Even Oprah can’t make Biggest Loser very exciting!
Hi Everybody!
Today, Oprah had on Bob and Jillian, the Biggest Loser trainers and of course the topic was weight loss. Well, sort of. Mostly they reviewed a bunch of the contestants about their weight losses and (in some cases) gains. I was really hoping for a ton of information and inspiration but I think the show missed its mark. So anyway, here’s a recap.
Jillian said that she understood what the contestants are going through because at one point she weighed 170 pounds (she’s 5′1″). She said someone intervened and she learned to eat correctly and exercise.
A number of past contestants were on to tell about life after the Biggest Loser. Ali Vincent, last season’s winner, has lost a total of 109 pounds! She now weighs a skinny 125 pounds. She looks soooo amazing! She spends 5 days in the gym for 2 hours a day. She measures and weighs all her food. In other words, once you lose the weight…the story doesn’t end there!
Also, on Oprah was Ali’s mom Bette Sue. She’s lost 75 pounds. Bette Sue is having a tougher time keeping the weight off. Next was Curtis and Mallory–together they’ve lost 200 pounds! Mallory works at the gym as a trainer. Roger Shultz lost 143 pounds. He was able to stop taking medicine for diabetes and now uses diet and exercise to control the disease. He eats 5 to 6 small meals a day. Mark Kruger went from 285 to 189! He admitted that he ate to feel better. Don’t we all? He learned how to share his feelings and show his emotions. This helps him keep the weight off. Jay Kruger Matt’s brother was in the audience and he looks so hot!
Next came a bit of reality. A number of the Biggest Loser’s were shown that weren’t able to keep the weight off. One of them was Matt Hoover. He explained how he was a “fat person” in a skinny body. He’s kept off 100 pounds but has gained back somewhere around 50 pounds. Susy Preston, also a Biggest Loser contestant met and fell in love with Matt on the show. They are now married and have two sons. Susy now has to deal with the “after pregnancy” weight.
Julie Haddon finds ways to maintain her weight. She eats on smaller plates. She makes snack bags with small portions for when she’s not home.. She works out at least 5 times a week. She’ll use the playground equipment to help her work out and this allows her to spend time with her sons.
I was surprised that very little was actually said by Jillian and Bob. They might as well have not been there! At the end of the show, Oprah asked for their best piece of advice. Jillian suggested maked a life list so that you have goals that are right there in front of you. For example, “I want to be able to see my grandchildren grow up.” Bob said that today is the first day of the rest of your life–so start immediately to improve yourself. A very emotional Julie made a special appeal to women to realize that they must take care of themselves. She says that we care for everyone else and don’t make the time to care for ourselves. Now, ain’t that the truth!
I know I wasn’t on the show, but I say take baby steps.–a short walk today, a little longer walk tomorrow, one less cookie today, two less cookies tomorrow! Hopefully after a little while, the good results will win over the bad tendencies!
So tell me what you thought of today’s Oprah!
Bloggergal1
Is Biggest Loser’s Brady a sandbagger?
Hi Everybody!
So why should tonight be any different? The Biggest Loser Families show starts out with Phil crying about his wife leaving. Nothing new there. Seems like someone’s always crying on Biggest Loser.
Trainer Bob cornered Vicky and Brady about their small weight loss amounts. Just as my DH said last week, Bob thinks something is up with Vicky and Brady. He came out and asked them if they were deliberately not losing weight. Of course they say no, but their faces told another story. I’m so proud of my DH!!!! He saw this way in advance. Hey, maybe trainer Bob reads this blog!
The temptation competition was really interesting. The teams had to pick which one of two items were healthier to eat. I really enjoyed this section because it gave practical information and some surprising information as well. Who would have thought that a multi-grain bagel with light cream cheese would have more calories than a ham and egg english muffin? The blue team won the competition and a 40 pound advantage in the upcoming challenge.
To tell you the truth, I debated whether to even comment about the little encounter between Heba and Phil. In my opinion, Heba’s just trying to cause trouble between Phil and his team mates. Well, it didn’t work and Phil’s team rallied around him–enough said.
The challenge had each team holding up the amount of weight they lost while hanging 50 feet in the air. Because the black team lost the temptation competition, they had to hold an extra 40 pounds. That’s a lost of extra weight! After a half hour, one of the four members of the team had to let go. Blue team chose Vicky and Black team chose Michelle. This put a lot of pressure on the remaining team members. Phil couldn’t hold on so he let go leaving Coleen and Renee holding all the weight. FIrst Coleen folded and of course Renee couldn’t hold on herself. This gave the Blue team the advantage of being able to pick one of the other teams members not have their weight count.
Commercial time! Bob promotes Extra gum to his teammates. Last chance workout time! Sweat, pain, sweat pain…well you get the idea!
Finally, it’s time for the weigh-ins. The Blue team chose to have Michelle sit out the weigh-in. She lost 2 pounds. Renee lost 3 pounds. Coleen lost 2 pounds. Phil lost 3 pounds. The Black team is definitely in trouble tonight! Brady is the first of the Blue team to be weighed. He lost 13 pounds this week. So what do you think of that? Is he a sandbagger? Just remember…what goes around comes around! Vicky lost 2 pounds. Heba lost 6 pounds. Amy C. lost 6 pounds.
The Black team must send someone home, however, Renee has immunity because of losing the most weight. Since Michelle and Renee are mother and daughter and will vote together, they have control of this decision. Phil and Coleen both campaign to save themselves, but Phil admits he’s homesick. Renee, Michelle and Coleen all choose Philip to be eliminated. I know this makes a lot of you happy! Me? I’m just happy it wasn’t Coleen.
Don’t forget about the Biggest Loser trainers appearing on Oprah this Thursday. Have a great week!
Love bloggergal1
Which Biggest Loser Breaks a Record?
Hi Everybody,
As we narrow down the number of contestants, I’m enjoying Biggest Loser a little bit more each week. We’re down to eight now–two family couples remain. Will it help Michelle/Renee and Vicky/Brady? Since they haven’t been broken apart that extra vote may be the difference between staying and going. I’m still rooting for Coleen. I liked her and her father from the start and I think she’s done great considering he was one of the first to leave the show.
This week NBC says that one of the contestant’s will break a weight record. Could it be Brady? He hasn’t lost as much weight as he should have considering his size. Could my DH be right and he’s going to pull off a huge weight loss this week? Or will Heba be the one? She’s traditionally lost a large amount of weight each week. Also scheduled for this week’s show is a test of the contestant’s knowledge of calories. So stay tuned on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.!
In other news, the Biggest Loser trainers will be featured on the Oprah show this week. The show is scheduled for Thursday, October 30th. Bob and Jillian will share the weight loss methods that they use to help the contestants on The Biggest Loser. I’m looking forward to this because they really don’t tell you enough about the weight loss on the actual show. We very rarely see what the contestant’s are eating except for when NBC wants to promote one of its sponsors. Want an advance preview? Check out this article on Oprah’s website: http://www.oprah.com/article/omagazine/health_omag_200412_weight .
That’s it for now. Have a great remainder of the weekend. Love Bloggergal1
Biggest Loser Black Team Dominates!
Hi Everyone!
Tonight’s episode started with each of the trainers taking their team to a different kind of workout. Bob took his team to a gym where they teach a Cirque de Soleil-type workout involving hanging from a trapeze or balancing with a ribbon. As you could imagine, this wasn’t easy to do and it wasn’t very pretty looking either!
Jillian took her team to an outward bound-type workout. It involved climbing and overcoming any height fears. Jillian used the experience to help Michelle and her mom Renee bond. Coleen overcame her extreme fear of height–better her than me! More hugs and tears all around.
Next Bob had his team learn how to defend themselves against an attacker. Of course, Heba kicked the attacker’s butt and then in her usual “showoff” way, she pretended to spit on him. Just what you’d expect her to do.
The contestants had their six week check-in with Dr. H. Since everyone is working out and losing weight, Dr. H. was able to give good news all around. I wonder what my “body” age is? I’m thinking its improved since I’m working out so much lately. I’m probably better off not knowing, ya think? If I was told that my body’s age is older than it really is I’d probably go eat a bag of chips!
Tonight’s challenge was a balancing act. The contestants had to balance and walk around on a ring over water. Every complete revolution around the circle resulted in a point. The first team to reach 25 points wins the challenge and a video from home. If a someone falls off, they are out. The only way players can get back into the game is if everyone (on both teams) falls off. Well, very early on, all the blue team falls off. Coleen falls off from the black team leaving Michelle, Renee and Phil. They make it around for 15 points before Michelle falls off. Phil falls off at 16 points. Renee keeps going and going and finishes the challenge herself bringing the victory to the Black Team. Vicky saying that the challenge was lame made her look like a poor loser. I think even Brady was embarassed for her.
The black team’s prize of being able to talk to their families through a live video feed was, of course, emotional and filled with happy tears. Thank goodness all the “sweetness” on Biggest Loser doesn’t result in calorie gain!
The last chance workout had Jillian screaming and contestants crying and sweating. In other words, business as usual. Is it really necessary to take it this far?
Brady and Amy ran to Heba to squeal that Phil tried to influence them and get them to vote her off. The question is who really is “playing” who? Are Amy and Brady using Heba? Heba needs to realize that there are two of them and only one of her.
Finally, it’s time for the weigh in’s. Renee lost 7 pounds. Michelle lost 7 pounds. Coleen lost 8 pounds. Phil lost 7 pounds. The black team lost a total of 29 pounds this week! Amy C. lost 6 pounds. Heba lost 5 pounds. Vicky lost 8 pounds. Amy P. lost 2 pounds. Yikes! What happened there? Brady lost 3 pounds. Bob and his team were shocked. This gave the blue team a total of 24 pounds but remember they have an extra person. Black team wins the weigh in, so the blue team must send home one of its members. Hmm, I wonder who it will be?
Since Brady, Amy C. and Heba are an alliance they all vote to eliminate Amy P. Coleen and Amy P. vote to eliminate Brady and break up the alliance, but of course they don’t have enough votes. Amy P. is out the door. So now here’s an interesting thought brought up by my DH. He thinks that Brady is deliberately NOT losing weight. Since he knew that he had the votes to stay, he didn’t lose as much as he could so that later on he can have a huge weight loss. I’m not sure if that is even possible, but as I said, the DH thinks it is. I guess we shall see.
Amy P. looks really pretty and happy off the ranch and back with her family. Good for her!
Here’s hoping you have a great week! Love bloggergal1
Tonight’s Biggest Loser
Hi Everyone!
Did you catch the Biggest Loser commercial that CBS is running? They let it spill that either Phil or Amy (husband and wife) will be going home tonight. I guess they are trying to increase viewership. Personally, I would have preferred not to know! Also I’m disappointed because I want Heba out of there! Stay tuned….bloggergal1
Biggest Loser Meets Big Brother
Hi Everyone,
I was walking Jeter when I came up with an idea. What if Biggest Loser combined with Big Brother. Think of the fun you could have just coming up with a title…Big Brother Loser? Biggest Loser Brother? Anyway, it would be pretty interesting to have the ability to watch the Biggest Loser contestants 24 hours a day. They wouldn’t be able to eat anything without somebody reporting it on the Internet. Deprivation has a way with people. Eventually they would get rather grumpy and then we’d see some action!
Plus there’s the slop. For those of you who don’t watch Big Brother, there are competitions that decide if the contestants are going to get food for the week or whether they have to eat slop (an oatmeal type concoction that tastes like ewww). Nobody wants to eat slop for a week but it does do wonders with weight control.
When I watch Biggest Loser, I get the feeling the contestants are a bit spoiled. Do they have to do their own laundry, cook their own meals, clean the bathrooms? Forgive me if they do, I haven’t been watching the show that long. They do all those things for themselves on Big Brother. Housework does burn calories. In that same vain, wouldn’t it be interesting if the Biggest Loser “Ranch” was a working ranch? I bet you can lose a lot of weight working on a ranch.
You see a lot of interaction between the Biggest Loser contestants and their trainer but not among themselves. I think it would be interesting to see them all attempting to lose weight while also attempting to get along on the “ranch”. Another interesting twist would be if they had the ability to tempt each other to eat the wrong thing! Lets say Coleen leaves a chocolate bar on Phil’s nightstand. He’s only had slop all week and he wakes up and sitting there looking oh so delicious is a candy bar. Quite the dilemma, hmm? I know that’s mean…but think about the entertainment value!
So back to reality…or reality TV…on this week’s Biggest Loser (used to be) Familes, Dr. H returns to give the contestants an update on their health progress. Stay tuned and have a great week…love Bloggergal1
Every team member for themselves!
Hi Everyone!
This week’s show started with a temptation. After this temptation, the competitors will be divided into two teams–blue and black. The winner of the temptation gets control and chooses the teams. The room was set up with a number of goodies. The winner of the temptation would be the one who eats the most calories. Heba tried to take control immediately by volunteering to eat a donut. She “said” she wanted to keep the teams the same. But not everyone trusted her. Philip wanted control so he ate two peanut butter cups. Amy and Shellay weren’t agreeing with Heba either, so Amy ate a brownie. But Heba ate two donuts. The donuts had the most calories so Heba won the temptation.
Heba divided the teams up as follows: Black Team: Renee, Coleen, Michelle, Philip, and Shellay. Blue Team: Vicky, Amy P., Heba, Amy C. and Brady. What this amounted to was her dividing up the family teams of Philip and Amy and Shellay and Amy. She says this was strategic but I think it was personal. She wanted to get rid of Philip from her team. We’ll see how this plays out for her in the future!
After the trainers met their “new” teams, Michelle and Jillian had a heart to heart. Personally, I think they should get a psychologist on the show. What makes Jillian an expert on relationships, etc.? But anyway, Michelle went through the whole guilt thing blah, blah, blah. Am I the only one that thinks Michelle needs to grow up and get over it? She’s 26 years old–time to tell Mommy and Daddy what she thinks and feels and live her OWN life!
On to tonight’s competition. As promised, this was the Biggest Loser’s longest challenge. The challenge is to walk up and down a hill taking pictures at each end. The kicker of this is that they need to do this for 14 hours! You get a point every time a member of your team takes a picture. If all the members of the team are in the same picture, the team receives an extra point. The Blue Team was behind the eight ball because they have Amy P. and she has bad knees. So they decided instead of having all their members walk together that they would send Brady on his own so he could (hopefully) get extra trips and extra points.
So it was hot and they were tired and they all get together and decide to take a break. I can’t believe they all went to bed! Shellay and Coleen got jittery and were lying around wondering if the other team was out on the hill. Well, this was much ado about nothing because they just sat there and then everyone went back on the hill together. Me? I would have been out on the hill! I have to admit they sure don’t seem to care about winning this game. They do know its a game, don’t they? The winner of the competition was the black team. This gave them a two pound advantage in the weigh in.
The next part is what has become a weekly thing–the Biggest Loser commercial. Bob’s team is all sitting around eating 10 calorie Jello cups. Bob sends for Cool Whip and tells the group how they can add the Cool Whip with only an additional 20 calories. Now run out and buy yourself some Jello and Cool Whip!
At the weigh in, Alison asks Michelle if she wants to stay in the game. Of course, she stays (ho-hum). The weight loss totals: Michelle lost 7 pounds. Renee lost 5 pounds. Phil lost 8 pounds. Coleen lost 5 pounds. Shellay lost 5 pounds. This gave the black team a total of 30 pounds plus the 2 pound advantage for a total of 32 pounds. Amy C. lost 9 pounds. Vicky lost 6 pounds. Brady lost 6 pounds. Amy P. lost 6 pounds. Heba lost 8 pounds giving the Blue Team the win.
The Black Team had to pick someone to go home. I thought it was perfectly obvious that their selection would be Shellay. She’s the weakest link! Oh wait…that’s a different show? Shellay does get eliminated and the video of her after her weight loss was great. She really looks awesome!
I have to admit, I think two hours is too long to watch the show. There seems to be a million commercials and the same things are said over and over and over. If they cut out the repetition, they can easily fit the show into an hour. There isn’t enough happening and frankly, I’m bored out of my mind! So what do you think?
Have a great week! Love Bloggergal1 Read more
Nutrition Advice to Help Us All!
Hi Everyone!
I just attended a meeting with my Blue Thong sisters (panties or sandals–you choose) and we had a speaker that’s a holistic nutritionist. I thought I’d forward to you some of what I learned from her.
She gave us a number of things we could do that would improve our health, help us lose weight, and help us to look younger. One of the things she mentioned was flaxseed oil. It contains an alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an essential fatty acid that appears to be beneficial for heart disease, inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and a variety of other health conditions. Flaxseed oil should always be kept in the refrigerator so it doesn’t become rancid.
Next, she discussed the benefits of vitamin C with bioflavonoids. She suggested taking the vitamin C with the bioflavonoids because they provide more benefits together, but according to my own research, this hasn’t been proven. One thing that is fact is that we are one of only a few types of mammals that cannot produce our own vitamin C. Since it’s so necessary, its very important to do your best to get your daily requirements of vitamin C, either naturally or in pill form. Vitamin C has many benefits including helping to prevent cancer, heart disease, the common cold, stroke, and cataracts.
A specific fruit she mentioned was pomegranates. It’s a highly-touted antioxidant. But does it do all that “they” say? I’ve found information that says yes and information that says maybe. I figure it can’t hurt to eat a fruit made by mother nature! At the meeting, some women mentioned that you can buy pomegranates already cleaned and ready to eat in stores such as Henry’s, Fresh N Easy and Sprouts. Of course, they are more expensive this way. You can Google easy ways to clean this fruit!
One tip she did emphasize was the advantages of fresh fruit and vegetables over juice. Juice sometimes takes the benefits out of the fruit/vegetables so read your labels carefully! Of course, she also mentioned minimizing the amount of refined sugar in your diet. We all know we should do this, but… Also, drink water–nothing new there.
So hopefully you picked up a tip or two! I know I’m going to try the pomegranates. It just makes sense that natural fruit and vegetables have to be good for us because they were here from the very start. Anything processed would be better off left on the grocery shelf. I know, easier said than done!
This week’s Biggest Loser Families will feature the longest challenge ever shown on the show–from sunrise to sundown. It should be very interesting! Tune in on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. and then stop back here and tell me what you thought of this weeks show! Have a great week! Love Bloggergal1
PS Curious about the Blue Thong Society? It’s a sister organization of the Red Hats. The website for the national organization is http://www.bluethongsociety.com/ .
Wednesday’s show – A tearful weigh-in
Hi Everyone!
Wednesday’s show focus was way more positive. Amy went back to the gym making Jillian proud of her. Michelle talked with Jillian about her relationship with her mom. Everyone worked their tails off in the last chance workout.
Bob took his team to Subway. He parked way far from the entrance–an easy, sneaky way to get in a short walk. I use this method a lot, but always make sure it doesn’t compromise your safety! He explained how to check the fat and calorie content of the subs. Bob didn’t mention this but one thing I do when I go to Subway is never using any kind of dressing. This gives you a little extra calorie savings.
On to the weigh-ins. Once again, only one couple will fall below the yellow line and they will need to pick who goes and who stays. Colleen lost three pounds. Michelle and Renee lost nine pounds. Amy and Shellay lost nine pounds. Phil and Amy lost eight pounds. Heba and Ed lost eight pounds, but actually Heba lost eight pounds and Ed lost nothing! Brady and Vicky lost a whopping twelve pounds! This put Heba and Ed below the yellow line. A tough decision awaited them. They decided to send Ed home–lots more crying!
I think its interesting that Ed didn’t lose any weight this week. It shows how every person is different and loses at different speeds. Its so important to make sure your diet and exercise goals focus on you specifically. Not losing is really tough and overcoming a week like that is really, really hard. Of course, we see at the end of the show that Ed was more than able to lose the weight at home. He looks awesome!
Take care everyone! Have a happy, healthy week…love bloggergal1
Biggest Loser Tuesday A Whole Lotta Not Much?
Hi Everyone!
We’re back from our 30th anniversary jaunt. San Diego is such a beautiful place. Neil Diamond was amazing. Now there’s inspiration to stay healthy and in shape!
I just finished watching Tuesday’s Biggest Loser show. The first words that come to mind are tear-jerky and annoying. The show started with Amy and Philip going home for 24 hours. They spent time hiking with their children and hugging and crying. Crying happens a lot on the Biggest Loser doesn’t it? While Amy & Philip were home, Shellay and Amy spent 24 hours with their trainer, Jillian. What were they thinking? She definitely belongs on a Marine Base. I know I could never be on the Biggest Loser because I DO NOT like being yelled at. It’s why I could never play a sport or join a military unit. You yell at me, I shut down–plain and simple! Meanwhile back at the ranch the rest of the couples (and Coleen) were business as usual.
The challenge this week involved hanging from a chain/bar while balancing on another. It started out easy because they were doing it in a tank full of water, but then slowly but surely the water started draining and hanging on got harder and harder. The end was a showdown between Amy and Vicky. The prize was a package from home along with a family VIP vacation at Universal Studios. Both of the women wanted it bad, but Vicky won. That mother fighting for something for her “youngin” kicked in! Vicky was able to pick another couple to get the package from home and she picked Amy so all’s well that ends well, ya know?
The next part of the show was a Jillian screaming fest. I’ll be honest–I fast forwarded. I just can’t stand to listen to her scream and threaten the contestants. Other than a little time that Bob spent talking with Vicky about her exercise routines (she has bad knees) and then Vicky in turn talking to her hubby about having to work out more than him–nothing else to report.
So is that all this season is going to hold? Crying and yelling and not much else? What about more nutrition guidance? What about ways to exercise that aren’t just pain sessions? What about some real compassion from the coaches? Is it me, or does Jillian always look like she’s BS’n when she finally makes a “breakthrough”?
So since this is a two show week, we get to see who lost what and falls below the yellow line tonight at 9:00 p.m. Again, there will be only one couple below the yellow line and they will have to choose which one of them will leave and which one of them will stay. I have to admit, I’m still rooting for Coleen–especially since she’s all alone now. How about the rest of you? Stay tuned…love Bloggergal1