Last night, Daniel Jofre claimed the Biggest Loser title for 2015, after losing 51.6 kg, or what amounted to 39 per cent of his starting body weight.
Daniel was the youngest male in the competition and entered with his older brothers Pablo and Tony, and his uncle, Rob. Combined, the Jofre family lost more than 200kg, and were the biggest losing family of the season.
Daniel, 24, says he is fit, healthy and ready for his next big challenge. So we chatted with him about his plans for the future and his time in the house.
What was most surprising was Daniel talked less about his actual physical weight loss and more about his evolution as a person during his time on the show.
“Mentally I feel like a new person. I feel like I have a new spark in me. I’ve got new goals, I know where I want to go, I know who I am,” he said.
What are those new goals?
Like many other former Biggest Loser Contestants, Daniel wants to go into the fitness industry saying the show has done great things for him and his family and he is “happy to be an ambassador for the show”.
Daniel is passionate about helping others achieve their fitness goals, and believes his his own experience is likely to be a helpful resource when assisting others.
What’s the hardest part of leaving The Biggest Loser house? “The hardest thing has to be seeing the people who need help but don’t want it. I thought it was going to be temptation…but nah. It was definitely seeing the people in need.”
“Prior to the Biggest Loser I tried to lose weight a few times but never stuck to it for more than a week to be honest. I’d try clean eating for a week, and I wouldn’t even know what cleaning eating would be. I thought eating sandwiches instead of having takeaway was going to be healthy.
“One thing I strongly believe…is that I didn’t get taught at an early age how to be healthy and what healthy is, and yeah I did exercise and played different sports, but if you’re not putting the right nutrition in your body, then there’s no point in doing exercise. It counteracts it too much. I believe the biggest thing Australia could do to help the future, would be helping the kids. Because the kids are the future. So helping schools learning about nutrition and exercise.”
At this point we couldn’t hold in our most pressing question any longer:
MEL AND PABLO!? Discuss. Do they have a future?
See Mel and Pablo’s flirting here:
Apparently Mel and Pablo are “more friends than anything”, although Daniel promised “if anything ever happens I’ll be sure to let you know”. WE’RE IN – WE’LL KEEP YOU UPDATED.
Now the competition is over, and inevitable real-life stressors await him, we wondered whether Daniel had considered the challenges of the future. He anticipates: “Now that I’ve got nutrition and exercise down pat, the biggest challenge will be where I want to go with my career, and seeing what opportunities I have”.
Despite the emphasis on the contestants’ weight loss on The Biggest Loser, much of Daniel’s success had little to do with his weigh-ins. Determined, resourceful and supportive of his peers, we have no doubt it is those qualities that will have the most profound impact on his future endeavours.
Congratulations Daniel. We wish you a happy and healthy future.