From LOSING IT! With Jillian Michaels
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
The Biggest Loser: Season 8, Episode 8
Week 8 kicked off with a special surprise. Alison explained the mission for the week: To help fellow Americans live healthier, happier lives and fight obesity. How were they going to do it? The remaining nine contestants — plus Bob and me — would head to Washington, D.C., to spread the healthy living message to residents there and to talk with two senators on Capitol Hill about the fight against obesity. While the trip was an epic experience for all of us there, this week wasn't all delightful. Alison let the players know that they were no longer members of the Blue and Black Teams; they are now competing as individuals. The week would also include a vigorous challenge, workouts, and as always, one player would be eliminated and sent home (straight from D.C.). How did a week in the nation's capital go down? Here are some of the awe-inspiring moments.
Who Wants to Work Out? The contestants arrived in D.C. and met at the Jefferson Memorial, where Alison told them that they'd be doing a pop challenge. Their goal was to recruit as many people as they could in one hour to come to a group workout that Bob and I were going to lead at the Washington Monument. Whoever invited the most people won. All of the contestants ran around handing out stickers with their names on them to identify which people they recruited. One group recognized Amanda from the most recent Biggest Loser finale and Daniel from last season, so they were very excited to take both of their stickers. Allen, who is a firefighter, went to a local firehouse to recruit his D.C. "brothers" to support him at the workout. An hour later, a huge crowd was gathered at the monument and Alison revealed that the winner was Liz — who recruited just one person more than Allen did. Her team won free Subway sandwiches that day, and she won an advantage at the main challenge. With the winner decided, Bob and I still needed to work these people out! We went out on stage in front of a sea of people. Bob took control of the group workout, and I had fun walking around picking on people in the crowd to make sure there were no slackers. It was such an incredible event to see and experience.
Lobbying for a Change: We were in D.C. to make a difference, so Bob and I took the contestants to Capitol Hill to let them share their stories of living with obesity with several members of the U.S. Senate. We met with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Senator Robert P. Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania. Daniel, age 20, brought along the size 54 pants that he used to wear. He shared his lifelong struggle with obesity and the resulting self-confidence issues he had while he was in school. He also expressed the needed for major improvement in health education in schools so our youth can learn the best ways to eat and work out. It was such a great opportunity to sit down face to face with the senators about obesity, especially childhood obesity, and to discuss solutions that could bring real change to this dire problem.
Monumental Challenge: This week's main challenge was kicked off at Constitution Gardens. Alison explained there would be four stages to the challenge.The first stage would be a running competition: contestants would run one mile around Constitution Gardens, and the first six who finished would continue on to the next stage. The first six to complete the mile were Rebecca, Daniel, Allen, Amanda, Rudy, and Liz, and they went on to the next stage at the Watergate Steps by the Lincoln Memorial. The competition for this stage was to race down the steps to collect pennies, and then race up the steps to place the pennies in their individual cylinder banks. The first three people to fill their cylinders up to a line would win a chance to move on to the next stage of the competition. Liz had earned a chance to sit out during one leg of the challenge since she won the earlier Washington Monument pop challenge — she chose that stage. Rudy, Daniel, and Rebecca won and moved on to the third stage (along with Liz back in), which was a balancing act. With the U.S. Capitol behind them, each of the final four were to balance themselves on small pedestals on top of platforms while raising an exercise ball overhead. Rudy and Rebecca balanced the longest and moved on to the final stage of the challenge. In front of the White House, each had a step bench waiting. The objective was to take 206 steps on the benches, symbolizing the 206 contestants that had ever been on The Biggest Loser. Rebecca did it in the quickest amount of time, and won the challenge! Her prize was that she received immunity at the weigh-in. Alison also surprised the whole group when she explained that they'd be going inside the White House the next day.
Welcome to the White House Kitchen: Still in awe at being gathered at the White House, the contestants, Bob, Ali, and I went to First Lady Michelle Obama's personal garden, where we met White House Assistant Chef Sam Kass. We got to pick vegetables from the garden to make a healthy salad — Sam even shared that President Obama liked broccoli or really anything green from out there! We picked a colorful mix that looked absolutely delicious. We continued on to the official White House kitchen (WOW!) where we also met the White House Executive Chef, Cristeta Comerford. It was a surreal experience to be there and to also create such an amazing, huge salad from the fresh ingredients from their garden — plus it showed how little it costs to eat well. It was cool to see how the First Family eats. I hope it inspired the rest of America to eat more garden-fresh foods.
A Memorable Weigh-In: After Bob and I delivered beatings to all of the contestants during some killer last-chance workouts, it was time to step on the scale. But this time it was with the Lincoln Memorial in the background! Amanda lost four pounds, but had immunity from the challenge, so she was safe from elimination. Shay reached a great, milestone by breaking past 400 pounds. She lost nine pounds, which brought her down to 393 pounds. Most of the contestants lost big numbers this week, except for Liz and Tracey, who both unfortunately fell below the yellow line. Some of Tracey's earlier choices in the "game" came back to haunt her, and she was the one voted off The Biggest Loser.
Tracey returned home to Texas to a grand homecoming with friends and family. She is looking great 85 pounds lighter. Remember that when Tracey started at the Ranch, she weighed in at 293 pounds and couldn't even run a mile — she collapsed in the first episode and was rushed by helicopter to the hospital! To prove that she could finish what she started, she went back to California to run that same mile. This time, with her family there to cheer her on, she DID finish! Now she is training to run a full marathon.