Victoria has no sooner said "Ciao Losers!" when Ali announces that the remaining contestants will be traveling deep in the cholesterol filled heart of Texas: Dallas to be precise. Their goal? To inspire a state that has 5 of the heaviest cities in the United States. Now, I looked up that statistic to try and verify it- I could find one article in Men's Fitness (Ali said Men's Health- here's that article, too.) that lists 4 of Texas' cities in it's top 25. Dallas is listed as #14 on Men's Fitness and #4 on Men's Health. (My hometown of Oklahoma City? #2- ouch! But it didn't make the Men's Health Top 10.) They must inspire Texans to get fit and manage to maintain their own fitness.
The Losers arrive in Dallas and go to local radio stations to get people to participate in a 5k "fun run" (tell me what's fun about running 3 miles!?!). They are looking good and feeling good, laying down nuggets of wisdom like it "feels good to feel good" and "little steps have big results".
After a quick trip to Walgreens with Jillian (weirdest plug yet!), everyone converges on the Cotton Bowl to get fired up about fitness. Ali announces a staggering fact: $10 billion is spent annually in Texas for obesity related health issues. HEAR THAT, JAMIE OLIVER? Season 2, baby. Texans need a boost, and the Losers are going to give it to them.
This is a truly inspiring episode- in fact, there should be an inspiration drinking game. The word inspiration was used so many times you would have been three sheets to the wind at the end of the fun run. That's a whole 'nother type of fun! But seriously, there were a lot of cool real life stories about Texans that were trying to change their lives without the help of the ranch. They all finished the race, but no one finished faster than Speedy Daris, who smoked everyone at 21:14 minutes. That's a 7 minute mile, people! Some ripples were made in the twitterverse about that. . .
After Sunshine finishes the race, she starts to sweat that she has been too long without her boyfriend/dad O'Neal, and turns around to find him. Holding back the panic, she turns into Sunshine-bot, saying preprogrammed sayings such as "Look good. Almost done. Finish strong." She finds her dad (and the bevy of ladies surrounding him) and latches on.
Quote of the episode goes to participant CJ, a woman who has two bum knees that managed to finish the race in over two hours. SHE DIDN'T GIVE UP! Upon completing the race, she says "I can't even walk through Wal-Mart. I have to take a cart." This proves that the Biggest Loser really does change lives. And inspires people. *drink*
Daris, Mike, and Ashley realizes that they are alone in the world and need to band together. I'll call them the POW's (pink, orange, and white- cute!). The POW's are hoping that the other teams are comfortable and will not try as hard while they run up 33 flights of stairs at their hotel. This feeling of teamwork extends into the next day's challenge.
The challenge involves wrestling steers into team colored pens. Whoever gets the most steers wins immunity! The grey team works together, Sam getting as many calves for Koli as he can. Sunshine wants O'Neal to get immunity, so she frightens as many calves into her dad's pen as she can. Daris, although doing pretty well for himself, realizes that he is all alone. So POW member Mike steps in to try and help . . .but the evil Koli wins immunity anyway. BOO.
The part of the episode that inspired *drink* me the most was when Jillian met with season 8 team member Abby at a local high school to discuss health and fitness. A large high school girl managed to get up enough courage to talk in front of all of her school and talk to Jillian- on national television! "I'm never going to to be who I want to be," she says. Jillian asks her why she would think that, and she says, "I've always been told that, so I've learned to believe it." I'm not made out of stone, folks. My heart really ached for her. In usual kick ass Jillian style, she replies "Don't let anyone tell you what you can or cannot do."
After the pep rally, Jillian sits with the girl and talks about bullying and whatnot. Jillian says the naysayers are never going to change. But that girl can. I really hope that NBC will follow up with her!
The Last Chance Workout is minus Sunshine and O'Neal, who have gone home for O'Neal's brother's funeral. That means extra punishment for the remaining losers, who take a BEATING. Even Bob has to keep himself from smacking a sassy Mike. Dramarama.
At the weigh in, the Losers shiver in anticipation and the cold (32 degrees!) to find out their fate:
Koli: From 260 lbs to 259 lbs- 1 lb lost (With his immunity, it was the ultimate game play move.)
Sam: From 246 lbs to 240 lbs- 6 lbs lost
Sunshine: From 191 lbs to 187 lbs- 4 lbs lost
O'Neal: From 270 lbs to 265 lbs- 5 lbs lost
Mike: From 358 lbs to 343 lbs- 15 lbs lost
Daris: From 219 lbs to 214 lbs- 5 lbs lost
Ashley: From 254 lbs to 248 lbs- 6 lbs lost
Sunshine weeps like she lost her best friend. At 24, I would hope she would be a little more detached from her dad, but I guess not. O'Neal lobbies for Sunshine to stay, and O'Neal is sent home. At the reveal he shows he has gone from 389 lbs to 250 lbs. He can tie his own shoes, walk up the stairs, fit in his car, participate in all aspects of his job, and his motorcycle doesn't groan under his weight anymore. He can now really live his life. If that isn't proof that this show is important, that it isn't all about looks, then I don't know what is. *drink*
Now next episode IS about looks- it's the makeover show! We have arrived! Watch out Daris' locks!
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Oh! Thank you for this! i didn't realize how much unc had lost at home.
ReplyDeleteYes, Jamie Oliver should go to Texas next!
ReplyDelete