They lose to win

MANILA, Philippines - Ruby Rodriguez was not her usual jolly self. The Eat, Bulaga! mainstay stared at the camera and said, “My daughter is being bullied in school because of me. Her detractors say I’m a celebrity and I’m fat.”

The eyes moistened with tears as she went on, “I’m transferring my daughter to another school. And I also want to protect my four-year-old son (from the same fate).”

The words just tumbled out from her aching heart. And you know that this mother will give up everything — including that trademark plumpness people have learned to love throughout her 18 years in showbiz — for her kids.

Ruby is contestant 4062 in The Biggest Loser Asia, an Asia-wide weight-loss series, which will mark its world debut on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 8 p.m. on Hallmark Channel.

Ruby is one of the 2,000 “heavyweights” raring to be chosen one of the 30 finalists in the show, which is aired in 90 countries around the world. She — and her fellow contestants — will hit at least two birds with one stone if they win. The one who loses the most weight will take home the grand prize of $100,000 and a Renault. More importantly, he or she will again be in the pink of health and enjoy life to the hilt.

Nothing good comes easy, though. The 30 Asian residents who will compete in the series must overhaul their diet and lifestyle. They must surrender luxuries: Like mobile phones and Internet access while they’re in the boot camp.

That’s not all. Female contestants must survive on a maximum of just 1,200 calories daily. Their bigger male teammates, on the other hand, must make do with 1,500 calories a day.

The contest is also a test of wills. Contestants must steel themselves against a battery of temptations that will come their way: A piece of cake laden with rich icing; scoop upon scoop of ice cream, etc. If they slip, the delicious food laid out before them will make them chicken out from the race.

Will power and the team spirit must go hand-in-hand. A contestant who slackens off will put his or her team in peril.

Most, like Ruby and a lady from Singapore who wants to be in tiptop shape when she conceives her first baby, will just have to put their respective families at the back of their minds. The rest will rely on fitness trainers Dave Nuku from New Zealand and Kristy Curtis from Australia. Dave trained the cast and crew of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He is regional fitness manager of Fitness First, one of the show’s sponsors.

Kristy, on the other hand, knows the agonies a weight problem brings. She conquered hers when she was a teenager and is now a national aerobic champion. She runs her own personal training business and is group fitness manager of an international fitness chain in Sydney.

Kristy will be the first to tell an overweight candidate, like one young woman who feels depressed because of her extra flab, and another who wants to “live long enough to see my grandchildren,” that they can do it. After all, she herself went through weight-related hell. Now, she’s in fitness heaven.

In losing, Kristy — and the grand winner of the Biggest Loser Asia — stands to win. This time, contrary to the song The Winner Takes it All, the biggest loser takes it all.