Joe Ostaszewski, a former Ocean Ridge police officer, was
disappointed when his twin, Henry, wasn’t selected to join
him on The Biggest Loser. But he’s proud that Henry has lost
weight right along with him anyway. Photos provided
By Paula Detwiller
The twin brothers from Boynton Beach have always been each other’s best friend and biggest competitor.
“They’ve been competing since they were in the womb,” their mom says.
So when Joe Ostaszewski was picked to be a contestant on this season’s The Biggest Loser TV show and his twin brother, Henry, was not, their friendly rivalry was stoked once again.
Joe and Henry, now 43, both tipped the scales at more than 360 pounds. They auditioned together for the show, but the producers weren’t interested in featuring twins this year.
Henry lost out. Nonetheless, he vowed to lose weight right along with Joe, week after week.
As of this writing, Henry has lost more than 100 pounds. He’s gone from his peak weight of 367 (he had to stand up during an entire flight to LA last year because he didn’t fit in his airline seat) to about 250.
Joe’s weight is a closely guarded secret (so as not to spoil the remaining episodes of the pre-taped show). His official online bio says his “current weight” is 279 … but his brother assures us Joe continues to lose as the show unfolds. Both twins are working toward a goal of 220.
Here’s why Henry, now living in Georgia, deserves a big round of applause: He lost all that weight while working 10- to 12-hour days as an IT supply chain manager for a major company; while sharing custody of his two kids, which means cooking, cleaning, shopping and chauffeuring; and while having to squeeze in gym workouts at 5:30 a.m. or after 7 p.m.
Meanwhile, Joe and his fellow Biggest Losers have been sequestered at a California ranch, where they focus solely on shrinking. They have nutritional coaches telling them what to eat, when to eat. They exercise constantly (or at least it appears that way on TV), with celebrity trainers pushing them to work harder, faster, stronger.
In other words, reality TV may have its drama. But it’s dramatically harder to make the lifestyle changes required for gradual, healthy weight loss when you live in the real world.
Brotherly competition has been a motivating factor, Henry admits. “I’d be lying if I told you otherwise.”
Henry Ostaszewski on a recent outing with son Ben, 10,
and daughter Burke, 13. Shedding more than 100 pounds
has allowed him to more fully participate in the outdoor sports he loves.
It’s always been that way, according to their mother, Judy, and father, Henry Sr., a retired police officer with both the Boynton Beach Police Department and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
The family lived in Boynton Beach for 35 years. Henry and Joe were football stars, first at Atlantic High School in Delray Beach and then at Santaluces Community High School in Lantana. After graduation, they both attended Florida State University on football scholarships. Both later tried out for the NFL — Henry with the Steelers and Joe with the Dolphins — but neither made the cut.
“Football didn’t give them good eating habits,” says Judy. Both boys continued to eat training-table-style after their football careers ended. Henry went into interior design; Joe went to the fire and police academies and worked as an Ocean Ridge police officer from 1995 to 1998.
As her sons’ weight ballooned, Judy worried. Her husband’s second heart attack and subsequent triple-bypass surgery last year became a call to action for the twins.
“We were all sitting there in the cardiac intensive care unit,” Henry says, “and Joe looked over at me and said ‘Dude, you’re huge.’ I looked back at him and said ‘Joe, what are you, a ballerina? You’re a mirror image — look at me, and that’s you.”
About a month later they made plans to audition for The Biggest Loser, something Henry had been suggesting and Joe (ironically) had been resisting.
Henry says he’s picked up some tips from his brother — the importance of checking nutritional labels on supermarket foods, for example — and he’s learned to eat smaller, smarter meals. Egg white omelets for breakfast, yogurt as a mid-morning snack, a piece of fish and some broccoli for dinner.
“I used to eat a whole pizza in one sitting. Now if I have pizza, it’s just one slice, as a treat every once in a while.”
The Biggest Loser season finale is March 18. That’s when the contestant who has lost the most weight is crowned The Biggest Loser. Will it be Joe? The Ostaszewski family will be in the studio audience, watching it live.
No matter the outcome, the twins plan to use their joint weight loss journey as a springboard into charitable work and motivational speaking. They’ve created a nonprofit foundation called Wear Your Soul (www.WearYourSoul.org) with a mission to fight childhood obesity by introducing kids to outdoor sports like kayaking, mountain biking and hiking.
“We feel it’s the perfect niche for us to give back during the second part of our lives,” says Henry. “And we knew we couldn’t do this if we were two guys weighing a total of 700 pounds.”
Paula Detwiller is a freelance writer and lifelong fitness junkie. Find her at www.pdwrites.com.
SCENES FROM HENRY’S WEIGHT LOSS STORY
“I used to dread going to get a physical, seeing what my labs were, and hearing the doctor say ‘you have to lose weight.’ But I can’t wait to go to the doctor now!”
“It’s amazing right now to be able to go out and run a 5K trail run. You’re like, wow, I just ran a 5K! Whereas a couple of years ago, Joe and I couldn’t hike one mountain.”
“I like fashion, and usually when you get into the larger sizes, fashion is not really there. Hugo Boss does not make a 3XL.”
“I had a quinoa salad the other day that was just amazing. There are so many things out there that are healthy for you. It’s like a total new exploration. That’s what cool about it.”
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