Do Shake Weights Work?

April 28, 2011 by Leave a Comment

 Ok so I asked (on the Fitness Know How Headquarte’s page ) if Shake Weights work, and I got 9 “Hell No’s”, 1 “It is unlikely”, 1 “Probably not” and a “What’s a Skake Wake”. That is basically 11 no’s and zero yes’s. So we know this. Shake Weights Don’t Work!!!!

But here’s the deal. I looked up Shake Weights online. In an article in the NY Times, August of 2010, they stated that Shake Weight’s had surpassed $40 Million in sales. That’s $40 million in 8 months. That’s over 2 million sold.

If a fitness program that doesn’t work generates over $40 million in sales in eight months, how do we….

as fitness professionals educate the people we come in contact with in a way that prevents them from investing in fitness prgrams that dont work?

as consumers of fitness, nutrition, and weight loss products and programs stop setting ourselves up for failure by wasting time and money on things that don’t work?

If a fitness program that doesn’t work can generate $40 million, then what are the programs that we offer (that do work) worth?

If you are thinking about starting a new fitness program, what are you willing to pay, if you knew that it would work?

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Biggest Loser Week 17

April 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

This was week two of Singles. There are no more teams, it’s everyone for themselves.

They also shortend the show to one hour. I think that’s because there are only seven people left and the team challenges are over or they needed the two hours for the Premier of “The Voice”. The theme for this episode was “Favorite Week”.

To start out the show brought back two of the favorite contestants from previous seasons. They brought back Ali, who was the first lady to be The Biggest Loser.  They also brought back Sam, who was the first person to leave the show, because he had reached his goal weight. Both Ali and Sam (who is now a personal trainer), took everyone through a workout.

The next favorite thing from that past was a challenge. Each person would have to pull a car on a race track a quarter of a mile. They also brought back Tara, another previous contestant who is known for winning a lot of challenges. They would have to compete against her. The prize for the winner was this weeks integrated marketing commercial.

  1.  A VIP trip to Richmond Int. Speedway for a NASCAR race.
  2. The winners picture on a Wheaties box
  3. $5000 cash!

    4. 

The Biggest Loser brought to you by NASCAR and Wheaties!

Anyway Tara, Miss “I win every challenge”, pushed hard at the end to beat Rulon! She does really rock at these challenges.

Then last chance workout.

Rulon was not too into this workout and Cara noticed and went to find out what was up. Rulon said that he came to the show to find what he had lost; his life, his health, himself. He also said that he had found all of that and he was shifting his focus on maintaining his success in his real life. Cara, agreed and that was that.

Then it was time for the weigh in.

Before the weigh it Rulon asked to speak to everyone. He said his time on The Biggest Loser Ranch was done and he was leaving the show. He really didn’t give a very good explanation. I guess this the first time that someone has quit the show, that hadn’t reached their goal weight.

Here’s why he left!

Rulon is not a strong or mature person. Just a couple weeks ago he was sneaking whole bags of chips because “He felt like he deserved a treat”. That is not the way to be prepared for the real world. He didn’t reach his goal. He’s a quitter. He got beat by a much smaller lady in a challenge that he should have easily won. He was embarrassed by that and he wanted off of the show.

I don’t think Rulon developed the skills to succeed on his own. I predict he will put a ton of the weight that he lost back on…if not all of it.

At the weigh in both Irene and Kaylee fell below the yellow line. Irene lost 3 pounds to put herself at a total of 101 pounds lost. Kaylee gained 2 pounds, and she’s been all over the map gaining and losing weight. For that I think she should have been voted off. Irene is the Biggest Loser so far this season, and Kaylee isn’t really losing any weight over the last month.

I don’t know if everyone else agreed with my but Kaylee was voted off!

With both Kaylee and Rulon gone only five people are left…including my pick Hannah (but her sister Olivia is coming on strong too)!!!

Now for the quotes of the week

“I have a voice, I know who I am”

“I’m worth this, I want something good for myself”

“I want this for me”

“I’m ready to embrace life”

“I’m in the drivers seat, it’s my decision, my life”

“Nothing is holding me back, not even myself”

 

See you next week…

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Biggest Loser Week 16

April 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment

A lot of what happened this week was very similar to last week.

Everyone is still in New Zealand, but they moved from Auckland to Queenstown. I must say Queenstown is amongst the most beautiful places that I’ve ever seen in the world.

Now I really, really want to go!

So the show was still a big advertisement for New Zealand tourism, but it was a little more subtle than last week. And it was so beautiful that I really didn’t care. They still focused on the same issue. Over coming your fears.

I’ve come to the understanding that at the very core of obesity is fear. The fear is deep rooted and is emotional and psychological in nature. It is way beyond my training in fitness and beyond my scope of expertise. For obese people the fear seems to be rooted in a lack of confidence and insecurity. They seem to find comfort in their obesity at the same time they are tourtured by it.

But the uncertainty of who they’ll become once (or if) they lose the weight seems to trump the tortured life of being obese. So they stay fat.

Until the emotional, psychological issues, and the core reasons behind the fear are addressed, their chances at successfully losing weight is minimal. The proven science that support both exercise and nutrition will fail them.

The path to successful weight loss begins within one’s mind. And the body will follow.

Now this is hard for me to admit. I’m a fitness person, and I know quite a bit about nutrition. My answer for clients who’ve wanted to lose weight was always “Eat what I tell you to eat, keep a food journal, and do the exercises that I tell you to do”. To me it was always simple. Because it is indisputable that proper nutrition and exercise will work, every time, it’s simple.

But I don’t believe that it’s simple anymore. At least not for the obese.

Their journey begins within their own mind. And they’ve got a lot of work to do, and a lot to accept about who they are and who they’ll become if they address those issues.

Then and only then will the proven science of proper nutrition and exercise work for them!

OK back to the show

The only changes this week were that all of the teams have been dissolved. The contestants now are competing as individuals. So the two that lose the least amount of weight will “fall below the yellow line”.  And the rest of the contestants will have to vote one of them off.

Oh Yeah! Brett Hoebel is back!!!

As I said earlier this episode used the beautiful scenery and outdoor adventure of New Zealand to challenge everyone’s fears. Some of them rock climbed,  some bungee jumped, and some did a “Canyon Swing”.

There was one challenge and the winner would earn immunity and a helicopter ride over Milford Sound. They all had to River Board for a half mile on a river that had some pretty good rapids.  Olivia won and she took her sister Hannah on the trip. Again it was super beautiful.

The other big theme this week was that Hannah (remember I picked her to win the whole thing last week), was stressing about not being on a team. She had some doubts about whether she could do well on her own. She was scared that she’d “fall below the yellow line” and face elimination. She was afraid to go home. She said that she wasn’t ready, that she still needed help.

What up with my pick stressing out and losing so much confidence in one week?

Any way it wasn’t unwarranted

At the weight in Hannah came in second to last, losing only 3 pounds. And Ken came in last, losing a total of 4 pounds. Remember it’s not total weight loss that they measure, it’s a percentage of total weight. Since Ken weighs more than Hannah, his 4 pounds was a lower percentage than her 3 pounds.

They both had some very c0mpelling reasons to stay on the show. So it was pretty difficult to guess who would be voted off. Obviously I was hoping they’d vote Ken off, because Hannah’s my girl!!!

In case of a tie Ken would be going home since he came in last at the weigh in. So Ken only needed three votes to lose, but Hannah would need four votes. There were are couple of obvious picks. Austin voted for Hannah, because Ken is his dad. Olivia voted for Ken, because Hannah is her sister…but what would happen next?….

I’ll tell you…

Kaylee voted for Hannah, only because Ken had been on Kaylee’s teams for most of the show. Then Irene voted for Ken…the tension was mounting!

Jay then voted for Ken, and he really didn’t have any great reason. But his vote meant that Ken was eliminated.

WHEW!!! My girl, Hannah, is still on the show.

Now for the quotes of the week

“I can do anything, there are no limits for me”

“Fear has gripped my life for many, many years. It’s such a debilitating thing, you don’t realize it until you’re not afraid any more”

“I’m ready to live my life the way that I’ve always wanted to live it. I’ve always been too scared, too broken, too fat to do it”

“It feels good to be strong, it just feels good. We’ve earned our life back”

“There are great things ahead for me”

“Go all out”

“It’s so empowering and so motivating to me. I’ve proven to myself that I can do this on my own. I’m strong and I don’t need anyone else. I can do this”

“It truly is a whole new life for me”

 

See you next week…

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Biggest Loser Week 15

April 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment

This weeks episode got off to a really interesting start.

The show started out at last weeks weigh-in. As soon as the weigh-in was over Allison announced to everyone that they’d all be going to New Zealand for two weeks. That was super cool, but what it really turned out to be was a big advertisement for New Zealand and Air New Zealand.

But it seemed to work because New Zealand is absolutely beautiful, and now I really want to go!!!

I will say this, the producers of the show are great at integrating marketing into every episode. In fact they are genius at it. They are probably rolling in cash!

Anyway back to the show. From an exercise and weight loss stand point this show wasn’t too interesting. The focus was on adventure, and over coming fear and obstacles. The human interest aspect of this show was great!

The first thing that everyone did was to jump off of the Sky Tower (Which is the tallest building in the southern hemisphere). It wasn’t really a bungee jump, it was more of a cabley, bungee, free space, really fast elevator type of jump.  Two interesting things happened during this part of the show.The first was that Rulon, Jay and Moses all exceeded the weight limit so they’d wouldn’t be able to do it. It was a reminder to each of them, of how much of a negative impact being obese can have on every aspect of your life. Start making your changes today!

And second, Ken is deathly afraid of heights. He opted not to do it…until Bob (trainer Bob), shared with Ken, that he also was deathly afraid of heights. It took some coaxing but Bob finally convinced Ken to do it if Bob would do it. It was obvious that they both were truly afraid of heights. But you could see and feel how much more afraid Ken was. But he faced his fear and jumped. Ken faced his greatest fear and over came it.

Lesson learned! What ever it is you are afraid of, face it!! If you are overweight and you are afraid of who or what you’ll become if you lose the weight, figure it out, be honest with yourself, face it and change it.

Another interesting twist in the show was that Moses’ father went to school in Auckland, New Zealand. His father (one of about 10 kids) who is from Tonga was choosen by his parents as the only child they’d send off to school. It is that choice and his fathers education that resulted in Moses and his daughter, Kaylee who is also on the show, ending up living in the US. Now Moses has come full circle back to New Zealand. It really was very emotional and inspiring to watch.

I can’t imagine that the producers had the foresight to see this coming. I think they just lucked out, and it made for excellent television.

Like I said before the workouts were pretty basic. They worked out outside doing some typical boot camp style workouts.  They showed them going through one workout. The only thing that stood out was that Ken really called out Cara, the trainer. He didn’t think she had what it took to help the green team. He didn’t think that she was as good as Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels. They got into a major argument over it.

But I will say this Cara did what he asked, she changed up the workouts, from her typical boxing. She really got in his face and pushed him.

There was a team challenge. A 5k. They’ve already done this twice before on the show. Except this time instead of being on a treadmill, they’d actually have to run over a variety of terrain. They had to run on a dirt road, down a hill, in a stream, then climb up a tall and steep sand dune, then finish by running along the beach. The scenery was beautiful, but it did look really difficult.

The winning team would win a helicopter ride over (a part of) New Zealand, and then have lunch on an island. The Blue team of Olivia, Irene, and Moses won. In a show of super awesome sportsmanship and decency, Irene and Olivia decided to give up the helicopter ride so that Kaylee could go with her father. Remember Moses and Kaylees’ family have a history in Auckland, New Zealand. That decision restored my faith in humanity! OK, it wasn’t that dramatic, but it was a super nice thing to do….

After the last chance workout Cara pulled Ken aside and took him through a bonus workout. And she was really in his face an pushed him hard.

I was curious about what would happen at this weigh in, just because of the travel and all of the distractions.

At the weigh in the Blue team lost a total of 5 pounds, the Black team lost a total of 9 pounds, and the Green team lost a total of 10 pounds. Some people did seem to struggle with the travel, Moses (blue) lost zero pounds, Jay (black) gained 2 pounds, and Kaylee (green) gained 4 pounds. Kaylee decided a couple of weeks ago that she was ready to go home. Her results have been terrible since then so she could be right. But because her team did so good, and the black team did well too both Kaylee and Jay were safe.

So the Black and Green team would be voting someone off of the blue team. Irene is immune because she lost the most weight on the blue team. So it’d be either Olivia or Moses.

During the discussion over who to vote for, Olivia brought up the reasons she was on the show. She’d been married for 15 years and is 35 years old. She wanted to lose the weight so she can start a family. OK done deal, Moses is gone! Moses said he wanted and needed to stay on the show. But he has a wife and two children and his family brings him the greatest joy in the world. And he would never deny Olivia that opportunity. He asked that everyone vote him off.

And with the exception of Kaylee, his daughter, everyone did.

During this episode I started to wonder about this seasons outcome. Everyone who is left is losing an amazing amount of weight. They are all working hard. They all seem to be very nice people and have incredible reasons for being on the show. It’s hard to see any of them go at this point. Who is going to win this thing?

Here’s my prediction! Hannah will be this years Biggest Loser!!!

Here is my thinking. In her “interviews”, she seems to have figured out the process. She seems the most confident. She is fully engaged in every aspect of what it takes to lose weight. She already is the leanest, and she still continues to lose significant weight each week. She is a former college volleyball player, so she’s got a competitive edge. She is a very likable person.

That’s my pick. Make sure you leave your pick and your comments at the bottom of this post!

Now for the quotes of the show

“Now I’m one of those annoying people who always us the stairs, and it feels awesome.”
“I never want to look back”

“We’ve lived in a world of no and cant’s and now my life is going to be filled with yes’s and cans”

“It feels like a truly new life and it feels amazing”

“It’s not always about being first, it’s about finishing”

“You deserve everything”

“I will never allow my weight to hold be back in anything that I do”

“I’m free, I’m able to do what ever I chose to do”

 

Good stuff…see you next week!

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Biggest Loser 2011 Week 14

April 6, 2011 by Leave a Comment

This will be the shortest Post so far, and that’s because this was a relatively uneventful episode.

I think this was by design. Because there have been several really good shows and it was really getting good. It feels to me like the producers pulled back the drama a little bit so they can start building it back for the final episodes of the season.

The show started right off with a challenge. The teams had fifteen minutes to place a flag one mile from the start point. Which ever team placed the flag closest to 1 mile would win a night out in Hollywood. The other three teams would have to clean the entire campus.

The black team won, so Rulon, Jay and Hannah all went out for a night on the town. They made some great choices at dinner. There was one interesting scene where a guy that was interested in Hannah, introduced himself and they spent some time talking. It was pretty motivating to see how much confidence Hannah had in herself now compared to before the show. It’s interesting to watch the psychological improvements that occur with weight loss. In fact, those are the true and meaningful benefits of being fit.

They showed one scene of the losers cleaning the kitchen as the black team was getting ready to go out.

The overall emphasis of the show was on Courtney, the only person left on the red team. If she lost the weigh in then she would automatically be eliminated. Apparently her trainer, Brett, would also be off of the show. And there was a real concern on her part, because she’s been going through a plateau for the last couple weeks.

Other than that, nothing exciting happened during this episode!

Turns out Courtney’s concerns were warrented. She only lost one pound and was immediately eliminated. Brett is gone too!!!

But here is something that is really important, and I think that you can derive a lot of inspiration and motivation from. When she was eliminated she weighed 231lbs. When they went back to chekc in with her, she was down to 210lbs. She figured out how to breack through her plateau and continue to loss weight (in the real world), and if she can do it; so can you!!!

This show did have a some great quotes, and here they are…

“There are ways to nurture and reward yourself that don’t involve eating a whole bag of chips”

“Find ways of coping with life’s hardships that aren’t destructive”

‘In the real world all of that stuff is going to be there, I want to teach you how to consume it in a healthy way”

“Believe in yourself, and let others believe in you too”

“I Finally make a change and I stuck to it, and look where it’s gotten me”

“I’m a beutiful person and I’m learning that”

“I’m constantly worring about other people and I have to take time for me”

“I Feel the best I’ve ever felt in my whole life”

“I’m going to keep going everyday, that’s all you can do”

“I took the first step and followed my dreams, now I’m going to fully live my life with health and happiness”

“You do not need to be on The Biggest Loser to lose weight. All you have to do is believe in yourself and trust the process!”

 

See you next week….

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Biggest Loser 2011 Week 13

March 31, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I have to say that at first this episode seemed like a real let down.

That’s probably because last weeks show was so good. But as I continue to think about it, there are some really good lessons that can be learned from this weeks show.

To start off Kaylee wanted to speak with the group. She felt bad because she decided that she was ready to go home last week. She sabotaged her results so her team would lose the weigh-in and everyone would vote to send her home. Except the red team lost and Justin was voted off.

She said that she was sorry, and that she had learned her lesson.  She claims that she learned from experience that if you don’t put your best effort into something, you might not get the results that you want. (Lesson #1 from the show).

Although I agree with her big time, it really didn’t effect the show. If she had worked hard and lost weight, the red team would have lost by a larger margin and Justin still would have been voted off of the show.

Kaylee also learned that you have to complete your journey (Lesson #2 from the show).

Then everyone met Allison in the gym. She showed them a video from the day they were selected. It was very emotional, there was a lot of crying. I have to admit it is pretty amazing to see how much everyone had changed in just 12 weeks! Incredible!!!

So Allison mentioned that the show started with 11 teams. She asked them if anyone ever wondered what happened to the 12th team. Then she surprised everyone by bringing the 12 team (the last team to not be selected for the show) back. It was an interesting twist.

Everyone had the same reaction that I did. That this might be a little unfair. They were much bigger and would have an advantage losing weight for the next few weeks. But there was another twist. The 12th team, Vance and Leanne, were told on selection day that they were the 12th team. They were also told that they’d have an opportunity to get back on the show. Now for the twist…

They’ve been losing weight on thier own for the past twelve weeks. If they had lost more than the contestant with the lowest percentage of weight loss, they’d be on the show. Kaylee had lost the lowest so far; 25.23%

Vance weighed 379lbs. To get on the show he needed to lose 95lbs. He lost 30 and didn’t make the show. Leanne, Vance’s mom, weighed 315lbs. and would need to lose 79lbs. to get on to the show. She lost 45lbs., and also would not be on the show.

All of the contestants, were very supportive, and gracious. It was nice to see. Here’s the thing, both Vance and Leanne were happy that they had begun their journeys, but they both acknowledged how difficult it was to do on their own. They both spoke of how much temptation there is and how difficult it can be to change habits.

As exciting, motivational, and inspiring as it is to watch the contestants on The Biggest Loser lose weight as rapidly as they do; it is far more realistic to lose weight at the pace that Vance and Leanne have (Lesson #3 from the show)

Now be honest with yourself. If you were to lose 45lbs. in the next 12 weeks, wouldn’t you be Ecstatic!!!

Next up was a “Pop” challenge. For this challenge each team had to work with a partner to balance small balls on a board. Carry the board across a field without dropping the balls. Then let the balls fall through a hole in the middle, into a basket. The first team to get 10 balls into their basket would win. The last team would lose. The two teams in the middle really got nothing…

The winning team (the green team), won a 1 minute advantage in the next challenge. That’s a pretty good prize.

The losing team (the red team), would have to spend a week off of the ranch. OK that doesn’t sound good. That’s a HUGE disadvantage!

Here’s the deal with the red team. They got a $1000 budget for the week. They could select things like groceries, biggest loser food, a chef, a trainer, gym membership, massages, phone calls to family, meals at restaurants.

They Chose

Groceries $300

Gym/X@ $300

Phone Calls $200

Massages $100

Restaurant $50

$50 left over…

 

They didn’t chose to work with a trainer. Brett was shocked, but he handled it well. He spent some time writing out their workouts for the week, then they were on their way.

Losing a challenge should be a punishment. Instead they sent Jen and Courtney off to an absolutely beautiful house in Ojai Ca. They had food, a gym membership, restaurant meal. They were loving it.

Now for the challenge (which they brought the red team back for). The Biggest Loser crew put 5000 colored eggs on a hilly field. Each team had to find 600 eggs that match their team color and fill up the egg crates that also match their team color. There was also a golden egg that had a prize in it for the person who found it. Remember the green team had a 1 minute advantage.

And for the prizes?

The first team to finish would win tickets to the world premier to the movie Hop.

All of the teams that finish would get to go to a special advances screening of Hop.

 

The whole challenge was just a big promotion for a movie. I can’t believe that they got any of these adults to even care about this challenge. None of it had anything to do with the outcome of the show, except for the golden egg. Just find the golden egg and forget the stupid challenge.

Turns out Olivia found the golden egg, and who really cares who won the challenge?

So what was the prize? Turns out it might not actually be a prize at all. As long as Olivia’s team (the blue team) didn’t lose the challenge, Olivia would have the only vote to eliminate a person from the show. Yes, she was a little disappointed, but it was a good twist.

Now for the weigh in

The blue team lost 14 lbs.

Then the green team lost 18lbs. So Olivia still didn’t have the only vote.

Then the black team lost only 11lbs. Everyone on the green and blue team were now safe and Olivia would be voting someone off. Here sister Hannah is on the black team. Therefore Olivia would either vote for Rulon or Jay. In a masterful display of gamesmanship Hannah, who knew her sister wouldn’t vote for her, sabotaged her results and lost zero pounds. This will really set her up to have a big weight loss week next week and ensure another week on the show.

The only way that Olivia wouldn’t vote for either Rulon or Jay would be if the red team lost the weigh-in. Remember there are only two people on the red team, if they lose the weigh-in the person who loses least amount of weight would be eliminated without a vote. The red team, if you recall is the team that spent the week off of the ranch, getting massages, going to restaurants and calling home. They needed to lose a total of 6 pounds.

Courtney when first and lost 2 pounds. As long a Jen loses 4 or more pounds, then Olivia will get to vote.

Jen lost Zero pounds. And She is Eliminated.

When giving the choice to “pay” for proper training, food etc. Jen was tempted by restaurants, massages and phone calls (Courtney wanted to hire the trainer, but Jen talked her out of it). The choices that you make will impact your results every time (Lesson #4 from the show).

Jen deserved to be eliminated. She made the wrong choices!

Now for the quotes of the week.

“My shape, shapes my life”

“All that is important, is that I’ve started this journey”

“You started out on this journey….finish it”

“You need to realize that there are temptations around every single corner”

“I can conquer anything in this life”

“Nothing in my life is holding me back”

“The possibilities for me are endless”

 

See you next week…

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The Biggest Loser 2011 Week 12

March 24, 2011 by Leave a Comment

This weeks show was really good! Here’s why.  

To start off, the very first thing that happened was the remaining 11 contestants all met Allison in the gym. This is the first time I’ve see that this season, but apparently it means that not-so-good things happen.

What happened may not be good for the contestants, but it really made the show much better.

Each person had to grab a dumbbell (which was sitting on it’s end) off of a weight rack. On the bottom of the dumbbell was a color. That color would determine which team they’d be one. There were to be four teams of 3 people. Each team would work with one of the four trainers; Jillian Michaels, Bob Harper, Brett Hoebel orCara Castronova.

What was awesome about this was that the previous two teams (red and black), had created alliances and it was pretty obvious who would be eliminated from week to week (excluding immunity winners). Plus it was also completely random. The player chose in order of total percentage of weight loss, but the dumbbells were completely random so no one would have control of where they ended up.

But there was a twist!

Since there were only 11 contestants left, one team would only have two people on it. Turns out it was the black team of Rulon Gardner and Hannah, They got to choose anyone who had previously been eliminated from the show. They had 30 minutes to make a decision. This was an interesting process, they deliberated over 3 people;  1) the person who needed to be there the most (Arthur), 2) someone who could help the team but not challenge them to win the overall title (some dude that was eliminated before I started watching this season), 3) someone who could help the team, but may challenge them to win the entire show.

Rulon quickly eliminated Arthur, he said that Arthur had “made his own bed…” So they continued to decided….

But they wouldn’t reveal their choice until the challenge.

Before the challenge the trainers did their thing and used the training sessions to get to know the contestants whom they hadn’t had a chance to train yet.

Jillian took Rulon and Hannah to her Malibu beach house (didn’t Barbie have one of those too?) to train them on the beach. Jillian used that time to learn more about Rulon. Rulon confessed that even though he had found the perfect wife and everything he wanted, that he began to eat because he didn’t feel like he was worthy of being truly loved.

I’ll admit two things. One, it was good to see that side of Jillian. She’s normally such a hard ass that you sometimes forget that she really cares. And two, I continue to learn and accept that both weight gain and weight loss is far more emotional than it is physical. It is primarily a mental challenge.

Brett took the red team on a hike to the top of a beautiful mountain in So Cal. At the top he asked them to separate and reflect upon their journey thus, far. Who they used to be, who they are now and who they want to be. Again it was another reminder of how emotionally challenging this process has been for all of the contestants. It is the change from the inside that results in physical change. And it is the source of one’s confidence and power.

Subject Change

The Challenge this week SUCKED!

Each team had to hold a rope that collectively had the total weight loss of that team hanging from the other end. It took over 45 minutes and all they did was stand there and hold a rope. Luckily TV can edit boring stuff out. What made it worse was that they were playing for the chance to video chat with their family. That seems somewhat cool except, these people aren’t in jail. I think they can stay in touch with family members during the show…

The only exciting thing about the challenge was that the black team selected Jay. This was interesting from two stand points, 1. Jay was who they thought might be able to beat everyone and become “The Biggest Loser”, so they took some risk inviting such a strong player back. And 2. Jay is Jen’s father, who is now on the red team.

One other side note before the weigh in, Kaylee, from the green team decided that her journey was complete. She was close to her goal weight and had found her confidence and was ready to get back to “real life”

The weigh in was also very good!

The team that had the lowest percentage of total weight loss would lose a player. But the player on the losing team that lost the most weight would win immunity from elimination. After the black, blue and red team weighed in, the red team was in last place (they had lost 9lbs). As long as the green team lost 10 or more pounds, someone from the red team would be going home.

But remember Kaylee was ready to go. And she meant it, because she lost zero pounds. After Austin weighed in for the green team with 3 pounds, it seemed certain that Kaylee would be going home. But Ken shocked everyone and lost 7 pounds, to make the red team the losers.

And the nine people from the other 3 teams would be voting to eliminate someone!

Then is got a little crazy.

Kaylee immediately realized that she would be staying. Ken felt horrible for two reasons, he wanted to grant Kaylee’s request to go home, and two of the more popular contestants were on the losing red team.

Allison kind of got pissed and told Kaylee that this show wasn’t a prison and everyone was free to leave whenever they wanted. Then Moses, Kaylee’s father, from the blue team spoke up and requested that he talk to his daughter.

See how fun the team shake up thing is?

Moses talked Kaylee into staying, so it’ll be interesting to how she does next week.

Turns out Jen had lost the most weight on the red team so she was immune from elimination. so it was between Justin and Courtney, two of the most popular people on the show.

Justin told everyone that Courtney needed to be on the show more than he did (which is true), and to vote for him.

So there was really no drama over the vote and who would be eliminated, Justin was gone. But everyone on the show cried anyway!!!

Now for the quotes from the show

“You’ve got to find a way to feel worthy”

“Today is the beginning of the rest of your life and today is the day your making the changes to change the rest of your life”

“Nothing is impossible, you just have to reach for it”

“I’m becoming who I want to be”

“I was looking to find myself, to find confidence, I found that”

“Get off the couch, look in the mirror. It’s time for you to be honest about who your are. Have the courage to stand up and do it. It’s the best thing that could happen to you”

OK , this post was a little long, like I said it was a good episode!

See you next week…

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Biggest Loser Week 11

March 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment

This week’s show was very interesting.

To start things off the black and red teams were merged into one team. The blue team. The blue team had a common goal, lose more total weight than the previous week. The twelve remaining contestants lost 64 pounds the week before. If the blue team worked together to lose 65 or more pounds, then no one would be eliminated from the show.

My first thought was that this would be next to impossible. Last week the red team followed a miserable weigh in (during the two weeks spent at home), with incredible results. The thing about weight loss is that is often comes in stages. If you have a great week it’s not uncommon to not quite lose as much the next week.

The cool thing about this episode was to see how quickly the blue team accepted their common goal. The red and black teams had spent the last 5-6 weeks really battling each other. I thought there might be some tension, but there wasn’t. They got right to work!

The four trainers; Jillian Michaels, Bob Harper, Brett Hoebel and Cara Castronova all seem quite shocked by the merger of the two teams. I don’t know if they really keep the trainers in the dark about the challenges and twists or not, but if they don’t the trainers are also excellent actors. Bob and Jillian took the men and Cara and Brett took the women. In essence the trainers took the team members that they hadn’t had a chance to train yet.

Soon after the teams merged each person met again with Dr H. (Dr. Huizenga), for their mid-point check up. He reassessed them and showed their improvements by using The Biggest Loser “real age” program. This was yet another cross promotion. But it was really awesome to see how much each person really improved their health in just 10 week.

This show puts so much emphasis on weight loss that it’s easy to lose sight of the true benefits 0f exercise and proper nutrition; Good Health, Decreased Risk of Chronic Diseases, Improved Quality of Life and an Extended Life Expectancy!!!!

In the middle of the show they brought in Curtis Stone and Lorana Garcia. I think they are from the new show America’s Next Great Restaurant. This was obviously a chance for NBC to cross promote the show. Anyway the blue team was divided up into 6 teams of 2 (one person each from the former red and black teams).

Each team had 30 minutes to create a dish. The two guest chefs would vote on the best one based on calories, taste, and presentation. The winning team would win The Biggest Loser meal plan from the time they were eliminated from the show until the finale. This was yet another cross promotion. But the food they made looked great, and was healthy and nutritious. So it was cool to watch.

Olivia and Moses Won!

Before the weigh in there was one team challenge. The entire team had to pull a rope (think of the type of rope that is used to tie ships to the docks), out of the dirt. At the end of the rope were questions that they had to answer. If they got it correct they’d continue in one direction (presumably the shorter route), and if they got it wrong they’d go in another direction. Each time the got the correct answer two more teammates would help pulling the rope.

They had 90 minutes to complete the challenge. If they finished in time then the team would get a 5 pound advantage at the weigh in. They were very motivated to win this challenge.

Now this sounds really easy, but they buried the rope really deep in the dirt. They had to dig and pull. Even Rulon Gardner (who won a gold medal at wrestling and has been training hard for the last 10 weeks), could hardly pull the rope out of the dirt.  Long story short, they completed the challenge with only 15 seconds to spare and won the 5 pound advantage.

At the weigh in it seemed like they edited the order that each person wieghed in, to create the most drama. It is TV after all. Each person needed to lose an average of 5 pounds to prevent anyone from being eliminated.

After the first four people they were 3 pounds behind the pace.

After the next three people they were 4 pounds ahead of the pace.

Three people after that they were only up 1 pound with two people to go. They could do it!!!

But Marci didn’t lose any weight and Kaylee actually gained 2 pounds, So someone would be eliminated.

They had to vote for one of the bottom two; Marci or Kaylee.

Marci who had lobbied to be voted off the last two weeks, asked everyone to vote her off. There are two reasons she seemed like the best person to eliminate. She now weighs 162 pounds, and is at her goal weight. She is the mother of another contestant, Courtney, who still needs to lose more weight. Plus Marci has become a mother figure to a lot of the younger people on the show.

Everyone except one person honored Marci’s request (not including Moses, who wouldn’t vote off his own daughter, Kaylee). So Marci is gone!!!

Now for the quotes of the week:

“Nothing is more important than you”

“One step, one day, one choice at a time, and you will get there”

“I’m fully happy and fully confident and I’m proud of myself”

“The most important thing you can take care of is you”

“These small victories are everything to me”

“Parents set an example for their children”

“I just want my life back so bad”

See you next week!!!

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Biggest Loser 2011 Week 10

March 11, 2011 by Leave a Comment

OK this week there was a little hiccup on my prediction that Bob and Jillian’s team would continue to crush Brett and Cara’s team.

But there is an important weight loss lesson to be learned from this!

Weight loss isn’t a linear process. There are often bumps in the road and plateaus. Think of weight loss as at flight of stairs. You’ll continue to work your way downs the stairs toward your weight loss goal. So you should expect that you’ll have weeks when you experience the weight loss you’re hoping for. Other weeks the scale won’t move. These plateaus are part of the process, part of the journey. Your body is adapting to the changes and will respond by losing more weight.

I should have seen this coming.

In the previous episode the contestants went back home for two weeks. The red team struggled with environmental and emotional issues that caused the weight gain in the first place, and they struggled with the weight loss. While the black team did not seem to have the same struggles, and they rocked the weigh in.

So the black team was primed to have a “plateau” type week. While the red team was in position to show some really significant losses on the scale. In fact what they had done back at home is a little trick that I’ve used for years to help people bust through plateaus, EAT MORE!

Eating more really shocks the body, it helps to reset your metabolism. It’s typical for the body to adapt very quickly to dietary changes, lose some weight, then stop. By eating more calories your metabolism increases, then when you go back to “healthy” eating, so you start to lose weight.

So I gave away part of the ending. The red team won the weigh in.

Here’s what happened in the show to get to that point. Both teams had to pick a captain for the week. The captain would have to make decisions for the team during the week. Kind of an interesting idea. The red team selected Justin, he seems to be the natural leader, but I don’t really see why. But it was an obvious choice for the team.

The black team chose Marci, who is the only parent left on the black team from the original “couples”. She seems to have adopted the rest of the girls on the black team and has become sort of a mother figure, so that was an obvious choice.

They had to make 3 choices for the team.

1. Select only two people from each team to work with the trainers (everyone else is on their own)

2. Pick one person to prepare all of the food for the week

3. Select the order that people would enter the challenge for the week

Here’s how it went. Both captains seemed to make really good, rational choices. The red team was all in with every decision that Justin made. There was a little drama on the black team. One lady that was selected for the workout took it as an insult that she needed the extra help. Marci also selected her own daughter to sit out the challenge, and she didn’t take that well.

Both the cooks did great but they discovered how difficult it was to have responsibility and still find time to workout – WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD!

Turns out that Marci made a good choice, as the black team won the challenge. The challenge was a sort of mud pit relay, which didn’t have any real consequence on the out come of the show. But the winning team won $6000, and money is always great!

So for this episode there were no real big twists. It was pretty straight forward. The team that loses the weigh in would have to vote off a team member. As you already know the red team won.

Marci had already made it clear that she would sacrifice for the “daughters” on the team, and it was clear that she would be voted off.

BUT HERE IS THE TWIST FOR THE WEEK

Marci lost the most weight for the black team, she had earned immunity. They couldn’t vote for her. No one saw that coming. Even Marci admitted that she never considered that as a possibility. And for good reason, Marci is the lightest person on the entire show. She only weighs 167lbs. and she dropped 5 lbs. to get to 162 lbs. Plus she’s 49 and everyone else on her team is mid-20s to mid-30s.

SIDE NOTE: No more excuses for middle age women who weigh under 170 pounds to not reach their weight loss goals.

Marci is ROCKING IT!

So they voted off Sarah, who happened to switch teams last episode to avoid being voted off by the red team.

Now for the quotes of the week.

1.” The only person that is going to stand in your way is you”

2. “I have to fix what’s broken”

3. “Your journey is to take care of yourself”

4. “I cant quit, no matter how hard it gets, no matter how many times I get knocked down”

5. “I forgot to take care of me”

See you next week!

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Biggest Loser 2011 Week 9

March 7, 2011 by Leave a Comment

OK, I’m a little late getting this post out but here it is….just in time for Week 10’s episode.

Remember when I made my first  post about The Biggest Loser (it was only a couple weeks ago). I said that I hadn’t watched the show since the first season. That was because the contestants kept voting off the people who were losing the most weight. WELL HERE WE GO AGAIN!

Before you tune me out because you think I’m going to rant; don’t, I’m not!

Here’s what I know…whether you have 5 or 500 pounds to lose, you can find inspiration in the success of others. And I’m going to focus on that success and inspiration, because that’s what makes The Biggest Loser good! (I might rant a little too).

In this weeks episode everyone went back home for two weeks. I was really excited about this episode because “home” is where YOU live. And if you’re going to succeed at reaching your weight loss goals, you’re going to have to figure out how to do it where you live.

I believe that it’s pretty easy for everyone to lose weight on The Biggest Loser’s compound. They are in a controlled environment, they have guidance 24 hours a day. All they have to do is workout and eat healthy food. There is little to no temptation at the ranch.

 I was most interested in seeing how everyone would handle being back in the comforts of their own homes (the place where all the weight gain occurred originally). I wanted to see how effective the lessons learned at the ranch would carry over to real life situations. Honestly I expected most of them to struggle.

From what we could see in the show, everyone made really good choices and didn’t give in to opportunities to sabotage their own success. I was impressed. I didn’t expect that the show or the trainers were really preparing the contestants for the real world. I feel like the show’s number one priority is to show huge and rapid decreases in weight each week. Not to prepare them for long term success…

When they returned to The Biggest Loser compound, everyone would compete in a 5K race. The order that each person finished would determine the order that they could each select which trainers they wanted to work with.

This turned out to be a HUGE deal. Remember I started watching the show again during the middle of this season, so I missed the main drama. But it goes something like this. Aurther (who is a member of the black team) worked out some sort of swap of teammates. And this move didn’t sit with the red team (who all have a weird reality show pact). The assumption was that  the lady that he sent from the black team to the red team (so he and his father could move to the black team) would use her vote to move back to the black team.

So he had to avoid coming in last to avoid being sent back to the red team. Here is Arthur’s delimma. He weighs 406 pounds. At his peak he weighed over 650 pound. The chance of him coming in last was very high. I’ll tell you what happens in the next post…..

JUST KIDDING!

As expected Arther came in last and got sent back to the red team. His only hope to stay on the show was to lose the most weight at the weigh-in and earn immunity.

Everyone on the black team rocked the weigh-in. They each lost between 10-14 pounds (over a two week period, when they were home). I was impressed for two reasons. One,  obviously Bob and Gillian (and/or the behind the scene trainers/staff) are teaching this team how to be successful in the real world. Two, the black team is mainly women (who tend to lose weight slower than men) and are all much smaller (have less total weight to lose), than the red team.

So the red team had to lose an average of 17 pounds to win the weigh-in and avoid voting off a teammate.  The red team sucked! Ken and Moses only lost 5 pounds each, and they are 291 and 322 pounds respectively. Kaylee did worse, she only lost 1 pound. This is over a two week period. It’s obvious the producers of the show left their struggles while at home out of the show to surprise us (and it worked).

I think that Cara and Brett are being totally out classed by Gillian Michaels and Bob Harper. The black team seems to dominate the weigh-in every single week. They are making two big mistakes. One, they mainly do boxing, kickboxing, martial arts type workouts. Those workouts are designed to make boxers, kick boxers, and martial artists perform better at their disciplines. And while they are difficult workouts they are neither fitness or weight loss workouts. And two, they obviously are not preparing the people on their team to succeed on their own once the show is complete.

So it appeared that Arthur had one last hope….lose the most weight. His new teammate on the red team Rulon Gardner lost 17 pounds (the most of anyone during the two week period). So if Arthur lost 18 or more pounds, he’d be immune from elimination. For the sake of TV drama, of course he was the last to weigh-in.

Arther lost 16 pounds and he was voted off by his team.

Now for the rant!

Arthur used to weight 650 pounds, he now weighs  390 pounds. He is the heaviest contestant ever on The Biggest Loser. This is a matter of life and death for this man. He needs to be on this show. He needs the help. Both he and Rulon lost well over 100 pounds in 10 weeks. They are the biggest losers. Plus on a show where your team can avoid having to vote each other off by winning the weigh-in, you want the people who consistently lose the most weight (i.e. Arther).

Instead of voting off, not totally committed, easily distracted, dead weight contestants (Ken, Moses, and Kaylee), they vote off Arther, because of a team pact? What idiots! OK, here’s my prediction for the rest of  the season…

The black team (with trainers Bob and Gillian) are going to continue to crush the red team week-in and week-out until only Rulon is left!

Now that rant wasn’t too bad. I want you to find inspiration in the success of the contestants on The Biggest Loser. To help here are this weeks quotes…

“I don’t want to die, I want to live and be healthy”

“I get a choice, and that’s the ultimate”

“I deserve a rest, don’t I” (actually on the nutrition program I recommend you get a cheat day/meal once a week)

“Saying no is in turn saying yes to myself”

Remember I love your comments….leave them below! Thanks.

Enjoy, see you next week!

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