After an intense workout at an Eagan fitness center, O'Neal Hampton takes a moment to enjoy his newfound celebrity with his fellow gym rats.
Forget the handshakes and high-fives, the "Biggest Loser" contestant goes straight for the hugs.
"Actually, the first time I met O'Neal, he picked me right up off the ground," said Tony Scharff, manager of the LifeTime Fitness gym. "He's the happiest guy in here."
Although O'Neal, 51, and his teammate daughter, SunShine, 24, didn't win the "Biggest Loser" title, the Richfield residents say they won the game of life.
"I feel like I cheated death," said O'Neal, who lost two siblings to cancer and a stroke while on the show. "This is my way of giving back."
Among a jam-packed schedule of media interviews, local appearances and, of course, strenuous workouts, the father-daughter team is helping to launch "The Biggest Loser Summer Challenge," a weight-loss competition involving thousands of employees at some of Minnesota's largest companies, such as Target, Medtronic and General Mills. At the end of the summer, the employers of winners in three categories will give a donation to Second Harvest Heartland.
To see O'Neal and SunShine now, it's hard to imagine them unhappy and morbidly obese with a host of medical problems. The 5-feet-11 O'Neal weighed in at 389 pounds at the start of the show in October, took up to 10 pills a day for diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol and kidney issues, and had a knee injury that kept him from walking up and down the stairs for 30 years.
"My daughter had never seen me go up a flight of steps," he said.
Feeling her "life slip away," and worried about her father, SunShine took drastic measures. The former restaurant server secretly applied to the show. When NBC producers said they wanted to meet O'Neal, SunShine had some explaining to do.
"She said, 'Dad, we need a change. We need some help.' She said it in the most serious, stern voice," he said. "When your kid asks you to do something like this, how can you deny that? Especially when you know it's the truth."
No more excuses
Upon arriving at the "Biggest Loser" ranch, contestants began a journey to discover why they got obese. At first, O'Neal tried the easy way out: "Because I'm lazy."
But as show trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels began to work with O'Neal to peel off the layers of defensiveness, O'Neal realized he couldn't have made it as a Green Beret paratrooper in the Army or been a football player in high school had he been lazy.
"It's like a thief in the night. You wake up one morning and you're 400 pounds," he explains. "I'd look in the mirror and lie to myself with each 50-pound milestone. I was morbidly obese. Your friends love and support you, but they lie to you, too. The reality of it is, it's just the tears of a clown."
The Hamptons' happy ending almost wasn't. After weighing in on the first episode, the contestants competed in their first challenge, a 26-mile bike ride. O'Neal couldn't finish because of his knee injury and he and SunShine were sent packing. The team spent the next 30 days at home working their way back onto the show with the help of a personal trainer.
During the live season finale March 25, the Hamptons showed off their new slender bodies. O'Neal went from 389 to 230 pounds and is now 221. SunShine, who is 5 feet 6, went from 275 to 161 pounds and is now down to 155.
After being away from friends and family for about six months, the Hamptons came home with a new grasp on life. They're now working to make sure the habits they adopted on the ranch stick with them. Sometimes it can be difficult.
"My friends still want to hang out and want me to do all the old things I was doing -- staying up real late, going to late-night movies -- and I have to tell them no," SunShine said. "I've changed. I get up early and work out."
O'Neal can relate. When Memorial Day rolled around, so did the invitations to friends' barbecues and an opportunity to savor his favorite foods that got him on the "Biggest Loser" ranch in the first place.
Instead, the Hampton family enjoyed a healthy barbecue of grilled chicken, black bean salad and whole grain bread.
Now in the real world, the two are eager to continue making big changes. SunShine is moving to Arizona this week with nursing school in her sights. O'Neal's weight loss has afforded him the opportunity to get his knee replaced this fall -- after he enjoys a summer riding his motorcycles. On Monday, he returned to work as a U.S. Postal Service station manager, but he dreams of continuing his role as a motivational speaker.
"I love crowds, speaking to the masses -- and the biggest thing? I love touching people's lives, I love connecting with people," he said while skipping down a flight of stairs with ease. "I don't know enough adjectives to describe how good I feel."
Aimée Blanchette • 612-673-1715
