The Biggest Loser coach Erica Lugo has opened up about suffering from an eating disorder, revealing that she restricted food, and even binged and purged, all while filming the popular weight loss show.
About seven years ago, Erica, 33, managed to lose 160 pounds through calorie counting and exercise, and in the process became a popular fitness influencer and earned a spot on the weight loss competition show The Biggest Loser.
But when a cruel commenter recently remarked on how ‘big’ she looks, Erica fired back with a candid post about her history with disordered eating, including how some bad habits began resurfacing just before the pandemic — and urged others who are similarly suffering to seek help.
Sharing her story: The Biggest Loser coach Erica Lugo has opened up about suffering from an eating disorder
Revelation: Erica, 33, revealed that she would restrict food and binge and purge while filming the weight loss competition show
Erica has documented her weight loss journey online. At her heaviest, she weighed 322 pounds and was a size 28.
But around 2013, she started making small changes. She began changing her diet and exercising regularly, and eventually lost 160 pounds in two years. She continued to exercise — albeit a bit differently — following her 2018 diagnoses with stage 2 papillary thyroid cancer.
Fans see her as an inspiration, but that doesn’t mean critical comments don’t also occasionally pop up.
Recently, Erica noticed once particularly cruel comment on one of her posts.
‘You look big and not portioned,’ it read. ‘For someone who eats healthy and works out a lot you are big. You might want to not be a health coach.’
On Tuesday, she responded, posting a mirror selfie in workout clothes with a lengthy caption.
‘Normally I don’t give the time of day to comments like this,’ she began. But while she doesn’t care about the actual comment, she is concerned about what it can do to people who don’t have the coping skills that she has developed.
‘Years ago when you saw me on TV, I was sick,’ she said. ‘I was mentally and emotionally miserable. Physically my body was going down the wrong path even though it was celebrated for being “small.”
Accomplishment: Erica has documented her weight loss journey online. At her heaviest, she weighed 322 pounds and was a size 28
Hitting back: She shared her eating disorder story in response to a cruel commenter who said she looked ‘big’
‘I did everything in my power to remain “tiny,” I restricted food, I thought about binging and purging and to completely honest I did, YEARS AGO,’ she said
‘I did everything in my power to remain “tiny,” I restricted food, I thought about binging and purging and to completely honest I did, YEARS AGO. I would sit in the bathroom while filming and cry. Cry for hours bc the eating disorder thoughts kept telling me “just purge, it’ll help keep you thin,”’ she recalled.
‘I remember walking into hair and makeup one morning on [The Biggest Loser’s] set and my amazing makeup artist Maddie said, “Your eyes are puffy. Did you not sleep well?”
‘I lied and told her I tossed and turned all night when in reality, I sat in the bathroom with my knees tucked to my chest crying and stopping myself from purging. Up until the very minute I had to leave for set the next morning.
‘Yes. I sat in that bathroom for over 10 hours. I never did purge but those thoughts came rushing back from my past,’ she said.
‘You see, YEARS ago I developed an eating disorder. The pressure from a bad relationship and the heightened “pressure” from gossip blogs and their harsh opinions made me seek and outlet. I take full responsibility because that was an outlet I somehow found,’ she continued.
‘I would binge. I would purge. It lasted about 6 months. I had already lost 160 lbs. through nutrition and fitness and BAM, that came along. I got help because I could physically feel my body sick. I was in a toxic relationship with myself.
Internal struggle: She recalled spending the whole night crying before filming one episode of The Biggest Loser
Full circle: Lugo, pictured in 2019, owns and runs the FitLove Studio in Centerville, Ohio
More recently, while filming, she starting feeling ‘pressure’ and knew she needed help again.
‘I wanted to break the “trainer” mold of having to fit into a certain size. Having to be thin with a 6 pack,’ she said.
‘I was happy to show young girls that you can be strong, thick, curvy and a bada**. But the old mentality and eating disorder thoughts came rushing back. I struggled with restriction, with wanting to always have a high caloric burn, etc.
‘I no longer wanted to be a prisoner to food thoughts, calories burned and comparing my body to others.’
She struggled with committing to getting help during lockdown, but ultimately ‘came clean’ to her husband, telling him she was afraid she was going down a bad path again — and that she was ‘scared of living a life of always wanting and chasing “being tiny.”’
The year 2020 ‘was a year of coming to reality with myself,’ she went on, while 2021 ‘has been a year of getting professional help.’
She’s gained about 10 lbs. since she was at her thinnest, has a bit more jiggle than before, and isn’t quite as ‘jacked.’
‘I wanted to break the “trainer” mold of having to fit into a certain size. Having to be thin with a 6 pack,’ she said
Health conscious: The year 2020 ‘was a year of coming to reality with myself,’ she went on, while 2021 ‘has been a year of getting professional help’
Much better: She’s gained about 10 lbs. since she was at her thinnest, has a bit more jiggle than before, and isn’t quite as ‘jacked’
‘I remember the pure joy I felt when I celebrated X months + years without a purge. I’ve come a long way to accepting that my body may not be celebrated anymore for how “small” I can become but celebrating how strong I can be. Mentally, physically and emotionally,’ she said.
Finally, to the men and women who struggle with eating disorders, she said that they are seen and understood.
‘The world doesn’t understand internal struggles and it’s up to us to seek help to cope. There is a way out. There is help. You are stronger than your ED even when you feel you aren’t,’ she said.
Speaking to Today, she added: ‘Every day you have to work on that inner critic. Reminding yourself that you are worthy, you are amazing, you are strong, you are capable of hard things.”’
Erica has been incredibly candid about weight loss, health, and her body, and even revealed that she had undergone a a $20,000 tummy tuck last September.
As a result of her massive weight loss, Erica had nine pounds of hanging excess skin removed from her stomach.
In January, 15 weeks post-op, she took to Instagram to share before-and-after photos of her incredible transformation, writing i that she ‘100 per cent would do the surgery again.’
Before and after: Erica has been candid about weight loss, health, and her body, and revealed that she had undergone a a $20,000 tummy tuck last September (left: before, right: after)
Showing off her scar: As a result of her massive weight loss, Erica had nine pounds of hanging excess skin removed from her stomach
‘I lived five years with my loose skin. I’ve always accepted it. It was me. Part of my story,’ wrote the weight-loss coach, who used to tuck the hanging skin in compression pants.
‘Only during the lockdown and I started running and doing a ton of body weight exercises did the loose skin start becoming bothersome,’ she explained. ‘My skin would rub against skin and cause rashes.
‘My long runs were no longer enjoyable after having to constantly rub cream on my rashes. After realizing it was starting to interfere with me and my fitness goals, did I say…it’s got to go!’
She stressed that ‘surgery doesn’t magically keep your body the “new way,”‘ saying ‘you have to work to maintain and for any new goals.’
Lugo first dished about the surgery in early October, telling People that she wasn’t used to her new body yet.
The 360-degree tummy tuck, which removed excess fat from her entire trunk, cost her around $20,000, not including her six-day condo stay and flight to and from Washington state.
Under the knife: Lugo, who lives in Ohio, underwent the surgery on September 22, at Athenix Body Sculpting Institute in Seattle, Washington.
Paying tribute: After the procedure, Lugo praised Dr. Gavin Dry on her Instagram Stories, calling him ‘such a talented and good human’
‘I’ve had to really lean into my husband [Danny McGeady], and I’m super independent, so it’s hard for me to do,’ she said at the time.
‘He was having to wheelchair me around and carry my bag, and keep a schedule of my medication and my antibiotics. And he was checking my drains every two hours.’
While she had drains attached to her body to remove the excess fluid from the incision area and had to wear a waist binder to reduce swelling, she admitted that one of the most difficult parts of her recovery was being unable to work out.
‘It’s hard, especially as a “fitness professional,”‘ she said. ‘I’m already thinking, “Oh my gosh, my muscle mass in my arms are going away or my quads are going away.” Or, “Do I look a little bit plumper in my face?”‘