The Biggest Loser: The Red Team Finally Hits Their Stride While the Blue Team Begins to Unravel and Divide
With the blue team and black team six strong the red team is hurting with only four players left on their team. Although they keep winning challenges it’s the weigh-in’s that count. The red team is determined not to fail again.
It was temptation time at the ranch. All the players got left one at a time alone in the kitchen for four minutes with loads of fat and calorie laden food. The person who ate the most calories during the challenge would win a 3 pound pass at the next weigh-in. Each team had a hard decision to make. Do you blow your diet to gain the 3 pound pass? Is it worth it? What if another team eats more than you? If so, you ate your calories for nothing. Bryan (B) was up first. He was tempted by the hot wings but he didn’t cave in. For him it was all about eating right and exercising. Kae was next and cracked me up. She wanted to eat it all but she too said no way. Jez however picked up a piece of pizza, ate it and ran in place. Phil didn’t eat and one of the twins did jumping jacks to keep his mind off of the temptation. Stay-at-home-mom Julie leaned over and smelled deep of the pizza. The cupcakes were almost too much for her. Instead of eating them though she smeared frosting on her face to make them think she ate it as a joke. Neil from the blue team took one for team. The blue team agreed earlier that no one would eat but Neil to win the 3 pound pass. He went for it and mowed on the French fries. For him it was all about winning it for the team. I don’t think he even enjoyed it. When Neil came back out Patty didn’t trust her team and thought Neil did not eat so Patty went and seriously chowed down. She ate a breakfast bar in one bite! Impressive, but also very sad. Neil is going to be ticked that she did that. When all was said and done the biggest eater was PATTY!!! Things were not happy with the blue team after that! The red team knew that they had a lot on the line and they all stayed strong in the temptation.
Next it was all about the blue team. Patty got reamed by Neil! He ate all those calories for nothing! I think Patty is a closet emotional eater the way she attacked that food and didn’t trust her team. She wanted to eat that food and was looking for an excuse to do it. Kae bawled because she didn’t see why the 3 pound pass was so important. Patty got to the real deal and shared that obviously she has issues, that is why she is big. She sincerely apologized. What a wake-up call for them. They have come a long way but they’ve got a long way to go. Bob is such a great trainer for them as he helped them hash it out. The big thing was a trust issue. Well, they all made up and were back on good terms. But, Neil and Patty got extra hard workouts and had to work off the calories they consumed. Bob was hilarious. He was like “yummy egg rolls” to Patty as he helped her work her 1900+ calories off.
Now it was time to prepare for the challenge. The trainers had their teams practice sprinting which meant it would most likely be a running challenge. Bob made his team carry each other piggy back and sprint. As Ryan carried Jerry he tripped and Jerry took a spill off of Ryan’s back and landed funny which injured his leg. Jerry was out of the challenge.
Challenge time arrived and the teams headed to a track where they had to sprint but not against each other. Against a new team! The yellow team! I thought that it would be either past players or their family members. Boy was I wrong! It was three little kids. They had to race against kids! I would not want to do that challenge. Even people in shape sometimes can’t outrun those little sprites! What would be the teams reward if they won? A coveted phone call home. Now that is motivation.
Their first heat was against a 4th grade girl and she totally and unequivocally smoked them. Next up was against a 3rd grade boy. Phil from the red team wanted it bad. For awhile it was neck and neck but Phil pulled it out and won one for the red team. Last was the kindergarten heat. I don’t know if I could beat my kid and he is in Pre-K!! Man that little kindergartener whooped up on them. He totally creamed them; it wasn’t even a close race. The red team won the challenge and received the privilege of calling home.
As the red team called home we saw that David and Bryan were very emotional as they talked to their beautiful and supportive families. I cried along with Amy as she talked to her kids. Her daughter asked her when she was coming home. Then I had to cry with big tough Phil too as he called his wife. She was crying, he was crying because they all missed each other.
After the loss of the challenge Bob sent the blue team on a super steep hike to inspire them. It was tough for all of them but especially for Ryan. I was so proud of him for making it up that mountain. He really struggled but he did it. He made it!
Jillian pushed Isabeau to go get the twins. If the whole team wasn’t on time for work out she was going to work them for 2 hours. Isabeau pushed Bill and Bill had a serious break down and screamed his head off at Isabeau. She kept telling him to hurry and run and his knee was hurt so he basically shot the messenger. Isabeau sobbed, Jillian comforted, and Bill apologized. At least they worked it out.
They all worked extremely hard at their last chance workouts. Bob sweated his team out on the spin cycle and worked them until the sun went down. Kim gave her red team a huge pep talk and was confident they would do well. They have to do well or they will be down to three! Jillian too was super proud of her team and encouraged them for their hard work.
At the weigh-in the black team did alright. It is always tough going first because then you have to wait to see what numbers the other team pulls. The blue team weighed in second and came in significantly under the black team’s weight. Surprisingly Patty was the biggest loser on their team with a 5 pound weight loss. She didn’t even need the 3 pound pass she won at the challenge. Then the red team weighed in and put up the best numbers of the night and the red team finally won! No elimination for the red team this week. The blue team is forced to go to elimination.
Before the elimination the blue team talked about their reasons to be there and they did a secret vote to see who they “might” send home and the majority vote went for Jerry. Jerry was ticked. He felt they were so ungrateful because he took the leap of faith to pick them for his team and had worked hard and lost 41 pounds. Neil in an outburst of emotion said it wasn’t written in stone. Jerry again pointed out that he strongly believed in loyalty and respect and he might be from a different era but if they don’t change their mind they are doomed. Jerry shared that logically Kae should go home because she had the least amount of weight to lose. I hope Kae doesn’t go though. Well, it was time to cut the fat with elimination. Kae shared that she still had a long way to go and a lot of weight to lose. Jerry voted for Neil. Patty voted for Jerry. What? What are they thinking? Nicole voted for Jerry too. They were all turning their backs on poor Jerry, their strongest player. Kae got all emotional and scared and voted for Nicole and said that it was a mistake and she wrote down the wrong name. Wow, that was random. It was then up to Neil. Neil voted for Jerry officially eliminating him from the team. He was the strongest, he was the team captain, and he had lost the most weight. In parting words Jerry shared that when he picked the team he thought his team would have the biggest loser on it but that he didn’t think so anymore. was so bummed Jerry had to leave. He said a nice goodbye to the team though and didn’t totally leave them devastated with his “I’m so disappointed in all of you” speech. The red team said it was because Jerry could do it at home and needed the least help but you have to wonder if maybe it was because he was the strongest and had lost the most weight making him their biggest competition.
As we saw the “where is Jerry now since he left the ranch” video Jerry has lost 88 pounds so far!! He rocks and is hoping to inspire others his age that it is never to late to lose wieght and get in shape. He looked awesome. He was biking, lifting weights, running, and playing with his grandkids. It was true that he went home and was very successful. I have a feeling that we’ll see Jerry at the season finale and he’ll be one trim fighting machine!!
With the red team gaining momentum, the black team being consistent and the blue team faltering and finally dividing by voting out their strongest and best player who was also their team captain I wonder what will happen next week. Strategy wise it seemed a little early to vote out their biggest loser. They are still a team and competing as a team. This isn’t individual yet. But, if their motives are pure and it’s all about keeping those that need the most help on the ranch for the longest so they can have successful weight loss then maybe the blue team will be okay.
© Copyright 2007 Blindigo Magazine | Article written by Niki Tschirgi
