"Biggest Loser" winner sheds 129 pounds: Can Olivia Ward keep weight off?

"Biggest Winner" winner Olivia Ward before and after dramatic weight loss

/ NBC

(CBS) Opera singer Olivia Ward has something new to yodel about. The slimmed-down 35-year-old was named winner of season 11 of "The Biggest Loser," edging out her sister to claim victory after shedding 129 pounds in eight months.

Ward , who stands 5 feet, 9 inches, tipped the scales at 261 pounds when the competition started. On Tuesday night, she weighed in at 132 pounds. Upon winning, she thrust her hands overhead as confetti swirled.

"For such a long time, I didn't even let myself imagine winning," Ward told People magazine. "I will say the last few weeks I was really pushing towards the finish line and I thought about that confetti!"

Ward's weight trouble was the result of a poor diet and no exercise, according to "The Biggest Loser" website. She was overweight in junior high school but didn't really pack on the pounds until reaching college, when she decided to focus on music. She "completely gave up" when she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome - a weight-related hormonal disorder that can make it hard to become pregnant.

"I was just in a funk," she told OK! magazine. "I thought, 'I'm never going to have kids because no one is going to want to marry me.' It was just a vat of self-pity."

But that diagnosis proved to be the biggest motivation for Ward to go on the show. Now she's $250,000 richer, and her dramatic weight loss means she's also richer in terms of health. Weight loss typically brings lower blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels and less stress on joints.

But losing weight is one thing. Will Ward be able to keep it off?

Fat chance, experts say.

"The vast majority of people who lose lots of weight regain it," Dr. Rebecca Puhl, director of research at Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity, told CBS News. In part, she says, that's because the show creates an artificial environment - "no job, personal trainers, people feeding you" - that disappears once the competition ends. 

And then there's the matter of metabolism. As people lose weight, their metabolic rate drops, which makes weight gain likely once a more normal diet is resumed, according to the website of the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Ward's best bet for staying slim may be to stick with the same approach that helped her lose weight in the first place - good social support, along with diet and exercise. According to the Stanford University Medicine website, a study by the National Weight Control Registry found that nearly all of 784 of the study participants who had maintained a significant weight loss for a full year used diet and exercise.

But for Ward, it may be too soon to think about what lies ahead.

"A lot of people told me to visualize that confetti," she told People. "Man, I have to tell you, it was not even anywhere as good in my mind as it was tonight. It was just fantastic."

[dsky8]

The show is fun to watch but it is far from the temptations of reality. Losing weight is hard, keeping it off is even harder. Last year I lost 32 pounds and was quite pleased, thought the weight thing was conquered. I averaged about 2 pounds a MONTH, sometimes even one pound but I was happy. Now it seems to want to come back and I cringe when I get on the scale. I have gained about 4 pounds and once again hope to lose it. Geez I guess it will never end.

[jtturner516]

They all did an amazing job.... I was very disappointed in Olivia's attitude that changed as she lost weight... And became very selfish! she was always talking about I need to be on this show to have a baby (would say that when they had to vote contestants off) - then once the weight came off - no more talk about a baby, now it's only about being an opra star....I don't think she was ever sincere. Yes she worked hard, but only in it for herself. Now Hannah - I think she's sincere

[riahbrd93]

She was a favorite in the beginning, until she started losing weight and losing her sweetness. She turned it into sending those in need most home, and becoming quite ugly inside.

[riahbrd93]

Impressive, but shouldn't have been the winner. She was primary in sending several other players home, before they were ready. She went from being a favorite to being selfish and snotty ... dislike it when the beloved turn ugly when they lose some weight. Watching the scenes from her beginning part of the journey, realized how much she had changed. Not a positive change either.

[coachdrs]

I hope Olivia can keep the weight off. If she has incorporated the things she learned on the Biggest Loser into her life, she will maintain her weight loss. It's forming healthy lifestyle habits that lead to long-term success in weight loss.

[RenaeMe1972]

I watch this show enough to feel comfortable stating my opinion on the "artificial environment" comment that always seems to accompany articles like this.

From what I've seen, the show makes a real effort to teach its contestants healthy eating habits - what to cook, how to cook it, how to make good choices when eating out. The last couple of weeks the remaining people are sent home to try it on their own. They are counselled to figure out why they gained weight, how to avoid those traps again, and that they are in control of the food they eat (not vice versa).

People that gain weight back after being on the show have admitted to redeveloping bad habits, knowing full well where it will lead them. It's all about choice, especially at the end of the cycle.

Overall, this is a very positive show that can be very inspirational. But in the end, it's up to the individual. It's not the show's fault.

[1stlttightwad]

Men, generally fall in love with a woman most like their mother and look for similar traits. Guys, if your mom was of average size or petite stature, take a look at your girlfriends school yearbook or old vacation pictures. If they are hidden, look out for the little gal to really balloon up. If she still has "fat clothes in her closet" beware, they are there for a reason. If there is a treadmill or similar device gathering dust with 200 miles on the odometer be careful Have you not heard of bootcamp for brides where they guarantee x pounds lost by the wedding day. What I am saying is that the article is very true...people who have lost weight will gain it back. Remember the LOST And Found department, it's most always found again, If you prefer a smaller woman that is not fat look at her mom, look at their history. Because if you marry someone who weighs "x" pounds and 6 months later has piled on 60 pounds your are NOT going to be happy and neither will she(wonder why he doesn't jump my bones anymore), for those who have managed a significant weight loss, congratulations! Your journey has JUST started.

[1stlttightwad]

Men, generally fall in love with a woman most like their mother and look for similar traits. Guys, if your mom was of average size or petite stature, take a look at your girlfriends school yearbook or old vacation pictures. If they are hidden, look out for the little gal to really balloon up. If she still has "fat clothes in her closet" beware, they are there for a reason. If there is a treadmill or similar device gathering dust with 200 miles on the odometer be careful Have you not heard of bootcamp for brides where they guarantee x pounds lost by the wedding day. What I am saying is that the article is very true...people who have lost weight will gain it back. Remember the LOST And Found department, it's most always found again, If you prefer a smaller woman that is not fat look at her mom, look at their history. Because if you marry someone who weighs "x" pounds and 6 months later has piled on 60 pounds your are NOT going to be happy and neither will she(wonder why he doesn't jump my bones anymore), for those who have managed a significant weight loss, congratulations! Your journey has JUST started.

[thisisferreal]

Where the heck did this come from?!?

Firstly if you are commiting your life to someone you should know them and their family well enough to know what their weight history is and what type of genetics they come from.

Secondly loving someone only at a certian size means you really don't love them. Take, for instance, your mother; she gets older ever year right? But you don't notice, in your eyes she's your Mom, not a hot comoditty to be judged every time you see her. When you love your spouse it SHOULD be just like this. You might want them to lose the weight in order to be healthier/happier BUT as their lover you have the ultimate beer goggles on, they are beautiful all the time.

I, personally am a very fit adult woman with a body fat percentage below 10%. My husband loves my toned hot body and lets me know often. BUT I haven't always been in the model zone and I felt no less loved back in those "pinch-an-inch" college days.

If you are willing to eat healthfully and hit the gym with your gal a few days a week I see no reason to worry: "be the change you wish to see..." in your woman.

[1stlttightwad]

To thisisferreal. The article stated that most people who lose weight WILL regain it. If YOU don't want to be mis-lead and wind up with a person not to your liking, just like you said(know their weight history, genetics, etc.,) When you are attracted to a person the first criteria is how they look, then how they relate to you and how they make you feel. Have you not seen relationships end because one or the other person drastically changed? Have you not heard comments like, when me first met she was a sexy little gal and now she's a tubby 200 pounder, or when I first met him he had a great physique and now the only 6 pack he has is the beer he drinks while sitting on the couch. Congratulations on keeping yourself fit.....most don't.

[Genie1000]

She looks great. Almost too skinny, though. It is all mindset to keep the weight off. I have been skinny my entire adult life - trust me - I work on it everyday and would be fat too if I ate like a hogga momma.