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The Biggest Loser Goes Sans Gym

Posted by Trish Milburn Jan 25 2012, 12:01 am in The Biggest Loser, Trish Milburn

In a season where The Biggest Loser is making an attempt to tackle all the excuses people make to not take care of themselves, this week’s was the “I don’t have a gym membership” one. The aim of the episode was to show that you don’t have to have a gym membership to lose weight.

It was a quick, one-hour episode this week due to the State of the Union address, so we jumped right into the first challenge. Each team had to answer trivia questions while carrying a battering ram. They broke through doors based on their answers. If they got it right, they had an easy run to the next question. If not, they had to slog through mud to get there. At stake was access to the ranch gym. The winning team would have it for the week; the losing team would not. The red team won after an abysmal showing by the black team, who missed every single question.

The weekly visit to the aqua team in Chicago was Dolvett. Only one more week until the team comes back to the ranch to weigh in and see if they earn their way back onto the ranch.

Conda’s sour attitude continued, and Dolvett even kicked her out of the gym. Of course, this led to the heart-to-heart talk on the gym steps that we see at least once a season. I’m not sure Dolvett was her favorite person afterward, but Conda did get back to work in the gym. During the weigh-in, Dolvett said she was perhaps the most stubborn person he’s ever trained.

Speaking of the weigh-in, did anyone else notice Bob’s eye roll at Dolvett? I’m not liking this friction between the trainers, whether it’s real or manufactured by selective editing.

At the weigh-in, the black team did well considering they had no exercise equipment. Collectively, they lost 52 pounds. The big losers were Chism with 12 pounds gone, Jeremy with 11 and Emily with 9. Emily was the biggest loser on her team percentage-wise, which was handy when they ended up in the elimination room. The red team lost 58 pounds and had four people with double-digit losses — Mark with 11, Kim with 10, Conda with 10 (believe it or not), and even Buddy lost 10 after going home for a few days to be with his wife while she had their new baby boy. He proved that even at this early stage, the contestants can lose weight at home if they set their minds to it.

At the elimination, Gail, who has had consistent low numbers and is at least perceived as not giving her all, was voted out. This was actually my preference over Chris, who I feel just had a really bad day where the stress got to her and some people held it against her. She works hard and has consistent good numbers. If her team had sent her home instead of Gail, I would have just thrown my hands up.

What were your impressions this week? I hate to say it, but this has so far been the most boring season I’ve seen since I started watching The Biggest Loser. But my favorite contestant continues to be Cassandra.

5 Comments

Comments

5 Responses to “The Biggest Loser Goes Sans Gym”

Diane Gaston says:

January 25, 2012 at 12:32 am

I can just say ditto you your whole post, Trish. Although I’ve been tired of Bob for a loooonnng time.

Reply
- Trish Milburn says:
  
  January 25, 2012 at 10:57 am
  
  I’ve always liked Bob, but he’s grating on my nerves this season.
  
  Reply
Michelle Butler says:

January 25, 2012 at 10:09 am

I do wonder if you get sick of the sameness of the format after awhile in any reality show – so many people going on basically the same journey. There have been boring seasons of Survivor, etc.

I missed last night’s episode due to a date. Did Conda say anything to make folks feel for her? I really disliked her strongly last week.

Sometimes I think Bob has become a caricature of himself through the seasons. Folks like him for x, y, z, so he decides – or his told – to show more x,y,z and it no longer feels honest. He may also be trying to show Jillian’s x,y,z too.

Reply
- Trish Milburn says:
  
  January 25, 2012 at 11:00 am
  
  No, at least to me Conda said nothing to make me feel for her. Maybe there’s something deeper that she hasn’t identified and the surly exterior is a defense mechanism. We’ll see. It’s an interesting contrast with her brother, who is funny. I wonder if we would have seen such a stark difference if they’d stayed on the same team.
  
  And you’re right, there have been seasons of Survivor that have been boring. I think the main one that I saw was Thailand.
  
  Reply
- Diane Gaston says:
  
  January 26, 2012 at 12:10 pm
  
  I think you are right about the staleness of the same format. I guess that is why the producers try to structure it a little differently each season.
  
  I hope the show succeeds, because I do like it a lot and I think it is important to show people being successful at weight loss in this day of rampant obesity.
  
  I think Jillian might have jumped ship at exactly the right time.
  
  Reply

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