Kate's pregnant!
“I have so much to look forward to and it’s getting better all the time.”
We love to bring you good news about Club members and Biggest Loser contestants, and this week we’re delighted to share some exciting news from the winner of this year’s Biggest Loser Club Second Chance Challenge, Kate Smith.
Kate just missed out on a place on The Biggest Loser Couples show and was one of 20 people selected to follow The Biggest Loser Club Meal Replacement Program from home for three months while the show was on air. For the Second Chance weight-loss challenge, Kate teamed up with her buddy Ben Powell.
Kate had applied for The Biggest Loser Couples because she was desperate to start a family with husband Mark; she was being treated by a fertility specialist who cited her weight as a major obstacle to her falling pregnant.
Click to enlarge photos
Kate before
34.6kg lighter
Kate at Finale
A dream come true
Good news
As part of the Second Chance Challenge, Kate lost an incredible 34.6kg, or 29.3 percent of her starting weight. She and Ben collected the $10,000 winners’ cheque for their joint efforts.
The dramatic change in Kate’s body shape had the desired outcome. Very soon after Finale Kate was surprised to discover that she was pregnant. “We had been trying for such a long time that when the pregnancy test was positive, I didn’t really believe it. I did another and then another and I still couldn’t get my head around it. But my specialist assured me that yes, I really was pregnant!” says Kate.
“Being pregnant is so important to me that for the first three months I found it tough not to worry myself stupid; I was waiting for something to go wrong. Thankfully, it is all good though. Mark has been much more positive than me and we are both very, very happy. My mum is also delighted with the news that she will be a grandmother for the first time.”
Kate has focused on eating well for herself and for her baby and is looking forward to getting out and exercising at a faster pace than she has in the last few weeks. She also fully intends on getting back into her post-Challenge body shape once baby Smith has arrived.
“Recently, Mark and I were talking about life, health and the future and we both agree that we want our baby to grow up healthy and strong. We want to set a good example so that all of us eat well and enjoy being active. It was hard work losing all that weight, but I really picked up so much with The Club and the Challenge. Two things that I know will never change and which are truly a part of me now are that I will always eat lots of fruit and drink lots of water every day.”
When Kate lost so much weight with The Club, she also lost one of her ongoing health problems, heartburn. Unfortunately it has returned, but this time Kate says, “it is due to my growing baby and because I seem to be carrying most of the weight in my front.”
A new family
Family is first and foremost in Kate’s life right now and her quest to start a family has reunited her with her own father whom she hadn’t seen for more than 30 years. Kate needed to contact her dad as part of the medical tests she underwent while trying to conceive. As a result of this new relationship with her father, Kate is happy to say that she now also has sisters and brothers – quite a change from the single child status Kate had been used to.
“Ben and I won our Second Chance Challenge award at The Biggest Loser Finale in April 2009 and Dad told me later that he was watching the show. It is strange to think that he saw me for the first time in such a long time on TV – although he didn’t recognise me!”
Kate ends this chapter of her happy story by saying, “It has been an incredible year and so much has changed. I have so much to look forward to and it’s getting better all the time.”