That elimination didn’t keep Rebecca down. She is positively thriving at home. With a current weight of 157 pounds, and a new love in her life, Rebecca has become the person she always wanted to be.

Listen now as she tells about her romance with fellow contestant Daniel Wright, a person she says is her best friend. She’ll also talk about who the new Rebecca really is.

While Rebecca’s weight loss story is remarkable, the thing everyone is buzzing about is this relationship with Daniel. She admits she didn’t really like Daniel in the beginning, but by week three the two were building a friendship. Rebecca is a night owl, so she and Daniel would take long walks on the ranch at night to burn extra calories and talk. She says the real turning point came on the Biggest Loser’s Washington, D.C. trip.

But sooner after Daniel was sent home. Once Rebecca returned home, she says they started having five or six hour phone calls, and it was in those calls that Daniel admitted his feelings for her. Since then, “I fell in love with my best friend,” coos Rebecca. The two have been dating for a while and she says they are key parts of each other’s journey.

Today, the couple is making a long distance relationship work, with Rebecca in Iowa and Daniel in North Carolina. She says she gets “gaga” for Daniel, and uses him as a sounding board for food issues or when she just doesn’t want to go to the gym.

You can’t very well tell Rebecca’s at-home story without Daniel, she says the relationship is “pivotal, the most important thing for me.” The two enjoy trying new recipes together, with Rebecca typically manning the kitchen. One of her favorite recipes that she created on the ranch is a vegetable stir-fry. She includes asparagus, broccoli, onions, mushrooms, fresh herbs, garlic and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, and serves that with baked fish topped with herbs and lemon zest.

The two also enjoy pushing one another in the gym. One activity they enjoy is a treadmill interval challenge. They’ll run at an incline of 15 for one minute, then take it all the way down and walk for a minute, then back up to 15 for a minute, and keep doing that until they can’t any more.

It’s this transition to home life that Rebecca says has been the most difficult of the journey. She spent three and a half months away, came home an entirely new person, yet found everything to be exactly the same. She said she re-evaluated the relationships and friendships in her life and makes sure that everything she does fits her new lifestyle.

That new lifestyle also includes completing a half-marathon. “Becky Meyer would never do this,” she says of her old self. Of the new self, “That girl is Rebecca. This person who can achieve what I set my mind to, will be afraid, will possibly fail, and will set out to do things and finish them.” She ran the 13.1 miles in 2:16, and in those two hours evolved into what she calls the girl she always wanted to be.

Rebecca’s got three weeks left to prepare for finale, and make her television debut with beau Daniel. Given that her “ultimate focus is on changing [her] life forever,” Rebecca will no doubt dazzle us all at that final weigh-in.

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Rebecca Meyer – Biggest Loser Elimination Interview

This week, the challenge was one that I do not envy. The losers had to traverse a gorge while sitting on a platform suspended 200 feet in the air. The winner will receive a two-week trip with his family to the Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge. Now that is a prize that should be on the show. Not immunity. Biggest Loser at Fitness Ridge is a very cool experience. Rudy ended up winning the challenge, with Amanda falling just short.

Of course with all the excitement of makeover, not a lot of working out was done it seemed. The last chance workout given by Bob and Jillian seemed absolutely brutal to make up for it.

The beatings seemed to pay of big for Rudy, coming off an immunity week of course, losing 16 pounds, and Amanda losing 9. Liz and Rebecca were below the yellow line and in danger of going home. Rebecca tried her best to fight to stay in the house, but in the end, Rudy cast his vote to send her home.

A slew of arguments erupted that I didn’t follow about trust early in the game. I don’t know, it seemed weird. But since Allen didn’t have to reveal his vote, we assume he also voted to send Rebecca home. Next week looks like it’s going to be an amazing episode so tune in. And if not, I’m always right here giving my sarcastic view of everything. See you next week!

-Mike Morelli

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Mike Morelli’s Biggest Loser Recap – Episode 8.10

Now, Shay tells us that no matter how many times she fell below, you’re still never prepared to leave the ranch. And Daniel explains in leaving the ranch for the second time he’s now more focused on the emotional barriers in front of him.

They were the likeliest team of two this season. When Daniel asked Shay to join him in forming the orange team, it was instantly a perfect match. Only a few months before was Daniel in Shay’s shoes, even though her 476 pound initial weight was only about 20 pounds more than Daniel’s season 7 initial weight of 454.

While Shay set a record in week nine by reaching a 100 pound weight loss faster than any other female in the show’s history, she conceded that “the ranch is not the reality.” In nine weeks she lost 100 pounds, and at home it’s taken her three times as long to lose 54. It’s extremely difficult at home she admits, balancing her weight loss with two jobs, family and kids. For Shay, it’s all about making the sometimes difficult choices to move forward and continuing to lose the additional hundred-plus pounds in front of her. They go to the park instead of a movie, and she swapped her ice cream habit for frozen yogurt or peanut butter and jelly Lara Bars.

Daniel said it was at finale when he was approached by producers to come back to the ranch to be a part of season eight. They told him filming would start in three days, and he said “absolutely!”. His struggle this time around was different though; this time he was able to run and and he could work harder, but he had to dig deep into the emotional issues that had brought him here in the first place so that he could keep this weight off for life. Daniel says during season seven he was fighting for a chance to stay alive, and in season eight he had to decide how deep he could really go to stay healthy.

As Daniel and Shay move forward with their tremendous weight loss (Shay down to 322 and Daniel down to 224), they each share one other important thing: being role models. Daniel says the experience is both weird and amazing, and calls it “an absolutely incredible feeling” that people have taken their victories and applied them to their own lives. Shay recalls that Daniel was her role model while watching season seven, and that she never thought her story would impact others. But she says they’re showing other 500-pound people that it’s not hopeless or impossible, when it is entirely possible to do this without taking drastic measures.

Shay reminded that half a million people applied for Biggest Loser 8, and 16 were chosen. She says “Don’t wait for next season. What if there is no next season?” That’s why Shay has started the “100 Pound Down Club” on Facebook, and she’s telling everyone “It’s possible, whether it takes nine weeks or nine years!”

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Shay Sorrells and Daniel Wright – Biggest Loser Elimination Interview

As I said before, this week is a double elimination week for the contestants. This put all of the contestants on edge and really brought out the best competitive nature in all of the them. We finally saw some game play by the two groups of alliances (young vs. old), and tensions really started to heat up. In the pop challenge, the human tank, Allen, won a one-pound advantage at the weigh-in. That reward is extremely important at this stage in the game. So many contestants have gone home on just one pound, it’s ridiculous.

This week’s challenge was circus inspired as the contestants had to jump through hoops to eliminate their competitors. I know I ask for a lot of stuff from you all in this blog, but this one is kinda cool. 1. Does anyone work for the circus. 2. Can I come and play with the elephants, or jugglers or something fun? Thanks.

Back to the challenge. Shay seemed to think that Rudy made an extreme alliance with her and proceeded to act like a crazy person. There was some ground for the claim, but, seriously, Shay would have lost anyway and in the end it’s a game. Start playing chess, not checkers.

The contestants had some very intense workouts, and again, Danny was out back with the giant tire and sledgehammer (I’m still waiting for that gift by the way; I understand it could get lost in the mail, but it’s been a while). He wins intense workout of the week, and it showed on the scale.

(Another perfect transition to the weigh-in. Man, I’m getting decent at this blogging thing.)

The contestants dropped absolute bombs! The numbers for week nine were huge. Shay lost 17 pounds, losing 100 pounds faster than any woman in Biggest Loser history. Danny dropped a bomb, Liz had her highest weight loss total, and Rebecca lost a monster 10. Daniel was the unfortunate victim of the red line, losing 199 pounds in his stay on Biggest Loser. He did an amazing job and is doing great at home.

The people below the yellow line this week were Shay and Amanda. The house voted out Shay, most likely for game play reasons. I would have voted off Amanda, because she is the bigger threat. Sure, Shay has a lot of weight to lose, but does not have enough time to lose enough weight to have an amazing percentage. Amanda on the other hand is just like the winners from seasons past, being a smaller woman. She even has the right color to win (pink). But, again, I’m not there.

Next week is supposed to be an amazing week people so let’s get excited. Until next time BLnation.
-Mike Morelli

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Mike Morelli’s Biggest Loser Recap – 8.9

But don’t think that Tracey’s feeling down on herself. Quite the opposite. She’s doing really well at home, and proud of this new Tracey.

Listen now as she tells us about the strained relationship she had with Bob and Jillian, and what it’s like today; as well as why she’s so grateful she got to take on that one-mile run once again.

As Tracey told us she has a wonderful relationship with Bob and Jillian today, she says the strained-on-TV relationships she had with the contestants has also changed, and that she has “amazing, great” relationships with them.

When asked if she played the game too hard, and remembering Alison Sweeney’s comment that her choices came back to bite her, Tracey adamantly confirms she has no regrets. Due to the choices she made in the beginning of the game, she says she’s not at all surprised how people have reacted to her. In her own defense, she says she did what she had to do to stay in the game.

“This was my time to do things my way instead of trying to please everyone else,” Tracey says of her strategy on the show.

Knowing how she came across on the show, and the reaction from fans, she was DVRed each episode and watched before letting her children. She said her kids, like any others, look up to her, their mom, as a superhero, and she didn’t want the show to skew their feelings about their mom.

It’s that role as a mom that not only helped land Tracey on the Biggest Loser ranch, but also helped her thrive back at home. She’s including herself on the list of to-dos these days, and making her needs as important as everyone else’s. She’s not revealing her current weight given that finale is five weeks away, but it was clear on her Where Are They Now that the Tracey at home is fit, strong and healthy.

How does this busy wife and mom of four do it? She has a strict, concise schedule for herself, one that she says works for her and her family. She’s up by 4:00 a.m. each day, and spends three hours in the gym doing her extreme workouts while her family sleeps. She’s then home in time to make lunches and get the kids out the door for school. And then it’s back to her daily routine of running the household and shuffling kids to dance and sports. She says she’s not the best homemaker these days, but she doesn’t freak about chores not being done. She knows it’s OK for now.

In addition to learning that it’s OK to let the little things go to care for herself, she learned a few other things from Jillian.

For one, she learned that it’s OK to ask for help. Everyone needs it, and it doesn’t make her weak to ask for it.

She also learned that’s it’s OK for people not to like you. And she’s OK with that. Jillian encouraged Tracey to know that as long as she likes herself and knows where she stands, then nothing else matters.

Tracey remains upbeat, motivated and encouraged to continue her journey and says “for the first time I’m starting something, then I’m going to finish it.” She says you won’t find a “coulda-woulda-shoulda-Tracey” anymore.

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Tracey Yukich – Biggest Loser Elimination Interview

The second cool thing this week was that the contestants traveled to Washington, D.C. for the week.

The challenges were Capital inspired. The contestants had a pop challenge trying to get as many people to do a public workout as possible. Liz won a mystery prize (always fun) to be used in the later challenge.

This week’s challenge was a series of mini challenges. Now, I have to admit that I lost a little love for Biggest Loser when Miley Cyrus was being played as the background music, but whatever, it’s not my show to run. In the end, Rebecca won immunity.

Bob, Jillian, and the gang all headed to the White House for a very special tour. They picked vegetables from the First Family’s garden and made a salad in the White House kitchen (try the White House Salad recipe). I was jealous, I didn’t get a trip, not fair.

Jillian gets the quote of the week expressing her hatred for Tracey, while Tracey gets oblivious of the week for thinking Jillian likes her.

Bob was happy to have Amanda back under his wing, and it showed on the scale that Amanda was glad to be there. Which is a perfect transition into the lovely 50-minute weigh in….

The contestants are weighing in for the first time alone. The most notable weight losses were Danny, with a double digit, Amanda with her highest weight loss ever, and Tracey and Liz with merely three pounds lost, putting them below the yellow line.

In the end Tracey was sent home (shocker to all of you I’m sure), but personally I liked her. She is doing fantastic at home and is a big competitor for the at-home winner.

I know next week is a huge episode, so hold on to your hats folks! Until next week BLers-or if you run into me at school- best in health.
-Mike Morelli

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Mike Morelli’s Biggest Loser Recap – Episode 8.8

Two years ago Abby’s husband, who she calls her “favorite person on the planet,” her young daughter and newborn son were tragically killed in a car accident. In our interview she explains how prior to going to the Biggest Loser ranch her heart wasn’t in life and felt as though she didn’t have anything left to give. She also tells us how she no longer lets one person fulfill her the way her husband did, and feels blessed to have a wide range of supporters.

Today, Abby’s finding joy in the small things. And in our interview with her she laughed, a lot! She says going to the Biggest Loser ranch served as a catalyst for finding the light in her eyes again.

Part of that is learning what it is she really wants out of life. She’s seeking a new career. As a teacher, she’s now looking forward to transitioning to become a speaker, what she says is truly what she wants to do now. Abby will travel the country sharing her story and offering motivation and inspiration to others seeking that.

She’s also busy finishing this journey that she’s started – regaining her health. Abby’s currently lost about 82 pounds. She’s taking off the weight, and working on the 15-20 pounds remaining, eating cleanly, counting calories, working out, getting plenty of rest and drinking plenty of water. She enjoys a variety of different fitness classes in her gym, and says she feels strong having “put on a ton of muscle.”

For her diet, she says these days her fast food is from the grocery store. When she’s on the go, she’ll run in and grab carrots and hummus, low-sodium turkey, or Greek yogurt and blueberries. She says these changes are all about choices, and it’s just as easy to run in to the store as it is to hit a drive-thru.

Abby continues to live her life in a ways that makes her feel good, and she’s focused on living presently in the moment. “I’m showing the world I’m still here, I’m still a part of life,” she says.

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Abby Rike – Biggest Loser Elimination Interview

This week was face-off week. I love face-off week. It gives the contestants the chance to focus on one person the entire week, making the only goal to beat a single opponent. There is no team to help you and you have to carry yourself.

The pairings were made very well, and the best pairing was Daniel vs. Liz. An older contestant vs. the youngest in the house (just like Cathy and myself). And the most problematic match-up for Black, who picked teams, was most likely Amanda vs. Rebecca. Rebecca is pretty much a powerhouse and Amanda seems to be having a difficult time as of late.

I also liked the challenge this week. Derek Jeter showed up via video, which was very cool, even though I’m not a Yankees fan. Black team had a far better strategy and beat Blue, winning a two-pound advantage at the weigh-in. Black team also won lunch with Chef Curtis Stone, who prepared this Mediterranean Turkey Burger for them.

Shay and Abby had their inevitable heart-to-hearts with Jillian, which was a great thing to see.

At the weigh-in, Black chose to give the two pounds to help Amanda, but it didn’t, and Rebecca won the round. Blue went on to the win the weigh-in.

Rudy was the man of the week losing an incredible amount of weight to beat Dane’s record of losing 100 pounds the fastest- 101 pounds in 7 weeks!

Now, that was all fine and dandy in the episode. For what I hated (If you are a huge Daniel fan I’d stop reading now) here we go:

Abby should not have gone home. Daniel should have. Argue it. Daniel has been on the ranch for two seasons and cannot find that next gear to kick in and lose good weight. In four weeks he’s lost like 15 pounds. He does not deserve to be there when others truly do need to be there. Abby asked to be sent home, but she could have benefited far more if she stayed on the ranch. Daniel has all the knowledge he needs to be healthy. Now, I realize that Abby asked to be sent home and that may be a reason why Daniel is in the house, which brings me to my next rant.

STOP ASKING TO BE SENT HOME!!!! Stop it. Big people generally put others first, it’s our nature, it’s how we got big, you’re welcome skinny people. The ranch is a place that you can finally put yourself first. Do it. Abby needed to be there and she asked to be sent home. She could have come so much farther mentally if she were able to stay at the ranch. It was admirable that Sean and Antoine went home for Shay, but now Abby asked to be sent home for no one that needed it more.

Okay….I’m done.

All in all, I’m not on the ranch, I’m not looking at it from a gameplay side with alliances and voting and whatnot (Young vs. Old if you haven’t noticed yet), and the show has already been filmed so it’s not like they can do anything now anyway, if they wanted to listen to a stupid teenager!

I liked this episode a lot because it actually got a reaction out of me. Next week looks like it’s going to be great, spending the week in Washington, D.C., and I can’t wait to see it.

Happy Halloween everyone!
-Mike Morelli

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Mike Morelli’s Biggest Loser Recap – 8.7

Listen now as Dina tells us how she overcomes food temptations, as well as what the experience was like to complete two marathons since leaving the ranch, something she says was the “greatest feeling in the world.”

Dina’s two half-marathons, a running race of 13.1 miles, would not have been possible when she started Biggest Loser at 253 pounds. Currently weighing 178 pounds, she was able to take on the endurance races with ease.

She also conquered her greatest hurdle from the ranch – the stool. Jillian Michaels continually pushed her to jump from the floor to the platform, but she wasn’t able. Fear stood in the way. At home, she shook that fear and now takes on the stool effortlessly.

Part of it is that she says she’s now stronger mentally, spiritually and emotionally than she was when she began this process. “I’m not going to lie, this process is not easy,” she says. But she’s learned to count on herself and enjoys encouragement from her family. Especially her nine-year-old son.

He’s become her consummate gym buddy and Dina says he’s become a good replacement for Bob and Jillian, as “he’s just like them.” He wears a shirt that reads “trainer in training,” and he pushes Dina through all of her workouts. Sometimes he even yells at Dina and she says she has to remind him that he’s the son! The mother-son duo also spend a lot more time outside together, roller blading and working out on the beach. She loves that she no longer has to just watch, but can get involved with his activities.

Dina stays on track with her weight loss by adhering to a strict schedule for working out and eating, and it’s only when she varies from the schedule that she finds difficulty. She avoid tempting places, and keeps healthy snacks like carrots, almonds or her favorite, popcorn, at all times. Not only has she enjoyed significant weight loss, and a more active life with her son, but says she’s seen benefits in her marriage, too.

See more of Dina’s Biggest Loser Journey.

Dina Mercado’s Biggest Loser Journey Slideshow

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Dina Mercado – Biggest Loser Elimination Interview

So, first things first. Coach Mo is gone, Tracey stayed in the game. The contestants were shocked. After they get a hold of themselves, it’s straight into a challenge. This challenge had the teams digging up crates to get a prize that the ever-so-clever Alison Sweeney kept a secret. The blue team ends up being the better archaeologists, or moles, or whatever else that digs, and wins. The prize is a week’s trip home. For either team. The blue team makes the smart decision and sends the black team home, hoping for some massive stumbles.

The blue team stays on the ranch and has some generally awesome workouts courtesy of Bob, while the black team is faced with the lonely, frightening world called reality. We see a lot of different things from these contestants. Daniel finally realizes that he is becoming a thinner, healthier person, and is making that mental change. Dina is balancing being a mother with exercising and making it a part of a daily routine.

Meanwhile, Amanda is still getting accustomed to being in a gym. This actually happens to a lot of people. I know that if I don’t go to the gym with plan, I’ll get lost. It’s a good thing that she is finding out these hardships early on so that when she does go home she can kick some butt.

Shay begins to realize that just because she is changing, the people around her will not necessarily do so as well. Again, something everyone has to deal with when losing weight at home. We all have to determine who enables us, and who helps us.

To me the biggest story at home is Danny. He is 100% focused and doesn’t seem to let anything get in his way of BL. He seems very diligent about his exercise and food journals and will do amazing in the game and onward. Flash-forward to the ranch. Jillian is giving another merciless beating to Daniel. She finally breaks him down and he is really starting to realize that he is changing. It’s great to see contestants ‘click’ and Daniel is a long time coming.

At the weigh-in, the blue team’s strategy pays off and they barely edge out the black team (and some stellar performances). Danny lost 15 pounds and is kicking butt; Amanda lost 5, proving to herself that she can do this at home; Daniel, although having a great mental week, didn’t have a great week, losing no weight. He seems to be on some crazy yo-yo that I’d be willing to bet doesn’t end well, unfortunately. Dina is the unfortunate one, being sent home by her black team, saving Daniel. Rudy is at 84 pounds lost and has one week to break Dane’s record of weight loss. I hope he does it, but that will have to wait until next week… Until next time BLers.

-Mike Morelli

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Mike Morelli’s Biggest Loser Recap – 8.6