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!