Every season on NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” the producers have a way of changing things up to the point of having us all scratch our heads. Last night there was more of that, though some of the curves came from natural causes. The first of those was at the start of the episode when Miggy had to call 911 in the middle of the night due to abdominal pain, and was rushed to the hospital.

Then came the return of the blue and yellow teams, who would weigh in to determine which team was coming back to the ranch. The other contestants had no idea that one team would return after 30 days, so they were all surprised and kind of nervous. Host Allison Sweeney instructed the blue and yellow teams to go and weigh in, but instead they were met in the gym by Bob and Jillian, who put them through a last chance workout.

Before they weighed in, Allison announced that not only would the winning team come back to the ranch, but that they would also have immunity the first week. To make things more interesting, they would also have the only elimination vote at the main weigh in. Wow, now that’s a curveball, and one that really made everyone else worried.

The blue team of Cherita and Vicky went first and they lost 24 and 39 pounds, respectively, for a total of 63 pounds, or 9.92%. Damn. So next was the yellow team of Sunshine and O’Neal. Gotta love that someone named Sunshine is on the yellow team, huh? Anyway, they lost 25 and 51 pounds, respectively, for a whopping 76 pounds or 11.45%. Good for them, but sad for the blue team, who took the loss in stride.

During regular workouts, Bob was really pushing Melissa, and Jillian was pushing Daris through some self-esteem issues. Then they had product placement with Jennie-O turkey, as Bob cooked them all some chili.

After that came the main challenge, and since it’s Super Bowl week in real time, the task would be to push a tackling machine back and forth, and the first player to push 1000 times won. The teams with two players would have to choose one to participate and one to be a cheerleader. But this was a valuable challenge to win, because the prize was immunity. Yikes…that makes two teams immune this week. Also, the team that came in last would have a 2-pound disadvantage at the weigh in. Well, after the red and gray teams battled, Michael of the white team cranked it up and put all of his almost 500 pounds behind it and came away with the victory. The losing team was the pink team.

Then Miggy returned, and announced that she had her appendix taken out, as well as a huge cyst in her abdomen. Yikes. And Dr. H told Miggy she could only walk for exercise, and also that they injected her body with salt water, which would put about 8-9 extra pounds on her. Not good.

Meanwhile, John, who had been working out mostly in a pool, finally worked out in the gym with everyone else and was happy to do so. Then Jillan was shown pushing Ashley harder than ever, and found out that Ashley was holding in some baggage about her dad that passed away when she was young.

After the last chance workout, it was time to weigh in. Oh, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell NBC how pissed I am that they ran half of last week’s episode at 7pm CST, opposite “American Idol.” Since I blog Idol too, I couldn’t watch Loser on TiVo delay….I had to watch it with all the commercials, making the 45 minute weigh-in just agonizing. Thanks NBC, thanks for nothing!

So the yellow team and Michael went first, since all three of them were immune. Sunshine and O’Neal each lost 5 pounds. Not great, but not bad. Michael lost 13 pounds, and has now lost 83 pounds in 5 weeks. If he reaches 100 pounds next week, he will break Rudy’s record of 100 pounds in 7 weeks set last seaon. Good for him.

Then the pink team went, and lost 15 pounds total, and 13 with the 2 pound penalty. That was good for 2.54%. The red team of Melissa and Lance lost 5 and 4 pounds, respectively, for 9 pounds total and 1.73%. That made the pink team safe and made the red team very nervous. Orange was next, and while Cheryl lost just 3 pounds, Daris dropped 12, giving them 15 pounds lost and 3.05%.

Next up was Stephanie of the purple team, who lost 5 pounds, or 2.17%. The gray team of Sam and Koli lost 10 and 6 pounds, or 2.42%. But Koli was bummed he only lost 6 when he expects double digits each week. Easy, dude! The black team of Andrea and Darrell weighed in with 5 and 8 pounds lost, or 13 total and 2.10%. All that remained to weigh in were Miggy and John, and the red team was still facing possible elimination.

Miggy, who has been walking like crazy, lost 5 pounds, or 2.37%, to remain on the ranch. Mrs. Mike and I both felt they should have given her a pass this week, but I’m glad she was able to drop 5 pounds and stay on campus. Finally it was John of the brown team. John had to lose 7 pounds, and Bob had announced in the gym that he expected the time in said gym to translate to a big number. Well, no, it didn’t…John lost just 6 pounds, and while he has lost 63 pounds off his 400-pound plus frame, it wasn’t enough this week. And since he was the only remaining brown team member, John was instantly eliminated without the yellow team having to make a decision.

It really does suck that someone that heavy who needs to be there went home at this stage, but that’s how the game is played…and the producers continually remind us that this surely is a game. But for John, it’s been good at home…he’s gone from 484 pounds down to 380, so he’s lost 104 pounds all told so far. I have a feeling either he or his brother James will win the $100K at-home prize.

So that’s it…..weird things happening at the ranch, and if you asked me who I thought might win it all, I don’t think I could tell you at this point. It’s really pretty much wide open. What do you think? Let me know in the space below, and thanks for reading!

It’s getting testy on NBC’s “The Biggest Loser.” After last week’s challenges and weigh in, it’s clear that Michael is watching his back, as are Miggy and Migdalia. Meanwhile, Lance and Melissa are still liars, and nobody likes a liar.

As many of these episodes do, this one began with a pop challenge. But unlike most of the pop challenges, this one came with a prize of immunity at the weigh in. It also came with the power to assign various penalties to the other teams. For the challenge, they would each run the “presidential” mile around campus, and as they completed each lap, would insert a card into a slot that would either show a green check or a red x. Each check was a point, and the first team with three points won. As it went on, you got the feeling the red team was going to win…..I mean, we could all just feel it. And sure enough, they did. So in addition to immunity, they got to open three cards, each of which represented a penalty the red team could pass on to the other teams–no access to the gym, no elimination vote, and a 2 pound disadvantage at the weigh in. They gave the first one to John, since he did well working out in a pool anyway; the second one to Michael, since he was angry at some of the others after they accused him of loafing it; and finally, they gave the 2 pound disadvantage to the green team, who are angry and bitter even without that kind of pressure.

Then, after hearing about the crazy pop challenge, Bob and Jillian were pissed and then wanted to clear the air with Lance and Melissa, since they had called Melissa a liar at last week’s weigh in. But while Bob tried hard to accept that maybe they weren’t lying, Jillian couldn’t accept it, prompting Lance to say to Jillian, “I have no respect for you.” Awesome! But Jillian pointd out that even with immunity this week, Melissa would likely “miraculously” figure out how to lose a few pounds. The problem here, too, is that everyone on the ranch and everyone in TV land knows these two are liars and that Melissa was playing the game the last two weeks.

The next challenge was for each team to get on platforms and lift themselves 120 feet in the air. The winning team would receive phone calls from home, and they would also assign phone calls from home to three other teams. The gray team barely edged out the red team, and gave the other calls to the red team (much to the dismay of most of us), the bitter green team, and to John of the brown team. Say what you will about some of these contestants, the guys in gray are truly good people, and it’s hard not to root for them.

Then after a Subway product placement with Bob taking everyone for sandwiches, he then told them that their last chance workout would be an uphill climb, literally…up and down a mountain and back to the ranch, and then they would have to endure more of a workout from Jillian.

Before the weigh in, Miggy called Melissa out for gameplay, and of course Melissa denied that. Liar! Anyway, Lance and Melissa weighed in first and lost 6 and 11 pounds, respectively. Well, duh! Even with immunity, Melissa knew she had to save face a bit. Michael went next and lost 15 pounds to raise his total weight loss to 70 pounds so far, down from 526 to 456. Next up, the black team of Drea and Darrell, who lost 5 and 10 pounds, 2.37% and not enough for safety.

Next was the orange team….Cheryl and Daris each lost 6, or 2.38%. The pink team of Ashley and Sherry lost 7 and 4 pounds, for 2.11% and below the yellow line for the moment. Next was John, who lost 10 pounds, or 2.29%. Sam and Koli of the gray team lost a whopping 14 and 12 pounds, for a 3.78% mark and first place. Stephanie lost 6 pounds, or 2.54%. Finally, the green team weighed in, and lost 4 and 1 pound. With the 2 pound disadvantage, that meant 3 pounds total, or 0.67%. Jillian cited stress (i.e. bitterness) as the culprit, and Melissa was quick to point out that they would have been below the yellow line even without a 2 pound penalty. To which Migdalia replied, “Shut up!” Ha!

So Miggy and Migdalia pleaded their case to the other teams, but it as more like Migdalia demanding that everyone send her home. She wanted to see her family, because her husband is on his way to Afghanistan soon, but she said it to everyone in an angry, obnoxious way.

The red team voted for Miggy, because they felt she was the drama queen of the house (um, I’m thinking something about a pot and a kettle here). Orange, pink and Stephanie all voted for Migdalia, but the gray team as well as John voted for Miggy to even the vote. That left it up to the black team, and they decided to, reluctantly, honor Migdalia’s wishes and send her home. But everyone wanted to know why she couldn’t have asked them nicely. Exactly!

So Migdalia went home, with her baggage (literally)….and has lost 46 pounds so far, down from 265 to 219. Somehow, I don’t think she’s going to keep this up. There is just too much stress, drama and bitterness that is going to interfere with her weight loss plans. But we’ll see.

What do you all think of the drama? Much more than last season already…and it’s reminiscent of Vicki and Brady from a few seasons ago. Thanks for reading and see you all next week!

NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” consistently transforms the lives of its contestants, but that doesn’t mean every one of them really wants to be on that ranch and do the necessary work to change their bodies. Last night we saw two instances of just that, despite what those contestants would tell you.

They began by reminding us that there were two teams, blue and yellow, that had been sent home on Day 1 for 30 days. At his point, it was halfway through the 30 days, and each team was working extremely hard to earn that spot back on the ranch.

Then it was time for the first challenge, and host Alison Sweeney describing the premise of the competition this week. It would be “teacher/student” week, meaning each team would consist of a teacher and a student, and that only the teachers would have access to trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels, while the students would then be trained by the “teachers.” What’s more, only the weight of the students would count at the weigh in. To determine who would be who for each team, the challenge was to eat M&M’s and whoever devoured the most of them would get to pick the teachers and students. Only Sherry of the pink team and Michael of the white team moved forward to eat the M&M’s but they didn’t feel right about it. As a result, Sherry won by eating just two candies for a total of 10 calories. Her and daughter Ashley were then not thrilled about having to choose the teams, but it was one of those “be careful what you wish for” moments.

Anyway, here is how they chose–teachers were Andrea, Stephanie, Sam, Melissa, Cheryl, Migdalia, Michael, and Sherry; students were Darrell, John (her and Stephanie were teammates this week since their partners had been eliminated), Koli, Lance, Daris, Miggy, Maria and Ashley.

Then they all had a cooking lesson from celebrity chef Curtis Stone. After that, they showed Jillian training Migdalia, who was clearly angry about something. Jillian couldn’t get her to open up, so just kept pushing her buttons until finally Migdalia walked out and threatened to quit the show. After Jillian tried to use Miggy to convince Migdalia not to quit, Bob intervened and knew just what to say to get her to stay. Let’s all get our violins out!

Then there was one of the weirdest challenges the show has ever produced. Each team had to have one member take a large roll of ribbon the color of their team, and wrap it around various parts of a playground. Then, members of the other teams would have to unravel them. So some of them made their ribbons extremely difficult to unravel on purpose, and were shocked to hear Alison tell them that their teammates would be the ones unraveling their color. Snap! But to make it worse, the ones unraveling would be blindfolded and their teammate would have to guide them verbally. Yikes. The gray team won, and their main prize was immunity at the weigh in. Their secondary prize was to be able to switch out one team’s student and force the teacher to weigh in instead. They would announce that at the weigh in, meaning that no one could slack off. Well, in theory, anyway.

After the last chance workout, it was time to weigh in. The gray team announced that they were switching Michael and Maria of the white team, because they felt Michael had not been giving it 100% during the week, and of all the contestants, he should have been, because he started as the heaviest contestant in the show’s history. Michael was pissed, but we could surely ask him how bad he wants this.

The gray team weighed in first and though they had immunity, we know they are on the ranch for the right reasons. They lost 11 and 13 pounds, for a total of 24.

The green team of Miggy and Migdalia was next, and only Miggy’s weight would count, but they lost 8 and 7 pounds, respectively. Miggy’s 7 pounds was a 3.2% weight loss.

Next up, the black team. Andrea lost 7 pounds while Darrell lost 12, giving them 3.22% and putting them above the green team. Orange was next, and Cheryl lost 7 pounds while Daris lost 9, putting them below the yellow line for the moment with 2.9%.

Then came Stephanie and John, with Stephanie losing 7 pounds and John losing 14,or 3.10% and keeping them both safe for the week. The Red team was next, and Melissa lost just one pound while Lane lost 12, giving them a 3.57% weight loss. Remember that last week Melissa was playing the game because they had immunity, and she had gained a pound. So while she acted all shocked, Bob and Jillian called Melissa out, and she and Bob even got into a shouting match. If you do the math, Bob and Jillian were correct, because you can’t work out as much as they do and then put up numbers like that unless you are taking in like 7000 calories a day or something crazy like that. Sorry Melissa, we all know you’re full of crap too. Then again, it had to be risky considering the power of the gray team to switch them.

The white team was next, and Maria lost 4 pounds while Michael lost 10, which for him was only good for 2.08%. Of course, I don’t know what Maria’s percentage would have been, but I’m pretty sure 4 pounds would have also put them below the line if they had counted her weight instead.

Then the pink team was up, and Sherry lost 6 pounds while daughter Ashley lost 12, giving them a 3.48% mark and second place, and putting the white team below the yellow line.

So everyone would have to vote to send either Michael or Maria home. Maria pleaded with them all to send her home because Michael needed to be there more. I can see that, but they all hoped Michael saw it also. And while John was still pissed about Michael slacking off, and he voted for him to be sent home, everyone else voted for Maria, including the gray team, who told Michael they only wanted to teach him a lesson and make him appreciate why he was there.

Meanwhile, Maria went home and has so far lost 51 pounds, down from 281 to 230. What’s more, she has gotten over her fear of water, and is taking swimming lessons. Good for her!

Now, we have some good old-fashioned dissension brewing. How much will Migdalia and Michael want it now, or will they continue to be bitter? And how will Melissa get along with Bob and Jillian now they called her out for being a liar? I know the producers are licking their chops, and I have to admit it’s all pretty intriguing now!

See you all next week…

Last night on NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” they began with Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels talking about how Week 2 is notoriously difficult for contestants. That’s because they typically lose a lot of weight in Week 1 and then their bodies start to rebound and fight back after that.

So Bob went to work with Michael, who came in at 526 pounds, the heaviest contestant ever on the show. Then they showed Dr. Huizenga lecturing the group and discussing how unhealthy they all were. But before he got to the dirty scoop on exactly how unhealthy they were, he had Michael and his mom Maria meet with Bob…and they put weights on Bob that were equivalent to Michael’s excess “baggage.” Then seeing how Bob was practically immobile, it hit Michael how hard just how obese he was and how much he needed to be on this show.

After meeting with each team and giving them different test results and respective inspiration to lose weight, they had this week’s challenge with host Alison Sweeney. Each team had to walk a balance beam across a pool and put a corresponding colored ball into a cage, and the team with 10 balls first won. The prize was immunity, but then the team that finished last would have a 2 pound penalty at the weigh in. Yikes. The red team of Lance and Melissa won, and the white team of Michael and Maria finished last, mainly because Maria, who was terrified of water, fell on her face, literally, and messed up her nose and broke a finger. Somehow, though, she got out of the hospital and hit the ground running with her workouts.

Then, after having the Dr. Huizenga blues and dealing with the blues of Week 2, they all weighed in. The red team went first because they had immunity. Lance lost 8 pounds and Melissa gained a pound. Melissa loosely admitted to playing the game, but she backpedaled a bit when Bob called her out, to which Bob laughed in her face……the gray team of Sam and Koli went next and lost 17 pounds…Ashley and Sherry of the pink team lost 13 pounds…..Miggy and Migdalia of the green team lost 12…..then the purple team of Patti and Stephanie lost 4 and 3 pounds, respectively, for a total of 7, and they were in immediate danger of falling below the yellow line…..the orange team of Cheryl and Daris went next and lost 10 pounds….John, the remaining twin brother from the brown team, lost 10 pounds after being told he needed to lose at least 6 to be safe….then the black team of Andrea and Darrell lost 15 pounds….so it was down to the white team. Michael and Maria had to lose something like a combined 13 pounds to be safe, because they also had a two pound penalty. Well, they exceeded expectations, losing 10 and 11 pounds, respectively, for 21 total and another week on campus.

So that left the purple team of Patti and Stephanie below the yellow line, and while at this stage it’s hard to see anyone go home, it was especially hard to see Patti be sent packing because she had diabetes and really needed to lose weight for health reasons. Patti pleaded to the rest of the teams that they should send her home and keep Stephanie there, and so we knew at this point it would be anti-climactic at the voting table, and it was…..everyone they showed with a vote chose Patti, so she went home.

So far, Patti has gone from 243 pounds down to 200, so she is on her way. Meanwhile, Bob and Jillian along with Dr. H really have their work cut out for them this season. But they prove every time that it can be done.

Thanks for reading and see you guys next week….

If you watch NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” regularly, you know that a few seasons ago, Vicky and Brady — well, mostly Vicky — were doing all they could to win the game, at times with no regard for teammates and housemates. It was all gameplay all the time. Last season big Ron did the same thing while appearing to be the gentle father figure. Well, the new season has its game-player, and it’s Tracy from the purple team. Yeah, the same Tracy who started the season in a hospital because she couldn’t breathe on her own after jogging a mile. We’ll get into all that soon..but meanwhile, here is your recap….

The contestants began with a challenge from host Alison Sweeney. Each team was offered the chance for a 2 pound advantage at the weigh-in in exchange for giving up the right to train with Bob and Jillian. If no one jumped, Alison was going to raise the stakes a pound or two to tempt them. At first, no one did jump, but then Tracy did, saying she didn’t want anyone else to have the advantage. The problem is, Coach Mo did not agree with Tracy’s decision and couldn’t say anything until it was too late. He, as her teammate, had to go along with it. As you can imagine, Bob and Jillian were pissed off beyond belief.

Then they showed Abby, who had recent X-rays on her knee, with Dr. Huizenga. Abby had a micro-fracture, meaning she could only work out in the pool for a bit and had to really focus on diet…there was then the obligatory product placement with Yoplait Light yogurt (note to those of you who are not sponsors….I love regular Yoplait yogurt, but that light stuff that has fake sugar is positively disgusting…just my 2 cents!).

Then on to the next challenge, another temptation, and this time with cupcakes. Whoever ate the most cupcakes would have control at the weigh-in….meaning, that person would choose which contestant from each team of two would weigh in for their team, with the other teammate’s weight not counting this week. Only two contestants did this…Antoine, who ate two cupcakes, and, yep, you guessed it…Tracy, who ate four. Tracy had this switch go off in her head that this is a game and decided she needed that control too badly despite the consequences–which were, the trainers being pissed off, again, and everyone else in the house hating her. Coach Mo was, needless to say, frustrated and pissed, but not nearly as pissed as Jillian, who more or less told Tracy she had no interest in helping her anymore.

Anyway, the main challenge was a physical one, and the winner of the challenge would give their team immunity. They had to choose between lugging 10 pound weights a short distance or 25 pound weights a longer distance, and the person who put in the most weight the fastest would have their team color’s flag raised. Allen won for the green team, great news for Abby since she could not participate in this one.

On to the last chance workout, and Bob was harping on Dina while Bob was doing the same to Amanda. Then Danny as well as Amanda and Rebecca decided to butter up Tracy and try to sway her vote on who would weigh in for their respective teams. Danny wanted her to choose him and not Shay, because he knew Shay might have a bad week and feared for her being eliminated. Meanwhile, Amanda has struggled to lose weight thus far and wanted Tracy to choose Rebecca.

At the weigh in, Tracy said something about regretting her decisions, to which Jillian promptly replied: “Tracy, you are full of shit!” Awesome.

Anyway, here is how the weigh in went, and keep in mind the losing team would be sent home, not just one person. The green team lost nine pounds, Allen 4 and Abby 5, but they were immune this week. Julio, the only remaining black team member, lost 7 pounds. Brown went next, with Liz and Danny each losing 4…Tracy had chosen Liz to count, but it didn’t matter. Blue was next, and Tracy chose Rudy over Dina, and Rudy lost 12 pounds to Dina’s 3. Backfire-age! Up next, pink…Tracy chose Amanda against the teams’ wishes, and Amanda lost 5 pounds to Rebecca’s 7. Next was the red team, and Tracy chose Sean, who lost 6 pounds to Antoine’s 11. This put them below the yellow line. Danny and Shay of the orange team were next, and of course the evil gameplayer Tracy chose Shay, but both of them lost 6 pounds. Still, this put them below the yellow line as well. The only team left was purple, meaning Tracy and Coach Mo. Tracy, amazingly, lost 11 pounds and Coach Mo just one pound. How did Tracy do it? Diet pills? I mean, she couldn’t have done that legally with no trainer, could she? As you might suspect, nobody clapped or cheered for Tracy.

So it was the red team and the orange team, but Antonie and Sean decided to sacrifice themselves and asked for everyone to vote for them to keep Danny and Shay on the ranch–mainly because they felt they had strong support systems back home while Shay did not. And that’s how the vote went, unanimously.

Back home, Sean has lost a whopping 120 pounds, down from 444 to 324, and Antoine lost 105, down from 367 to 262. Wow! Not only that, but remember the first contestant to be eliminated, Alexandra? She lived near Antoine, so he looked her up and now they are an item, working out and losing weight together. How cool is that?

So now we’re down to 13 contestants, 12 of which are pissed off at Tracy and don’t trust her. This is going to get interesting, just like the producers want it to. See you all next week!