Isn’t it a little bold to say you’re curing diabetes, was my first question for Biggest Loser’s Dr. Robert Huizenga, better known as Dr. H. He asserted that not only can it be done, but Biggest Loser is blazing the trail where curing diabetes is concerned. Yes, a reality show is doing more than his standard medical peers.

We spoke this morning in preparation for tonight’s episode in which the contestants will spend their last week on the ranch. As everyone says their farewells, they’ll meet with Dr. H one more time to find out, aside from their scale weight, how they’ve changed their bodies and their health. For Gina, she’s leaving the ranch without the type 2 diabetes she arrived with.

“If we can keep Gina at the levels she’s at tonight for the next 2-5 years, we’ll say we cured her diabetes,” said Dr. Huizenga.

How is that so? Right now, Gina’s diabetes has been reversed, or is in remission. As Dr. Huizenga explained, they’ve returned all the indicators to normal. To achieve cure, they have to stay that way for the next several years.

Gina’s not the only one turning back time on this disease. Young Lindsay, one of the teen ambassadors featured this season, is celebrating a complete reversal of her pre-diabetes. Doing so at such a young age is better and easier than trying to go back when she’s forty, explained the doctor.

“It’s like putting the toothpaste back in the tube,” he analogized.
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Was this not the BEST episode so far? I just have to say WOW and ugh WOW to everyone’s transformations! I mean HOW COOL was it to get styled up by Tim Gunn! He was the nicest person, so real and he really knows how to pick out a pair of pants- LOVE IT. Then, being scooted off to Ken Paves’ salon? HELLO!! I think my favorite part of that process was having Ken work on my bangs. He said that these bangs would have attitude and spent very detailed time on them. Both these men have quite the eye!

I think we are the luckiest cast as we get to GO HOME for our makeover reveal.  I cannot wait to show all my friends and family the progress I have made; they will see the new person I have become – inside and out!

I don’t think I slept at all the night before my reveal. I couldn’t wait to have my make up and hair done for the first time AND to see which outfits Tim had picked out for me. When I saw those gold skinny jeans, I about DIED! First of all, they were a size 12, second, HOW HOTT are these? I feel like a movie star!
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We are immediately thrown into a pop-challenge after the week 8 weigh-in and brought to a field where we see life-size day one photos of each of the remaining contestants. The object: each person must run their colored cinder blocks over and cover another contestant’s photo. The last person whose photo remains uncovered must leave the ranch for the entire week. I lose my footing right off the bat and completely DECK it against the hard cinder block. The wind is knocked out of me as I felt the corner of the block jab into my ribs and leg. There is a reason Joe nicknamed me “Grace” on the show! I know I have to get up and continue.

It’s between Jackson and Gina as the final blocks are placed. Jackson pleads to the rest of that cast that he should go home. He believes that Gina needs a redemption week and that he would thrive off the ranch. We respect Jackson’s wishes and save Gina – but that wasn’t the end. Jackson had to choose someone to join him. Now Jackson AND Jeff will begin the week facing their fear of leaving the ranch.  This changed the tone for the whole week!
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In case you missed the announcement, Jillian Michaels is very much back and on track to be bigger than ever. She rejoined Biggest Loser this season and is as popular as she ever was. Meanwhile, she just released a new book, Slim for Life, the sixth title by the star trainer that will no doubt join the ranks of bestseller alongside the others. A new workout DVD just hit the shelves, and this spring she’ll embark on a journey unlike any she’s taken before. You’d think the woman never sleeps, and you might be right, considering she has brought two young children in to her home since May – Phoenix, a son with her partner Heidi, and Lukensia, a daughter she adopted from Haiti. She’s talked about being Unlimited before, but clearly the woman is unstoppable.

We caught up with Jillian to hear how the new book developed and its uniquely customizable format, the status of obesity in our country and what else we need from Let’s Move, and even how these tiny tots have influenced her tough-as-nails training style.

What’s the big take away for Slim for Life? Anyone in particular you’re trying to talk to?

After my last diet book, I honestly thought I had said everything there was to say. Then, over the past four years, I have come to realize just how much conflicting information there is out there. With so many fad diets – and a new one popping up almost daily – I realized people were more lost and confused than ever. I also realized that maybe what had been asked of them in prior diets was too overwhelming. So I decided to write SLIM FOR LIFE. The book is for anyone looking for simple strategies that are affordable, effective and DOABLE because they won’t make you miserable [and will] get results.

I definitely wanted to clear up all the conflicting information and dispel diet, weight loss and fitness myths, debunk fad diets and trends, and provide solutions for every possible diet dilemma from hunger and cravings to finances and travel.
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Jillian Michaels teased the announcement of her spring tour last week via Twitter, but made the “Maximize Your Life” tour official today. It’s the first time Jillian is mobilizing her message, and the tour promises to make this an inspiring, motivating, life-changing experience.

It all starts April 4 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, continuing on through a total of 35 cities in Canada and the U.S., with the tour coming to an end in Toronto on May 21. There are a total of nine tour dates in Canada, with U.S. tour stops hitting every corner of the country.

“It’s time to ask why not you?” poses Jillian.

She’ll help you answer that question in an empowering two-hour show, and leave you more prepared and focused to live what she calls your authentic truth. It’s not just about the sweat, or inclines, or what you’re eating, Jillian will show a live audience what she does best on Biggest Loser – break through. She has an uncanny ability to help people get out of their own way, dig deep and look inside to find the answers.
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