Going Head-to-Head: Immediately after the weigh-in, Alison told the teams their night wasn't yet over — they had just five minutes to meet her in the courtyard for a pop challenge. This one was pretty simple: Four players from each team would square off to see who could hold a wall squat for the longest. The stakes were high, since the winning team got to make a decision that would be crucial to the weigh-in. Ali explained that this week, each player would be paired up with a member of the opposite team and would compete head-to-head with that person at the next weigh-in — and the team that won this challenge would get to choose the pairs. My players Tara, Laura, Filipe, and Mike went up against the Blue Team's Mandi, Aubrey, Ron, and Cathy, and after three minutes, everyone had bowed out except for Tara and Mandi. After what must have felt like an eternity to those girls (have you ever tried to hold a wall squat for four minutes or more?!), Mandi faltered and Tara got another win. After much deliberation, she chose the following matchups: Mike versus Cathy, Sione versus Mandi, Filipe versus Kristin, Helen versus Ron, and Laura versus Aubrey. Since the Black Team had one extra player, Tara elected herself to sit out.

Relay Challenge: For this week's challenge, the players traveled to 24 Hour Fitness, where a relay course was laid out for them. In the first leg, one player had to transport 24 medicine balls across a pool. A second teammate had to pick them up and run them upstairs to the next relay point, where a third teammate had to crawl with the medicine balls underneath a series of low bars. From the end of that leg, a fourth and final teammate had to run all the balls to the end of a basketball court, completing 24 squats with each trip down the court. Filipe squared off against Ron in the pool and gained an early lead for the Black Team, which Sione kept up as he ran the stairs against Cathy. Tara lost steam as she crawled under the bars, allowing Mandi to gain some ground for the Blue Team. Helen had Aubrey on her heels as she ran the court and completed all those sets of squats, but in the end she was able to stay ahead. My team won 24 hours of luxury at an high-end resort as their "prize." (Why the ironic quote marks around "prize"? Just read on and you'll see.)

Luxury…or Lethargy? Toward the end of the week, a limo whisked the Black Team away to a fancy resort on the beach. They took it easy, enjoyed massages and pedicures, and gathered together for a gourmet — but not exactly low-calorie — meal. One bad decision led to another, as dinner turned into to tequila shots, which turned into more drinking, which turned into fried-food binges and even cigarette smoking. At the end of the night, my team had consumed over 15,000 calories as a group! Man, they were SO lucky I was not there…but I didn't exactly go easy on them when they got back to the Ranch. At first, they didn't want to cop to their bingeing, and when they finally 'fessed up and I confronted them, Filipe threw the attitude right back at me, saying he couldn't trust me as his trainer. He and Sione walked out and did their last-chance workout with Bob. The whole thing was a mess…but honestly, I was a little relieved to have someone else take care of them while I focused on giving Mike and the girls the beating of their lives to make them sorry for their night of excess.

Showdown at the Weigh-in: At the weigh in, it was time to see just how much damage my Black Team had done to themselves. Tara got up and watched the scale not budge an inch — she was at 200 pounds last week and remained there this week. After consistently losing big numbers in past weigh-ins, she was pretty upset with herself for making poor decisions and setting herself back. Lesson learned…I hope. Mike weighed in next versus Cathy and easily won the matchup, scoring one point for our team. Next, Laura weighed in against Aubrey, and Aubrey beat her pretty easily (not hard, considering Laura gained a pound). Score one for the Blue Team. Next, Kristin beat Filipe, and Helen beat Ron, bringing the team score to two points apiece. Finally, Sione went up against Mandi, and while Sione lost 6 pounds, Mandi somehow gained 2, which meant that the Black Team won the weigh-in and the Blue Team was up for elimination. Now, Laura still had that extra vote from the previous week's cooking challenge, so she joined the Blue Team in the elimination room. Kristin, Cathy, and Ron teamed up to vote Mandi off, and Mandi, Aubrey, and Laura decided to band together against Cathy to force a tie that would have to be decided by the Black Team. Knowing that the Black Team would take out Aubrey if they had the chance, at the last minute Mandi changed her vote to Ron, sacrificing herself so that her sister could stay on the Ranch. Mandi said she'd be able to keep losing weight at home, and she's right — she's lost 84 pounds since the start of the season, and she's enjoying a more active and happier family life with her husband and kids.

Next Week: There's going to be a special homecoming for the players — how will their families and friends react to all the changes they've made? Be sure to tune in next Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET to find out!