and lots of vegetables. We are ready to expand our repertoire a little bit into a maintenance phase so that we can enjoy more things and add more stuff to it. It's going to be fun, but we've already started to talk about just a maintenance program and how our calorie budgets are going to get bigger and work out less and still maintain this weight. When you're not trying to create a deficit, you're able to eat more calories.

Patch: What's it like to have this new-found fitness celebrity status?

Rambo: I'm no celebrity. I'm still just Lisa. But I feel really, really good. I feel stronger than I've ever have my whole life. Clothes shopping is fun, I'm not going to lie. I've achieved goals greater than I originally set, and that feels incredible. 

Patch: What does the future hold for you?

Rambo: I'm not sure. I really love my job at the school. I love working with adults with disabilities. If I could bridge the gap between those two worlds, and figure out how to maybe do personal training that's adaptive for people of all fitness levels and all mental ability, then maybe I have something. I don't know. I haven't been able to channel it yet. But I love what I do, so we'll see. 

More Links

• Lisa and Tony Rambo Featured on TODAY Show in New York
• Q&A: Lisa Rambo – Hudson's "Biggest Loser" Contestant
• Losing it With Lisa Facebook page
• @LisaRambo on Twitter
• Video Interview with Lisa and Cate
• Lisa Rambo's "The Biggest Loser" contestant page
• "The Biggest Loser" website
• Hudson Teacher Lisa Rambo Eliminated From "The Biggest Loser"
• Lisa Rambo Update: 'The Biggest Loser' Week 4
• Lisa Rambo Update: 'The Biggest Loser' Week 3
• Lisa Rambo Update: 'The Biggest Loser' Season Premiere - Part 2
• Lisa Rambo Update: 'The Biggest Loser' Season Premiere - Part 1
• Hudson Teacher to Appear on NBC's 'The Biggest Loser'

Like us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Sign up for our daily newsletter