There are perks to being on the Biggest Loser show. One of them is traveling across America. This week, the crew headed down to Texas. The focus of this episode was that there is an epidemic spreading around America, an epidemic of obesity, and Texas was hit the hardest. Texas is the fattest state in the US. Five of the ten fattest cities are in Texas. How pitiful is that? Being from Texas, I was appalled to hear that. Living in Houston, which is ranked the second fattest city in the US, I see evidence of obesity everyday. I guess that after seeing something for so many years, I've become oblivious to the fact just how many obese people there are in my city. In about 35 years, it is estimated that 75% of Texans will be obese. I can tell you one thing - I'm going to try my damnest not to become a part of that statistic.
First thing on the agenda for the contestants was to do a 5k run around the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. If you've been to the Cotton Bowl, you'd know that it's huge. It was nice seeing something familiar on TV. Before the 5k run, Jillian decided to show the girls that it's possible to travel and still find sensible snacks and products at a local drugstore. The three girls trekked to a local Walgreen's so Jillian could show them that they could purchase common necessities there. Seriously - I think it's safe to bet that Ashley and Sunshine have been in a Walgreen's before (or a CVS) and I think it's even safer to say that they know what's at Walgreen's. My only thought is that the producers wanted to get extra advertising in (and maybe the girls needed some tampons), so what better way to follow them around and show America how cool it is to shop at Walgreen's when you're out of town?
The contestants appeared on local radio shows in Dallas to promote the 5k run. The first 30-something callers would be able to join them. The goal of the 5k run was to promote awareness (and to definitely cram in extra publicity for the show). During the 5k run, the contestants took the time to talk to their fellow peers about how hard it is and how important it is to never give up. Daris decided to go for a personal best for the 5k run and then went back for his team. How about staying with your team all the way and going for your personal best on your own time?
It was bad that Daris left his team (at least he went back), but it was even worse when Koli forgot about a woman on his team. After he finished his run, he suddenly realized that he left a woman behind and went back to get her. When he arrived, she was grateful and during her camera interview, she gushed about how nice Koli was and about the fact that he came back to get her as promised. Sorry honey - but he forgot you. I wonder how that woman felt when she watched that episode and realized the truth. I bet she isn't gushing about him now.
Bob showed up a a local fitness center to train some people. He decided to have an open Q&A session and said "ask me anything you want." I'd bet you money that a person probably asked some personal questions (such as "are you gay?") and the producers didn't include them. How about having actual reality in a reality show, producers?
Finally - the challenge has arrived. You can't go to Texas without going to a Rodeo. If you were born and/or raised in Texas, you have to know that the Rodeo is our trademark. My former boss is (or was) on the committee for the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. She held one of the top positions and mentioned that Houston's rodeo is the largest in the nation. Too bad she didn't include free tickets with that little tidbit of information.
Along with the rodeo, Texas is famous for the Aggies and the Longhorns. This made the next challenge very fitting. The challenge was to herd baby longhorns into your pen. The person who got the most longhorns in their pen would receive immunity. After weeks in hiding, immunity is back! The challenge was funny to watch. Watching the contestants chase the longhorns made me think of myself, Jon and the kids chasing my dog, Midnight (when she gets out, she is very difficult to catch and bring back into the house). They are quick!!!
Sunshine sacrificed herself and decided to help her Dad. While Sunshine and O'Neal's relationship is touching, it has been one big love fest after another. Could it be that they're a little bit too close? I guess that's all relative. O'Neal kept trying to bust his butt throughout the challenge to catch a calf or two. O'Neal was diving left and right. Gee - take it easy - a busted knee ain't worth it! Koli ends up winning and gets immunity.
Last chance workouts are known for its brutality - especially if Jillian is doing the training - but this one was especially brutal. The trainers had everybody do a handstand up against the wall AND do push-ups. Very interesting. I think I might want to try that someday. Ha! Maybe I'm dreaming.
Following a brutal workout was a tragic weigh in. Everyone did alright and it came down to Sunshine being below the yellow line and O'Neal was in danger of falling below with his daughter. Michael was the last one to weigh in, so it would have come down to either O'Neal or Michael that would be below the line with Sunshine. Michael needed 7 pounds to be safe and shocked us all when he lost 15.
It was easy to figure out which way the elimination would go. O'Neal has constantly sacrificed himself for his daughter and this time was no different. He asked everybody to respect his wishes, to let him go and to keep Sunshine there. It was heartbreaking to see a father/daughter team be split-up, especially after the loss they recently had and all the injuries that O'Neal has suffered through. It was tough to see O'Neal go - he has become an icon of this season's Biggest Loser.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Biggest Loser, Season 9 - Episode 14
If I had to choose one episode of the Biggest Loser to be crowned the most comedic, I would choose this one. The first half of this week's episode focused on a food temptation challenge that lasted a whole day. The kitchen closed down for the day. Everyone has to get meals in a different room, a room that is filled with all kinds of food, both good and bad. Everyone was given the opportunity to eat whatever they wish... they would have to make a choice between healthy food or junk food. Whoever decides to eat the most calories over the course of the day would be awarded with the prize of having the sole vote in the elimination.
Now here's the fun part - watching everybody make their choices. For Koli, the decision was a no-brainer. Sam has been struggling with his weight loss on campus so Koli decides to do a free-for-all on the food and eats everything. By eating the most calories, Koli would win the sole vote and he would use that to keep Sam from being eliminated. Ahem, how is that not game play? Just a few weeks ago, he scolded several people for "playing the game" (especially Stephanie and Melissa), and now he's doing the same.
Immediately upon finding out the rules for the temptation, Mike decided that he would not participate in this challenge. He wasn't going to be responsible for a single vote. Yep - that would be the fastest way to make lots of enemies on campus. With the number of contestants getting lower each week, you would want to try to stay friends with as many of them as possible. While Mike didn't play into the temptation, he definitely played with the contestants' minds. When he comes out of the temptation room he sighs, rubs his belly and provides small hints that he partook in a devious scheme to win the challenge.
If there was ever a time for anyone to fall victim to a giggling fit, this episode was it. Ashley experienced several bouts of giggling fits each time she walked into the room. You would have thought she was a 5 year old on Christmas morning. O'Neal was almost the same. While he didn't succumb to giggles, he grinned from ear to ear and seriously debated whether he would take a bite or two of a cookie. Everyone has their weak spots. If I were there, it would cake, chewy chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cookies and brownies!
Because Koli proclaimed that he would be eating as much as he could to help protect Sam, it wasn't a secret that he ate. The question here was how much did he eat? We see him go into the room during each meal and we see him rack up extremely high numbers in calories. I was genuinely surprised he didn't experience a setback to his health - other than feeling very sick after each meal. When Ali announced that Koli won the game, I wasn't surprised. When she announced the total that Koli ate, I was taken aback. He ended up eating 1,545 calories for breakfast, 2,000 calories for lunch and 599 for dinner - which brought his total calories for the day to 4,164! I wouldn't want to be him when the trainers finds out!
Sure enough, the trainers were furious with Koli. They kept saying that this whole thing wasn't just a game and it isn't a joke either. Eating excessively to keep Sam in the game (a person who has fallen below the yellow line several times in the recent weeks and is basically at his goal weight) was a very stupid move. Koli is protecting someone who doesn't need to be there anymore. It's very apparent that it's all about winning the game, and not about the health. O'Neal might have done the same if he knew he had a fighting chance. He would have done it to protect Sunshine. The difference is that Sunshine still needs to be there and the second thing is that O'Neal was big enough to overcome the decision to play games and let things fall where they may.
Speaking of O'Neal, he impressed everyone during a workout by doing push ups on stools like the younger guys do. Everyone was in such awe that they all stopped what they were doing to watch him. I haven't personally tried doing it.... it doesn't look that tough but I know better than that. It must have been extremely difficult and I applaud O'Neal for breaking through his obstacles and for pushing himself as far as possible.
The challenge this week was to build blocks that will take you up to a ladder that is dangling a few feet off the ground. The contestants needed to build stairs out of these blocks, get on the ladder and climb to the top. The first person to make it to the top will receive a one pound advantage. The last person to complete the challenge gets a one pound disadvantage.
Mike was nice enough to help Ashley out by giving her a layout that she could work with. However, his design was worthless. By helping her, he actually set Ashley back. She might have progressed faster if she came up with her own design. Daris wins with Sam very close behind. After 14 long weeks, Daris has finally won a challenge either as a pair (with his mom) or alone. Way to go!
With every up, there must be a down... somewhere. Daris' first win was clouded by O'Neal's injury during the challenge. He fell off his building blocks and smacked his knee against the concrete. Because he didn't finish the game and was taken away in an ambulance, he was given the one pound disadvantage by default. How sad is that? What bothered me was that a few others didn't finish the competition (Ashley and Mike, for example) either. Why was O'Neal given the disadvantage and not Mike/Ashley?
To add insult to injury, O'Neal finds out that his brother has passed away. Time to break out the tissues. It was heartbreaking to see O'Neal go through this; he didn't have a chance to say good-bye and it was tearing him up.
Weigh-in results:
*Koli lost 10 pounds even after he ate 4,000 calories during the food temptation.
*Sam lost 6 pounds. At first, Sam was slacking off because he knew that Koli's vote would save him from being eliminated if he fell below the yellow line. However, with the troubles that O'Neal was going through, it seemed as though Sam might fall below with O'Neal. That wouldn't have changed Koli's vote but it would have definitely made it difficult. Sam decided to work out harder towards the end of the week to save himself so that if O'Neal fell below, he'd fall below with someone that Koli could easily eliminate.
*Victoria lost 1 pound. Not a big surprise there. All we've seen all week is Victoria slacking off. Gee, I wonder why she only got 1 pound.
*O'Neal lost 8 pounds! Even with his bandages and brace (did the producers find out the weight of that and subtracted that from his weight?), O'Neal still did well enough to stay above the yellow line. Finally, some good news for him.
*Sunshine needed 2 pounds to be save and only lost 1. This probably would make sense due to the stress of losing her uncle and having her dad in the hospital.
Koli's decision was a no-brainer. He kept Sunshine out of respect for O'Neal and booted Victoria. Koli wasn't shy about complaining about how Victoria slacked off and that she deserved to be booted out.
Each week we see Koli transforming more and more into a different person. I'm not liking what I'm seeing.
Now here's the fun part - watching everybody make their choices. For Koli, the decision was a no-brainer. Sam has been struggling with his weight loss on campus so Koli decides to do a free-for-all on the food and eats everything. By eating the most calories, Koli would win the sole vote and he would use that to keep Sam from being eliminated. Ahem, how is that not game play? Just a few weeks ago, he scolded several people for "playing the game" (especially Stephanie and Melissa), and now he's doing the same.
Immediately upon finding out the rules for the temptation, Mike decided that he would not participate in this challenge. He wasn't going to be responsible for a single vote. Yep - that would be the fastest way to make lots of enemies on campus. With the number of contestants getting lower each week, you would want to try to stay friends with as many of them as possible. While Mike didn't play into the temptation, he definitely played with the contestants' minds. When he comes out of the temptation room he sighs, rubs his belly and provides small hints that he partook in a devious scheme to win the challenge.
If there was ever a time for anyone to fall victim to a giggling fit, this episode was it. Ashley experienced several bouts of giggling fits each time she walked into the room. You would have thought she was a 5 year old on Christmas morning. O'Neal was almost the same. While he didn't succumb to giggles, he grinned from ear to ear and seriously debated whether he would take a bite or two of a cookie. Everyone has their weak spots. If I were there, it would cake, chewy chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cookies and brownies!
Because Koli proclaimed that he would be eating as much as he could to help protect Sam, it wasn't a secret that he ate. The question here was how much did he eat? We see him go into the room during each meal and we see him rack up extremely high numbers in calories. I was genuinely surprised he didn't experience a setback to his health - other than feeling very sick after each meal. When Ali announced that Koli won the game, I wasn't surprised. When she announced the total that Koli ate, I was taken aback. He ended up eating 1,545 calories for breakfast, 2,000 calories for lunch and 599 for dinner - which brought his total calories for the day to 4,164! I wouldn't want to be him when the trainers finds out!
Sure enough, the trainers were furious with Koli. They kept saying that this whole thing wasn't just a game and it isn't a joke either. Eating excessively to keep Sam in the game (a person who has fallen below the yellow line several times in the recent weeks and is basically at his goal weight) was a very stupid move. Koli is protecting someone who doesn't need to be there anymore. It's very apparent that it's all about winning the game, and not about the health. O'Neal might have done the same if he knew he had a fighting chance. He would have done it to protect Sunshine. The difference is that Sunshine still needs to be there and the second thing is that O'Neal was big enough to overcome the decision to play games and let things fall where they may.
Speaking of O'Neal, he impressed everyone during a workout by doing push ups on stools like the younger guys do. Everyone was in such awe that they all stopped what they were doing to watch him. I haven't personally tried doing it.... it doesn't look that tough but I know better than that. It must have been extremely difficult and I applaud O'Neal for breaking through his obstacles and for pushing himself as far as possible.
The challenge this week was to build blocks that will take you up to a ladder that is dangling a few feet off the ground. The contestants needed to build stairs out of these blocks, get on the ladder and climb to the top. The first person to make it to the top will receive a one pound advantage. The last person to complete the challenge gets a one pound disadvantage.
Mike was nice enough to help Ashley out by giving her a layout that she could work with. However, his design was worthless. By helping her, he actually set Ashley back. She might have progressed faster if she came up with her own design. Daris wins with Sam very close behind. After 14 long weeks, Daris has finally won a challenge either as a pair (with his mom) or alone. Way to go!
With every up, there must be a down... somewhere. Daris' first win was clouded by O'Neal's injury during the challenge. He fell off his building blocks and smacked his knee against the concrete. Because he didn't finish the game and was taken away in an ambulance, he was given the one pound disadvantage by default. How sad is that? What bothered me was that a few others didn't finish the competition (Ashley and Mike, for example) either. Why was O'Neal given the disadvantage and not Mike/Ashley?
To add insult to injury, O'Neal finds out that his brother has passed away. Time to break out the tissues. It was heartbreaking to see O'Neal go through this; he didn't have a chance to say good-bye and it was tearing him up.
Weigh-in results:
*Koli lost 10 pounds even after he ate 4,000 calories during the food temptation.
*Sam lost 6 pounds. At first, Sam was slacking off because he knew that Koli's vote would save him from being eliminated if he fell below the yellow line. However, with the troubles that O'Neal was going through, it seemed as though Sam might fall below with O'Neal. That wouldn't have changed Koli's vote but it would have definitely made it difficult. Sam decided to work out harder towards the end of the week to save himself so that if O'Neal fell below, he'd fall below with someone that Koli could easily eliminate.
*Victoria lost 1 pound. Not a big surprise there. All we've seen all week is Victoria slacking off. Gee, I wonder why she only got 1 pound.
*O'Neal lost 8 pounds! Even with his bandages and brace (did the producers find out the weight of that and subtracted that from his weight?), O'Neal still did well enough to stay above the yellow line. Finally, some good news for him.
*Sunshine needed 2 pounds to be save and only lost 1. This probably would make sense due to the stress of losing her uncle and having her dad in the hospital.
Koli's decision was a no-brainer. He kept Sunshine out of respect for O'Neal and booted Victoria. Koli wasn't shy about complaining about how Victoria slacked off and that she deserved to be booted out.
Each week we see Koli transforming more and more into a different person. I'm not liking what I'm seeing.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
A Major Blonde Moment
The other day, I met a friend for lunch at a vietnamese restaurant. Normally the food is good, but that day I was unfortunate enough to get some fatty meat. When I'm there, I usually order the same pork dish. That dish doesn't come with bones, but that day it came as a pork chop (which I hate).
Naturally, I complained about the quality of the meat and the fact that the bone was still attached. I was picking off the bone and all the fat when I said "Gee, they didn't get rid of the meat." Needless to say, I meant the fat. Duh.
Naturally, I complained about the quality of the meat and the fact that the bone was still attached. I was picking off the bone and all the fat when I said "Gee, they didn't get rid of the meat." Needless to say, I meant the fat. Duh.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Biggest Loser, Season 9 - Episode 13
The contestants have now been on campus for 12 weeks. Their reward is host Ali interrupting their breakfast, but according to Koli, that's ok, she can interrupt his meal anytime. Straight off the bat, Ali announces that they have business to tend to. They head out to the gym (and they didn't get to finish their breakfast) to find out what's in store for them.
As a metaphor for the balancing act of family, work and eating healthy food that's waiting for them back at home, the contestants will be balancing quarters on a tray. They are allowed to place as many quarters as they'd like at $10 a quarter. The objective is to hold up one end of the tray with only one hand. Whoever can keep their quarters from slipping off the tray wins.
When the game begins, the contestants start piling on their quarters. Sunshine stopped at only 10 quarters, anticipating that she'd stay in the game long enough to add many more at the end. Pretty smart move. Let's see if it pays off. Koli immediately begins adding as much as he can. Greed can come back and bite you in the end, bud.
Daris, Sam and Victoria are the first ones out. Pretty surprising. It looks so easy but I'm sure that if we all tried it, we probably wouldn't have lasted as long as anybody over there. Holding up a bunch of quarters with only one arm can be tiring. At an early point in the game, Koli is sweating profusely while holding up $2,300 worth of quarters. Too much, too soon Koli. Meanwhile, sometime during the game, Sunshine adds more quarters.
Sunshine gave it a good fight, but sometimes you just can't win 'em all. Mike ended up winning the $1,000 he had on his tray. Courtesy of Total, because Mike gave it 100%, they doubled his earnings to $2,000. Because Sunshine gave it all (100%), she got her $650.
Suze Orman came to the ranch as a guest to talk to the contestants about their financial future. She predicted that Danny would win the title of the Biggest Loser purely based on his FICO score when compared against the others. Based on that track record, she admitted that she would have predicted that Koli would be the next Biggest Loser. However, when Suze asked Koli if he was keeping track of the calories he's been eating, he answered "No." On that answer alone, Suze determined that if Koli didn't care enough to count his calories to make sure he was eating right (instead of guesstimating), he probably wouldn't make it. Her prediction went to Sunshine as being the next best contender for the Biggest Loser title. Yeah, Sunshine is one of the youngest contestants at only 24 years old. She didn't quite have as much time as the others to screw up her credit scores.
Jillian decided to prey on Victoria this time around. At Week 13, Victoria should be doing a lot better than this. Really, Jillian? Seriously? She hasn't even been there much longer than 3 weeks. Her training regime at home was probably very different from those on the ranch. She's trying to stay afloat - give her a break!
This week's challenge was fun. There is a total of 140 keys attached to 7 balloons. Two of them are the keys that will start a car. Whoever finds one of these keys and starts the car, the car is theirs. How nice. We haven't seen this kind of prize in a long time. The catch is this - they had to run back and forth between the balloons (and it was cold and rainy) and the cars. The momentum of winning a car would undoubtedly keep them going.
It would really suck if one of these keys got unlatched and fell into the grass. This would make for funny TV. I can just imagine somebody holding the VERY last key with all the contestants all standing around the last available vehicle in anticipation - only to find out that the key doesn't work.
Drea wins the first one midway through the game. Then it gets down to 40 keys left... 35 ... 30... could my fun prediction come true? O'Neal ends up winning it and unsurprisingly, he gives it to Sunshine. What a good father. Fun fact: While the others huffed and puffed while scrambling quickly for the keys, O'Neal took his time due to his knee injury. He look way less trips and ended up with the winning key. Is he lucky or what?
Drea has a breakdown during one of her workouts and Bob counseled her instead of Dr. Jillian. I like his tactics so much better. He's nicer and he doesn't jump down your throats, making you feel any worse than you already do before lifting you up. His words make you think and it is so much more positive. We need to see Dr. Bob more often.
Since Jillian felt that Victoria wasn't pulling her own weight around the house in regards to the workouts, she made her run 37 1-minute sprints. Amazingly, Victoria makes it and Jillian still doesn't look satisfied. What? Really? I should kick her. Or better yet - watching her get pushed down into a mud pit was the perfect remedy. After working out, Bob and the contestants took a roll in the mud. When they saw Jillian, they decided that it was the perfect time for revenge for all the beat-downs they gave them.
During the last chance workout, Mike ran a whole mile without stopping. He was so proud of himself. We are all proud of you, Mike. It's hard enough running a mile much less running it with 300 extra pounds on you. As soon as Mike announced that he ran a whole mile, Bob congratulated him and then said "Do it again." The look on Mike's face was priceless!
This week garnered no immunity so everyone was up for grabs. Drea falls below the yellow line. Sam was the last one to weigh in. He only needs 3 pounds in order to push Sunshine below. Too easy, right? It turns out that Sam lost zero weight this week. He is so small compared to everybody else and has so much muscle. He doesn't have much more to lose. Is his time up?
Drea goes home even though she needs more time on the ranch; she has much more weight to lose than Sam. However, when it comes to voting, I guess everybody prefers to keep friends around - at least time time. If Sam falls below again - will they keep him around longer or give him the old heave-ho?
As a metaphor for the balancing act of family, work and eating healthy food that's waiting for them back at home, the contestants will be balancing quarters on a tray. They are allowed to place as many quarters as they'd like at $10 a quarter. The objective is to hold up one end of the tray with only one hand. Whoever can keep their quarters from slipping off the tray wins.
When the game begins, the contestants start piling on their quarters. Sunshine stopped at only 10 quarters, anticipating that she'd stay in the game long enough to add many more at the end. Pretty smart move. Let's see if it pays off. Koli immediately begins adding as much as he can. Greed can come back and bite you in the end, bud.
Daris, Sam and Victoria are the first ones out. Pretty surprising. It looks so easy but I'm sure that if we all tried it, we probably wouldn't have lasted as long as anybody over there. Holding up a bunch of quarters with only one arm can be tiring. At an early point in the game, Koli is sweating profusely while holding up $2,300 worth of quarters. Too much, too soon Koli. Meanwhile, sometime during the game, Sunshine adds more quarters.
Sunshine gave it a good fight, but sometimes you just can't win 'em all. Mike ended up winning the $1,000 he had on his tray. Courtesy of Total, because Mike gave it 100%, they doubled his earnings to $2,000. Because Sunshine gave it all (100%), she got her $650.
Suze Orman came to the ranch as a guest to talk to the contestants about their financial future. She predicted that Danny would win the title of the Biggest Loser purely based on his FICO score when compared against the others. Based on that track record, she admitted that she would have predicted that Koli would be the next Biggest Loser. However, when Suze asked Koli if he was keeping track of the calories he's been eating, he answered "No." On that answer alone, Suze determined that if Koli didn't care enough to count his calories to make sure he was eating right (instead of guesstimating), he probably wouldn't make it. Her prediction went to Sunshine as being the next best contender for the Biggest Loser title. Yeah, Sunshine is one of the youngest contestants at only 24 years old. She didn't quite have as much time as the others to screw up her credit scores.
Jillian decided to prey on Victoria this time around. At Week 13, Victoria should be doing a lot better than this. Really, Jillian? Seriously? She hasn't even been there much longer than 3 weeks. Her training regime at home was probably very different from those on the ranch. She's trying to stay afloat - give her a break!
This week's challenge was fun. There is a total of 140 keys attached to 7 balloons. Two of them are the keys that will start a car. Whoever finds one of these keys and starts the car, the car is theirs. How nice. We haven't seen this kind of prize in a long time. The catch is this - they had to run back and forth between the balloons (and it was cold and rainy) and the cars. The momentum of winning a car would undoubtedly keep them going.
It would really suck if one of these keys got unlatched and fell into the grass. This would make for funny TV. I can just imagine somebody holding the VERY last key with all the contestants all standing around the last available vehicle in anticipation - only to find out that the key doesn't work.
Drea wins the first one midway through the game. Then it gets down to 40 keys left... 35 ... 30... could my fun prediction come true? O'Neal ends up winning it and unsurprisingly, he gives it to Sunshine. What a good father. Fun fact: While the others huffed and puffed while scrambling quickly for the keys, O'Neal took his time due to his knee injury. He look way less trips and ended up with the winning key. Is he lucky or what?
Drea has a breakdown during one of her workouts and Bob counseled her instead of Dr. Jillian. I like his tactics so much better. He's nicer and he doesn't jump down your throats, making you feel any worse than you already do before lifting you up. His words make you think and it is so much more positive. We need to see Dr. Bob more often.
Since Jillian felt that Victoria wasn't pulling her own weight around the house in regards to the workouts, she made her run 37 1-minute sprints. Amazingly, Victoria makes it and Jillian still doesn't look satisfied. What? Really? I should kick her. Or better yet - watching her get pushed down into a mud pit was the perfect remedy. After working out, Bob and the contestants took a roll in the mud. When they saw Jillian, they decided that it was the perfect time for revenge for all the beat-downs they gave them.
During the last chance workout, Mike ran a whole mile without stopping. He was so proud of himself. We are all proud of you, Mike. It's hard enough running a mile much less running it with 300 extra pounds on you. As soon as Mike announced that he ran a whole mile, Bob congratulated him and then said "Do it again." The look on Mike's face was priceless!
This week garnered no immunity so everyone was up for grabs. Drea falls below the yellow line. Sam was the last one to weigh in. He only needs 3 pounds in order to push Sunshine below. Too easy, right? It turns out that Sam lost zero weight this week. He is so small compared to everybody else and has so much muscle. He doesn't have much more to lose. Is his time up?
Drea goes home even though she needs more time on the ranch; she has much more weight to lose than Sam. However, when it comes to voting, I guess everybody prefers to keep friends around - at least time time. If Sam falls below again - will they keep him around longer or give him the old heave-ho?
Friday, April 9, 2010
Biggest Loser, Season 9 - Episode 12
One word. OMG! Melissa! OK - that was two words. She is game play all the way. At the very start of this episode, she goes around scolding everybody for keeping Sam when he's their biggest threat. It's in everybody's best interest to keep Stephanie. One threat down, several more to go, right? Guess everybody doesn't have Melissa's way of thinking. They voted based on what they thought was the right thing to do. In retrospect, voting Sam off would be Melissa's "right thing to do." It's all relative.
When it comes to being thrown into something new, the cast can never get a break. This week's challenge has been another new obstacle for everybody to overcome. This time it is a race to see who can be the first person to lose 2% of their body fat. Whoever does it first gets immunity. Anybody can weigh themselves in at any time - but the catch is that you can only weigh in once. If you weigh in too soon and don't meet your requirement, too bad - you're out of the running. For the one that weighs in and makes it, he/she doesn't have to weigh in again with everybody else. Whatever weight he/she was at when they weighed in for the 2% would be used at the weigh in the following week. This means that whoever weighed in early and won would have a few extra days before the next weigh in. How cool is that?
Melissa's mouth takes a trip down rambling lane. Immediately, she starts talking nonsense and is already planning her strategy. Seriously, shut UP Melissa!
Victoria ends up pushing the button first. She's getting way ahead of herself. It's obviously too soon, but we have to remember that she's pretty inexperienced. It's her second week on campus so she is still learning the ropes, learning the games and learning what her body can do (or can't do). Losing 6 pounds in two days is definitely not something her body can do. No way. Instead of 6 pounds, she only loses 3. 3 pounds in two days is pretty good, but not when you're trying to win a challenge like this. Even on the Biggest Loser ranch, you don't lose 6 pounds in 2 days (except if it's your very first week and it's all water weight).
The next challenge is a pool game. Cool! There are a thousand 1-pound pucks at the bottom of the pool. Everybody has to dive down and bring 100 pounds to their scale, and they can only bring two pounds at a time. The winner gets two weeks at the Biggest Loser Resort. The loser gets a 2-pound disadvantage. Here's the kicker - after they finish filling their scale with 100 pounds, they can help out a friend. This goes without saying - nobody's gonna be helping Melissa, that's for sure!
Sunshine starts off with a bang. She is obviously an experienced swimmer and has a huge advantage over the others. During the course of the game, it seems that Melissa is going to finish in third place. O'Neal and Mike are trailing behind her but not by far. This is surprising. Melissa tends to be one of the top competitors in the challenges. I guess she's just not cut out for swimming. With only two people below Melissa, it's almost guaranteed that the others will be helping them out to put Melissa in last place. I bet Sunshine starts helping out Dad as soon as she completes packing on her 100 pounds and the others will be helping Mike. This is practically a no-brainer. Sunshine and Sam are essentially neck and neck throughout the whole challenge. Finally - someone gives Sam a run for his money. It's always awesome to see a girl do just as well as the man next to her, and maybe even surpass him.
Having friends on the show does help, whether anybody wants to admit it or not, and this challenge proves it. Sunshine finished first (yay!) and then started helping her Dad. Everybody else pitched in to help O'Neal and Mike out to put them up above Melissa. Naturally. Melissa kept saying over and over that she wasn't there to make friends and that she doesn't need any friends. Well, there ya go! You accomplished what you set out to do - alienate everybody. How'd that feel? Melissa ends up scolding everybody (again, ahem), this time about helping Mike. Mike is still the biggest person on campus and he's still everybody's biggest threat. According to Melissa, why would anyone want to help their biggest competition?! Well Melissa, it's already been proven that everybody just might have something you don't have...compassion for others.
Again - it's not over for Melissa just yet. Boy, she's been given chances time and time again to stay in the game, huh? Could this be the producers' goal? To keep Melissa in as long as they can? You bet. Drama draws in people (sadly) and the producers are all about the ratings.
Melissa still has the chance to weigh in on the scale for the 2% body fat challenge. Melissa starts her planning and tries to figure out when everybody else will be weighing in. It's her goal to wait as long as she can but to weigh in right before when she thinks somebody else is planning to. The night camera shows Melissa working late at the kitchen table, snacking on something, and finally going to bed around 11pm. She gets up at 3am and worked out until the sun came up. And then..... somebody pushed the button.
As it turns out, Sam hit the button, not Melissa. Sam was pretty smart. He worked out for 3 hours the night before, went to bed and then weighed in first thing in the morning. I'm willing to bet that he peed and pooped as much as he could. He probably also didn't eat breakfast. He needed to lose 6 to make it and he ended up losing 10! 10 pounds in 4 days! After it was determined that immunity was not up for grabs anymore, Melissa started to obsess about the 1 pound disadvantage. She is now worried about whether she'd make it on the scale. Again - Melissa - you had the chance to get up above your obstacles. You just needed friends to help you out. That's down the toilet, so what's left? Nothing.
Dr. Jillian has now announced that O'Neal and Sunshine's father/daughter relationship is unhealthy. Like really? Seriously? They're too close or something like that. Whatever. I guess since Dr. Jillian knows everything, they'd better sit down, talk it out, and solve whatever imaginary problems they have so that they can live a better life. O'Neal acknowledges that he's holding onto Sunshine a little too tight. It's time for him to let go and let Sunshine become her own person. Uh, doesn't every parent go through that? Granted, some are more extreme than others but this hardly calls for a psychological evaluation by Dr. Jillian.
Koli and Daris had bad luck this week with the scale. They had bad numbers (bad by Biggest Loser standards) and the trainers were stumped. They both worked extremely hard and yet, they lost so little. Everybody else had good numbers. A lot of obstacles were overcome this week. Sunshine made it to under 200 pounds and O'Neal passed the 100-pound mark (he has lost 106 to date). Michael lost 8 pounds, bringing his total to 156 pounds in 12 weeks. That's pretty impressive. And finally, Victoria loses 11. Wow. What a great week for most of them.
Drea ends up going under the yellow line with Melissa. Enough said. Melissa only lost 3 and she needed 5 so her one pound disadvantage didn't even hurt her at all. She hurt herself. Could it be her late-night snacking? Probably.
Wow - I just found out during this episode that Melissa is a lawyer. Really!? Well - if I needed a lawyer, I think I might want her on my side, but as an ordinary person she is just plain annoying! Her only argument to save herself from being voted out was game play again. She urged everybody to keep her because she is obviously not a threat and that Drea is. Wouldn't it be so easy to keep Melissa around, not having to worry about her and just one by one, kick everybody off that falls down below her? Right, so easy... but is it right?
Everybody decides to stick with integrity and gets rid of Melissa. The voting was unanimous. Who'd have thunk it? If Melissa had friends, she might not have been voted off. If she had friends, she would have left with hugs and good-byes from everybody. I still wonder... how did she even get married!?
When it comes to being thrown into something new, the cast can never get a break. This week's challenge has been another new obstacle for everybody to overcome. This time it is a race to see who can be the first person to lose 2% of their body fat. Whoever does it first gets immunity. Anybody can weigh themselves in at any time - but the catch is that you can only weigh in once. If you weigh in too soon and don't meet your requirement, too bad - you're out of the running. For the one that weighs in and makes it, he/she doesn't have to weigh in again with everybody else. Whatever weight he/she was at when they weighed in for the 2% would be used at the weigh in the following week. This means that whoever weighed in early and won would have a few extra days before the next weigh in. How cool is that?
Melissa's mouth takes a trip down rambling lane. Immediately, she starts talking nonsense and is already planning her strategy. Seriously, shut UP Melissa!
Victoria ends up pushing the button first. She's getting way ahead of herself. It's obviously too soon, but we have to remember that she's pretty inexperienced. It's her second week on campus so she is still learning the ropes, learning the games and learning what her body can do (or can't do). Losing 6 pounds in two days is definitely not something her body can do. No way. Instead of 6 pounds, she only loses 3. 3 pounds in two days is pretty good, but not when you're trying to win a challenge like this. Even on the Biggest Loser ranch, you don't lose 6 pounds in 2 days (except if it's your very first week and it's all water weight).
The next challenge is a pool game. Cool! There are a thousand 1-pound pucks at the bottom of the pool. Everybody has to dive down and bring 100 pounds to their scale, and they can only bring two pounds at a time. The winner gets two weeks at the Biggest Loser Resort. The loser gets a 2-pound disadvantage. Here's the kicker - after they finish filling their scale with 100 pounds, they can help out a friend. This goes without saying - nobody's gonna be helping Melissa, that's for sure!
Sunshine starts off with a bang. She is obviously an experienced swimmer and has a huge advantage over the others. During the course of the game, it seems that Melissa is going to finish in third place. O'Neal and Mike are trailing behind her but not by far. This is surprising. Melissa tends to be one of the top competitors in the challenges. I guess she's just not cut out for swimming. With only two people below Melissa, it's almost guaranteed that the others will be helping them out to put Melissa in last place. I bet Sunshine starts helping out Dad as soon as she completes packing on her 100 pounds and the others will be helping Mike. This is practically a no-brainer. Sunshine and Sam are essentially neck and neck throughout the whole challenge. Finally - someone gives Sam a run for his money. It's always awesome to see a girl do just as well as the man next to her, and maybe even surpass him.
Having friends on the show does help, whether anybody wants to admit it or not, and this challenge proves it. Sunshine finished first (yay!) and then started helping her Dad. Everybody else pitched in to help O'Neal and Mike out to put them up above Melissa. Naturally. Melissa kept saying over and over that she wasn't there to make friends and that she doesn't need any friends. Well, there ya go! You accomplished what you set out to do - alienate everybody. How'd that feel? Melissa ends up scolding everybody (again, ahem), this time about helping Mike. Mike is still the biggest person on campus and he's still everybody's biggest threat. According to Melissa, why would anyone want to help their biggest competition?! Well Melissa, it's already been proven that everybody just might have something you don't have...compassion for others.
Again - it's not over for Melissa just yet. Boy, she's been given chances time and time again to stay in the game, huh? Could this be the producers' goal? To keep Melissa in as long as they can? You bet. Drama draws in people (sadly) and the producers are all about the ratings.
Melissa still has the chance to weigh in on the scale for the 2% body fat challenge. Melissa starts her planning and tries to figure out when everybody else will be weighing in. It's her goal to wait as long as she can but to weigh in right before when she thinks somebody else is planning to. The night camera shows Melissa working late at the kitchen table, snacking on something, and finally going to bed around 11pm. She gets up at 3am and worked out until the sun came up. And then..... somebody pushed the button.
As it turns out, Sam hit the button, not Melissa. Sam was pretty smart. He worked out for 3 hours the night before, went to bed and then weighed in first thing in the morning. I'm willing to bet that he peed and pooped as much as he could. He probably also didn't eat breakfast. He needed to lose 6 to make it and he ended up losing 10! 10 pounds in 4 days! After it was determined that immunity was not up for grabs anymore, Melissa started to obsess about the 1 pound disadvantage. She is now worried about whether she'd make it on the scale. Again - Melissa - you had the chance to get up above your obstacles. You just needed friends to help you out. That's down the toilet, so what's left? Nothing.
Dr. Jillian has now announced that O'Neal and Sunshine's father/daughter relationship is unhealthy. Like really? Seriously? They're too close or something like that. Whatever. I guess since Dr. Jillian knows everything, they'd better sit down, talk it out, and solve whatever imaginary problems they have so that they can live a better life. O'Neal acknowledges that he's holding onto Sunshine a little too tight. It's time for him to let go and let Sunshine become her own person. Uh, doesn't every parent go through that? Granted, some are more extreme than others but this hardly calls for a psychological evaluation by Dr. Jillian.
Koli and Daris had bad luck this week with the scale. They had bad numbers (bad by Biggest Loser standards) and the trainers were stumped. They both worked extremely hard and yet, they lost so little. Everybody else had good numbers. A lot of obstacles were overcome this week. Sunshine made it to under 200 pounds and O'Neal passed the 100-pound mark (he has lost 106 to date). Michael lost 8 pounds, bringing his total to 156 pounds in 12 weeks. That's pretty impressive. And finally, Victoria loses 11. Wow. What a great week for most of them.
Drea ends up going under the yellow line with Melissa. Enough said. Melissa only lost 3 and she needed 5 so her one pound disadvantage didn't even hurt her at all. She hurt herself. Could it be her late-night snacking? Probably.
Wow - I just found out during this episode that Melissa is a lawyer. Really!? Well - if I needed a lawyer, I think I might want her on my side, but as an ordinary person she is just plain annoying! Her only argument to save herself from being voted out was game play again. She urged everybody to keep her because she is obviously not a threat and that Drea is. Wouldn't it be so easy to keep Melissa around, not having to worry about her and just one by one, kick everybody off that falls down below her? Right, so easy... but is it right?
Everybody decides to stick with integrity and gets rid of Melissa. The voting was unanimous. Who'd have thunk it? If Melissa had friends, she might not have been voted off. If she had friends, she would have left with hugs and good-byes from everybody. I still wonder... how did she even get married!?
Biggest Loser, Season 9 - Episode 11
Suddenly, the show isn't so dark anymore. There are bright colors everywhere - singles are back! This part is fun because now everybody is on their own. No one can hide behind the weight of the entire team. No more coasting. It's every man for himself now. Everyone will be held responsible for their own actions... or non-actions.
Here's another fun part. All the old contestants from this season came back. They have another chance to get back into the game. Of course, the people who are currently still in it weren't happy to hear that. They've fought this long to stay afloat and now they have to worry about one more competitor. The person that gets to come back to the show will get voted in. It's purely a popularity vote. They can vote for anyone to come back except for your former teammate.
Remember Migdalia? No one can forget her and her mother, Miggy. Yep - even Miggy's back, but Migdalia didn't come back. Her husband went to Iraq and there would be no one at home to watch her kids. Remember the Blue team (not the Black vs. Blue but the original two)? The mother begged and pleaded to let her daughter back into the show. They've been there twice and got sent home immediately both times. They failed to complete the very first challenge and when they were given a chance to come back, they had to compete against yellow for the most weight lost. Obviously, yellow won.
On to the voting. It would have been hilarious if it was a 12 way tie. Like that'll happen. Right off the bat, everyone started to vote for John. He obviously made a big impact during the short time he was on campus. Just when it seemed like John might win, the votes started to come in for Victoria. It got to the point where it was a tie and Michael had the last deciding vote. I smell something stinky. The producers had to have a hand in this. I wonder if they had to turn in their votes prior to the taping so that the producers could know who was voting which way. That way they could line up the contestants in whatever order they wanted to make it oh, so dramatic. That would make more sense because whoever was the last voter could change his mind right on the spot if he wanted to. That wouldn't have been nice. It would have been a more truthful vote if everyone voted beforehand without knowing the final results.
In the end, Michael voted for Victoria and she won. O'Neal and Sunshine could sympathize with Victoria and her mother. They also lost the very first challenge and knew/understand what it was like to be sent home immediately. It would make sense that they voted for Victoria to stay. Wonder if she just ends up winning the whole thing. Wouldn't that suck for the others?
It's not over yet for the banished contestants. They were given another chance to get back on campus. They had to compete in a stepping challenge. First person to 1,000 steps wins. Miggy and Melissa have a long history of feuding, so of course, right off the bat they both fly way ahead of everybody and they were neck and neck throughout the whole challenge. Melissa pulled ahead of Miggy and was able to keep that lead. She ends up winning. I can imagine just how thrilled everybody was.
The top three players in the stepping challenge were Melissa, Miggy and Lance. Koli made a great point. Lance just left, Miggy's a huge troublemaker and Melissa quit (and she's just plain annoying). Why would anybody be happy about having any of them back?
Melissa and Victoria were given immunity. I was glad for Victoria but felt that Melissa didn't really deserve it. The trainers came in and found out that everybody was back to singles. They were thrilled! Maybe now that everyone is accountable for their own actions, they will step it up. However, this is about the time when alliances will go kaput. Happens every season without fail.
Bob was so adorable. His face was so awww when he saw Victoria walk in. He even cried (or got close to it). Mr. Trainer is in touch with his feelings!
Speaking of alliances going kaput... In one of the one-on-one interviews with Sunshine, she boldly stated "I'm going to be in the final 4. These are just people for me to play with." So cute! Also, Koli turned against Stephanie. He went to Ashley and told her that he thought that Stephanie was throwing the game. She's messing up the weigh-ins on purpose for whatever twisted reason. He got Ashley to believe him. How sad. I refuse to believe for even a nanosecond that Stephanie could be the kind of person who was playing the game all along and hiding behind her innocent-looking face. I felt so bad for her. BUT - it's always the quiet ones that'll get you... isn't it? Once Stephanie found out, she confronted Ashley and Drea. She managed to work things out but I wonder how long that'll last before Koli steps in and messes with their heads again.
At the weigh-in, O'Neal finally walked up the steps one foot at a time. Wow. It was so emotional that Bob cried. It's amazing just how many things we take for granted. We don't even realize how hard something as simple as going up the stairs might be for someone else. Be thankful you have two feet and be thankful that you can walk up the stairs.
Well - the weigh-in come down to having Sam and Stephanie below the yellow line. Koli made a big speech about how Stephanie is playing games, that she's pretty shady, and how he can't keep someone around like that. OH come on!!! We know you'd never vote for Sam. Why not just come out and say "I'm never voting for Sam for obvious reasons" and just leave it at that!? I'd like you a hell of a lot better if you had just said that.
Stephanie got sent home and it was apparent that Ashley felt bad. Yeah - I hope you feel guilty, Ashley. You betrayed a friend and ran right over her when it was convenient. Way to go.
Here's another fun part. All the old contestants from this season came back. They have another chance to get back into the game. Of course, the people who are currently still in it weren't happy to hear that. They've fought this long to stay afloat and now they have to worry about one more competitor. The person that gets to come back to the show will get voted in. It's purely a popularity vote. They can vote for anyone to come back except for your former teammate.
Remember Migdalia? No one can forget her and her mother, Miggy. Yep - even Miggy's back, but Migdalia didn't come back. Her husband went to Iraq and there would be no one at home to watch her kids. Remember the Blue team (not the Black vs. Blue but the original two)? The mother begged and pleaded to let her daughter back into the show. They've been there twice and got sent home immediately both times. They failed to complete the very first challenge and when they were given a chance to come back, they had to compete against yellow for the most weight lost. Obviously, yellow won.
On to the voting. It would have been hilarious if it was a 12 way tie. Like that'll happen. Right off the bat, everyone started to vote for John. He obviously made a big impact during the short time he was on campus. Just when it seemed like John might win, the votes started to come in for Victoria. It got to the point where it was a tie and Michael had the last deciding vote. I smell something stinky. The producers had to have a hand in this. I wonder if they had to turn in their votes prior to the taping so that the producers could know who was voting which way. That way they could line up the contestants in whatever order they wanted to make it oh, so dramatic. That would make more sense because whoever was the last voter could change his mind right on the spot if he wanted to. That wouldn't have been nice. It would have been a more truthful vote if everyone voted beforehand without knowing the final results.
In the end, Michael voted for Victoria and she won. O'Neal and Sunshine could sympathize with Victoria and her mother. They also lost the very first challenge and knew/understand what it was like to be sent home immediately. It would make sense that they voted for Victoria to stay. Wonder if she just ends up winning the whole thing. Wouldn't that suck for the others?
It's not over yet for the banished contestants. They were given another chance to get back on campus. They had to compete in a stepping challenge. First person to 1,000 steps wins. Miggy and Melissa have a long history of feuding, so of course, right off the bat they both fly way ahead of everybody and they were neck and neck throughout the whole challenge. Melissa pulled ahead of Miggy and was able to keep that lead. She ends up winning. I can imagine just how thrilled everybody was.
The top three players in the stepping challenge were Melissa, Miggy and Lance. Koli made a great point. Lance just left, Miggy's a huge troublemaker and Melissa quit (and she's just plain annoying). Why would anybody be happy about having any of them back?
Melissa and Victoria were given immunity. I was glad for Victoria but felt that Melissa didn't really deserve it. The trainers came in and found out that everybody was back to singles. They were thrilled! Maybe now that everyone is accountable for their own actions, they will step it up. However, this is about the time when alliances will go kaput. Happens every season without fail.
Bob was so adorable. His face was so awww when he saw Victoria walk in. He even cried (or got close to it). Mr. Trainer is in touch with his feelings!
Speaking of alliances going kaput... In one of the one-on-one interviews with Sunshine, she boldly stated "I'm going to be in the final 4. These are just people for me to play with." So cute! Also, Koli turned against Stephanie. He went to Ashley and told her that he thought that Stephanie was throwing the game. She's messing up the weigh-ins on purpose for whatever twisted reason. He got Ashley to believe him. How sad. I refuse to believe for even a nanosecond that Stephanie could be the kind of person who was playing the game all along and hiding behind her innocent-looking face. I felt so bad for her. BUT - it's always the quiet ones that'll get you... isn't it? Once Stephanie found out, she confronted Ashley and Drea. She managed to work things out but I wonder how long that'll last before Koli steps in and messes with their heads again.
At the weigh-in, O'Neal finally walked up the steps one foot at a time. Wow. It was so emotional that Bob cried. It's amazing just how many things we take for granted. We don't even realize how hard something as simple as going up the stairs might be for someone else. Be thankful you have two feet and be thankful that you can walk up the stairs.
Well - the weigh-in come down to having Sam and Stephanie below the yellow line. Koli made a big speech about how Stephanie is playing games, that she's pretty shady, and how he can't keep someone around like that. OH come on!!! We know you'd never vote for Sam. Why not just come out and say "I'm never voting for Sam for obvious reasons" and just leave it at that!? I'd like you a hell of a lot better if you had just said that.
Stephanie got sent home and it was apparent that Ashley felt bad. Yeah - I hope you feel guilty, Ashley. You betrayed a friend and ran right over her when it was convenient. Way to go.
Biggest Loser, Season 9 - Episode 10
Home Sweet Home. Everybody went home this week to see if they can resume their routines and still maintain a healthy lifestyle. The cameras followed everybody home and captured their joyous brief return to their crazy lives. Michael's return was hilarious. He had just been home the previous week and was only back on the Ranch for a few days before being booted back to reality. His family greets him (without the anticipation and excitement like all the other families) and tells him that his grandmother hasn't been doing much better. It was almost like a soap opera complete with bad acting and awful ominous music in the background.
If you've watched enough Biggest Loser, you'd know by now that every time the cast goes home, something (or someone) follows them. This time, the surprise was a stationary bike. A DVD announces that they will be biking a marathon to win $10,000. The fastest time wins. However, they would be able to add 5 minutes to someone's time by eating a 100-calorie cupcake. I'm proud of most of them. Many chose not to play the eating game and decided that they wanted to win it with hard work and integrity. A few others - shame on you! Lance was the worst. He ended up eating 17 cupcakes at 1700 calories. I truly believe that if his wife wasn't there to egg him on, he wouldn't have eaten so much. So much for spousal support, Melissa, and I'm talking about the good kind.
It wasn't surprising to see Sam get the most cupcakes against him. He is a fierce competitor and has been on a good streak lately. He is definitely a big threat to everybody. It would be hilarious if he still won the event.
The game begins and everybody is off to a good start. Many of them start blazing right through, wanting to be in the lead right away. Moderation, people! Find a good pace and stick with it all the way through. It's common sense that if you start blazing right away, you will lose the momentum and start slacking off towards the end. That’s never good. Sam starts off very strong with Sunshine and Lance extremely close behind. Ever since Sunshine has won her spot on campus, she has proven herself to be a strong competitor. She can fight with the big boys. With Melissa gone (and she is nowhere near as sweet as Tara), Sunshine has become Tara #2. This is always refreshing to see.
Sam ends up winning 1st place, but there are still the cupcakes stacked up against him. All those cupcakes dramatically dropped Sam from 1st place to 8th place. Several others had cupcakes against them so the roster got all mixed up. What's really funny is that Koli did not finish very strong and he ended up winning 1st place just because no one named any cupcakes against him. Word to the future contestants - if you're going to eat food for someone else, spread it out! Lance - if you had devoted just a few of your 17 cupcakes to Koli instead of shoving most of it on Sam, you would have won 1st place. That's so sad.... for you.
On to the weigh-in... Even with 1700 calories eaten, Lance still lost 8 pounds. Maybe he's the kind of guy who can eat whatever wants and then lose that weight straightaway if he worked out afterwards. I guess anybody can do that. But it wouldn't be advisable to eat 1700 calories worth of cupcakes on any given day. IF he didn't eat all those calories, he might have lost much more than 8.
Blue proved that they could do well at home. All had pretty good numbers, basically identical to what they would lose if they stayed on the Ranch. Bob & Jillian taught them well.
Black needed to lose 26 to win. Stephanie tends to lose just a few on the Ranch (usually between 2 to 7 pounds each week) and she lost 9 while she was at home! 9! That's amazing. She broke through the 200 pound wall and is now 199. Awesome. Ashley must have went along with Stephanie for the ride because when she stepped up on the scale, she found out she lost 10! They did something right, that's for sure.
Black's much needed accomplishment meant Blue's demise. They finally lost a weigh in. And guess who went home? Lance. I knew those cupcakes would come back and bite him in the ass.
Enter Mike, stage left.Is that all you can say Mike!?
Mike: Is she doing any better?
Mom: (cue dramatic music, lips tremble) No. (Sob)
Mike: (somber) Oh.
If you've watched enough Biggest Loser, you'd know by now that every time the cast goes home, something (or someone) follows them. This time, the surprise was a stationary bike. A DVD announces that they will be biking a marathon to win $10,000. The fastest time wins. However, they would be able to add 5 minutes to someone's time by eating a 100-calorie cupcake. I'm proud of most of them. Many chose not to play the eating game and decided that they wanted to win it with hard work and integrity. A few others - shame on you! Lance was the worst. He ended up eating 17 cupcakes at 1700 calories. I truly believe that if his wife wasn't there to egg him on, he wouldn't have eaten so much. So much for spousal support, Melissa, and I'm talking about the good kind.
It wasn't surprising to see Sam get the most cupcakes against him. He is a fierce competitor and has been on a good streak lately. He is definitely a big threat to everybody. It would be hilarious if he still won the event.
The game begins and everybody is off to a good start. Many of them start blazing right through, wanting to be in the lead right away. Moderation, people! Find a good pace and stick with it all the way through. It's common sense that if you start blazing right away, you will lose the momentum and start slacking off towards the end. That’s never good. Sam starts off very strong with Sunshine and Lance extremely close behind. Ever since Sunshine has won her spot on campus, she has proven herself to be a strong competitor. She can fight with the big boys. With Melissa gone (and she is nowhere near as sweet as Tara), Sunshine has become Tara #2. This is always refreshing to see.
Sam ends up winning 1st place, but there are still the cupcakes stacked up against him. All those cupcakes dramatically dropped Sam from 1st place to 8th place. Several others had cupcakes against them so the roster got all mixed up. What's really funny is that Koli did not finish very strong and he ended up winning 1st place just because no one named any cupcakes against him. Word to the future contestants - if you're going to eat food for someone else, spread it out! Lance - if you had devoted just a few of your 17 cupcakes to Koli instead of shoving most of it on Sam, you would have won 1st place. That's so sad.... for you.
On to the weigh-in... Even with 1700 calories eaten, Lance still lost 8 pounds. Maybe he's the kind of guy who can eat whatever wants and then lose that weight straightaway if he worked out afterwards. I guess anybody can do that. But it wouldn't be advisable to eat 1700 calories worth of cupcakes on any given day. IF he didn't eat all those calories, he might have lost much more than 8.
Blue proved that they could do well at home. All had pretty good numbers, basically identical to what they would lose if they stayed on the Ranch. Bob & Jillian taught them well.
Black needed to lose 26 to win. Stephanie tends to lose just a few on the Ranch (usually between 2 to 7 pounds each week) and she lost 9 while she was at home! 9! That's amazing. She broke through the 200 pound wall and is now 199. Awesome. Ashley must have went along with Stephanie for the ride because when she stepped up on the scale, she found out she lost 10! They did something right, that's for sure.
Black's much needed accomplishment meant Blue's demise. They finally lost a weigh in. And guess who went home? Lance. I knew those cupcakes would come back and bite him in the ass.
Biggest Loser, Season 9 - Episode 9
Whoa, I'm pretty behind on keeping up with the Biggest Loser. Guess I will be doing lots today by writing about four episodes (I hope). I'm just glad I kept notes!
From this episode on, I'm going to be keeping track of what seem to be obvious manipulations by the producers. There was once a time when I thought reality shows were actually reality without little (or any) interference. How sad. The Biggest Loser reeks of control by the producers during each episode. Who's still in, who's out and how the teams are divided are definitely deciding factors on how the producers want to go about setting up the challenges and stuff.
Clue #1: This week's pop challenge was a trivia challenge. Granted, trivia challenges are not unheard of but the Biggest Loser thrives on physical activities. Did they switch to a trivia challenge this week particularly to give the Black team a fighting chance? Up against Blue, Sam and the ladies don't have much of a chance of winning at all. This hardly seems fair. If the producers changed game play to help the Black team out, that would mean that Mike's strategy of dividing the strong versus the weak (and casted out his biggest competition in hopes of eliminating him) failed.
The prize for winning the brain teaser challenge was a 1-night stay at a fancy-shmancy hotel with expensive tiny-portioned meals and over-the-top spa treatments. They would also get a gigantic room all to themselves. The losers would end up cleaning the filthy kitchen (how could they eat there!?) and the sweat-covered gym (yuck). Winning the challenge would be a nice perk, but they have to remember that they're there to work hard, to lose weight and to keep sight on the fact that they're giving themselves a better life.
Wouldn't you know it - even after Black was given a fighting chance - Blue still won. That's a shame. It was painful to see them lose and it was even worse to see them have to clean the kitchen and the gym... but hey, at least they're burning off calories while working while Blue loses a day of working out. Let's see how this works out for them.
Dr. Jillian reared her ugly head again during the episode, this time with Ashley. Apparently Ashley and Sherry do not have a healthy mother/daughter relationship and there are some rifts between them. Seriously - what mother/daughter relationship is perfect? Some might be closer than others, but I don't see the need to analyze everybody's relationships and then determine that if they don't "solve" their issues, they wouldn't change their lifestyles effectively. I don't even remember what the issue was with Ashley and Sherry. Something about Ashley having to take care of Sherry, I think. Jillian decided that it was time for Ashley to say "Cut the crap and let me live my life." Granted, I might feel the same way but she is her mother and families take care of each other.
Michael left due to a family emergency. He would be away from the Ranch and might not be working out and eating healthy as he would be if he stayed. We'll see how he copes with the real world while losing weight at the same time. This is an excellent test of whether Michael has changed his habits back at home.
There was a cooking challenge. Curtis Stone shows up again (we have been seeing lots more of him lately) and is acting as judge on taste and calories. There was a long table with many food items. Each team takes turns taking 12 items off the table. Once the item is off, the other team can't use it in their dishes. There was a 30-minute time limit to make an appetizer, main dish and dessert. Wow - that is tough. The winner of this gets a 5 pound advantage. A tough challenge comes with great rewards.
After a bad losing streak, Black wins the cooking challenge and the 5 pound advantage. How awesome for them! Did the producers give them another chance at winning after failing the earlier non-physical activity? I don't think I remember an episode where there were zero physical challenges. Each episode had at least one, I think. If I am right, the producers were probably pushing hard to keep the Black team afloat. My guess is that drama might ensue if more of them stayed to fight against Blue.
Blue has it really bad this week. Michael is gone, they wasted a day at the spa and Black has a 5-pound advantage over them. Even so, this still isn't a time for Black to slack off. They have fewer members on their team which means they all have to work harder to lose their required weight to stay in the same.
I had high hopes for Black at the weigh-in. How could they not lose, right? They worked out, burned extra calories while cleaning and had a huge advantage over Blue. Their results were subpar. I especially felt bad for Stephanie. She loses so little every week. It's like her body isn't giving her a chance at all. Or maybe she just needs to figure out the perfect combination of food and working out to get her body to wake up and respond.
After Black weighed in, it was determined that Blue needed 45 to win. Could they do it? Apparently, they could. They ended up losing 56. They did not only meet the requirements but surpassed it. I was genuinely surprised.
Sherry ended up being eliminated. I wasn't surprised because in the past, the older people have always been the first to go (when people aren't feeling so terribly sorry for you, like they did for Ron. On another note, they knew that Ron didn’t have a fighting chance of winning with his bad knees so what was the harm in keeping him? That would only boost their chances of winning).
Helen is currently the oldest title-holder at 40-something. Will we ever see an elderly Biggest Loser after 50? Only time will tell.
From this episode on, I'm going to be keeping track of what seem to be obvious manipulations by the producers. There was once a time when I thought reality shows were actually reality without little (or any) interference. How sad. The Biggest Loser reeks of control by the producers during each episode. Who's still in, who's out and how the teams are divided are definitely deciding factors on how the producers want to go about setting up the challenges and stuff.
Clue #1: This week's pop challenge was a trivia challenge. Granted, trivia challenges are not unheard of but the Biggest Loser thrives on physical activities. Did they switch to a trivia challenge this week particularly to give the Black team a fighting chance? Up against Blue, Sam and the ladies don't have much of a chance of winning at all. This hardly seems fair. If the producers changed game play to help the Black team out, that would mean that Mike's strategy of dividing the strong versus the weak (and casted out his biggest competition in hopes of eliminating him) failed.
The prize for winning the brain teaser challenge was a 1-night stay at a fancy-shmancy hotel with expensive tiny-portioned meals and over-the-top spa treatments. They would also get a gigantic room all to themselves. The losers would end up cleaning the filthy kitchen (how could they eat there!?) and the sweat-covered gym (yuck). Winning the challenge would be a nice perk, but they have to remember that they're there to work hard, to lose weight and to keep sight on the fact that they're giving themselves a better life.
Wouldn't you know it - even after Black was given a fighting chance - Blue still won. That's a shame. It was painful to see them lose and it was even worse to see them have to clean the kitchen and the gym... but hey, at least they're burning off calories while working while Blue loses a day of working out. Let's see how this works out for them.
Dr. Jillian reared her ugly head again during the episode, this time with Ashley. Apparently Ashley and Sherry do not have a healthy mother/daughter relationship and there are some rifts between them. Seriously - what mother/daughter relationship is perfect? Some might be closer than others, but I don't see the need to analyze everybody's relationships and then determine that if they don't "solve" their issues, they wouldn't change their lifestyles effectively. I don't even remember what the issue was with Ashley and Sherry. Something about Ashley having to take care of Sherry, I think. Jillian decided that it was time for Ashley to say "Cut the crap and let me live my life." Granted, I might feel the same way but she is her mother and families take care of each other.
Michael left due to a family emergency. He would be away from the Ranch and might not be working out and eating healthy as he would be if he stayed. We'll see how he copes with the real world while losing weight at the same time. This is an excellent test of whether Michael has changed his habits back at home.
There was a cooking challenge. Curtis Stone shows up again (we have been seeing lots more of him lately) and is acting as judge on taste and calories. There was a long table with many food items. Each team takes turns taking 12 items off the table. Once the item is off, the other team can't use it in their dishes. There was a 30-minute time limit to make an appetizer, main dish and dessert. Wow - that is tough. The winner of this gets a 5 pound advantage. A tough challenge comes with great rewards.
After a bad losing streak, Black wins the cooking challenge and the 5 pound advantage. How awesome for them! Did the producers give them another chance at winning after failing the earlier non-physical activity? I don't think I remember an episode where there were zero physical challenges. Each episode had at least one, I think. If I am right, the producers were probably pushing hard to keep the Black team afloat. My guess is that drama might ensue if more of them stayed to fight against Blue.
Blue has it really bad this week. Michael is gone, they wasted a day at the spa and Black has a 5-pound advantage over them. Even so, this still isn't a time for Black to slack off. They have fewer members on their team which means they all have to work harder to lose their required weight to stay in the same.
I had high hopes for Black at the weigh-in. How could they not lose, right? They worked out, burned extra calories while cleaning and had a huge advantage over Blue. Their results were subpar. I especially felt bad for Stephanie. She loses so little every week. It's like her body isn't giving her a chance at all. Or maybe she just needs to figure out the perfect combination of food and working out to get her body to wake up and respond.
After Black weighed in, it was determined that Blue needed 45 to win. Could they do it? Apparently, they could. They ended up losing 56. They did not only meet the requirements but surpassed it. I was genuinely surprised.
Sherry ended up being eliminated. I wasn't surprised because in the past, the older people have always been the first to go (when people aren't feeling so terribly sorry for you, like they did for Ron. On another note, they knew that Ron didn’t have a fighting chance of winning with his bad knees so what was the harm in keeping him? That would only boost their chances of winning).
Helen is currently the oldest title-holder at 40-something. Will we ever see an elderly Biggest Loser after 50? Only time will tell.
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