Biggest Loser Recap

School concerns have left me with little attention to pay to "The Biggest Loser" in the past few weeks, but I have seen the players learn a few valuable lessons that I'd like to mention.

Week three most notably saw the Blue Team lose a weigh-in and vote out 63-year-old Jerry. As previously discussed, Jerry won the initial challenge and got to choose the team members himself. Because he held the "captain" position, was older than any other contestant in the show's history AND had a good weight-loss record, Jerry assumed his teammates would not want to vote him out. But no matter how good of a relationship the teammates build, this is a competition. Only one person can win, and in order to get closer to that goal they must vote out others who are a threat to their success.

A more important lesson in week three came to the Red Team -- when trainer Kim noticed them making some less-than-ideal food choices, she gave them a lesson in healthier cooking.

Week Five featured the ultimate challenge: handling weight concerns back in the real world. After a month on the secluded campus, the contestants went on a week-long trip with their trainers to Jamaica. But, as Jillian assured her team, "This is NOT a vacation!" The contestants were challenged with grueling workouts on the sand and in the pool and forced to find healthy food options at the all-inclusive resort's unlimited buffet. It was a true challenge for most of the contestants, and one Black Team member grew angry and defiant when Jillian told him she expected him not to drink alcohol on the trip.

While Jillian was confident in her team's ability to work out on the sand, the Black Team's previous experience with desert workouts was not enough to keep them from losing their first weigh-in. The team's set of twin brothers were split up as the team voted Jim out of the game.

The trip away from campus was an excellent chance for the contestants to practice keeping up healthy habits in a real world setting. Their trainers were present to push them through the workouts and help them make the best possible food choices, but they should all remember the lessons of this trip. At one time or another, they will each have to leave the campus and go home, where they will have to maintain their new physical selves while living in their old enviornment...which makes me think of another, similar topic I'd like to mention. But that's another post for another time.