Thin Blog

January 20th, 2009:  The Biggest Loserepisode that ran tonight was a pretty good episode.  We here at IChooseThin.com love the show so much we provide this recap for you.

At the start of the show there was a food challenge.  In a room at the ranch pizza and doughnuts and tacos overfilled the plates scattered on a table.  The game was played so that the teammates who were still competing at home were given the same challenge.  The team that ate the most food would be allowed to reunite at the home of the player sent home for two days, with their trainer.  Almost all of the players ate nothing and as a result they scored no calorie points.  The exception to this was on the Yellow team where Mandi ate a slice of pizza for 380 calorie points while her at home team mate ate nothing.  On the Blue team Filipe ate nothing on his challenge while the at home team mate Sione consumed 960 calories.  Sione stated that he wanted to spend time with Bob Harper and was hoping he would be able to bring them to his home for two days.  All of this paled to the calorie points consumed by the at home member of the Silver Team Carla.  In an eating frenzy Carla downed 2710 calories to bring Bob Harper and Joelle to her door. It would be interesting to see if any of the contestants would act differently if they had Sensa, but The Biggest Loser is not one of their sponsers.

 Dan, the big kid from the Orange Team was not there, and there was no explanation as to why he was not there.  Your guess is as good as ours and if you know, please leave a comment.

The trip to Carla’s home in Detroit was not really too relaxing because when Carla found out how slack Joelle was, she became quite angry.  The trip turned fairly ugly with all of the yelling done by Carla and Joelle acted as if she did not care.  Joelle was indifferent to the fact that her friend was pleading for her to work harder so she too could return to the campus.  The trip to Detroit was not something that Bob Harper enjoyed and that was clearly displayed on the show.

One interesting side note to mention is that while Bob was in Motown, he called the players of his team on the ranch.  When he called the players were all sitting in a room referred to as the “training room.”  This room had them all sitting around reclined with what appeared to be ice all over their legs.  This is the first time this room was shown and nothing more was said about the room. 

There was a brief visit to the doctor where Blaine from the Black Team and Ron from the Brown Team threw away all of the prescriptions they would no longer need.  The amount of money they calculated they would save of the next 10-20 years not purchasing the medicine was in the 100′s of thousands of dollars. The Doctor went on to tell them how it only took three weeks of work and exercise to liberate themselves from all those pills.

The challenge of the show saw a return of the need to be able to jump over a revolving bar. It was very similar to jumping rope and when you hit the bar you were disqualified from immunity.  It took over 2 hours of competition and well over 1000 jumps for the winner to emerge.  The ironic part is that the first person eliminated was Joelle; on the very first pass of the bar she was done.  The full results are as follows from first one out to the winner:

Joelle, Ron, Dan, Helen, Damien, Filipe, Mandi, Dane, Kristin and Tara who not only won the challenge but also won immunity for the second week in a row.

The weigh-in ended as follows: Tara (Green) who had immunity lost 8 pounds.  Blaine (12) / Dane (18)  Black Team lost 30 pounds total for 4.21%.  Filipe (Blue) lost 14 pounds for 4.14%.  Dan (Orange) lost 15 pounds for 3.56%.   Mandi (Yellow) lost 8 pounds for 3.27%.  Mike (11) / Ron (9) Brown Team lost a total of 20 pounds for 2.68%.  Helen (Pink) lost 6 pounds for 2.53%. Kristin (Purple) lost 7 pounds for 2.11%.  Jolle (Silver) lost 6 pounds for 2.04%.  Damien (Red) lost 4 pounds for 1.13%.

The bottom two or those referred to as below the yellow line were Joelle and Damien.  Although America was thinking that it would be a slam dunk that Joelle was sent home the person voted off of the ranch ended up being Damien.  This was a game play, pure and simple in an effort to rid the threat of Damien and to keep the whiner Joelle around to keep dragging the team down.  Pure and simple the game ended up being more important that all of the talk that is spoken about helping those who need to stay.  Game play is what caused Damien to be sent home.  Remember, it is a game and game play is allowed because it is a game and the network needs to keep ratings as high as possible.

The end result was that it was a tie vote and that sent home the player with the lowest percentage of weight loss.  The person sent home for The Biggest Loser Season 7 Couples was Damien, of The Red Team.  With Damien being sent home, his fiancé at home was also booted from the game.  The Biggest Loser moment showed Damien lost a total of 74 pounds while his fiancée Nicole lost 76 pounds.

IChooseThin.com loves The Biggest Loser, see you next week and you are welcome to visit our website for a bunch of good, free and healthy weight loss information!

The Biggest Loser Recap for February 25th, 2009 started off with a pop quiz that had large blowups of Prevention Magazine and Liz Vaccariello asking questions related to health and aging.  There were going to be 3 questions and the team that won would receive a free trip to a place that was referred to as The Fountain of Youth Spa.  It was also during this time that there was a “plug” given to the book, The Flat Belly Diet.  The 3 questions that were asked were;

Switching from regular soda to diet soda would help you live longer?  The answer was between Mandy and Helen and they both chose True as the correct answer.

• Which change would help a person live longer, switching to a low-fat diet or a lower calorie diet?  The question was answered by Sione (Black Team) and Cathy (Blue Team) with Sione answering lower calorie to answer correctly.
• Which exercise will help you live longer?  Pushups or squats?  The answer was fielded by Dane (Blue Team) and Filipe (Black Team) with the Black team winning by answering with squats being the exercise that will help you live longer.

The Biggest Loser and Sensa: Both Seeking Weight Loss

The segment then went right into a built-in commercial for a frozen vegetable that was shown as being good to eat, by Bob Harper.  There is one point we wish to make here.  The Biggest Loser is really starting to build the commercials into the show, as if they are part of the show.  The entire first portion of the show was a commercial from Prevention Magazine to the frozen vegetable bit.  We just hope the show does not get out of control with this type of advertising because sooner or later it will hurt viewership.  We here at I Choose Thin.com think it really cheapens the worth of the show itself.

The next few minutes were devoted to exercise clips of Jillian getting Filipe to run 12 MPH and showing Mandy being afraid of her new trainer Bob.  The cameras kept showing snippets of footage with the contestant’s exercising and sweating.  The show then shifted straight to the weigh-in.  Do not forget that since The Black Team won the challenge (last night’s episode) they had a 3 pound advantage.  The results were as follows;

Blue Team
Dane 325/312, lost 13 pounds.  He made history with this weigh in because he was the fastest contestant ever to lose 100 pounds in just 8 weeks.
Aubrey 216/211, lost 5 pounds
Mandi 210/203, lost 7 pounds
Ron 354/349, lost 5 pounds
Kristin 289/279, lost 10 pounds
Cathy 263/249, lost 14 pounds

The Total % of weight loss for The Blue Team was 3.26%

Black Team
Helen 205/198, lost 7 pounds
Laura 241/233, lost 8 pounds
Tara 222/211, lost 11 pounds
Mike 307/297, lost 10 pounds
Filipe 291/283, lost 8 pounds
Sione 296/286, lost 10 pounds

The Total % of weight loss for The Black Team was 3.65%

The Black Team won the weigh-in and that meant one of The Blue Team members had to go home.  When the players all returned to the common area of the ranch Ron made the statement that Dane should be the one to be sent home since he had already lost 100 pounds and he would keep losing weight at home.  Dane responded with the fact that the knee injury Ron had was a factor that would hurt the team at weigh in time.  Then came the vote and the results are listed below;

Aubrey voted for Kristin because she knew that Kristin would not be voted off and Aubrey did not want to cast a vote to send someone home.  Dane voted for Ron. Mandi voted for Ron. Ron voted for Dane. Cathy voted for Dane. Kristin cast the deciding voted for Dane.  The person voted off The Biggest Loser Couples on February 25, 2009 was Dane.  Dane responded with a tearful statement that he was sent home because he excelled….What can you say, it is a game!

The Biggest Loser transformation moment showed Dane and his wife training to run a marathon.  Then Dane was seen finishing a marathon in 3 hours and 53 minutes.  Dane stated that he may have run his first marathon, but it was not going to be his last marathon.  As the previews rolled for next week’s show there were scenes of Mike doing what was referred to as “the most selfless act ever done on the show.”  Also there were scenes of Jillian Michaels saying that it was “by far the meanest thing ever done”…to a player. 

Check back next week for more updates and stop by IChooseThin.com for some FREE weight loss knowledge.

The Biggest Loser Season 7 Couples began tonight and it started off with a bang.  There were contestants throwing up and Jerry, the oldest Biggest Loser player in history, passed out from low blood pressure.  They were the fattest people ever to play the game and it also featured the youngest player ever for the 7 year history of being on American television.  The contestants talked about having high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.  Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels seemed very happy together, almost as if they were married, which they are not.  Biggest Loser Season 7 Couples promises to be an exciting year filled with another round of incredible weight loss stories.  Maybe we will even get Bob and Jillian to talk about those tattoos they both sport, but never mention.

To see players drop 30 and 40 pounds in just one week was incredible.  Realizing that those kinds of numbers can’t be maintained week after week, it was still thrilling to see the look in the eyes of the players. It was not hard to see early on that Daniel, who is only 19 years old and weighs well over 450 pounds, is going to win the heart of America and will do well in the competition. 

The big twist of the week was that almost every team, except two, had to send home one player.  The rule is that is the one player that stays on campus does not get sent home, and then the team will be reunited on The Biggest Loser campus.  If the person that stays on the campus gets voted off then neither of them can come back to the campus.  The goal of the show is to show Americans that you too can lose weight even if you are not on the show.  The overall theme of The Biggest Loser is to show America that obesity issues are killing alot of people every year.

Also on the show it was interesting to see the contestants learn about BodyBugg, which is a state of the art techno thing that all contestants wear on their arm to track the amount of calories they not only burn but also allows the information to be downloaded into a computer.  The amount of information you can obtain from Bodybugg is awesome.  I think my wife and I are going to take our OBama stimulus money and buy into that product.  My wife and I do not get into all the weight loss toys but this is one toy that will really help.  We will buy one in the not too distant future.

The start of The Biggest Loser had Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels tapping on the screen of your television telling you that it was time to wake up and realize that you needed to stop eating your ice cream and lose some weight because you, as a nation, are dying from a multitude of obesity related ailments.  To hear Bob and Jillian tell the camera that 300,000 plus people die each and every year from obesity related issues should be enough to motivate you to make Season 7 the year you too become a big loser!

For those of us who can only dream of being on The Biggest Loser it is hoped that you do not despair from being overweight.  It is the hope of IChooseThin.com to provide you with some good and healthy information that is not only FREE but also helpful.  Read through the site and start to gain the knowledge that will propel you on your own journey to a thinner you.  Now is the time to start making healthier choices in your life because if you do not you may lose it all by becoming the 300,001^st person to die from being obese.  You know in your heart that Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels are knowledgeable in the field of health and nutrition.  They tapped on your screen to get you attention, did you heed their advice?  What choices will you make?  There is no doubt that you will make choices but will they be good and healthy choices.  That is why we want to invite you to read the large collection of information at IChooseThin.com.  It is all about choices, what do you choose?  Do you choose a continued life where your waistline continues to expand or will you choose to live longer?  Choose well because time is running out.

I Choose Thin…Weight Loss is all about choices, what do you choose??

The Biggest Loser Couples Recap / Review 5 May 2009 Season 7 :  Tonight is the last show before the season finale of The Biggest Loser Couples, Season 7.  Learn how past season winners are on hand to cheer on the final four contestants.  On this episode the players complete a full marathon before they step on the scale.  Learn who was the final contestants and learn who will be The Biggest Loser finalists for Season 7.   The show started with Allison telling each of the players what their starting weight was from the first episode. 

The pictures we were shown of each player from the first episode looked almost as if they were now different people.  I guess in a way, they have become different people.  Each player was shown, in a fast forward sequece, of how they changed and it was amazing to see the visual change.  The episode then interviewed the final 4 players and the excitement they had making it to the final four.
The first real scene of the show was Ron and Mike in a limo talking about how home had not changed but the fact of how they changed.  Tara spoke of how she spent 17 weeks changing and now she was going home.  Helen spoke of how she lost over 100 pounds and how her family could wrap their arms around her for the first time.  Mike was almost in tears about how he had made the change at the age of 18 and now he had his entire life ahead.

Tara was shown walking into an auditorium and Helen went in one also, but in a different location.  Ron and Mike went to a restaurant and were shocked at the turnout of all the friends and family.  Helen was in tears when she told the crowd she lost 103 pounds.  Mike explained how the final four had to go back to the ranch in 30 days for another weigh in.  That weigh in was going to determine the finalist.  The final test was how well they would do when they were at home.

Mike spoke about how he was a secret drive thru eater.  How he would eat in a drive thru at least 1,000 calories on the way home, in secret, so no one knew.  Helen said she never wants to go back to 257 pounds.  Helen was shocked to see the large size clothing in her closet.  She was in tears when she realized how she hid from life because of her weight.  She told her husband she wanted to clean her closet and start a new life.

Ron told the camera that his children were obese because of they way he lived his life.  Ron said he was going to help ensure the family will be able to change.  Ron told his son Max that he would work with him to lose weight.  Ron said he was at fault because he never wanted to do anything but sit in front of the television and eat.  He said he was ready to change.

Tara said that until she started to lose weight she was not really living,  Tara walked into her favorite restaurant and said she was scared.  She used to eat whatever she wanted and now she knew better.  She said her biggest obstacle was she never asked for help.  She was hoping her friends would help her get through the thirty days and beyond.  We never saw any of her friends on the show.

Things start to unravel as the 30 days began.  Mike said he was hungry all of the time.  Ron said he was afraid of slipping into his old routines.  Tara then showed the world that the free kitchen make over she won, was given to her Mom.  The kitchen she received was really cool.  This scene went right into a built in advertisement for a food product.  We hate these Tivo proof commercials.

Mike opened the front door, as did Helen and Tara to reveal a Biggest Loser package on their front door steps.  Inside was a DVD and Allison was then seen telling the players that the next event was that all of the players were going to run a full marathon.  Each of the players were in shock and Ron said he he does not think he ever even walked 26 miles in his life.

Jillian was then seen driving to see Mike’s home and told the camera that he better be at the gym when she gets there.  When she arrived Mike was at the gym with his brother, on the treadmill.  When she walked in Mike said “Oh Shi*” and Jillian said that was not the welcome she was looking forward to.  Jillian asked how he was doing and then Mike told her “not good.”  He said how he was trying to get ready for the marathon and still train with his brother.  Mike said he was having a really hard time.  Soon there was a scene with Jillian sitting in the home kitchen asking Mike how he was doing with his brother.  Mike said he was upset because his brother, Max was pathetic.  Jillian told him that he needed to stop identifying with Max and tell his brother that he was responsible for himself.  She gave a hug to Mike and then the next shot was Jillian walking up to the door of Tara’s home.  Jillian was shocked to see Tara’s bedroom was a huge mess.  Tara had not even unpacked yet and then revealed to Jillian the fear that she was slipping into her old ways.  Tara started to stress and cry with the story of how her addictions went from over eating to compulsively exercising.  Jillian then told Tara she had to stop living in extremes and find the balance.  They then went to a gym to exercise.  Soon there was scene after scene of Jillian putting Tara through her exercise paces.  Then Jillian told Tara it was time to go get a drink and something to eat.  Jillian told her that in the game of life it was alright to have a drink and a dessert as long as you did not go over board.

Bob Harper then showed up at the home of Ron and said he had no clue that he was coming.  Ron was in the kitchen with Max and was shocked when Bob walked in the door.  Ron told Bob that shopping for food was the hard thing for him to do since he came home.  Bob then met Max and said that he really wanted to see what made Max “tick.”  Bob invited Max who said he was looking forward to it.  Bob said “fresh meat.”  Max was soon in the gym and was sweating alot, soaking wet.  Max told the camera that he did not want to let Bob down and then Max started to puke while he was on the treadmill.  Bob said that when he got done he would feel better.  Ron said “and he would still be alive”. 

Bob then asked Max to go get a meal that he would normal eat.  He came in the door with what appeared to be a McDonald’s burger, fries and a shake.  Bob cut the burger in half, took a fingerful of fies and a shot glass of shake and said that was a healthy portion size.  They all then went to a Subway sandwich shop for a healthy meal and another built in commercial.

Jillian was then in her car driving to see Helen.  While Helen was in a restaurant trying to find something that she could eat that was healthy.  This was the place Helen said she got fat in and was in tears when she saw Jillian.  Helen told Jillian she needed help.  Jillian said she was there to help and “poof” they were in her kitchen preparing a healthy meal with vegetables and a lot of healthy looking stuff.  Jillian said that it was time to have a glass of wine and Helen was shocked.  Jillian said it was alright to have a glass because the calories were all under control.  Helen was in tears as she said she was having a hard time keeping it all in balance.  Jillian said she was having a hard time keeping it all in balance and she was there to help.

The second hour of the Biggest Loser began with the question of who was going to finish the marathon and who was going to be the Biggest Loser.  Mike said he was just going to go out and just run further every day.  Tara admitted she was not in marathon shape and Ron spoke of his fears of not being able to even complete the marathon.  Mike said he was going to complete it.   Mike said he was out running when all of a sudden his hip had extreme pain and he had to go to the hospital.  Tara said she dreamed about not being able to complete the marathon in a dream she had each and every night.

Allison told the players that anyone who finished the 26 miles would get a $10,000 cash prize for their favorite charity.  They learned that the course would be over all types of terrain. Mike said he was upset because his doctor told him he could not run and that he had to walk because of the hip pain he was experiencing.  The run started at 7:00 AM.  Mike said that he was shocked to be in a marathon so soon and Helen said one year ago she would not get off the couch.  Ron said he was going to finish this challenge. 

At mile marker 4 Helen met her husband and he started to run with her.  Max met his brother and his Father and started to walk with them.    There was scene after scene of each player and the hills were fairly impressive.  Max was having a really hard time.  Max had to stop and let Mike go on alone.  The showing Max did was impressive.  Mike was then telling the camera that he was concerned about where his Dad was.  Ron was then saying how much his knees were hurting and he said he wanted to finish, but he may not be able to finish.  Ron said his knees really started to hurt at mile number five.

Tara was jogging along and then came up on Ali, a previous winner.  Ali then told Tara she was an inspiration and that inspired Tara.  Helen was then fearful because her husband stopped running and felt all alone.  Then she came upon Michelle, another Biggest Loser winner.   That moment brought an amazing amount of energy back to Helen.  Tara then finished mile 21, 22, 23 and the fact that she was doing it motivated her.  Mike was then talking to the camera about how he was upset he could not run.  Then he was met by Bernie, another Biggest Loser winner.   Mike then told Bernie he did not feel like he was really doing a marathon.  Bernie told him to stop griping becaue even though he was walking, he WAS doing a marathon.

At the last mile Jillian met Tara and Tara told Jillian to get out of the way because she had a marathon to finish.  At 4:55:11  Tara finished the full marathon.  A screen shot then showed her before she lost her weight telling the camera that you can manifest your own destiny.  Helen then came through the line at 5:48 with an unbelievable look on her face.    Helen then was shown before her weight loss talking about how she wanted to be able to run a marathon.  The clouds then flashed past the screen and Mike crossed the line at 8:58:04 carrying the final Biggest Loser mile marker.  MIke then said he completed the marathon and nobody could take that from him.  They were then told they were still waiting for Ron.  Soon Ron was shown sitting down and he was shaking and they took his blood pressure and blood sugar.  His blood pressure was 202 over 90 and they were going to decide to take him to the hospital or not.  Doctor H. then said it was up to Ron and he started to walk again.  At the 17 mile marker all of the Biggest Loser previous winners greeted him and started to walk with him.  At mile #21 Bob Harper met them all and started to walk with the group.  Bob said he never saw Ron so determined.  Bob said he was determined and that is what he needed.  Ali was holding Ron’s hand as they were walking in the dark.  Cop cars had lights flashing and traffic slowed as the group pushed on to the end.  Ron said all the help and talking from the earlier winners and Bob motivated him to continue.  Max was then seen joining the group and Max was in tears as he met his Dad.  As Ron crossed the line with a cane at 13:16:19  Mike greeted him with a huge hug and Max joined in for what was a touching moment.  Allison then presented each player with a big check to give to a charity of their choice.  Allison said “see you back at the ranch.”

Tara then said this was the final weigh in before the finale.  Mike said this event was the biggest thing he has ever done in his life.  Tara was told she set the record for the most weight lost by a woman ever on the campus.  Mike was told he lost more weight that anybody ever lost on campus.  Ron and Helen set the record as being the oldest man and woman ever on campus.  The final thee finalists were about to be chosen. 

We here at I Choose Thin love all of the players but if we can voice our opinion (Sure we can, we own the site) We would like to see Mike in the final three because of his age.  He is young and this would be the greatest single thing in his life.  Ron would love to see it too and we bet he would like you to vote for Mike too.

To vote to save Mike: 1-866-613-0002 
                                 Ron:   1-866-613-0001

Check back next week to see WHO IS THE BIGGEST LOSER for Sesaon 7!!!

January 13, 2009: The Episode of The Biggest Loser that aired tonight was one that forced the members to vote off one of the two people that needed to be on the ranch the most.  When the weigh in was done the two players that were below the dreaded yellow line were the young and most obese player ever, 19 year old Dan and the oldest player in history, Jerry.  The decision over who to send home was at first an difficult one, but was soon decided and it turned out that the choice was the best one that could have been made.

Everyone was hoping that Joelle was going to be the one sent home after her behavior caused Bob Harper to have a Zen blowout.  When Joelle was not able to do the demanded 30 second treadmill run the words exchanged between Bob and Joelle were the most explicative ever uttered by Bob Harper.  It was almost comical to see the reaction from Jillian Michaels as she bore witness to Bob’s emotional meltdown.  The actual words used by Bob had to be edited out of the show and it makes one wonder just how much of a nice guy Bob really is when the camera is not rolling?  Don’t worry Bob, America still loves you and your behavior was proven fairly justifiable by the results of the weight-in.

When the weigh in was done Joelle was caught saying that despite not falling below the yellow line it was nothing to be proud about.  She was just above the percentage mark and she was not happy that she barely beat the oldest and the most obese person on the show.  It is widely believed that this may have shocked Joelle into what weight loss reality is all about on the ranch of The Biggest Loser.  Joelle may be seen in future episodes melting the treadmill with newfound motivation.  Joelle may have realized that Bob Harper was dead on right about her mouth doing all the exercise while her body did little of nothing in the gym.

At the end of it all the members decided to send home the older contestant, Jerry.  They did this because they knew Jerry would have a support at home and Dan would never be able to sustain the weight loss unless he stayed on the ranch and worked with the trainers.  When Jerry left and the show was ending the decision by the members proved thoughtful and true.  Jerry and wife were doing fine and still were losing weight.

As we roll into next week it will be interesting to learn how Joelle performs.  Will she step it up or will Bob continue to meltdown?  Either way The Biggest Loser Season 7 is turning out to be a darned good show and I for one love to watch it unfold.

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There were some fairly profound statements on the show and we present them here.

To lose weight…”The reason why needs to be big enough.”

“The biggest competition is myself.”  (When talking about weight loss”)

Although neither you nor I can spend as much time exercising as they do 6, 7 or 8 hours a day on the ranch, we can still lose weight using the same principles. Healthy eating, exercising and diet are all a person needs to do to lose weight.  Bob Harper says it, Jillian Michaels says it and it is the theme of The Biggest Loser and also here at I Choose Thin.  Losing weight needs to begin in the mind, travel through the heart and manifest itself on the scale.  In order to lose weight and be able to keep it off it needs to be something that happens inside your very soul first and foremost. The Biggest Loser advocates healthy weight loss through proper nutrition and exercise and I Choose Thin only complements what you see on your television.