The Biggest Loser: Couples: February 2008 Archives

Does what happens in Vegas really stay in Vegas? With the blue team, I highly doubt it. Jay was the Biggest Loser last week and got the chance to pull an envelope. The prize he won was not only for himself but for the rest of his team as well: A trip to Vegas! The guys shacked up in a gorgeous suite at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. The showers even had stripper poles! Now that's high class.

Bob wasn't very happy when he found out about his blue team traveling to Sin City. He was worried the lure of the buffets and cheap booze would take hold over them so he told them they had to work out while they were there. Mark and Jay did a great job working out but Roger and Dan slacked off a little. Actually, Dan slacked off a lot. After staying out until 6:00 AM, Roger and Dan were in no shape to make it to the 7:00 workout and overslept. Mark and Jay finally went and woke them up right before 10:00 AM so that they could get their workout for the day in. Roger was ticked off though! He'd asked Mark and Jay to wake him up in the first place and they hadn't. Roger did get up and go workout but Dan? He stayed in the comfy bed until it was time to go get his tattoo.

That's right! I said "tattoo". The guys had come to the decision the previous day to get tattoos of "pride" which was their team motto. Stupid, I know. I couldn't believe Dan actually went through with it. The show's editing made you think he would wuss out at the last moment leaving the other three holding the bag but he didn't. And to prove how much of a man he was, he got his very first tattoo on his forearm. It was huge. I have a feeling Momma Jackie ain't going to be happy. What can you do though? The guy's 21.

The challenge this week was a lame one. It was an obstacle course that consisted of flipping tires, hauling sandbags, rolling medicine balls, and running a half male. Only a half mile! Guess who lost. The amazing black team. I hope you read that in a sarcastic tone by the way. As if Dan's cockiness couldn't get any worse in this episode already, he explained that the reason the black team lost is because they're "obviously a much weaker team." Well thank you Captain Obvious! The best thing about the challenge though was that it had no consequence in the upcoming weigh-in. The blue team did win all-expenses paid trips for two to Puerto Rico though.

The weigh-in was stunning this week. The black team pounded the blue team. Black lost a total of 30 pounds for 3.69% of their weight while the blue team only lost 23 pounds and 2.47% of their weight. Somebody in blue would be going down. Unfortunately for me, there would be no backstabbing and fighting to watch. Mark threw himself on the sword so that he could pay back Roger for sending Trent home. And to see the amount of crying in this episode, you'd think these guys were a bunch of ninnies. Jeez! What am I watching? Oprah?

Next week, we're supposed to see the biggest challenge in the game's history. There's also supposed to be a bigger twist than we've ever seen as well. Oh, and no more teams! What did you think about this episode?

The contestants on The Biggest Loser returned home this week for the first time in 58 days. They didn't have Bob or Jillian by their side or the support of their fellow teammates to keep their eating and workout habits on track. So after spending a week with their friends and family, would they return to campus having kept themselves in check?

Everybody was happy to go home and see their loved ones. Of course, there were the sappy homecoming parties with everybody telling them how they great their smaller selves looked. There was also a lot of food at the gatherings. Mark's son was a little cutie pie snatching the donuts from the table! He couldn't resist that sugary goodness but Dad stepped in and took it away from him. He didn't want his son to grow up and become him. I understand that but Mark should have removed all of that food from the table immediately upon seeing it in the first place.

Paul's second day home didn't go so well for him. While all of the other contestants were going out to eat and ordering healthy food, Paul provided his crew with unlimited hot wings in celebration. He also provided them for himself along with lots of dressing on the side. I was so disappointed in him when he did that. I could understand him having two or three as a splurge but when he didn't stop, I wondered if he'd learned anything at all on The Biggest Loser campus.

Once everybody said goodbye to their loved ones and returned to campus, it was time for them to debrief their trainers concerning how well they "behaved" at home. It would be an understatement if I said Jillian was ticked at Paul. Besides his pigging out, he had completely ignored Jillian's calls. She had called all of them every single morning and every single night to check on them but Paul said that his phone was dead and that's why he didn't talk to her. Then he was cold busted by Jillian because Kelly had told Jillian that she'd spoken to Paul. I think he just felt guilty about falling off the wagon and didn't want to discuss it with Jillian.

Their challenge this week was one of my favorites. They did the giant jump rope beam challenge. You know, the one where they have to jump over the foam bar. If they don't jump high enough it breaks and they're out. Yeah, that one. The winning team would be able to choose two people in the losing team to weigh in that night -- a full 24 hours before the regular weigh-in. So I was thrilled when Brittany was the final person jumping and the black team won. Dan and Roger were chosen to weigh-in early and between them they lost 27 pounds. I began to really wonder if the black team would win the weigh-in at that point.

I had every right to worry too. They wound up losing big time. The blue team pummeled them on the scales with their total weight loss of 56 pounds and 5.67%. The black team only lost a combined 26 pounds and 2.42% of their weight. I knew immediately then who was going home. I didn't even have to watch the elimination ceremony. It was Paul's time to leave the show. Unfortunately for him, he came down with double pneumonia after going home and has gained back 3 of the 67 pounds he'd lost while on the campus. I hope he's able to get back on track in time for the finale because he was one of my favorites.

I don't know about you but I found this week's episode of The Biggest Loser really touching. I even watched it a second time today to see if maybe it was due to the mood I was in when I first watched it. Nope, that wasn't it. I was still just as touched the second time around.

But first, is Kelly getting on anybody else's nerves? I am sick and tired of her always crying. I know some people are more sensitive than others but she really needs to get herself together. Watching her continuously weep during the weigh-in made me want to reach through my TV and give her something to really cry about. Sure she was worried about the possibility of going home but all of them on her team (except for Paul and Maggie at that point) were as well. I didn't notice Bernie and Brittany bawling did you?

Jillian's mom seemed like a really nice lady. It was nice to meet her and very interesting to see the interaction she had with those on the black team when she was helping to counsel them. Personally, I feel that some of the members on the blue team would have reaped some benefit out of talking with her instead of going on their hike -- Dan and Trent especially. (I don't like Jay and Mark so I could have cared less about them!) It was really heart-wrenching when Paul was talking with her. It sounds like he had an absolutely horrible time growing up under his father's care. Not that I mean calling frequent beatings care so please don't mistake me on that. Out of all of the people in the cast this season, Paul is definitely my favorite. I so wanted to just give him a hug when he was talking about his father.

Another person that I really like, I mean liked, was Trent. I think it's a shame that he went home this week but I certainly understood why he wanted to go. He'd done a fabulous job already in losing 87 pounds in just 7 weeks and he must had to have been in awful pain from his hurt knee. He's an ex-football player and must have a high tolerance for pain so when he said that the level of pain he was in was an 8 out of 10, I really felt for him. I admit that I shed a few tears during the elimination ceremony when Roger voted for him to go home. Trent seemed to be doing good back at home though and I can't wait to see him at the finale. I'm thinking he'll probably manage to lose at least another 30 pounds before then which would put him at under 300 pounds. On a big guy like him, that would be huge!

I'm trying to figure out what's up with the remaining contestants being sent home already. It's too early for that so it must be just a short visit. But why do that at this time? It's not making sense to me yet. I'm sure the reason will make itself painfully obvious at the beginning of next week's episode.

So what are your thoughts on this week's episode? And what do you think this "going home" thing is all about?

The Biggest Loser picked up this week with the black team back at the gym. Kelly was upset because she lost no poundage at the last weigh-in and Maggie was missing her partner, Jenn, who was eliminated last week. Jillian then came in and talked to them about their eating. Come to find out, many of them are not eating as many calories as they're supposed to. Jillian told them that they have to eat those calories to provide fuel for their bodies. Bob has his game on and they need to have theirs on as well.

Later that night, the teams entered the gym where a temptation challenge was set up. Each person had their own booth and 100 chocolate caramels in front of them. Alison told them that she'd heard talk of the teams being divided unfairly and that that could all change tonight. The person that wins this challenge would have the option of choosing any player on their team, including themselves, and switching with any player on the other team. The person that eats the most candies in five minutes would win.

As soon as the time started Mark began to choke them chocolates down. The others stood around contemplating what they should do. With three minutes remaining on the clock, Brittany decided to take a shot at the win and began cramming the chocolates in her mouth. When it was all said and done, most of them decided to not eat any of the candies. Paul ate three and Roger ate one while Brittany managed fifteen and Mark ate an astonishing 43 (for 1,118 calories). The blue team won! Mark decided to keep the teams the same in the end.

The next day, Mark went to go get an MRI for his right shin. He'd been having problems with it and there was a good reason for that. He had a stress fracture! No running, walking, elliptical, squats, or anything concerning his lower body in his workouts. Meanwhile, Dan was hiking for his Biggest Loser of the Week prize. All three of the envelopes said "Family" though which confused him -- at least until his older brother Joe came out and surprised him. Dan took his brother back to the house to surprise their mother and she was most certainly shocked! Then you know how it goes after that, she began crying and everybody hugged and Joe told them how good they looked.

For the challenge, the teams met up at the culinary school at The Art Institute of California - Los Angeles. This one wouldn't be a physical challenge -- it would be a cooking challenge! Each of the teams would have to cook three-course meals and have them judged by Rocco Dispirito. The twist is that they would have to choose from recipes provided by Rocco and make them healthier. They would be judged based on taste and nutrition. The winning team would get dinner made for them by Rocco himself as well as receiving a prize from home.

The teams first had to go to Whole Foods and gather up all of their ingredients in under 15 minutes. Back in the kitchen, they were told that they would have 15 minutes to cook and present their appetizer. They would then have 15 minutes from their entree and then 10 minutes for their dessert. Paul and Maggie went to work on their appetizer (shrimp wrapped in turkey bacon) while the brothers on the blue team began theirs (scallops wrapped in turkey bacon). After they presented them to Rocco and he had a bite, Brittany and Bernie began preparing the black team's entree (filet mignon with blue cheese and a salad) and Dan and Jackie dished up the blue team's entree (salmon on a cucumber salad). Rocco took his bite and then Trent and Roger went to work on their dessert (fresh oranges with a buttery sangria sauce). Kelly prepared the dessert for the black team all by herself (fruit-topped yogurt with granola and strawberry sauce).

When the challenge was over, Rocco told everybody that all of the dishes tasted good. The blue team's total amount of calories for their three-course meal was 1,177 while the black teams's was only 787 calories. The combination of taste and low caloric value made the black team the winner!

Back on campus, Rocco showed them how to cook foods that they actually liked in a healthy way. All of the black team members gave a hand in the preparation and cooking and then sat down to eat their meal with Rocco. When the meal was done, it was time for their prizes from home. Yup, you guessed it -- videos from family. All of them were really sweet and there was the typical crying but Kelly's video from her boyfriend touched Paul to the core. He became a tad jealous when he heard about somebody else kissing her and after they went back and forth a few times over it, agreed that it wouldn't ever work out between them. Kelly was sweet though and said that she couldn't have thought of anybody else to do TBL with.

After their last chance workouts, it was time for the weigh-in. The blue team was up first with Dan starting them off. Dan lost 7 pounds, Jackie lost 2, Roger lost 8, Trent lost 9, Jay lost 5, and Mark lost 9. Their team total was 40 pounds lost and 2.48% Kelly was the first to weigh for the black team and lost 7 pounds, Paul lost 12, Maggie lost 5, Brittany lost 10, and Bernie lost an amazing 13 pounds! The black team completely blew the blue team out of the water! Somebody would be leaving the blue team tonight.

They went off to pack and during that Jackie approached Roger and Trent about if it was OK to vote Trent off because she thought he'd be able to continue his weight loss at home. They said they were fine with that and Jackie went to tell the brothers what would be happening. She asked them to swear that they'll never vote for her or Dan without telling them first and they swore on it.

You know what happens next don't you? Jackie and Dan cast their votes for Trent to go home while everybody else voted for Jackie to go home. I thought it was rather fitting personally. She got mad and Dan started crying but too bad! Toodles Jackie! At home, Jackie has continued to lose weight and has now lost a total of 70 pounds since going on the show.

Next week, voice-over guy told us to be there for the weigh-in that would make BL history (Bob says it's crazy and walks out!). And then if we think that's a shocker, just wait until the very end (Trent is crying). Alison tells them they're about to experience a BL first. I wonder what that could be!

What did you think about this episode? Personally, I thought it was one of the best ones this season. What did you think about the cooking competition? And how about Jackie going home?