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(Original Air Date 9/29/2009)

This week starts out with a crazy bang…

Individual Challenge:

The theme of  the week was “Would You Rather”. The contestants were given the choice of having a 2 lb advantage at the weigh-in if they would be willing to give up their training with Jillian and Bob for the whole week.  The teams could step forward if they were willing to take Alison up on the offer and only one team would be given the advantage. No one was dumb enough to give up their trainers for only 2 lbs UNTIL Tracey did step up – much to the surprise of her poor partner Coach Mo.

Everyone was shocked and trainers Jillian and Bob were completely ticked off at Tracey that she would throw out the training for 2 measly lbs. It was like a slap in the face! They (Bob) kept their cool and had a real heart to heart with her to be sure that she understood how important these choices were that she was making.

Temptation Challenge:

Alison hit the contestants up with a temptation, asking them “would you rather control your diet or the game”?

The winner of the temptation would be able to choose one person from each team to represent the team weight loss for the week.

The contestants were faced with small cupcakes worth 100 calories each. Whoever at the most cupcakes would win the temptation. Only two people ate any cupcakes – Antoine with 2 and TRACEY (shocker!) at 4 cupcakes!

The contestants were shocked and Jillian and Bob were completely thinking she was crazy!

Trainer Tip:

Jillian Michaels (trainer): To improve your balance, stand with one leg raised on a sofa cushion. Move a medicine ball from side to side and overhead while balancing on the one foot. Once this is mastered, try the same thing with your eyes closed.

Team Challenge:

The winning team of the challenge would be granted immunity at the weekly weigh-in.

The teams had to carry a total of 500 lbs to the top of an inclined ramp and the first to do so would raise their colored flag at the end of the ramp.

The teams could choose between carrying two 5 lbs weights that were the furthest distance from the ramp or one 25 lb weight that was close to the ramp.  The teams were pretty much equally divided in their choice of weights.

The green team of Allen and Abby won with their choice of the two 5 lb weights.

Last Chance Workout:

The last chance workout was grueling as usual!

Everyone made a point to suck up to Tracey because of the decision that she would make as to whose weight would count at the weigh-in.

Weigh-In Results: (pounds lost this week, total lbs lost to date, current weight)

Daniel: 6 lbs, 25 lbs total, 287 lbs
Shay: 6 lbs, 39 lbs total, 437 lbs (*was chosen by Tracey)
Amanda: 5 lbs, 15 lbs total, 235 lbs (*was chosen by Tracey)
Rebecca: 7 lbs, 31 lbs total, 248 lbs
Rudy: 12 lbs, 54 lbs total, 388 lbs (*was chosen by Tracey)
Dina: 3 lbs, 19 lbs total, 234 lbs
Antoine: 11 lbs, 37 lbs total, 330 lbs
Sean: 6 lbs, 39 lbs total, 405 lbs (*was chosen by Tracey)
Liz: 4 lbs, 24 lbs total, 243 lbs (*was chosen by Tracey)
Danny: 4 lbs, 40 lbs total, 390 lbs
Allen: 4 lbs, 33 lbs total, 292 lbs
Abby: 5 lbs, 31 lbs total, 216 lbs
Julio: 7 lbs, 39 lbs total, 368 lbs
Coach Mo: 1 lbs, 29 lbs total, 326 lbs
Tracey: 11 lbs, 21 lbs total, 217 lbs (*was chosen by Tracey)

Biggest Loser for the Week:
Tracey had the biggest percentage loss for the week, BUT no one clapped during her 11 lb loss weigh-in at all – due to the disgust everyone was feeling at the crazy choices and decisions that she made this week.

Lowest Teams for the Week:
Antoine & Sean
Daniel & Shay

Eliminated Contestant/Team:
Antoine & Sean

Sean’s transformation since leaving the ranch:

Sean has lost 120 lbs since leaving the Biggest Loser Ranch and is doing awesome at home with wife and kids. Go Sean!

Antoine’s transformation since leaving the ranch:

Antoine has lost 105 lbs since leaving the Biggest Loser Ranch and has been hitting the gym hard. Go Antoine!

He said that when he started with The Biggest Loser he had 3 goals in mind: 1. To be healthy 2. To be happy 3. To be able to one day have a family – Surprise!!! The contestant that Alexandra mentioned having a crush on WAS ANTOINE! WooHoo! They are very happy together and can imagine a future together.

Next Week on the Show:

Next week teasers allude to the difficult time that Tracey is having faced with the repercussion of her actions this week. Everyone pretty much seems to hate her and to top it off the doctor tells her that she cannot do any exercise due to her injury.

Stay tuned!

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(Original Air Date 9/22/2009)

Week 2 is notorious for being a difficult week for the Biggest Loser contestants on the show. In general, usually week one brings big loss across the board and week 2 slows down quite a bit on the heels of those big numbers.

Alison Sweeney offers the contestants a challenge this week…if the combined team can lose 150 lbs total, no one will be eliminated. If they do not meet this requirement, 2 people would be leaving the ranch.

“The universal truth to weight loss…this is the foundation of any program no matter what it might be…is calories in, calories out.” ~ Jillian Michaels

Tracey returns to the ranch after being in the hospital and seems nervous but ready to get down to business with her teammate Coach Mo.

All the contestants seem to be upset with Julio because of his lack of effort.

Trainer Tip:

Jillian Michaels (trainer): Keep a food journal and write everything down. This will help you to be accountable for the food and beverage choices that you are making throughout the day/week. It’s been reported that keeping a food journal can double your weight loss.

Healthy Food Challenge With Curtis Stone:

World class chef Curtis Stone teaches the contestants some healthy cooking tips that will aid them in a challenge. If they can answer 5 of 8 questions that Alison presents to them correctly, they will win a 15 lb advantage at the weigh-in.

Healthy Food and Cooking Tips:

1. Know your healthy portion sizes (he recommends The Biggest Loser Nutritional Scale to measure)
2. Use a healthy cooking method: bake, poach, steam, broil or grill
3. Be aware of the salad dressing/topping when eating out – this can be more calories than a different option
4. Pasta calories can be cut in half by substituting vegetables – for ex, zuccinni
5. Soda: way too much sugar to be consuming – give up soda!
6. Eat healthy snacks – incorporate protein because it refuels your muscles, helps increase your fullness and helps to maintain your blood sugar level
7. Eat 3 meals and 2 snacks throughout the day

*The contestants did win the challenge and the 15 lb advantage which meant that they now had to lose a total of 135 lbs instead of the original 150 lbs.

Curtis Stone Cooking Tip:

For a healthy sweet, grill or broil chunks of pineapple on a skewer and eat with some natural yogurt.

Group Challenge:

The contestants compete in a challenge whereby the have to walk across the water from raft to raft on planks that get more narrow as they proceed through 4 stages across the water. Everyone must make it across the planks and if one person falls in the water, the contest would be over.

Each stage has a prize:

• Raft 1: 5 lb weight advantage
• Raft 2: 5 lb weight advantage
• Raft 3: phone calls from home
• Raft 4: 10 lb weight advantage

*The contestants completed the challenge winning all the prizes for a total of 20 additional lbs won. They now only needed to lose a total of 115 lbs to keep everyone at the ranch! They also each enjoyed teary phone calls with their loved ones.

Last Chance Workout:

Bob and Jillian both discuss and agree that Julio needs some pressure from them as he’s not been working as hard as he should be.

“The gym here is almost like a truth serum. I can beat on them and beat on them and beat on them to the point that all of their defenses are down…and then everything that they’ve been stuffing down comes flooding up.”
~ Jillian Michaels

Weigh-In Results: (pounds lost this week, total lbs lost to date, current weight)

Daniel: 7 lbs, 19 lbs total, 293 lbs
Shay: 16 lbs, 33 lbs total, 443 lbs
Amanda: 4 lbs, 10 lbs total, 240 lbs
Rebecca: 6 lbs, 24 lbs total, 255 lbs
Rudy: 14 lbs, 42 lbs total, 400 lbs
Dina: 8 lbs, 16 lbs total, 237 lbs
Antoine: 8 lbs, 26 lbs total, 341 lbs
Sean: 11 lbs, 33 lbs total, 411 lbs
Liz: 10 lbs, 20 lbs total, 247 lbs
Danny: 12 lbs, 36 lbs total, 394 lbs
Allen: 10 lbs, 29 lbs total, 296 lbs
Abby: 11 lbs, 26 lbs total, 221 lbs
Julio: 19 lbs, 32 lbs total, 375 lbs
Coach Mo: 9 lbs, 28 lbs total, 327 lbs
Tracey: 10 lbs, 10 lbs total, 228 lbs (returned from the hospital, original weight was 238 lbs)

Biggest Loser for the Week:
No Biggest Loser this week because of the team challenge.

Lowest Team for the Week:
No lowest team this week because the team met the weight challenge.

Eliminated Contestant:
No one was eliminated this week because the team met the weight challenge.

Next Week on the Show:

Next week the contestants will be faced with an individual decision. They can choose to give up the trainers for the week in order to have complete control at the week’s weigh in. By the teaser, it looks as though someone did choose this as Bob & Jillian do not look happy!

Stay tuned!

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(Original Air Date 9/15/2009)

The Biggest Loser Season 8 Premiere did not disappoint last night.

Teasers leading up to it had hinted at some of the contestant’s stories and the theme of Season 8 being that of “Second Chances”.

Alison Sweeney continues to be the hostess for the show and is looking fabulous as usual!

The 15 contestants arrived by bus and met the surprise 16th person who was Daniel from Season 7.
They then proceeded to jump into the first challenge which was a 1 mile race. The was to be the final mile of the marathon that the Season 7 contestants had run at the end of last season…a hand-off of sorts.

Most of the contestants had quite a difficult time with the race and walked their way across the finish line. Two of them (Coach Mo and Tracey) had to be taken to the hospital and Tracey, in particular seemed to be in a very bad situation as they took her away in the ambulance.

Daniel came in first place at just over 14 minutes and as the winner he would begin the process of choosing teammates. (as well as immunity for both him and his partner)

Here is the breakdown of the teams and a bit about each of the contestants:

Team Orange:
Daniel – was on Biggest Loser Season 7 and had come back to finish his weight loss efforts – he won the competition and choose Shay as his partner (they had in common that they were both the heaviest to weight in for their season). Daniel’s starting weight was 312 lbs.
Shay – is the heaviest contestant in the history of The Biggest Loser weighing 476 lbs.  She had grown up in a rough home to a mother that was an addict. From the age of 5-6 until 18 she had lived in various foster homes.

“For me I don’t give up…that’s always been my motto…don’t give up, but the one thing I’ve never tried is to work on me.” ~ Shay

Team Green:
Allen – age 49, Firefighter/EMT; starting weight: 325 lbs
Abby – age 35, teacher, Abby had a very sad story to tell and I think most of America must have been weeping for her. In 2006 her husband and 2 children were killed in a car accident and her second chance is about figuring out how to live her life now. Abby’s starting weight is 247 lbs.

“It was by the grace of God that I wasn’t in the van and so I have to believe that I am here for something way bigger.” ~ Abby

Team Pink:
Amanda – age 19, Patient Care Technician; starting weight:  250 lbs
Rebecca – age 25, Nanny; starting weight: 279 lbs.

“I’m sick and tired of being the girl with the pretty face.” ~ Rebecca

Team Blue:
Rudy – age 31, Engineer; starting weight: 442 lbs
Dina – age 28, custodian; starting weight: 253 lbs.

Team Red:
Antoine – age 23, Health Insurance Agent; starting weight: 367 lbs.
Sean – age 29, Youth Pastor; starting weight 444 lbs.

Team Brown:
Liz – age 49, Salesperson; starting weight: 267 lbs.
Danny -age 39, Land Surveyor and Musician; starting weight: 430 lbs.

Team Black:
Alexandra – age 20, Student; starting weight: 309 lbs.
Julio -age 40, Mortgage Loan Officer; starting weight: 407 lbs.

Team Purple:
Coach Mo – age 56, Youth Mentor; starting weight: 355 lbs.
Tracey – age 37, Homemaker; starting weight: She was taken to the hospital and we don’t know her weight yet

Unlike past seasons, trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels, will be working together to train all of the contestants as opposed to splitting them up into teams that compete against each other.  Wow! This means they are getting a double whammy from the training duo!

“We are having contestants that are bigger than we’ve ever had before, because that’s what’s going on in America right now.” ~ Bob Harper

Good quotes from the workout room:

“There are heroes in this room.” ~ Bob Harper

Jillian to Shay as she struggles on the ladder machine:
“This is a story in your head. None of it is real. All you have to do is change your mind.” ~ Jillian Michaels

Dr. Huizenga is back as the leading physician for the 8th season of Biggest Loser and the contestants head to the California Health and Longevity Institute for a second round of thorough medical testing. This season they are doing a lot of extra tests for the benefit of obesity research which I think is very cool.

One highlight of the testing worth mention was when contestant Sean was faced with the news that he had Type II diabetes. Sean did not know this and was completely surprised (and motivated) by this news.

Tips from the show:

1. Alison Sweeney (hostess): Alison cooks healthy meals at home for herself and family instead of eating out at restaurants.

2. Bob Harper (trainer): Bob runs to the gym instead of driving in his car. (good for health and environment)

3. Jillian Michaels (trainer): Jillian makes sure that she stays hydrated (with water) regardless of where she is or what she is doing.

Weigh-In Results: (pounds lost)

Daniel: 12 lbs
Shay: 17 lbs
Amanda: 6 lbs
Rebecca: 18 lbs
Rudy: 28 lbs
Dina: 8 lbs
Antoine: 18 lbs
Sean: 22 lbs
Liz: 10 lbs
Danny: 24 lbs
Allen: 19 lbs
Abby: 15 lbs
Alexandra: 13 lbs
Julio: 13 lbs
Coach Mo: 19 lbs
Tracey: in the hospital, did not weigh-in

Biggest Loser for the Week:
Allen & Abby (Team Green): 5.94% weight loss

Lowest Team for the Week:
Alexandra & Julio (Team Black): 3.63% weight loss

Eliminated Contestant:
Alexandra:

Alexandra’s Video After Elimination:

“I’m going to prove to you that success is not determined by the number of days you see on the ranch. Success is the determination that you have in your heart.” ~ Alexandra

Alexandra’s transformation since leaving the ranch:

She has lost 60 lbs since leaving the Biggest Loser Ranch and plans to reach her goal weight for the Biggest Loser finale. She gives us a teaser that she has a crush on one of the contestants from the show and leads us to believe that we will find out that info later. Go Alexandra!

Next Week on the Show:

The contestants will be faced with a group challenge. If together they lose a total of 150 lbs, no one will be eliminated. If they do not reach this goal, 2 contestants will go home.

Stay tuned!