Ali Vincent — the first female to win The Biggest Loser in 2008 after shedding 112 pounds — feels like a failure. “When I first went on the show I weighed 234.7, and now I’m, like, 234.8,” the 5-foot-5 hair stylist tells Us Weekly. “People recognize me but … they never even put it together that I was the girl that won The Biggest Loser. When I tell them how they know me, they look me up and down with this confused look on their face. It makes me not want to leave the house.”
In one year, Vincent has put on 70 pounds.
The 41-year-old — who has openly struggled with depression — says the trouble began when she and her firefighter wife, Jennifer Krusing, relocated to California’s Bay Area in 2015. “Jennifer would sometimes work for three days, and I didn’t have anybody to really check in with,” Vincent tells Us. “I just got stuck. It would be five o’clock in the evening, and I’d still be in bed. I’d only get up to eat or go to the bathroom.”
It was during that dark period that Vincent stopped cooking and began ordering food online. “Here, it’s like you can GrubHub anything,” she says, “so I didn’t even have to get out of bed.”
But on April 16 — a few days after her eight-year anniversary of winning NBC’s weight loss competition — Vincent decided enough was enough. “I joined Weight Watchers, which was super hard because I had to walk through those doors,” she reveals. “But my body is so uncomfortable. I need to do something. I need that accountability. I need to go in weekly somewhere and weigh in.” Her first meeting was cathartic: “They asked me to share, and I just started bawling.”
With the support of her wife of nearly one year, Vincent — who weighed 122 pounds in 2008 — is determined to get healthy again. “Jennifer joined Weight Watchers too,” raves the former competitive swimmer. “For our anniversary we’re going to do the Santa Rosa 100k cycling ride. One of the things I loved about when I was healthier … was that my body didn’t hold me back from anything that I wanted to do.”
Join Vincent in her weight loss journey here.