Ask Renee Wilson what her tip is for working out and she has one word for you, “cardio, cardio, cardio!” She says it’s what works for her and that you must keep your body moving and stay active. Like many of us, since returning home she works a job eight to ten hours a day and has to fit in time to hit the gym. She reminds herself of the goal constantly to stay motivated to workout two to four hours every day.
Renee came on to Biggest Loser: Families with daughter Michelle, who she’d been estranged from for five years prior to being chosen for the show. Renee says she’d just given up on her self and kept gaining weight little-by-little after her divorce from Michelle’s dad. She also used “getting older” as an excuse until one day she realized she’d gained 50 pounds and couldn’t figure out how she’d gotten there. She was seriously considering gastric bypass surgery and had made the decision to do so, when the phone rang. It was Michelle, inviting her to be her teammate on Biggest Loser.
She said it was time to “put action to my words. Wishing wouldn’t get me anywhere.”
If you missed the show last night, you can tune in to Tyra Banks today to see all the jaw-dropping makeover results of Ed, Heba, Vicky, Renee and Michelle. Tyra and her team of beauty experts and fashionistas lead the crew of five through New York City for new hair, makeup and clothes. Once they were all made over, they got to trek down the cat-walk on Tyra’s show and show off the new bodies they’ve worked so hard to achieve.
Each of the Biggest Loser contestants undergoes dramatic changes, and they each make some serious changes once the return home. Amy Cremen seems to have made a number of major changes and was generous enough to share them with us. One that seemed the most surprising, she’s now a vegetarian. “It just stopped tasting good,” she explains simply. She says there is no possibility she’ll ever go vegan because she is obsessed with eating sushi, an indulgence she’s given up until after the finale. Amy says she no longer eats fast food, a three-meals-a-day habit prior to the show (her calculation is about 8,000 calories/day). The other major change is that she doesn’t smoke any more and will “never ever touch them again.”
Last night’s episode of Biggest Loser will probably be one of the more memorable this season, for both the viewers and the contestants. From the contestant’s standpoint- spending a week with NFL stars Jerry Rice and Steve Young, as well as preparing Thanksgiving dinner with Chef Rocco- it doesn’t get much better than that!
Vicky was obviously the most excited, being a die-hard football fan, and Amy C. was obviously the least interested, something about not having ever watched a game. During the challenge I think everyone knew the blue team would work diligently to take out the black team, and that left Michelle steaming. They blue team then appeared to work diligently to hand the win to Vicky. She was, to say the least, ecstatic about winning her trip for four to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl. Ed was the only one to walk away with $500 for catching the football. “Heba had already spent that money as soon as it touched my hands,” he remarked.
Everyone has that family member who assumes the role of chef on Thanksgiving. Imagine that person being Chef Rocco DiSpirito. He surprised the Biggest Loser contestants during week 10 with a Thanksgiving spread that had Heba nearly in tears. “This is one temptation I don’t think we’ll be able to avoid,” she groaned, as she looked at the table covered with a turkey and all the trimmings.
Rocco assured them their 10 weeks of hard work would not be in vain, and that they wouldn’t have to put one bite of those traditionally calorie- and fat-laden recipes in their mouths. Instead, he was going to teach them how to make the “healthy alter egos” of these recipes. We have each one of those five recipes to share with you.
We had a chance to visit with Bob Harper, the Biggest Loser blue team trainer, today just moments after his afternoon workout. It’s proof that he’s practicing what he preaches to the contestants of the show, now in its sixth season. “I love my job,” says Bob, who is as vocally passionate about the role he plays in helping these people regain their health as you see on the show. He says his mantra is “get healthy, get healthy, get healthy.”
Prior to his role on Biggest Loser, Bob was a celebrity trainer, where he explained he’d help already-fit people “turn their six packs into eight packs and get from a size four to a size two.” Biggest Loser very much changed the way he trains because he’s working with “everyday people,” and it is his responsibility to show them how to not only lose weight, but to do so in a healthy, well-rounded way.
This season, one of the people Bob is transforming is Vicky Vilcan. We brought her up specifically because she’s the only player we’ve ever seen cause such a ripple amongst Biggest Loser fans, who are a pretty devout group. Bob himself has called her “Shakespearean” and a “puppet-master,” but he explains that who you see on the show is exactly who the producers want you to see. “Vicky is the biggest fan of this show and loves reality TV, she played the game tough,” he remarks.
UPDATED: Watch now - DietsInReview.com interview with Coleen Skeabeck at the Biggset Loser Season 6 Finale.
Coleen is easily one of the most down-to-Earth, genuine individuals I’ve ever had the pleasure of talking with. Not only do I follow Biggest Loser to keep all of you fans updated, but I’m an avid fan of the show and each week get even more emotionally involved than is healthy for one to have with a TV program. So last night as Coleen’s name was revealed on Amy C.’s tray, I cried like a big baby. Coleen is still at home working hard and says she has not stepped on the scale in a couple of weeks. Down from a size 22 and XXXL shirts that she wore at the start of Biggest Loser: Families, Coleen is ecstatic to share that she’s now wearing size medium tops and size 10 pants and dresses.
The biggest change in her daily routine has been that she’s very active. She used to just lounge around, but now she hits the ground running everyday. Part of that busy schedule is a lot of gym time, and she concentrates pretty heavily on cardio. She’s even staying on top of dad, Jerry, to make sure he’s active at the gym as well.
Episode 8 was packed with so much drama and nail biting twists that I actually found myself covering my eyes and all-out screaming at my TV at some points. This undoubtedly had to be the most action-packed episode to date. In Episode 8 we see all the contestants return for a chance to get back on the ranch. Participants were asked to weigh in and Phil had lost an amazing 68 pounds. followed by Ed who wasn’t far behind at 58 pounds lost. However, contestants weren’t being allowed back on the ranch based on weight loss, instead Ali announces that a challenge will take place to determine who returns.
Let me just start off by saying, “Good for Bob!” He pulled his team aside, mainly Vicky and Brady, and asked if there was game play involved in Brady’s 2 lbs. weight loss last week. They concluded that his weight loss was attributed to Brady not eating as often as he should, not sure I’m sold on that conclusion, but oh well.
Contestants then played a game modeled after an amazing book called “Eat This, Not That,” which shares with people the calories behind some of the food choices we make. It was very insightful, and I personally enjoy the book, so I’m glad to see it mentioned on the show.
Ask Renee Wilson what her tip is for working out and she has one word for you, “cardio, cardio, cardio!” She says it’s what works for her and that you must keep your body moving and stay active. Like many of us, since returning home she works a job eight to ten hours a day and has to fit in time to hit the gym. She reminds herself of the goal constantly to stay motivated to workout two to four hours every day.
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