Last night was the Temptation Challenge and a few contestants couldn’t resist the prize! There was also some drama and melodrama with some of the contestants not coping very well with the Trainers’ Challenge.

Last Man Standing

The day before weigh in day and the contestants had to do the Trainers’ Challenges. Angie’s team were up first and took to the snowy landscape outside for theirs. Angie said,

‘Basically it’s an endurance test. Very, very tough. Great fat burner but, pretty relentless,’

The challenge involved swinging a kettlebell until Angie said stop, then the contestants had to run to her and back to the kettlebells and then swing them again. They had to keep doing this until there was only one contestant left.

Jennifer said,

‘I really wanted to prove today that I was committed to the programme and I wanted to do well,’

Angie told her team,

‘If you’re serious about losing weight, if you’re serious about staying in here and if you’re serious about the possibility of winning the Biggest Loser, we’ve got to improve. All of us. And I think everybody knows who they are when I say I want improvement. This is probably the best fat burner I have in my arsenal of tools. What you do today is pretty much going to let you know whether you’re going to survive in here or not. Seriously, because it’s exactly what you’re going to need. Some guts. Some kahunas!’

She told her team that she was watching every one of them and they must not fail. She pushed them hard, shouting at Jennifer to get her a**e moving! They looked totally exhausted. Sadie said afterwards,

‘It was very tough. At first we thought it was kind of easy because we thought, oh we’re used to swinging kettlebells but, then we realised by the fourth time that it was pretty intense!’

They were going hell for leather when all of a sudden Jamie just keeled over in the snow. Angie ran over to him calling for the medic. The rest of the team stood, stunned, red in the face and very out of breath.

When Jamie started to come to he said very dramatically,

‘I gotta get up. I gotta finish!’

Angie said later that as soon as he went down her instincts told her that he was faking it,

‘It’s a horrible thing to say but that is what my instincts said,’

The paramedic took him back to the house to check him out.

The rest of the team continued with their challenge. Miriam struggled first. She said,

‘I was in pain, my technique was all over the place. I didn’t last long before I crumbled and had to give in,’

Dave dropped out next, leaving the Yellow team still swinging the kettlebells. Sadie said,

‘Me and my mum, we definitely wanted to prove to Angie we were serious about it. Especially after the telling off she gave us the other day. My mum especially. She wanted to prove herself to Angie so she was in it to win it!’

The kept going but, soon, Sadie couldn’t take anymore and dropped out, leaving her mum as the Last Man Standing! Angie shouted to her,
‘Oh man! Jen you did it! You’re the last man standing. Who’d have believed it?’

Jennifer, between huge gulps of air, said,

‘Not me!’

Angie said later,

‘I’m so pleased that Jen won. We’d had such a tough week. For her to win it, for me it looks like a turnaround for Jen,’

Acting Classes?

When the challenge was over, Angie went to see Jamie. The paramedic had told her that his blood pressure, pulse and ECG were all fine. In fact, his blood pressure was the best it had ever been! He said that, at the moment, he couldn’t find anything wrong with Jamie. She went to Jamie’s room and said,

‘Jamie, what happened out there?’ Jamie started crying. He said that he thought the extra weight he was carrying had damaged his body but, Angie replied,

‘You’re only young, only 22. You’ve got to listen to me. You’re 22 years of age. Yes you are carrying a lot of weight and that is a problem and if you carry on carrying the weight yes, you’re going to end up in trouble but, you’re only 22. You can shift it and be fine,’

She went on to ask the burning question,

‘I’ll ask you a direct question, a direct question and you can tell me the truth or not and I will know if it’s the truth. Was that out there a way out? Has everything that’s happened to you been genuine?’

Jamie got very emotional at that point and denied that he had faked anything. Angie later said that he had reacted exactly how she thought he would and that they didn’t actually get anywhere but that she still trusted her instincts.

Jamie said later,

‘I believe that most people in my situation and the amount of pain I’ve been going through would probably just give up and say no, I’ll do it another way and go the easy route – gastric band or surgery. But, no I’m doing it the hard way even with all my injuries. So I think she owed me enough to admit I am fighting instead of calling me a liar,’

Richard’s Trainer Challenge

Richard’s challenge involved 30 laps of sprinting across the gym. But the handicap was that for every pound each contestant had lost in the first week, a lap would be added to the amount they had to do. So Maria had 34 laps but, Kevin for example, had 47 laps. Then they had to do 20 clean and presses with the bar bell, 20 bench presses and then lift a 20kg power bag to their shoulder 20 times. Very tough!

Maria was up first. Richard said she was an absolute star. She had the least to run but she powered through from the front and led the way. Maria said,

‘I thought I was going to die! I was absolutely exhausted at the end of it. I was just hoping I did pretty well,’

Mark said,

‘Maria went first and she set a scorching time. She was very quick. She’s one very fit and determined woman and she’s got a lot of focus!’

Michaela was up next and really went hell for leather. She said,

‘The Trainer’s Challenge was really, really tough this week. It seemed to be alright at first. Just after the power bag, I went to get on the treadmill and just went all wobbly,’

Richard had to call for a medic as Michaela nearly passed out. She has fainted during training before and it’s been put down to low blood sugar, so they tested her blood again to be on the safe side. When she was back to herself, Richard got up and said to the rest of his team,
‘That’s what I expect. She left everything at the door. Who’s next?’

 

 

 

Complete Change

Katey jumped up and said she was next. Richard said later that Katey is a big girl, the biggest girl in the Biggest Loser house. But, she was running the challenge with a smile on her face. He said,

‘It was a picture. It was awesome!’ and a complete change from the Katey from last week!

She said she was actually looking forward to the Trainers’ challenge and had gone into it with the attitude she had all week – she was going to enjoy it and have fun.

Carol was next and she did really well until she got to the 20kg power bags. She just couldn’t lift it up to her shoulder and the frustration that she felt with herself was evident in her face.

‘In my head I could do it but, physically I could not life the 20kg bag!’ she said.

Richard swapped her bag for one half the weight and she managed that so much better and completed the challenge.

Kevin was up next and Richard said that the pace he had started at was unrealistic. He said,

‘The last 10-15 laps, he was gasping for air, spit was flying everywhere. It didn’t look pretty!’

Then it was Mark’s turn. Katey said,

‘He just got up there and I knew he was going to power through it because he’s so competitive,’

Richard said that although Mark wasn’t a runner he had got one of the strongest minds in the Biggest Loser house. He said that he kept going and pushed himself to the limit and beyond. Mark ended up with the fastest time and won the challenge.

 

 

 

Funny Turn

At lunchtime the contestants where in the kitchen preparing and eating their lunch when Carol had a funny turn. She couldn’t see and felt very lightheaded. The other contestants called for the medic who moved her from the chair to the floor. They checked her pulse and responses and decided that she ought to go to the hospital.

Katey, watching what was happening with her mum, was getting very emotional. She said she had never even seen her mum ill so was quite worried about her. Carol said,

‘I was really terrified. I mean, probably the most scared I’ve ever been in my life because I knew Kate was watching and I didn’t want to worry her, I didn’t particularly want all the fuss but, I was really glad people were there. To be honest with you I thought I was going to die!’

The Show’s obesity expert, Dr Ian Campbell said,

‘They’re so motivated to continue to reach the targets they’ve set for themselves but all the effort’s taking its toll. We’ve got a catalogue of injuries, almost everyone has got aches and pains and feeling tired and almost worn out and there’s some real challenges here. But despite all these challenges they are shining through!’

Carol returned from the hospital and the Doctor has said that, when she put her body under extreme stress that her heart was beating irregularly but, with a few nights’ rest she would be fine.

The Temptation Challenge

Many people comfort eat and with everything that had happened over the last week in the Biggest Loser house, the Temptation Challenge could prove to be a little too much for some.

They were faced with five glasses of drink. There was chocolate milkshake, tropical fruit juice, coke, fizzy orange and a fruit smoothie. If they drank one of them, the prize was a night out on the town.

Sadie and Jennifer were up first and decided not to take the risk. Sadie said afterwards,

‘I could’ve gone for it I suppose but I just thought it’s not going to worth it in the end and with weigh in day the next day,’

Jennifer said,

‘She was really adamant – No. Last time I went for it and my weight loss wasn’t brilliant and I think, did those eight pieces of fudge affect it? I decided not to go for it because it’s not worth the risk. I don’t want to drop below that yellow line again!’

Lone soldier, Miriam also decided not to give in to the temptation. She said,

‘I wasn’t really tempted by either. Either the drinks or the night out so, it wasn’t too much of a temptation for me,’

The Browns were up next and were very definitely in two minds but managed not to succumb. Mark told Kevin,

‘If you want to that’s alright with me. But, we’ve got weigh in coming up. Whatever happens, if you go out for a drink and you let your hair down, you’ll lose all the focus you’ve got,’

Kevin said,

‘I was thinking exactly the same. When I’ve lost all my weight that I want to lose and I feel fitter, I’ll have a little drink then maybe, to celebrate,’

Giving In

Katey said she wasn’t tempted by the drinks but the thought of a night out was sounding good so she drank the fizzy orange. She hoped that the Pink team and Jamie would also go for it because she fancied a night out with them. But the drink wasn’t pleasant. She said,

‘The first sip of the fizzy orange was just like an explosion in my mouth which just wasn’t nice at all. I could just feel my teeth fizzing up,’ She had just had 152 calories in one drink!

Maria and Michaela decided to go for it as well. Maria said,

‘We decided to go for the temptation because we did have immunity anyway,’

Michaela said,’

‘Maria didn’t want a lot of the fizzy drinks because she thought it was going to be really high in calories so she went for the tropical fruit juice,’

Unfortunately, Maria was wrong. The tropical fruit juice was 274 calories instead of the 152 that Michaela had in her fizzy orange.

Jamie and Dave were up next. Dave managed to resist but Jamie wanted a night out. He went for the chocolate milkshake because he thought it would be healthier being made from milk. He couldn’t have been more wrong – it was a massive 482 calories!

Mark said,

‘Jamie didn’t only go and drink one of the glasses, he drunk the worst glass possible!’

Kevin said,

‘No way – He shouldn’t have drunk that. I think it’s potty! Just before weigh in. What’s the matter with him?’

Painting the Town Red

Michaela, Maria, Katey and Jamie hit the town as their prize for the Temptation challenge. While they were getting dressed the Pink ladies admitted they were quite excited to be getting away from the house for a bit. Michaela was talking about escaping again, just like in the first week! They got to the pub and the girls were good, ordering water. But, Jamie found the pull of lager way to strong and ended up having an alcoholic drink. Okay, admittedly it was a shandy and only a half but, still, the day before weigh in? And after having that calorific chocolate milkshake?

What will the scales say at weigh in? Will Jennifer’s success in the Trainer’s Challenge reflect in the numbers? How badly will Jamie’s lack of willpower and training effect his weight loss?