The Biggest Loser- #BL12- week 1- BATTLE OF THE AGES

Grr faces, everyone.

After a nice long break, The Biggest Loser roars back to life complete with US Marine helicopters and hummers to drag the 12th season competitors to the brink of Death Valley (literally) and back.

We know the 411, so lets jump into my first impressions of the 15 contestants:

Courtney: 24, "Single Girl"
Joe: 46, "Big Daddy"
Becky: 50, "Daddy's Dieing"
Jessica: 26, "Nervous Nelly" OR "Dazed and Confused"
Jennifer:  39, "Bob Lover"
Ramon:  27, "2 Legit tattoo artist, dude"
Patrick:  25, "Cry Baby"
Antone:  44, "The Footballer"
Vinny:  27, "Overalls"
John:  40, "Helicopter Lover"
Mike:  61, "The Cheerleader"
Bonnie:  63, "The Weeper"
Debbie:  60, "Gimmie a Break"
Johnny:  65, "The Don"
Sunny:  41, "Didn't know she was on the show until the weigh in.  Seriously."

Ali jumps out of a hummer with sunny blond pig tails to explain the rules for this season.  The contestants will be split into three teams based on their age:  The Under 30's, The Middle, and The Over 50's. 

The trainers for the teams are introduced as well.  We have good ole Bob, Anna K, and DQ- Dolvett Quince- who may be my new favorite now that Jillian Michaels is no longer on the show.  I did keep waiting for Jillian to ride up on a kick ass Ducati and have a secret fourth team, but it didn't happen.  That was the number one thing talked about during the live tweet fest was that everyone REALLY MISSED JILLIAN.

Ali introduces the first challenge.  Of course, it is a mile run to choose the trainer.  And of course they are all attached to a pole with a camera on the end.  Happily, no one has to be helicoptered out, and the teams are as follows:

Bob with The Middle
DQ with The Under 30's
Anna K with The Over 50's

We have a first chance workout in the shiny and amazing new Biggest Loser gym on the ranch, where the mettle of all the contestants is tested until they are left in sniveling piles of tearful goo.  After a quick Brita plug, it is time for the Last Chance Workout (!) and then on to a 50 minute weigh in ceremony.

Are we sure we can't get this show down to one hour, NBC?

WEIGH IN!  Age before beauty, Johnny.

Johnny-65:  From 328 lbs to 311 lbs- 17 lbs lost
Bonnie-63:  From 254 lbs to 250 lbs- 4 lbs lost
Mike-61:  From 309 lbs to 297 lbs- 12 lbs lost
Debbie-60:  From 239 lbs to 233 lbs- 6 lbs lost
Becky-50:  From 238 lbs to 228 lbs- 10 lbs lost  Total:  49 lbs, 3.58% BW

Joe-46:  From 348 lbs to 326 lbs- 22 lbs lost
Antone-44:  From 447 lbs to 415 lbs- 32 lbs lost
Sunny-41:  From 277 lbs to 261 lbs- 16 lbs lost
John-40:  From 445 lbs to 408 lbs- 37 lbs lost
Jennifer-39:  From 330 lbs to 311 lbs- 19 lbs lost Total:  126 lbs, 6.82% BW

Vinny-27:  From 426 lbs to 405 lbs- 21 lbs lost
Ramon-27:  From 355 lbs to 338 lbs- 17 lbs lost
Jessica-26:  From 254 lbs to 239 lbs- 15 lbs lost
Patrick-25:  From 387 lbs to 367 lbs- 20 lbs lost
Courtney-24:  From 270 lbs to 254 lbs- 16 lbs lost  Total:  89 lbs, 5.26% BW

Bob's team leaves everyone in the dust, obviously, and the Seniors must sort out who is going home first.  The Seniors have a Real Housewives moment when Debbie tells Bonnie she finds her tears annoying which doesn't earn her any points in the popularity department.  Not surprisingly, Debbie Downer is eliminated.  Now she can take all the breaks she wants!

When we check back with Debbie, she has gone from 239 to 215, is break dancing with her grand kids, and hopes to be 160 by the finale.

This season looks like there is plenty of drama on the teams- GAME PLAY!- and lots of blood, sweat, and tears.  I am looking forward to seeing how Anna K fits into the whole show and if she'll be able to help her team see the numbers they need to see so they aren't picked off one by one.  Dolvett can stay.  You can stay, Dolvett!

Want to know what Courtney from season 11 has to say?  Here's her recap, brought to you by DietsinReview.com!

Reality Alert! Wicked Fit coming to Style Network

Katie Boyd kicks some pageant butt.

Yes, the 12th season of the Biggest Loser is starting tonight on NBC, but if you are in the mood for something new, check on Wicked Fit starting October 23rd on the Style network. 

You know I always try to bring you the latest and greatest weight related reality shows, and this one looks like fun!

Really? C'mon Guy Sueing White Castle!

If you can't fit into the booth, maybe that's a sign?

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/man-sues-white-castle-because-over-booth-size-160126946.html

New Season of The Biggest Loser Starting Soon!

I was watching America's Got Talent and saw the new ad for The Biggest Loser with Bob, Anna, and DQ.  Plus:  No more boxing workouts!  Con:  All tennis workouts.



Of course, I totally miss Jillian.  Here's an article from FitPerez.com to tide you over!

See you in a couple of weeks!  This is gonna be an interesting experiment!

Big Sexy is a whole lotta fun!

The one in the middle? 6'3"!!!

I have to thank Project Runway for introducing me to two new shows:  Dance Moms, which is horribly wonderful, and Big Sexy, which is really fantastic!  If it wasn't for Lifetime and their wonderful advertisers, I wouldn't know about this little treasure of a reality show that knows how to handle a "real" woman.



Big Sexy is actually on TLC, but there isn't anything to really learn about.  The women of Big Sexy are women you know, or maybe you ARE this woman:  Curvy, busty, beautiful, and not ashamed to be those adjectives.

Big Sexy follows the lives of four fabulous females living and working in the fashion industry here in New York City. (LADIES: IF YOU ARE READING THIS I TOTALLY WANT TO BE FRIENDS!)  Yes, there are issues of weight addressed, like when the women tried to get into snotty nightclub Marquee- it was blurred out on the show but not here!- and they were asked to pay a $30 cover charge and the thinner girls got into the club for free, or when they are speed dating and one guy candidly tells one of the plus size ladies that he only dates big girls when he is drunk (!).  But what I LOVED about this show is that the women are confident and are sexy on their own and that their weight is not what defines them.  They define themselves.

Everyone has their hang ups about their bodies.  I see women at my place of business that have bodies that most women would die for, and yet they spend hours on the elliptical, pinching and pulling at fat that isn't there and fretting about what calories that they put into their mouths.  Hell, I have been there.  It is nice to see women that have a healthy view of themselves and want people to know that not everyone has to be thin to be happy.

Of course, my concern AS ALWAYS is that people know that no matter your size that your internal health is my most important concern.  Cholesterol, blood pressure, visceral fat around your organs, joint pain, drinking and smoking habits:  All of these conditions effect women of all sizes and I want people at the end of the day to love their size AND be able to live long and lovely lives.  I feel as if the ladies of Big Sexy are living the lives they want to live in bodies they love.  And that kind of confidence is sexy in a big way.

TV people!  Choose to show more people that are happy and proud of whatever life they live, and that even if they are big, they don't JUST have to be contestants on a weight loss reality show!

A Wag of the Finger to DENNY'S

Oh, Denny's.  Why do you keep finding yourself in my blog?  Why are you so bad?  And why do you have a menu item called Moons Over My Hammy?

According to food blog Eater, Denny's is launching a new "Let's Get Cheesy!" campaign and have introduced a new sandwich:  The Mac n' Cheese Patty Melt.

I think that's a tomato.

What's on this one, you may be thinking.  It couldn't be any worse than the grilled cheese sandwich stuffed with fried mozzarella cheese sticks, right?

The Mac n' Cheese Patty Melt has a hamburger patty covered in mac' n cheese.  With special sauce!  While it sounds terribly messy, which is a pretty good reason not to eat it, let me give you another one.  This sandwich is 1,690 calories.  Just for the sandwich.  No fries.  No drink.  Just the sandwich.  The average person should take in 1,800 to 2,200 calories a day based on personal factors and physical activity.  That sandwich blows that to hell.

Why is Denny's trying to take on the mantle of America's cheesiest assassin?  Please don't order this, folks.  Send a message to Denny's that we deserve better!!!

"If sugar is so fattening, how come so many kids are thin?"

I have been watching a lot of Mad Men lately.  Here is an ad campaign for sugar versus artificial sweeteners that would make Don Draper proud.

I wonder if this P.O. Box is still operational. . .

For more "truth" about sweeteners, click here.  HILARIOUS.

What Real Women Look Like?

I just read this post on FitPerez.com about the website MyBodyGallery.com.  It is a collection of "real women" body photos.

What do you all think?  Is this site meant to encourage positive feedback?  Is it a reference guide for other women?  Why are all the faces blacked out? 

What I took away from it was that at 5'4" and 160 pounds, everyone looks different.

Tell me what you all think about it.

BIG NEWS!

It's me!  I got engaged to the boyfriend yesterday.  Now he will be known as the fiance.  It is on like Donkey Kong!

Sunday Funday!

If colonics make you look as young as Richard Marx does, then count me in.

Eating Yourself to Death

I have been watching a lot of shows about food addictions lately.  What a hard thing to deal with!  If you wanted to quit smoking or stop drinking or stop smoking crack you could separate yourself from those habits.

Everyone has to eat.  How does one overcome this issue?

I watched an episode of Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition where the trainer on the show actually gave up on a client and made him go to rehab because he COULD NOT stop.  He lied and lied about what he was actually eating and when he came in for a weigh in he gained back all that he had lost and more.  While he was still participating in the weight loss portion of the show!

I also watched an episode of True Life that covered two women who were addicted to food in such a way that they were like junkies.  They were moody and irritable if food was unavailable, they ate until they were sick, and they alienated themselves from friends and family to get their fix.  One woman actually had the SHAKES.  Not a shake, but the shakes from food withdrawal.

I remember when I was at my heaviest how food was such a comfort to me.  All I thought about was what I was going to eat next.  I never wanted to feel hungry.  I kept filling that hole inside with food until I didn't have to feel anything anymore.  If I was full then I wasn't worried- I was taken care of so everything else in life was not so bad.  It was probably why I smoked pot or drank too much.  It's a temporary distraction from whatever in life is bothering you.

I don't know when the light switch moment occurred in my life that made me substitute my more negative behaviors with positive ones.  And I don't always crave those trigger foods anymore.  I certainly don't act on the triggers.  All the substitutes I have made over the years have become habits and I feel queasy when I remember the days of eating an entire pint of Chubby Hubby AND a cheese sandwich AND a bag of chips in one sitting.

Any of us could suffer from a food addiction at any time based on what's going on in our lives.  Is anyone out there dealing with this?  Or if you have overcome a food addiction, how did you do it?

Are you the world's toughest human?

And I complain about running three miles. . .



Anyone going to sign up for this?  Here is the link!

http://toughmudder.com/events/worlds-toughest-mudder-series-finals/?WT.srch=1&WT.mc_id=FBWTM0001

Squeaky Wheels make Happy Meals!

And it rhymes.  Come on, that is an awesome title. :)


I wanted to post how excited I was to read in the local morning paper two things that I feel so passionate about:  Happy Meals being made healthier and calorie counts on menu boards making a difference in people's dietary choices.

Don't get too cozy with that smile, Happy Meal.

McDonald's is downsizing their Happy Meal size fries to an 100-calorie version and adding apple slices with no caramel dipping sauce to all of their Happy Meals by the end of the year.  In all of their stores!  This is good news for kids and parents- kids get their fries at a better size and parents get them to eat some fruit.  Everyone is a winner.  Now let's keep it coming and actually make it healthy, not less unhealthy.

I also read that they are lowering sodium in their foods by 2015.  What takes so long?  All the lab taste testing. . .

Why hot cakes?  Why not pancakes?

I am a huge fan of the calorie counts being put on menus and menu boards.  It really makes me take a long, hard look at what I am going to put into my mouth (and onto my butt) and try to make a better, more well informed choice.  Well, a new study came out that shows the calorie posting is actually causing people to take in less- about 100 calories less per meal.  I think that that is effective enough to merit going across country with this concept, don't you?  In about a month, that's 3,500 calories or 1 pound of fat.  That's 12 pounds a year that people could be saving without even trying!

And that is really just the tip of the iceberg.  With more education about portion sizes and what healthier eating really means (not just "natural" being put on a box), we can really see changes being made in our communities.  But we have to keep being the squeaky wheels to see that change happen and to keep the companies that feed us accountable!

Ron Swanson Approved Meals

Applebee's- why do you have a fruit in your name?

If you are not Ron Swanson, please don't eat these things.  Notice how Denny's grilled cheese with cheese sticks sandwich makes it onto my blog AGAIN.  How's this thing not being banned!?!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/buzzbrewery/ron-swanson-approved-8-xtreme-eats-397c

Want to see some of Ron's other favorite foods?  For your consideration.

Happy 4th of July!!!!