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Hannah Curlee is half the woman she used to be and that’s a good thing. Curlee struggled obesity for years, but then she won a spot on NBC’s hit shot ‘The Biggest Loser’.
“For me I was nervous at first because the one thing The Biggest Loser fears is putting that weight back on and finding your balance because it’s not about being obsessed,” Curlee said. “It’s about living your life in a healthy way and being able to talk about it.”
Curlee went from weight 248 lbs to 128 competing on the show.
“Let’s face it, if someone walks up to you and says you would be great on The Biggest Loser, it’s not the biggest compliment in the world,” said Curlee. “I was in total denial about my weight. At one point I was almost 300 pounds.”
For someone who was diabetic, had high blood pressure, clogged arteries and claims she used to be functionally fat, Curlee is now proud to claim health and happiness.
But it’s still an everyday struggle for Curlee to maintain her new weight.
“My weight goes up and down. I’m two years over from losing 120 pounds. Unfortunately it takes five years for your body to actually stabilize so I fight that battle every day, and sometimes I don’t win,” Curlee confessed.
One important thing she took away from the show – the goal of consistency.
“Things that bob harper and Jillian Michaels instilled in me is that this has to be your life for the rest of your life,” said Curlee.
“Am I going to work out 10 hours a day like I did on the show? Absolutely not, no one can do that. But I still count my steps, I still count my calories, I know this sounds daunting but I have a food journal still,” Curlee said.
Instead of quitting her job at Health 2 You or H2U, Curlee is committed to helping others now. She travels across the country offering the same kind of support she received. She encourages workplace clinics at hospitals around the country. Something she admits, she never took advantage of before she was on the TV show.
“I never went to a free clinic; I never knew I could have a discount on my prescriptions. Now I’m plugged in, I really realize I could have lost this weight on my own by walking and using my company to support me,” Curlee said.
It’s a service that Alaska Regional Hospital here in Anchorage offers. They claim that clinics like these result in a reduction in employee sick days for many participating companies.
“It’s very well received,” said Tammy Kaminiski with Alaska Regional Hospital. “Our employees love it. We have some of the highest patient satisfaction scores at the clinic.”
The clinic at Alaska Regional provides everything from annual exams to vaccinations.
“We want to do what we can to keep our employees healthy, keep them at work and give them some options to control costs for their families,” Kaminiski said.
From families to employees, the goal is the same.
“One thing that I’ve learned from personal experience is a healthy employee is a happy employee,” Said Curlee.