Losing never felt so good for Arizona Mormons

Dane Patterson and Blaine Cotter were always the heavy guys at the family

get-togethers.

Related by marriage, the pair hadn't established much in common besides the

unhealthy pounds they each carried around for years.

\"Really, our most common thing was we were the two big, fat guys in the

family,\" said Cotter, whose first cousin is married to Patterson. \"That was how

we were related more than anything.\"

Today, the cousins-in-law are significantly lighter — and closer — as a

result of competing on Season 7 of NBC's reality weight-loss show \"The Biggest

Loser.\"

\"We've become a lot closer. We've become best friends,\" Cotter said. \"That

has been one of the greatest blessings for us from the show.\"

Both Mormons living in Mesa, Ariz., Cotter and Patterson weighed a combined

755 pounds before heading to \"the ranch,\" where they exercised for several hours

a day and prepared their own healthy food. Cotter was voted off the program on

the sixth episode, and Patterson was voted off on the eighth. Patterson was the

first contestant in the show's history to lose 100 pounds in eight weeks. Cotter

lost 66 pounds while on the show.

The men, who were part of the show's \"black team,\" were away from their

families for about three months. They agreed that was the most difficult part

about going on the program.

Patterson said he'd never been away from his family for more than a day

before becoming a contestant. The separation from his wife, Carli, and three

children was more difficult than the grueling workouts and trainers' intense

demands.