WEEK 9

All about the food this week!  Nutrition is an integral part of the weight loss equation and it’s never been as prominently featured on the show as the exercise segments.  We fans are a curious bunch,  judging by the live Twitter Q&A with BL nutritionist Cheryl Forberg, RD.  Tell us, Biggest Loser:  What do the contestants eat, how much and when?

• High:  TIE!  Blue Team wins the Pop Challenge, gets pampered at the Four Seasons while Black Team cleans the kitchen and the gym.   Yick.  Then Top Chef, Biggest Loser-style!  Curtis Stone judges the contestants as they prepare an appetizer, entree and dessert with only six ingredients.  5 lbs advantage at the weigh in for winning Black Team.
• Low:  Old vs. young as Sherry and Drea end up below the yellow line.
• Who goes home:  Sherry

WEEK 10

Alison makes a surprise announcement immediately after Sherry’s elimination.  The contestants are going home for the entire week!   An emotional tug-of-war:  joy at reuniting with family, concern about getting off track without the trainers.   Each contestant receives a stationary bike, cupcakes and a DVD.  This week’s challenge is to ride 26.2 miles to win $10,000.   Basic enough…cycle fast, win the race, cash the check!  Except that each player can eat a cupcake to add a 5 minute penalty to another contestant’s time.   Sam finishes first, but also has the most cupcakes against him.  He bumps down to near last place.  Stephanie, Drea, Sunshine and Daris all have cupcake penalties too.  Koli ends up with the prize!

• High:  Despite the stress of being at home and out of the routine, everyone loses weight!  Sam peels off an impressive 14 lbs.
• Low:  Blue Team’s still a little cocky.  The bravado is working against them.
• Who goes home:  Lance gets the boot!  And you know what – or should I say, who – that means….

WEEK 11

Goodbye teams, hello individuals!  And a howdy to all the previously eliminated contestants (except Migdalia whose husband is serving overseas)!  They return to compete against each other for a chance to rejoin the game.   Everyone weighs in but the remaining players at the ranch will choose the one who returns.   The remaining players choose Victoria.   Alison announces a step Challenge and another surprise twist – the first player to hit 1,000 steps will also return to the ranch.   You can guess how this turns out!  Clues:  Red, wife, Texas.

• High:  Victoria!  Finally, the girl gets a chance to spend some time on campus with immunity for her first week.
• Low:  TIE!  Melissa’s back.   And she gets immunity too!  Curses.  The lovebirds, Sam and Stephanie, end up below the yellow line.  Cupid’s pissed.
• Who goes home:  Stephanie, who is the victim of some surprisingly tart game play from Koli.  That’s not going to go over well with Sam when he finds out!

WEEK 12

An interesting immunity challenge – first player to lose 2% of their body weight for the week gets a pass at the weekly weigh-in.  Once the player thinks he or she has lost the 2%, that player can push a special siren button.   Melissa spends quite a bit of time telling us that she’s focused on game play.  Funny, I must have missed that.   She thinks she’ll push the button first, but it’s Victoria who hits it…prematurely.  She loses 3 lbs, but it’s not the 6 lbs she needed for the 2%.   Sam is next to buzz and he easily surpasses 2%, losing 10 lbs.  He’s relieved that he won’t end up below the yellow line again this week.   Sunshine scores a week at the Biggest Loser ranch during a pool challenge.  Melissa ends up the loser, with a 1 lbs disadvantage after the rest of the players refuse to help her finish.  Karma, baby.  Karma!

• High:  The players take a silent jab at Melissa, ensuring she finishes last in the vacation challenge.
• Low:  After falling below the yellow line with Drea, Melissa actually argues that she’s the easiest person in the house to beat, so it’s in the rest of the players best interest to keep her on campus.
• Who Goes Home:  Melissa – by a unanimous vote.  Nothing too subtle about that roundhouse.  Oh yeah, baby!

WEEK 13

The money episode!  Or as I like to call it (based on the challenges), “The Price is Right” episode.  Suze Orman returns with Season 8 winner Danny Cahill to discuss the financial burdens of being overweight.  She explains that she picked Danny to win last year, based on his FICO score and how he deals with money.  This year’s pick:  Sunshine.  Side note:  She actually picked Koli first…until she found out he was lax about counting his calories.  A big no-no for Suze!  The Pop Challenge requires each player to hold a tray of quarters on a tray.  Person with the most money for the longest time wins.  Each quarter = $10.00  Michael cleans up with 100 quarters – $1,000 for 45 minutes.   The big challenge involves 140 keys at the top of a soon-to-be-muddy hill.  Two keys will start two brand new cars at the bottom of the hill!  Drea scoops up one, O’Neal the other.

• High:  O’Neal gives the car to Sunshine!  Love that man.
• Low:  Suze’s predictions based on the players FICO score.  By her rationale, none of the contestants would even be on the ranch, because they would be THAT diligent about maintaining a healthy weight.
• Who goes home:  Drea.  She gets to drive herself to spin class in style!

WEEK 14

Food temptation:  86 the kitchen!  Alison tells the group that the kitchen is closed for the day.   The players have to select all their meals from a room filled with a wide array of healthy and unhealthy eats.  The person who eats the most calories will cast the sole vote at elimination.   Most do not eat, reasoning that one day of game play isn’t worth it.  O’Neal eats three bunless burgers, Victoria eats one chicken wing, Ashley splurges on what she thinks is a high calorie taquito (turns out to be less than 150 calories) and Koli goes all out, stuffing himself with over 4000 calories.  Koli easily scoops up the win.  The weekly challenge involves building a structure with 175 building blocks.   Contestants can arrange them in any way – the goal is to reach a banner above each player.  A 1 lbs. advantage at the weigh in is at stake.  Daris masters the blocks and grabs his flag.  O’Neal takes a tumble and ends up not finishing, earning a 1 lbs. disadvantage by default.

• High:  Game play is futile!  Seriously think the players are too afraid of Jillian and Bob’s wrath to even bother eating the excess calories.
• Low:  TIE!  Poor O’Neal.  Not only does he injure himself during the challenge, but he finds out later than his older brother has passed away from cancer.  And Koli…he’s becoming a little less convival and a lot more opportunistic.   The new attitude doesn’t do him any favors.  His comments at elimination seemed unnecessarily harsh.
• Who goes home:  Victoria.  Another short stint at the ranch comes to an end.  But we get to see mom Cherita – both are looking great!

WEEK 15

Don’t mess with Texas!  The players head to Texas, where they recruit both people and cattle.   Yes, that’s right…cattle!  They visit radio stations to announce a community Biggest Loser 5K – inspiring hundreds of people to come out and get fit.   The physical changes in each player become more obvious each week; this week, the emotional changes are visible too.  As they run, the players share their weight struggles and what they’ve learned on the ranch.   Each participant finishes the race, and as a bonus, we get to see a few progress updates.   The immunity challenge involves corralling calves into pens labeled with the players’ names.  Whoever herds the most calves into his or her pen wins immunity.  Koli and Sam team up to direct the most calves to Koli’s pen.  Michael, Daris and Ashley form their own partnership in an effort to keep themselves on the ranch.   Sunshine and O’Neal spend most of the week at home, attending O’Neal’s brother’s funeral.   The stress is ultimately too much – both find themselves below the yellow line.

• High:  So good to see Season 8’s Abby Rike!  She and Jillian hit the road, visiting a local high school to discuss health and fitness.
• Low:  O’Neal throwing himself under the bus for Sunshine.  At this point, he needs it more.
• Who goes home:  O’Neal.  Again, tell me why Kleenex isn’t a show sponsor?  Bawling again at elimination.

WEEK 16

Makeover time – the unofficial third prize for the Biggest Loser contestants!  Alison doles out $1000 to each player for an L.A. shopping spree, followed by a hair appointment with celebrity stylist Jonathan Antin.   After completing the makeovers and watching videos of themselves only five months before, the six pose before the mirrors and receive surprise visits from family.   Ashanti delivers one more surprise – a private concert for the entire group.  This week’s challenge involves staying on a Jacob’s Ladder suspended above water.  First person to fall off gets a one pound penalty at the weigh in; last one hanging gets a one pound advantage.  Ashley is the first to splash earning the penalty.  After a hard fought 3-way battle between Koli, Sam and Daris, Koli emerges victorious!  Michael and Sam fall below the yellow line and there’s a tie vote at elimination!

• High:  Ashley loses 10 lbs and sets the women’s record for the most weight lost on campus…in spite of her last place Challenge disadvantage!
• Low:  Daris is battling his demons.  Bob has to give him a pep talk about not giving up, whether in the Challenge, the Last Chance Workout…or at home.
• Who goes home:  Sam, since he had the lowest percentage weight lost.

WEEK 17

Time to determine the Final Four.  Michael knows that once again, sheer luck pulled him through the last week’s elimination.  Koli and Sunshine worry about not being able to get the third vote for Michael, viewing him as a bigger threat than Sam.  No sense fretting about faulty strategy this week though.  Alison announces it’s the last week on campus and elimination will be automatic based on weight loss percentage.   Season 7 winner Helen Phillips and Season 3 winner Erik Chopin visit to share advice on keeping the weight off permanently.  They’ve each had very different results.  Helen’s kept off her entire 140 lbs, while Erik regained most of the weight before losing another 70 lbs.   The week’s Challenge is a fan-favorite repeat – the players run over 16 hills with weighted vests that represent the weight they’ve lost over the season.   At each hill, the contestants drop the same amount of weight they lost that particular week.  The winner chooses the prize:  $10,000 OR a 1 lbs advantage at the weigh-in.  Daris finishes first and trades the cash for the weight advantage.   The Last Chance Workout is brutal.   The contestants take the beatdown, fighting for one of the Final Four slots.

• High:  Triple TIE!  Daris gets his groove back after a shaky week, picking up not only the Challenge prize, but a bonus prize for highest % lost – an at-home visit from chef Curtis Stone.  Amazing to see Helen embracing her new life with strength and determination – we don’t see enough of her on the Biggest Loser circuit and I hope that changes.  Michael sets the record for the most weight lost on campus – 204 lbs!
• Low:  Michael has a complete meltdown at the gym, a la The Incredible Hulk.  Good television, but made me wonder how he’ll do at home.
• Who goes home:  Sunshine

WEEK 18

Ashley, Daris, Koli and Michael head home for 30 days.   They each repeat the public weigh-in, revealing their transformations.  Family and friends are overjoyed by their success!   The at-home struggles emerge quickly though.  Alison contacts each player to announce that when they return to the ranch for their final weigh-in, they’ll also have to run a marathon.   Curtis Stone visits Daris at home to prepare a special feast for Daris, Mama Cheryl and the rest of the family.  Everyone has a great time, but Daris is starting to get nervous again.  The result:  he loses grip on his eating and ends up over training, earning a knee injury in the process.  Jillian checks in on him and Ashley too to lend some last minute trainer support.  Ashley struggles with her social life, concerned she can’t focus on weight loss at home.  She and Michael are dreading the 26.2 miles, so they decide to run it together.  Michael worries the scale’s ticking up.  Bob has a breakthrough moment with Mike’s sister when he visits Michael and mother Maria.  But when Bob tries to visit Koli at home, he discovers that Koli is in Las Vegas training in mixed-martial arts.  Bob is pretty mad, stating that Koli will have to deal with his real home life at some point…or he won’t be able to maintain his weight loss.  The contestants return to the ranch and go all out for the marathon, inspired along the way by past contestants.  Ashley and Michael secure their spots at the finale, losing 18 and 23 lbs respectively at home.  Koli loses 13 lbs and Daris gains 2 lbs.  Koli and Daris plead their case to America for the third spot.

• High:  Daris wins the marathon, finishing in 4 hours 2 minutes.  He shatters Tara Costa’s previous record of 4 hours 55 minutes.
• Low:  Koli’s moved from confident to cocky – and it doesn’t suit him.
• Who gets the 3rd finale spot:  ????  Guessing America chooses Daris over Koli.
• What to expect at the finale:  Progress weigh-ins from Season 8 Shay Sorrells and Season 3 Winner Erik Chopin.  At-home prize guess – Stephanie or Sunshine.  $250K winner – Team Daris all the way!

Good luck to Ashley, Daris, Michael and Koli, and the entire cast of Season 9!  The Biggest Loser finale airs May 25, 8:00 pm EST.

Since I’ve been out for a few weeks dealing with a medical issue (no worries, everyone’s on the mend), I’m not quite caught up with my Biggest Loser recaps!  Gail, Paula and Season 2’s Pete Thomas aptly fill the void.

Quick thoughts:

• Delighted to see individual competition.  It’s the whole reason each person is there…for him or herself.
• If you want a trainer, stick with Bob and Jillian.  The Olympians aren’t mean enough!
• Biathlon challenge was my favorite so far this season.  Reminded me of paintball, dodgeball, all the fun games.  Plus, some insight on how the players think strategically.
• What a bizarre elimination cliffhanger!
• Completely bewildered by Melissa.  Was she intimidated by the game?  Or is it a team approach to win both the at-home prize and grand prize?

HOW THE ELIMINATED PLAYER LOOKS NOW

She’s done quite well at home.  Not at all surprised to see her boxing!  But I think Jillian’s initial assessment at the ranch was correct.  Something doesn’t add up here.

NEXT WEEK

Who folded under the faux Olympic torch:  Cheryl or Darrell?   Teams reform…into Blue vs. Black!

AFTER THE ELIMINATION

Michael is the first to return to the house after the players send Maria home.  The rest of the players roll in and waste little time in reminding Michael how lucky he is to be there, since he wasted a good portion of the previous week.

POP CHALLENGE

The next day, Alison meets the group and announces the next Pop Challenge.  Immunity is up for grabs, along with three decisions that will affect the entire game.  The players have to run the Presidential Mile, grab a key card from the 100 on the board, and run back to Alison to try the key in the machine.  If it’s a green check, the team gets one point.  If it’s a red x, they have to try again.  First team to get three checks wins.

Stephanie’s working hard to win the challenge, lapping players in her quest to to get the three checks.  But the first player to get a green check is Melissa.  Orange and Pink Teams are nipping at the Red Team’s heels.   The momentum sticks and Red Team is the first to get the three green checks.   In addition to immunity, Melissa and Lance have three envelopes with penalties to distribute to the players of their choice.   They must decide:  game play or try and curry favor?

They opt for game play for two of the three decisions.   John receives the “no gym for a week” envelope.   Works in his favor as his knee injury keeps him in the pool for most of the time.   Red Team gives “no vote at elimination” to Michael, since the players were pretty harsh with him after the previous week’s elimination.   The 2 lbs penalty at the weigh in goes to Green Team.   Miggy and Migdalia are pissed.

CONFRONTATION WITH RED TEAM

Heads are about to explode!  The trainers are not happy when they learn about the results of the day’s Pop Challenge.  Bob notes how crazy it’s been in the house.   Jillian knows Miggy’s at the breaking point.   Time to confront Red Team, and again the trainers opt for the “tag team” approach.

Bob takes Melissa and Lance aside.  He doesn’t make any headway with them.  Melissa is upset that Bob called her a liar on national television.   Lance says he lost a lot of respect for Bob during the last weigh ins.  They insist Melissa is telling the truth.   Bob hesitates, then decides to let Jillian call the Red Team’s bluff.

Jillian asks Lance to come clean about the game play.   Lance refuses and says he’s not going to work with Jillian.  “Okay,” she says.  “Such is life.”    She trots over to tell Bob what happened – in front of everyone.   The teams split off, one of each pair goes to box with Jillian.  First up, Melissa.  She looks Jillian straight in the face and repeats that she’s not involved in game play.   Ridiculous!  Jillian’s only been doing this for 18 years and 8 seasons on the show.   No fooling the one who knows the science.   Jilllian looks straight at the camera and says, “She’s lying!”

Later, Melissa asks Lance to continue to work with Jillian.  He agrees.  She smiles, noting that she gets what she wants.  I hope it’s a good kick in the rear.

CHALLENGE

Hardhats on deck!  Each team has to hoist themselves one hundred feet in the air to the top of a crane.  And the prize is good – phone calls home for the winning team and the three other teams the winners choose.   Koli and Sam are channeling some kind of super human strength.  We hear a few catty remarks about steroids.   Jealous, Red Team?  It’s a photo finish, but the boys hold off Melissa and Lance for the win.  Koli and Sam’s hearts match their size.  They share the phone calls from home with Melissa and Lance (second place), Migdalia and Miggy (family birthday) and John (because he’s without family on campus).

TRAINER TIP

Jillian has a lo-cal treat to curb your sweet tooth.  Microwave an apple in a small bowl of water for 3 minutes.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and enjoy!

REWARD PHONE CALLS HOME

Gray Team is delighted to talk with family!  It’s the first time that Sam’s Dad has ever said how proud he is of his son.  Koli’s mom tells him she loves him and his aunt promises that she’ll never make fun of either guy for eating organic.

John’s wife tells him that their son is talking!  She puts baby Nicholas on to say hi to Dad.

Lance and Melissa are both excited and sad to speak with their kids.  They really miss them!

Both members of the Green feel like they want to go home.  Miggy speaks to her fiance who’s lost 20 lbs!  Migdalia’s daughter says, “Where are you Mommy?”  Her husband tells her to hang in there.

LAST CHANCE WORKOUT

It’s plug time!  Fill the Brita and head over to Subway.   Bob coaches the players on how to fill up with lean protein and healthy carbs.   Good thing they replenished their energy reserves.    Last Chance Workout moves out of the gym into the great outdoors!

Bob has hill duty.  The teams hike up the mountain, alternating walking with running intervals.   That hill is steep!  It’s John’s first official Last Chance Workout and he’s glad to be with the group.   Daris is running like a machine!  Just when the players reach the top and think they’re done for the day, Jillian’s waiting for them.  With kettlebells.  Wheelbarrows.  And rocks!   Jillian’s gleeful as she pounds the calories out of the players.  She taunts Koli and Sam as they try to push themselves up the hill in the wheelbarrow.   “It can’t be done,” she says.   The Gray Team proves her wrong.

WEIGH IN

Ali reviews the Red Team’s escapades for the week:  John couldn’t go to the gym, Michael can’t vote at elmination and the Green Team has a 2 lbs disadvantage.  Melissa and Lance stand by their decisions as Green Team fumes over the game play strategy.   With immunity, Red Team kicks off the weigh in.  Jillian is absolutely sure that “peer pressure” will cure Melissa’s amazing struggle to lose weight on campus.   And what have we learned thus far?  Don’t.  Doubt.  Miss Jill!

• Melissa – 11 lbs
• Lance – 6 lbs
• Michael – 15  lbs
• Andrea – 5 lbs
• Darrell – 10
• Cheryl – 6 lbs
• Daris – 6 lbs
• Ashley – 7 lbs
• Sherry – 4 lbs
• John – 10 lbs
• Sam – 14 lbs
• Koli – 12 lbs
• Stephanie – 6 lbs
• Migdalia – 5 lbs
• Miggy – 1 lbs
  

The high points:  Michael, Sam, Koli and John lose double digits; Cheryl and Daris hit milestones, dropping below 200 and 300 respectively.

The low point:  Melissa’s smirking response to Green’s less than impressive weight loss.   She actually says out loud, “Ali, just so we’re clear, 2 lbs wouldn’t have made a difference here.”

Migdalia starts to cry and Miggy instantly admonishes her, telling her to stop.  Jillian points out the inherent sadness in this command.  The Green Team is constantly swallowing their emotions, refusing to show stress to anyone.

The pre-elimination conference rapidly goes downhill.  Migdalia flat out says she’ll make it easy for the group.  Someone has to go home.  Pick her.  Melissa, not content to let it play out without drama, cautions the group to remember that the majority of attitude has come from Miggy.

ELIMINATION

The group is clearly conflicted.   I can’t remember another elimination like this one.  The two up for elimination are ARGUING and talking trash before the voting is complete.   Last season, Rebecca and Rudy went at it but that was after she had been eliminated.    The players refuse to honor Green’s request to go lockstep for Migdalia, with Red, Gray and Brown voting for Miggy.   Ultimately, the majority of votes go to Migdalia.

HOW THE ELIMINATED PLAYER LOOKS NOW

Startling to hear Migdalia say she’s opened up and learned to deal with her emotions during the final interview at the ranch!  After a brief period of uncertainty at home, Migdalia gets back on track.

NEXT WEEK

They’re baaaaaaack!  After battling it out at home for 30 days, who will get to return to the ranch – the Blue or Yellow team?

Now imagine how my world was turned upside down this week as I was forced to watch the show on the DVR.  By myself.  On a Friday!  Avoiding Twitter for three days so I wouldn’t see any spoilers.  Never again.

What I learned during my solo viewing:  Emotions get in the way.  Where to start with Migdalia?  Whether it was dealing with the student/teacher pairings or responding to Jillian’s attempt to “knock the chip off her shoulder,” she’s clearly unwilling or unable to express her feelings.  It’s easier for her to squelch them with self-sabotaging behavior.  Feel sorry for her, but also extremely frustrated with her attitude.  Why did she come on the show if she doesn’t want to do ALL of the work – physical and emotional?

Fantastic round ups from Paula and Ali this week.  Quick thoughts:

• Jillian and Bob are in the “good cop/bad cop” groove.  I like the joint training approach.
• Worried that Jillian’s going to push one of these contestants so hard emotionally they will lash out at her physically.  Not a character or personality flaw in the contestants, just the reality of releasing that anger/energy on the nearest thing they can.  Jill’s right up in their faces and they are big in comparison.  Sheer physics.
• Michael’s lucky his mother cares more about him than he does, or he would have gone home.  Unattractive slacker attitude.  Good for Gray Team for calling him on the mat.
• Melissa.  You’re not fooling anyone, least of all Bob and Jillian.  And Lance either knows the score, or he doesn’t know his wife at all.

After the White Team loses the weigh in, Maria makes an impassioned plea for the group to send her home.  Most of them honor the request, except for John and Stephanie who vote for Michael.  What a joy to see Maria at home, changing the way she cooks for her family and getting into that swimming pool!

Random thoughts on Week 2:

• It’s a sobering experience when Dr. Huizenga gives the contestants the results of their medical testing.  Quite a wakeup call to see decades tacked onto your chronological age.
• Why is anyone with a fear of water applying to be on the show?  You’re going to be in the drink within the first three weeks.  Poor Maria.
• Red is the new Purple.  Tracey passes the crazy game play hat to Melissa.
• Highs and lows – Patti sets the weight loss record for women during week 1, ends up going home.
• Week 2 curse – now officially a myth?

Understandable for Patti to sacrifice her time on the ranch for Stephanie, but I was sad to see her go.  She’s doing well at home though, aided by her strong family support system.  Daily workouts with her daughter, dancing with her husband and family running sessions have helped her lose 43 lbs. Patti’s also made huge progress in her battle against diabetes.  Looking good Momma!

Married with two young children, Lance and Melissa live in Aspermont, TX.  Lance, 38 is a rancher and Melissa, 39 an attorney.   Lance loves to eat and has a hard time leaving food on his plate.  His increasing weight caused him to lose his job as a commercial diver.  Quite active in her teens and twenties, Melissa began to gain weight after she married and had the kids.

Health and fitness have taken a back seat to the stresses of everyday life.  Strong in their career lives, Lance and Melissa admit they need help in getting the weight off.  They also want to set a better example for their kids, as their nightly routine consists of takeout, lots of television and hours of video games.

PINK TEAM – Mother and Daughter

Sherry and her daughter Ashley hail from Knoxville, TN.   Sherry, 51 is an administrator for a non-profit organization.  Her most significant weight gain occurred after the sudden death of her husband.  Embarrassed to meet new work colleagues and worried that she will not be around to see her grandchildren, Sherry is ready to make immediate changes in her life.

Ashley, 27 has battled weight for most of her life.  After having her tonsils and adenoids removed in early childhood, her weight increased quickly.  She wore a size 14-16 in high school and has gained more than 100 pounds since her teens.   Ashley dreads running into old friends, shocking them with her size.  But it’s her manager job at a spa that causes her the most anxiety.  She knows her body contradicts the health/wellness image of the spa.

Full of cheer – and determination – mother and daughter hope to change their own lives, as well as impact the lives of friends and family.    Reminds me of another Pink Team, Helen Phillips and Shanon Thomas!

ORANGE TEAM – Mother and Son

Cheryl and her son Daris reside in Ardmore, OK. Cheryl, 50  is the owner of Sears Hometown Store.  The pounds piled on after she had three kids in three years.   Her family loves to socialize frequently around food, another contributing factor to her weight gain.  As many mothers are, she’s always the last priority on her list.   Is it too late for Cheryl to put herself first?

Daris, 25 is a deliveryman/salesman.  Always the biggest member of his athletic teams, Daris’ size was an asset in football, the shot put and discus.   His outgoing, humorous demeanor and wild curly hair bring him plenty of attention, but he’s self conscious about his size.  Never having had a girlfriend, he wants to lose the weight, fall in love and live a long, happy life.