Well, what a week it’s been at the Biggest Loser house! The contestants had only been there five minutes when trainers, Angie Dowds and Richard Callender started putting them through their paces, making them work for the right to be there. Start as you mean to go on eh?

Illness and injury has been a bit of a problem for some of the contestants. Jamie dislocated his shoulder, Michaela had problems with fainting, Michelle was laid up with tonsillitis and Eunice was poorly yesterday.

Dislocated Shoulder

Jamie’s dislocated shoulder meant he was out of the training for a little while. To make sure he wasn’t out of the running for long, he told Angie a little white lie and said his shoulder wasn’t hurting. He was really worried about getting behind on the weight loss stakes and letting his Dad down.

All of the contestants are really feeling it as this first week draws to a close. None of them are used to exercising on a regular basis and now, even before they’ve had breakfast, Richard and Angie are putting them through their paces!

Breathing Problems

Katey had real problems yesterday when she really struggled to breathe during a training session. Richard explained that she panicked because she is so unfit and stopped breathing properly. Richard and Carol, her mum and partner, soon managed to calm her down again and the training continued.

Angie’s Secret Weapon

Trainer, Angie Dowd showed the couples her secret weapon for burning a massive 1500 calories an hour – the Kettlebell. Angie has pioneered the Kettlebell movement in the UK and, with such huge calorie burning potential, it’s no wonder she is using it in her training with the Biggest Loser contestants.

Rick and Michelle found it difficult to grasp the technique for it but, taskmaster Angie soon got them on the straight and narrow!

No Alcohol

Although not doing so well on the training front, Rick does deserve a pat on the back for giving up alcohol. He’s gone from a huge 130 units a week (the average man consumes 20-24 units!) down to zero and wasn’t even tempted when the nutritionist showed him how much lager it actually was.

Sharp Tongue

Miriam worked extra hard yesterday during her training after her dressing down from Angie on Wednesday. Because Eunice was ill, Miriam needed to burn extra calories to make sure they are not one of the teams to lose the least weight and be up for elimination. Doing the cardiovascular training her legs were going ten to the dozen with a look of sheer determination on her face!

Mutiny Afoot

There was talk of mutiny and escape yesterday when Richard sent his team on a power-walk down to the front gates. Wearing 22lb weighted vests, the contestants had to power-walk to the front gates of the Biggest Loser house and jog back. As they got closer to the gates, Michaela saw a taxi and realised how close they were to freedom. The thought of escape was obviously a fleeting one though as she continued on to the house. Maybe she didn’t fancy her chances in being able to outrun Richard!

This Week’s Challenge

With this week’s challenge under their belt, the Brown team (Kevin and Mark) seem to be doing really well. Part of the challenge was to pull themselves along the length of a swimming pool in a rubber dinghy with a rope that was above their heads. Winning the challenge means they are immune from being eliminated this week – definitely worth the extra effort!

Emotions Running High

The whole Biggest Loser journey so far has been a tad emotional for all of the contestants as they have realised how big the job is ahead of them and explained their reasons for doing it, but Richard added to it choosing to use positive affirmation to help motivate his team. Each couple were called into the Billiard room where he handed them each a card. On the cards he had typed a personal motivational message for that contestant highlighting the sort of person he thought they were and how they could really achieve their goals during their time at the Biggest Loser house. While he expected reactions or tears from them all, he didn’t expect anyone to walk out. It had all got too much for Michaela and she left the room in floods of tears.

Hell on Earth

All in all, the contestants are going through ‘hell on earth’ as Miriam describes it but Michaela is really feeling the pressure after her illness because she hasn’t been able to get as involved as the others and none of them want to be eliminated – especially so early in the game. Michaela has got some work to do if she avoids elimination this week.

Lead Us Not Into Temptation!

The contestants had to endure the Temptation challenge yesterday. Faced with eight plates of food – four ‘good’ food and four ‘bad’ food, they had to decide whether to eat what was in front of them in the hope their plate had one of the two prizes up for grabs, written on the bottom. Tempted by things like cheeseburgers (614 calories), chocolate éclairs (285 calories) or celery and cottage cheese (29 calories)and fruit kebabs (50 calories), all of the couples declined to eat what was in front of them. None of them wanted to risk eating the extra calories the day before weigh in day.

Then Rick and Michelle decided to risk it and chose to eat the fruit kebabs. Once they had eaten what was on the plate all of them, including the other contestants, held their breath as Michelle turned the plate over. Their gamble had paid off! They had won a mini fridge with £30 of delicious healthy food in for their room for a week! Rick did say afterwards that he would have risked eating the pizza because he could always work it off in the gym!

Camaraderie

The camaraderie that is in abundance in the Biggest Loser house at the moment can only help to motivate the contestants. But, how will it change as we get closer to the final weigh in and it comes down to the final couples?

It’s Weigh In day today – what emotions will that bring for the contestants and who will be up for elimination?