The Biggest Loser contestant Alexandra "Alex" Reid was eliminated during last Monday night's NBC broadcast of the reality weight-loss competition's ninth fourteenth-season episode.

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Alex, a 24-year-old legal assistant from Carrolton, TX, was ousted from the competition after she finished with one of the lowest weight-loss percentages at the season's ninth weekly elimination weigh-in -- which featured a yellow weigh-in line and the six remaining contestants weighing-in as singles -- and then the majority of the rest of the season's cast voted her off the ranch.

During a conference call with reporters, Alex talked about her The Biggest Loser experience and life at home since being on the ranch.

Because you're such a beauty now, it's hard to imagine you not having confidence. Can you share who you used to see in the mirror compared to who you see today?

Alexandra "Alex" Reid: Yes, no problem. Growing up, I've always, you know, been told that, "Oh my God, you know, you're so pretty, you have such a pretty face." But looking in the mirror, I didn't see that because I had my mom and my sister always by my side and I would compare myself to them. And to me, you know, basically with the media and everything that was going on, I related beauty to being skinny.

So when people would tell me, "You have a beautiful face," or, "You're such a pretty girl," I didn't see it. I didn't understand it because it's like, you know, I'm overweight so there's no way that I can be beautiful. But now after being on the ranch, after taking this journey, I realize that beauty comes in all different shapes, all different sizes, all different colors, and beauty really is skin deep.

Since most of us will never get there, can you compare what your expectations of the ranch were to what the reality was when you were there?

Alexandra "Alex" Reid: My expectations of the ranch, I honestly thought in the beginning that they would take it a little easy on us, you know, that we would slowly get into the workout aspect of it. But we went head strong, you know, and we jumped into it. I also was a little naive going into it. I didn't think about gameplay.

I didn't think that all that really did come, you know, was a major aspect of the game. I went to it thinking, "Okay, we're all here to lose weight and that's how it's going to be," and I kind of forgot about the game aspect of it all.

You've lost eight pounds this week, which is great, but you seemed really disappointed. I just wanted to ask you what was going through your head at that time.

Alexandra "Alex" Reid: When I was on the scale -- being on the scale is nerve-racking as it is because you never know what number's going to pop up and you always have something that you expect for the week.

And being that this specific week I really gave it my all, I wanted to prove to the trainers that, "Yes I have been working hard all week," you know? I mean, the entire time I've been on the ranch, I wanted to prove to them that I can do it.

And so, when I got there and then [The Biggest Loser host] Ali Sweeney told me that, "You have to lose more than eight pounds," to see that I only lost eight and I barely missed it by one pound, that was just kind of heartbreaking.

To know that you gave it your all, it still kind of went back into my story of your best not being good enough and that's the only thing I could speak about instead of focusing on the fact that, "Oh my God I had just lost eight pounds," you know? It was just basically the pressure of the game that I was thinking about versus being at home and losing eight pounds on my own.

You spoke about how your best often isn't good enough, but you talked about the emotional progress you made on the show. How has that been going since your ouster? Have you sort of conquered that?

Alexandra "Alex" Reid: Yes, I definitely have conquered that with every aspect of my life now, whether it be weight or just life in general. I know that as long as I give 100% percent and as long as I give them my all, that my best is good enough.

I used to depict my best on what other people thought or on how other people judged me but, you know, I no longer let the judgments of other people bother me like they used to in the past.

I saw Gina McDonald apologizing to you this week and she's been a bit of a controversial character, what are your thoughts about Gina?

Alexandra "Alex" Reid: I think Gina was going through a lot on the ranch being a mother and being a wife. I can just imagine what she was going through being away from her family.

You know, I don't have all the family, you know, as far as kids and a husband, so -- and I was emotionally distraught being away from my family. So I think she was emotionally in a bad place and the only way that Gina knew how to express that was in the manner that she did.

I don't think that Gina's a bad person, I think she's just dealing with something and that was the only way she knew how to deal with it and I feel like her apology was sincere and, you know, I accepted it because in the beginning, Gina and I were honestly the closest being that we were on the Blue Team together. So I knew that her apology was sincere and I accept it fully.

You clearly struggled a lot at the beginning of the season with the trainers in that you weren't really living up to their expectations or you weren't able to do what other people were doing. Can you talk about how frustrating that was and was that something that you did acknowledge, like, "I know I'm not running at the same speed?"

Alexandra "Alex" Reid: Sure, yes that's something -- [Jillian Michaels] and I even had a conversation. Jillian had no idea that prior to me going onto the ranch, that was something I dealt with, was always comparing myself to others and that was something I was trying to overcome.

So when she would say, "[Alex], you're not running as fast as [Dannielle "Danni" Allen]," or, "You're not keeping up with [Francelina Morillo]," I would have to tell her, "Jill, that's what I'm trying to get away from. I do not want to compare myself to others anymore. I want to be the best that Alex can be and not have to worry about what Danni is doing or, you know, what Francelina is doing. I'm here to focus on Alex and I want it to be about me."

Could you talk to us a little bit about your preparation for the finale? What has your routine been like since you've returned home? What are you eating, how are you working out, etc?

Alexandra "Alex" Reid: Well basically I spend -- I go to the gym maybe around 5AM spend two hours there, do another two hours in the afternoon, maybe mid-day. And then maybe like an hour in the evening I do have a trainer that I'm working with, and I basically just work as hard as I can.

I try to take the experience that I had on the ranch and beat those -- like when I couldn't run at the level -- the speed of six for five minutes with [Jillian], I make that a goal now. You know, now I can do a speed of six for 10 to 20 minutes, so I try to take every episode and what I didn't overcome that week and turn it into my workouts now.

Have you found pushing yourself at home now easier or more difficult than being at the ranch?

Alexandra "Alex" Reid: It's much easier to push myself because you're not constantly thinking about the game aspect. It's so much gaming that goes into being on the ranch, you know, you're always worried about, "Is this person up working out?" or, "Is this person doing this?" But being at home, you are only focused on yourself.

You're not worried about who's up at 5AM or who's going to bed at midnight, you know, you're focused on what you're doing and giving your best. So it's a lot easier being at home to just focus on you and the goal at hand.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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