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December 19, 2007

Twins keep Marblehead 'Loser' out of the money

Mike Stucka

One twin blocked Marblehead's Neil Tejwani from a shot at becoming "The Biggest Loser," while the other twin stopped him last night from winning a $100,000 consolation prize.

Tejwani would have needed to lose 216 pounds to beat Jim Germanakos, who dropped 186 pounds to a mere final total of 175.

"No sweat, Alison, no problem," Tejwani said, exuding confidence as he walked toward the scale.

Slightly more than half of Tejwani disappeared since the show began taping. The 421-pound Marbleheader with health problems had become a 210-pounder. Yet all the confidence in the world couldn't beat the scales, as he fell 5 pounds short of winning $100,000.

It was the final blow from the Germanakos twins and their Black Team. Tejwani, who had been the sole survivor of the Blue Team, was ousted in last week's episode with a vote from Bill Germanakos, who said Tejwani was the biggest threat. That had kept him from competing last night to become The Biggest Loser. However, he had still hoped for the consolation prize awarded to the person who lost the largest percentage of body weight.

In a taped interview, Tejwani said the months of exercise and proper dieting had changed his life.

"Losing that much weight feels great," Tejwani said. "I can do so many things now that I couldn't do before, going shopping in normal clothing stores, not have to worry about sitting in two airplane seats when I'm flying around."

That's a big change for the 25-year-old chemical engineer, who had avoided going to Red Sox games because he couldn't fit in the seats at Fenway Park.

Before he began losing the weight, Tejwani predicted: "If I can't do this, my deathbed is waiting for me."

In an interview aired last night, Tejwani had a completely different outlook: "Now that I've changed my life for the better, I know I'll be around for a long time."

Over three months of interviews with The Salem News, Tejwani kept saying how much better he felt | and how other people could improve their weight and their lives. Tejwani said he found his motivation in his girlfriend, Stefanie Nigro. He ultimately lost nearly as much weight as two Stefanies and had worried about making a commitment to her when he had such poor health.

In a recent interview posted online on iVillage, Tejwani said it was important for people to find similar motivation.

"Really try to find that inner fire inside of you that will keep you focused and motivated. Maybe it's your children, a loved one, or even yourself? Having something that reminds you of what you have to do to keep bettering yourself helps a lot," he said.

"For me it was my girlfriend that I plan to marry one day, and I kept thinking of her and how I want to lose weight so that I can be around to get married and start the next chapter of my life with her."

Tejwani will spend Christmas with her and her family before returning to Marblehead.

He has roots in the area; he was playing all sorts of sports at St. John's Prep in Danvers before breaking his leg at age 14, which helped set him on the path to potato chips on the sofa and more weight gain. On "The Biggest Loser," he was said to have been both the biggest-ever contestant | and the one who lost the most weight during taping, beating even last year's Biggest Loser. In last week's episode, Tejwani lost more weight than anyone | another 10 pounds | but still faced elimination.

Bill Germanakos was named The Biggest Loser last night, taking home a $250,000 prize. He'd lost about 49 percent of his weight. His twin lost about 51 percent and took home the $100,000 prize. Tejwani, ironically, was right in between with about 50 percent but neither prize.

Last week, Tejwani told The Salem News he was glad for a chance to lose so much weight.

"I've definitely given it everything I have," he said.



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