The nation was glued to their TV sets for the The Biggest Loser Couples Finale 2009 and we all held our breath as Bob Herdsman and his daughter-in-law Tiffany weighed in. Was the popular Bob going to take the title or was it going to be his son’s beautiful wife?
With a massive weight loss of more that 52.21% of his starting weight, Bob officially became this year’s Biggest Loser. Who would have thought that a man in his late 50s could pull off such a coup? Here, we've got insights into Bob's amazing journey and reveal how he used The Biggest Loser Club to help achieve his extraordinary results.
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Bob before
Bob after
Fan of The Club
Where it all began
Bob says, “My daughter-in-law Tiffany applied for the show and asked me if I would be her partner. I told her I would, but I didn’t complete the forms. The producers rang to arrange a date for Tiffany to attend the audition, but they also made it clear that if I didn’t apply, that was it for Tiff. I am not really keen on reality TV shows and I couldn’t imagine laying myself bare on national TV. Tiff assured me that if I didn’t want to go on that she wouldn’t be offended, but I couldn’t let her down.”
Working hard in front of a computer, grabbing food on the run and skipping meals before downing an enormous dinner, meant that Bob got heavier and heavier. His wife of more than 40 years, Jan, remembers organising gym membership or swimming sessions, but these all fizzled out and virtually all activity stopped. For a man who loves hiking, diving, abseiling and bushwalking, being so overweight really held Bob back and his weight escalated over the last 10 years. Jan tried her best to encourage him, but Bob wouldn’t listen and she feared her insistence might actually aggravate the situation.
Fate stepped in when Bob and Tiffany were accepted onto The Biggest Loser Couples series. Bob recalls the time that photographers came to their home in country WA to take footage of both Bob and Tiffany eating. He says, “Tiff had done her shoot and I was sitting in front of a pile of hamburgers. Looking over, I caught sight of Tiff sitting at the kitchen bench with her head down. I knew she was crying. I knew that she felt humiliated as she realised that this is how people view us. After my shot was over, I gave her a hug and told her we would turn things around. That was a defining moment and I made my commitment then; I knew we both had to follow this through.”
So Bob and Tiff joined the other nine coupled contestants on Fitzroy Island. The training was tough on his 57-year-old body and Bob collapsed after the first day of working out in the hot and humid beach of broken coral.
Bob recalls, “It was tough but I said to myself ‘either quit or do it.’ I thought about what my daughter Susan would have said to me, which was, ‘Dad, do or do not. There is no try.’
“I knew I had to get up and keep going no matter how many times I went down. At the first weigh-in I lost a huge 12.8kg. My body felt broken and I knew I couldn’t compare myself with the younger, fitter and stronger people on the island, so I just put in the time. I used to get up extra early and walk up and down on the stairs. The producers on the show dubbed me ‘perpetual motion man!’”
Training Commando style
As all The Biggest Loser watchers know, Bob and Nathan were returned to Fitzroy Island where they trained in secret with the Commando. Bob says, “When I thought I was going home to Jan and the grandchildren I was happy, but when I was told I would be going back to Fitzroy Island I told myself ‘it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.’ Going to the island with Nathan was a great opportunity. The Commando was a really tough guy and a very professional trainer. He really knows and understands how to train. We knew it would be tough, but I had been a police officer so having respect for him was easy. Despite how it might have looked, it wasn’t just about punishment, but serious training with specialised equipment. Afterwards I felt that if I could cope with him, I could cope with anything.
"Nathan and I had a good working and training relationship with each other, but we had suitable respect for each other, too. When we arrived back at Camp Biggest Loser we went for our weigh-in. I knew Nathan had worked really hard and I expected him to have done well, but I was hoping I had done well too. He weighed in at 99kg and unbelievably I was 91.2kg, so that was my ticket to Finale!”
How Bob cut the fat
Having lost more than half of his body weight, Bob was crowned The Biggest Loser 2009. How? He says, “I just worked really hard. I controlled my diet with the help of the tools available from The Biggest Loser Club and trained long and hard.
“Just as I said to Cameron, you have to set a goal and then proceed to fulfil it. There can’t be any options. Don’t worry about how long it is going to take and don’t worry about anyone else's journey, then you will get to your goal. I knew I would do it, but when, I didn’t know. Perhaps one, two or even six months after Finale. l wasn’t there to beat anybody; I was there to conquer myself.
“I really did my best. I had done all that I could do to become what I needed to become. It didn’t matter to me whether I won on not, but that I did my best. The hardest thing of all would be to know that I hadn’t given it my best.
“I was the best online diary-keeper in the whole house. I filled out what and how much I was eating and drinking every day and the exercise I had done. It was only when Nathan and I returned to the island and there was no access to computers that I stopped. I wrote them down in a paper journal instead and typed it all into my computer when I got home."
Life after The Biggest Loser
So what does the future hold for everyone’s favourite grandfather, Battler Bob? “I plan to keep on training and stay fit and healthy. I want to buy a kayak and go out with my son and I want to write a book about my experiences. I have also started cooking (something Jan can’t believe!) and although I was once a self-confessed salad dodger, now I love putting a tasty salad together.
“I really want to show people that life can be lived whatever your age. Do all those things you always wanted to, like mountain biking, kayaking and scuba diving. Enjoy the great lifestyle we have in our back yard. Fitness isn’t just about an indoor treadmill or the gym. Life is about becoming the kind of person you are. Being heavy stopped me living, but now I am alive again.”