Last week, the Red Team, who had the disadvantage of being down to two members (one fewer than the other three teams), came in last place in a challenge, and were punished by being sent away from The Ranch for the week. Supremely confident in their abilities to maintain their workouts, Jennifer and Courtney declined the chance to have time with their trainer in favor of some questionable luxury items (a massage, dinner at a nice restaurant and phone calls home). Though Courtney regretted that decision, the die had been cast, and karma dealt the Red Team a crushing blow two straight weeks. Jennifer, who ended up losing no weight at all, was sent home. Ten contestants remain, and one more loss for the Red Team would send not only Courtney but Brett home as well.
We start this week’s episode with Courtney ruminating on the events of the last weigh-in. If Jennifer had lost four pounds, Rulon would have been the one to go home, and if she’d only lost two, it would have been enough to send Courtney home. But that big fat zero is what popped up, which means that Courtney is now the sole member of the Red Team, and thus will have 100% of Brett’s focus this week. Because if Courtney goes home this week, that means Brett will have to pack his bags as well… which seems kind of harsh. I mean, this is only the second time in Biggest Loser history that it’s been more than just Bob and Jillian, but this would definitely be the first time that a TRAINER was sent home. Wonder how it’ll work next season, when Jillian won’t be around any more.
Fortunately, Courtney won’t just have the support of her trainer, for her former teammates Olivia, Hannah and Irene have pledged to help her break through the “wall” that her body has hit right now. She rejoices in having lost 203 pounds in just over a year, but she acknowledges that, at 232 pounds, still has a long way to go, as she puts it, “both mentally and physically.”
Challenge. On a very windy, green sierra, Alison lays out this week’s first challenge: each team has their own colored flag, and they walk along a marked path littered with black markers that serve as places to plant said flag. The challenge: only one marker is exactly one mile from the starting point, and the team that plants their flag on or closest to the one-mile mark wins. The winning team is promised a “night out on the town in Hollywood,” something many of the women are craving after weeks of wearing nothing but exercise garb. And, in a twist that would make Gordon Ramsay proud, the losers get a vicious punishment, that being that they have to clean “every inch” of the campus. Yowch.
Moses reasons that there are 1,760 yards in a mile, and since he seems confident that his stride is equal to one yard, he proceeds to count his steps. All of the teams adopt some variation of this strategy. Of course, one of the biggest variables is the path itself, which consists of many uphills and downhills. The other thing is, the teams only have fifteen minutes to plant their flag, and I know from experience, you can’t go one mile in fifteen minutes unless you walk at a rate of 4 mph, which is a brisk trot, to say the least. The Black Team turns out to be the slowest, and when the fifteen minutes runs out, they are forced to plant their flag on the nearest marker. Fortunately for them, all of the other teams overshot the correct distance, and they win, beating the Blue Team by a scant four feet. Yikes, that’s close.
Courtney sits down with Brett, who explains just why her weight loss has slowed to a crawl lately: when you burns a lot of calories while you are simultaneously keeping your caloric intake down, your body will eventually go into “starvation mode”, at which point you start losing muscle. The body fights against this, and will do its best to hold onto calories. So Brett tells Courtney that the best plan is to increase her caloric intake and reduce her daily burn. Which seems counterproductive, I know, but he’s the expert. So he starts her on the treadmill at a brisk job, and she says that her goal is Final Four, because that would be the perfect reward for all her hard work.
Elsewhere, Cara is wary about the Green Team’s chances, especially given the huge numbers they put up last week, and it’s very rare to do that two weeks in a row. Only a minute into their workout, Ken develops a stitch in his side, which, when added to the back pain he’s already enduring, is not a good sign. He can still walk, but not very fast, and it will probably be up to Kaylee and Austin to prop Ken up this week at the weigh-in.
Bob has pretty much the same concerns for the Blue Team, and he seems almost relieved that they didn’t win the challenge, because cleaning the house, as undesirable and unglamorous as it is, is yet another way to burn calories. Jay and Hannah walk in and join them, and Bob notes with a smirk that the long-overdue conversation between Jillian and Rulon is afoot, and that he’d like to be a “fly on the wall” in whatever room the chat is taking place in.
Jillian called Rulon out on his midnight snacking, and, sitting with Rulon in his bedroom, restates the obvious that they are under video surveillance 24/7. He explains that snacking is his way of rewarding himself for how hard he pushes himself in his workouts. Jillian keeps her cool, and calmly explains that there are ways to reward yourself that aren’t half as detrimental as downing an entire bag of tortilla chips, ways that might involve spending time with his wife. She further explains that she will help him by teaching him how to consume the unhealthy foods that he loves in a way moderate enough to satisfy him but not do any long-term damage. Of course, Jillian is less-than-enthused when she finds out about the Black Team’s “victory” at the challenge. You had to see this coming: she hates any challenge where the reward is a chance to slack off even for an hour.
Still, even in anticipation of the beat-down that awaits them on their return, the Black Team relishes in the opportunity to dress to the nines and leave The Ranch for an evening. So while the other teams are scrubbing, scouring, mopping, wiping and having maybe the least pleasant night of their lives, the Black Team is taken in a stretch limo to downtown Hollywood. After a spell of strolling and reflecting on their journey so far, the trio choose to dine at a very swanky-looking Chinese restaurant. With another weigh-in looming, they knew they had to eat smart, so they opted for organic salad with very little dressing, sushi rolls without the rice, and king crab legs with citrus sauce instead of butter. They raved about the black cod they all ate, because it is a fish that is high in protein and low in fat.
Something unexpected and interesting happens as the meal is winding down: a pretty good-looking guy named Ted walks up to the table, having overheard snippets of their conversation. He compliments them on their weight-loss, but it seems clear that he’s there to talk to Hannah only, so Jay and Rulon decide to be great wingmen and quietly excuse themselves. Ted seems like a nice guy, though he’s a little self-conscious about hitting on a woman in front of a camera crew. She tells him about her hometown, her collegiate athletic career, her injury and her family. Don’t know if they exchange phone numbers or e-mails or whatever, but we do witness a parting hug, which is nice. Hannah feels so happy about where her journey has led her, and that all of her old “fat girl” insecurities about herself and her image are starting to melt away, which is even nicer.
The last-chance workout is a blistering one, and none are more intense than the workout shared by Brett and Courtney. Olivia can’t help but be impressed, and she confesses that if Courtney goes home next, she’ll be crushed. Courtney herself says that she’s done everything she can do, and though she’s worried as much for Brett as for herself, she says that she’s confident that she’ll put a up a big number. Speaking of which, here is how the weigh-in went:
Blue Team (Bob):
Irene - lost 6 pounds, -3.53%, now stands at 164 (-91 overall).
Moses - lost 7 pounds, -2.39%, now stands at 286 (-154 overall).
Olivia - lost 2 pounds, -1.14%, now stands at 174 (-87 overall).
Team Total: 15 pounds lost, -2.35%
Black Team (Jillian):
Hannah - lost 4 pounds, -2.33%, now stands at 168 (-80 overall).
Jay - lost 6 pounds, -2.17%, now stands at 270 (-130 overall).
Rulon - lost 7 pounds, -2.15%, now stands at 318 (-156 overall).
Team Total: 17 pounds lost, -2.20%
Green Team (Cara):
Ken - lost 4 pounds, -1.56%, now stands at 253 (-124 overall).
Austin - lost 2 pounds, -0.75%, now stands at 263 (-133 overall).
Kaylee - lost 1 pound, -0.59%, now stands at 168 (-65 overall).
Team Total: 7 pounds lost, -1.01%
Red Team (Brett):
Courtney lost 1 pound, -0.43%, now stands at 231 (-88 overall).
Wow, Red turned out to be a cursed color this season, didn’t it? First Larialmy and Q were sent home early on, and then Brett’s group loses three straight weigh-ins. What sucks even more: I pegged Courtney as a finalist before the season started, but in the last five weigh-ins, she’s managed losses of only five, four, three, two and one pounds. Of all the much-lighter girls still on The Ranch, I would never have pegged Courtney to be the one to run out of gas first.
Kudos. To Irene, who has barely broken stride since her mother was eliminated in the very first week, and she has now passed Kaylee as the lightest contestant still in the game; to sisters Hannah and Olivia, who are now but a few scant pounds away from their ideal weights; to Jay, for dropping below 275 for the first time (according to him) in 25 years; and to Rulon, for finally getting his focus back.
Elimination. Well, no one wanted to see this happen, least of all Jillian, Bob and especially Brett, but for the second straight week, no vote is necessary. Irene, Hannah and Olivia break down in tears, but Courtney actually smiles. She says that she’s at peace with going home, because she’s confident that she’ll be able to break through this logic-defying plateau at home. She then makes her “girls” promise to finish strong. Bob is furious about this result, because of the respect he has for Courtney and his wish to take her all the way to the end. And the final announcement that Brett has to leave to just pours salt in the wound. He exchanges hugs with his former Unknowns, and he and Courtney leave the gym forever.
Standings. Irene and Moses have broken away from the rest of the pack a little bit. Irene has lost 35.7%, just ahead of Moses’s 35.0%. Austin (33.6%) and Olivia (33.3%) now have some work to do to catch up.
Update. Since returning home, Courtney has dropped an additional 21 pounds, and now stands at an unbelievable 210 pounds, which is less than HALF of what she was just over a year ago. She’s also petitioning the honchos at Dairy Queen (one of which her family owns) to put healthier stuff like yogurt on the menu. I hope she succeeds, because I’d love an excuse to go to DQ again.
Next week: Road trip! To New Zealand! Cool!!
Personal journey. Regrettably, my nagging ankle injury has turned out to be mild ligament damage, so I have been ordered by my doctor to take it easy for a few weeks. Hopefully after that time, I’ll be able to return to my normal workouts with no residual pain. In the interim, however, I am pleased to say that I have been able to stabilize my weight despite my decreased exercise, and am still at 237.
