I’ve been watching the Biggest Loser (NBC – Tuesday evenings from 8 pm – 10 pm) now for a long time. So long that I can’t even remember when I got hooked on the show. But I will tell you one thing, the show definitely inspired me to lose weight and to get healthy.
Last night was the launch of season 9. It started with Jillian and Bob, the trainers, making calls to the contestants at their homes telling them that they were selected to be on the Biggest Loser Couples. Next, each contestant with his/her partner, had to weigh themselves publicly in their hometown. Could you imagine weighing yourself in front of your whole community?
I would find that to be humiliating and I’m sure many of last night’s contestants did when they weighed in at over 400 pounds!
Fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, cousins and even husbands and wives had to go in front of their whole community to weigh in and they were asked to state their weight in front of everyone.
The thing that always gets me about this show is that whenever the contestants weigh in for the first time, they are surprised at how much they weigh. Don’t you think they would have an idea? (I know I’m looking at my weight almost every day to see if I went up or down on the scale.)
Next, a limo brought them to the ranch and they were greeted by Alison and told that their first challenge was to ride a stationery bike for 26.2 miles. The first couple to go the distance got immunity on the first weigh in. However, two couples who finished last would be asked to leave.
The Yellow and Blue teams were the losers and were sent home. It was very emotional. They both were talking in the car about how they didn’t think they could lose weight at home. As the limos were pulling away, Jillian stopped one and Bob stopped the other to tell the couples that they still had a chance to come back to the ranch.
“We will give you a month and we will be there for you, but you have to do it at home,” the trainers told both couples. They were also told that whichever couple lost the most percentage of body weight would come back to the ranch.
The other contestants weren’t told anything and the show continued with lots of workouts and some trainer tips in between for the home audience.
The last chance workout looked brutal. The contestants were screaming, crying and even throwing up. It was pathetic ( I think I would change this to intense? You don’t want people thinking you thought the contestants looked pathetic!).
I often wonder how someone could let themselves go to that extreme. There was one guy who weighed over 500 pounds. That’s crazy. How do you let yourself get there? I know weightloss and food addiction is hard, but when your life is in danger isn’t it time to make a change?
As soon as I saw that I was getting overweight, I did something about it. I joined the gym. I hired a personal trainer to help me and I watched what I ate. I’m not saying I’m perfect because I’m far from that, but it just amazes me that a person can sink to that level and by sinking physically, he or she also sinks emotionally.
I find that the Biggest Loser is very encouraging and motivating to me. It keeps me on track and I think that it really is inspiring a nation. I’m looking forward to next week’s episode!
