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.

Sam and Stephanie.  SAM AND STEPHANIE!!! A great pairing.  Cupcake away, you two!

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!

Patti, 55, is a small business owner in Layfayette, CA.   Overweight for most of her life, she still remembers the taunts of childhood playmates.   But that pain pales in comparison to losing her father unexpectedly at 55, the same age she is now.  She fears that if she doesn’t lose the excess weight, her own life will be cut short, leaving her family devasted.   Patti doesn’t want to be an overweight, unhealthy companion to her husband.  She’s ready to break the cycle and become fit, healthy and energetic.

29 year old Stephanie is a radio sales executive in West Hollywood, CA.  Like her mother, she’s been battling extra weight for most of her life.   Her job requires long hours and frequent social outings, leaving her little time to hit the gym.   Work is also her excuse for not having time to be in a relationship.  However, she admits that she is afraid a potential love interest will reject her because of her weight.   As a former athlete, the thrill of competition motivated her once.  She’s hoping that same spirit will help her kick the pounds, once and for all.

BROWN TEAM – Brothers

James, 30 is a human resources director living in Orlando, FL.   As the youngest kids in a large family, he and his identical twin are used to competition.   While they used to stand out as scholars and athletes, the twins now gain attention because of their weight.   His size makes it difficult for James to do activities he once loved, like dancing with his wife or taking long walks.   He wants to have a family and live a long healthy life.

His brother John works in Orlando as a senior marketing manager.  A number of John’s relatives have died prematurely and he can no longer deny the obvious.  He may suffer the same fate if he doesn’t get his weight under control, which would mean leaving his family without a husband and father.   John has lost almost 160 lbs in the past, but couldn’t keep it off.   He regained all 160 lbs, plus 40 more.   John hopes the competitive nature of the show will be the game-changer for himself and his twin.

BLACK TEAM – Father and Daughter

Darrell, 46 is a machine operator and mechanic from Ann Arbor, MI.   Always the largest in his family, Darrell’s love for food started early.    Oversized portions plus a lack of exercise has kept him heavy his entire adult life.    Darrell’s quality of life has diminished because of his weight.   Living a full, healthy, fit life means that he’ll need help sticking to a diet and fitness regimen.

Darrell and his daughter Andrea, 24 are very close.  As the 4th and 5th generation to carry on obsesity in their family, they are teaming up to change their family legacy.    Andrea works as an executive assistant in Ann Arbor.   Although overweight as a child, she was also athletic and didn’t start gaining weight until after high school.   Her family equates food with love and eating healthfully has always been a challenge, especially at family events.   Andrea is finally ready to break the cycle of weight gain and improve her health.  She knows this will change her life – and her dad’s future.