The Biggest Loser: The Inevitable Was Bound to Happen Sooner or Later
It was serious test time for the contestants as the Biggest Loser campus closed down for one whole week. The good news was they were going to Jamaica. The bad news for people on a hard core diet? They were going to Jamaica! It would be nice to have a break and a change of pace for them but it was an all-inclusive resort which meant all you could eat and all you could drink. Would the teams be strong enough to make good decisions and handle such a great temptation?
As the contestants got ready to go Julie gave the quote of the show. She said that she would rather chew her arm off or bite her butt then put on a bathing suit. How many women in America were saying “amen” to that? Thankfully the trainers were going too for help on focus, workouts and diets. The black team was sure that Jillian would come up with island activity torture routines and David commented that Kim made a walk in the park not fun. According to Jez it would be one heavy plane headed to Jamaica.
As they flew into Jamaica I was reminded again that I would love to go to there some day, especially when they zoomed in on the Grand Lido Spa and Resort. Allison the host told them they deserved a break and to have a little fun in the sun which had Jillian going crazy. She was strongly of the opinion that they were not on a vacation! Well, one of the main reasons they went to Jamaica was to show the teams how to survive in the real world. They won’t be on that ranch forever and they will eventually have to face messed up schedules and temptation at restaurants. Kim with the red team was missing a team mate, Bryan. He had chest pains so she sent him to the doctor back in L.A. and really hoped he would make it to Jamaica before the weekly challenge. Kim should be a little worried. Last week they pulled super low numbers and were safe only because they won team immunity.
Meanwhile back in L.A. Bryan was at the doctor and underwent some tests because of his chest pains. They didn’t know if it was a mild heart attack or what was going on so it was better to be safe than sorry. Bryan didn’t seem the least put out he wasn’t in Jamaica. He had a wife and kids at home and his health was important.
That night at the resort, the trainers all worked with their teams at the buffet table on what to eat and what not to eat. Julie from the black team admitted they were hard decisions to make but it was reality and when they got off the campus they would have to make those decisions. Man, all-inclusive buffets and an unlimited amount of food and drink! I’m sure it was tough to pass up on the fattening delicious dishes when they were sitting right there staring at them and smelling oh so good. Who wants to eat a salad when you can have fish swimming in coconut oil? Nicole made a good point at dinner about how she has had 26 years of bad habits and that would be hard to change and it would take time. So many men and women in America could relate to that statement. It is a process to lose weight and sometimes I think we can forget that or get discouraged.
Later at the dinner Jillian got onto Jez to not drink. She didn’t want her team drinking at all. Jez was kind of whiny about how it wasn’t easy and Jillian was like, exactly! Nothing about it was easy. So, confrontation it was on Jillian’s part. She knew they had a desire to let loose but letting loose was what got them to the Biggest Loser campus. If they couldn’t show restraint for just one week with her breathing down their neck then what kind of restraint were they going to show for the rest of their lives? Jillian was so incredibly frustrated and rightly so. Afterall, tt was still a game and they needed to keep their heads in it. At the end of the week there would be a weigh-in!
As the week progressed Kim told them to workout first then have fun. She got them in the pool with weights and they really did have a great time working out. Of course the camera zoomed in on Kim’s taut butt! It’s not every season on The Biggest Loser that the trainers prance around in bikinis. She was so darling!!! But overshadowing their workouts, Kim’s well defined body, and all the fun in the sun the red team was worried about Bryan’s health.
For the blue team Bob mixed it up and did yoga class with them outside. That was pretty cool. They soaked in the sun and the water and a lot of peace. They took advantage of the opportunity to workout with the sparkling ocean lapping behind them as the lovely tradewinds tosseled their sweaty hair. The blue team you could tell wanted to win because they have lost two weigh-in’s in a row.
Of course Jillian had her black team on the beach working hard as she yelled at them and had them chant about how they were the team to beat. The black team was kind of jokingly bitter because the blue team was doing yoga and the red team was doing laps in the pool and the black team was in the sand getting beat up. It was like they were back to their first two weeks in the desert before they were re-introduced at the campus. Man she worked them hard! Probably because Jez was so whiny and they had a vacation mentality.
Next it was challenge time and the teams needed to balance. The first member had to tow themselves to shore on a tiny raft and then tow the rest of their team in one by one. The reward was an afternoon of pampering, massage, and relaxation while the losing teams would have to go work out. Happily Bryan was back for the challenge!!! He just had a stress in his chest and no heart problems. He was cleared to work out and he was glad to be back with his team.
The challenge proved to be incredibly hard for the blue and red teams. At first all of them fell into the water but then the black team figured out their balance and easily won the challenge. The red team was hilarious as Phil kept falling in and in and in. Poor Jez from the black team accidentally mooned everyone else as he got pulled into shore. The black team definitely earned an afternoon at the spa.
After the challenge it was time for last chance workout. The black team kicked, kicked, and kicked some more in the pool and Jillian made them work hard before they got their reward from the challenge. After she creamed them in the pool it was massage time and as they unwound from their hard day they could hear the red team and blue team working out in the distance. Bob had his team kayaking and walking in the ocean and Kim had her team hauling her around on top of some sort of boat in another darling bikini. They all knew the scale would be waiting for them back at home and nobody wanted to go to elimination again.
Then it was time to go. Before they left Jamaica, Bob gave a nice airplane tip on how to manage your food while you travel. He grabbed the 100 calorie Nabisco packs (no plug there!) and said load up on pre-portioned snacks so you don’t blow your diet at the airport or on the plane. They talked strategy on the plane and the black team knew they had a lot riding on them since they were the only one’s who have not lost a weigh-in.
It wasn’t long before it was weigh-in time. Jillian shared with Allison that it was tough in Jamaica and she didn’t understand the vacation mentality. Have fun after the game or after you get sent home! She’d rather keep her people than have a vacation. Jillian was obviously frustrated. Bob shared that the bar was a problem for all of the teams because in the real world a drink here or there is okay but they weren’t in the real world. They were all at the Biggest Loser camp and everything matters every minute of the day.
The black team weighed-in first and pulled pretty decent numbers with Hollie pulling the most at eight pounds and Julie the least with four pounds. Next up was the red team. They pulled big enough numbers to beat the black team. Bryan who was out a couple of days because of his chest pains lost a whopping eleven pounds! Wow, great job Bryan! It was a good thing they did well since the red team pulled such low numbers last week. Phil lost the most with twelve pounds.
Finally the blue team was up and they really needed to win since they lost two in a row and the pressure was on. You could tell Bob did not want to go to that elimination room three weeks in a row. The blue team all pulled great numbers and beat the black team. The black team was finally facing the inevitable and were going to elimination even though Jillian killed them with tough workouts in Jamaica and didn’t let them drink. Well, the red and blue teams have been to elimination twice so it really was time for the black team to go and see what it was all about. It was bound to happen sooner or later but it will be extremely tough for them to vote. They have been together the longest. The first two weeks they didn’t face weigh-in’s so they have been six strong for five weeks. That makes for a lot closer ties and a family like atmosphere. Plus, they were the cast-off’s. The one’s who weren’t picked for teams.
We know that for the black team, Julie has been the slowest loser so I wondered if she would go. I hoped not because she was one of my favorites and needed to stay. Hollie was the biggest loser so she was safe so she was obviously not going anywhere. Now came the strategy which was of course girls against boys. Hollie and Isabeau really wanted a girl to be the biggest loser and for obvious reasons they wanted to break up the twins. Family will never vote for each other.
At elimination Allison pointed out it was Bill and Jim’s birthday the next day. Would they get to spend it together like always? Well, with only a couple votes going against Isabeau (Jim and Bill cast those), the rest of the team voted for Jim and he became the first member of the black team to go home.
It really wasn’t surprising they sent one of the twins home. They were super strong contenders and they were related. I was sad for him but I knew he could do it on his own. He of course was shocked and very disappointed to go but hoped that he would surprise them all at the finale with his final weight loss results. Of course there were tears from all of them but no raging fits by anyone. Poor Bill had to say goodbye to his brother but they must have known that the brother thing would work against them.
When they showed Jim’s “after” video I couldn’t believe it. He looked great and had lost 69 more pounds since he left the campus for a total of a 123 pound weight loss. Wow!! Very impressive!! I couldn’t get over how much younger he looked. It was like he shaved ten years off of his looks and added ten years onto his life! Way to go Jim. I can’t wait to see what he looks like at the finale.
© Copyright 2007 Blindigo Magazine | Article written by Niki Tschirgi
