Murrysville native competes on 'Biggest Loser'
-
Murrysville native Jessica Limpert is a contestant on the new season of "The Biggest Loser."
Share with others:
Jessica Limpert walked into a hospital room and glimpsed her future.
"It's scary and you almost see your mortality when you are taking care of a patient who is 254 pounds and is having trouble breathing," said Ms. Limpert, 26. "It was like fast-forwarding my life."
A registered nurse who travels regularly for work, she's been abroad for missionary work, including to post-earthquake Haiti, as part of an Allegheny General Hospital team.
The Murrysville native has worked in intensive care units and in clinics. Taking care of other people always has been a profession and a priority, but at some point she realized she needed to focus on her own health.
- When: 8 tonight on NBC.
She just didn't expect to be doing it on television, in front of millions of people.
Ms. Limpert is one of 15 contestants vying for the $250,000 prize on NBC's "The Biggest Loser," which debuts tonight at 8. There are a couple of changes to Season 12, which groups everyone by age.
Also new: Longtime trainer Jillian Michaels has moved on to another health/fitness program, "The Doctors." Personal fitness trainer Dolvett Quince and tennis player Anna Kournikova join Bob Harper.
Ms. Limpert tried out for the show in August 2010 when auditions were held at Station Square. She made it deep into the process, but the producers decided to go with a "partners" theme for Season 11.
"Actually, that was the start of my weight loss. ... I started working as a travel nurse, and a friend of mine suggested we take off for California."
There, she watched her diet and began exercising more.
Before, she thought she got enough exercise on the job. "RN work is typically 12 to 16 hours a day, and that was my excuse: 'I'll be on my feet,' " she said.
After improving her diet and exercise, she dropped 20 pounds. "Because, you know what? I can't wait for a TV show to pick me [to begin losing weight].
And then producers from "The Biggest Loser" called.
"I just got really lucky," said Ms. Limpert, who graduated from Westminster College and earned her nursing degree from DeSales University in Center Valley, Lehigh County.
First Published September 20, 2011 12:00 am
