Back in Black

The start of Week 2 found the Black Team halfway down the road to rejoining the other teams. At their first official weigh-in, many of the Black teammates were discouraged by the small changes in their weight. After working as hard as they had been, they expected to lose a decent amount of weight during the first week.

Trainer Jillian reminded her team that as long as they were working hard (clearly, they were) and losing some weight, they were headed in the right direction. She also made an interesting point about the difference between her team's workouts and those of the Blue and Red teams: After two weeks of exercising outdoors in the desert heat, she said "the air-conditioned gym will be a joke to them" when they returned to the campus. When they begin working out with the other teams, the Black team will probably have much more endurance than their opponents.

The Red team won the challenge, and probably expected to win the weigh-in as well. But the Black team beat them out on the scale, largely because of big numbers from twin brothers Bill and Jim.

For the second week in a row, the Red team was forced to eliminate a player. They chose Lezlye, who had rebelled against Kim earlier in the week.

One member of each team had somewhat of a breakdown this week. On the Black Team, Hollie was ready to quit, insisting that Jillian's workouts were too much for her. But even with her militant approach to training, Jillian is excellent at inspiring her team to work their hardest, and she quickly had Hollie up and running (pun slightly intended...) again. On the Blue team, Patty had a tough day and lost her motivation, but she quickly got it back with a pep talk from the always-encouraging Bob. The Red team's Amy walked out of a team workout when she suddenly missed her family so much that she wanted to go home to them. Bob took time out from working with his own team to help her through her rough moment. He reminded her of something that has been a big factor for the success of the contestants in every season of The Biggest Loser: Rather than be preoccupied with how much they miss their families, the contestants realize that they need to learn to live healthier lives so that they can be better spouses and better parents, and so they can improve their chances of being around for their families in the future.

One female contestant spoke about the importance of losing weight to improve her health and her family: she had recently been diagnosed with polycystic ovaries, a condition that would make it difficult for her to have another child, which she and her husband very much wanted. She had been told that, with every pound she gained, having a child would become more difficult, but with each pound she lost, it would potentially get easier.

From season to season, the Biggest Loser contestants have shared their stories and their reasons for wanting to change their lives. In today's appearance-conscious world, they show us that losing weight is not always about looking better. It is about living better.