'The Biggest Loser' 's Howard 'Woody' Carter: My Wife Is My Motivation

The former football player now has his sights set on being the at-home winner

Photo: Trae Patton/NBC/Getty

Former football player Howard “Woody” Carter was 398 lbs. when he made the decision to get healthy after tragically losing his wife to cancer.

As a father of four and grandfather of three, Carter, 46, was determined to lose the weight to make sure he will be there for all of them as long as possible. Carter lost 128 lbs. by the end of his time on The Biggest Loser and remains motivated to keep on his journey to health by his wife’s memory.

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about her,” he tells PEOPLE while choking back tears. “She has truly blessed me, and she’s my motivation every day. Her can’t is my want – everything that she can’t do, I want to do and I will do, and as long as I can carry that spirit, she’ll never go away.”

After his elimination, Carter is now determined to become season 16’s at-home winner at next week’s finale.

“I just think me being there longer than anyone else, I have that much more of an advantage,” he says, though he admits that “everybody has a shot. With the training that we’ve had and endured, they’ve set us all up for the best situation. When we went home, we were all prepared. You’ll have to wait to the finale to see!”

The Biggest Loser: Glory Days finale airs Jan. 29 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.