Will West Roxbury's Brendan Donovan be the Biggest Loser?

Brendan Donovan says that being a contestant on a game show saved his life. Starting Tuesday night you can follow the beginning of the West Roxbury resident's journey on The Biggest Loser to get down from 362 pounds.

"I've always lost the weight for other reasons. This time it's to live. I want a family and kids. If I put the weight back on now I'm going to die (due to health-related complications)."

The premise of the show is simple, obese people come on the NBC show to lose weight with trainers Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper with the goal to lose weight healthily.

Donovan said that his weight issues even led to pushing away the love of his life five years ago.

The Boston Public School special education teacher, and football coach, was flown to California on May 22^nd. As he went through training and learning about how to eat and exercise he had no oral communication with anyone from his life.

"I've run a couple of marathons, but I let myself slip," said the affable Donovan, who said he's been a yo-yo when it comes to his weight through the years. "The first workout with Bob and Jillian, I was thinking about 'how am I going to quit, how am I going to quit?'"

His family didn't see him again until August 26^th at the West Roxbury Pub with a videotaped welcome back party.

"I saw him in May," said his mother, Carole Brown, of West Roxbury right before her son's return. "He was big. He was close to 400 pounds. He was up and down his whole life. Nobody's seen him. We're all excited."

It can't be told how Donovan fared on the show as a contestant. But Donovan knows winning his life and pride back are amazing victories, too.

"I just left the gym," said Donovan in mid-September. "The first day of the treadmill (in California) none of us could do it.

Donovan beamed with pride when he spoke of being able to sit in a Red Sox seat the other night at a Fenway game. Previously he would've gotten standing room only because he wasn't comfortable and felt he made the person sitting next to him uncomfortable, too.

But before he could face a treadmill every day, he had to face his medical problems, which were told to him by the show's doctor. "I had really high blood pressure, severe sleep anemia, a degenerative hip disorder, back pain… at 33 you're not supposed to have that many problems. I also had depression probably as a result of my weight."

Donovan said he is now off of most of the medication he was on when he first went to California.

Part of his path was learning that he shouldn't eat eight slices of pizza in one sitting with a bunch of soda. He learned how to manage his diet by eating a healthy breakfast and a healthy lunch. "It's OK to have a slice of pizza during the Patriots game."

Donovan has kept up his workout ways back in West Roxbury by hiring a local trainer.

But Donovan won't let you know, actually can't let you know if he won the show. You'll have to check out The Biggest Loser tonight on NBC at 8 p.m.

"I can tell you one thing – I'm the best looking guy on the cast."