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

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

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

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

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

To choose teams, the contestants had to test their luck. Each contestant took a chance at spinning a wheel with thirty-some silver platters. They could “win” a high calorie dessert, $1000, or the power to make the teams. A few contestants took a spin and each received a high calorie food. Danny probably wins with a delicious looking cupcake for a whopping 700 calories. Next up is Tracey. Pretty much every contestant says if she wins there will be a mutiny. Well, sure enough, lady luck strikes again! Tracey gets the power to choose teams, hopefully stacking the teams in her favor. The other contestants generally get upset, and I can under stand why.

After some time, Tracey returns with her choices:
Black: Abby, Danny, Daniel, Shay, Amanda, and Dina
Blue: Tracy, Mo, Allen, Liz, Rudy, and Rebecca

Many of the contestants were upset at the choices that were made, but it’s a game in the end, suck it up. At least it wasn’t a coin flip…

In the first challenge of Black vs. Blue, four contestants on each team had to carry the fifth contestant through a course of hills, and mud pits. The Blue team won by a lot, and really should have. With Allen and Rudy, the team is pretty much stacked physically. The winning team won videos from home. Liz gave up her video for Danny, and it was just the push he needed.

This week’s last chance workout was another killer and looked awesome. Jillian had her team out in the prison yard doing some hardcore body weight exercises. Again, someone please buy me a sled and some weights. Maybe some heavy bags. And some gloves. Christmas is coming up. Just sayin’.

For the Blue team, much of the workout focused on Dina trying to jump up onto a box. This is A LOT harder than it looks. The mind likes to play tricks and it really is frightening, more-so for women from what I understand. As Bob explained it to Sione, Filipe, Tara, and myself: “Boys are dumb, they’ll do anything; girls are smart and think about stuff.” Pretty true I’d say.

In the weigh-in, nothing super spectacular occurred. Daniel lost 11 pounds, and Shay lost 16. Those are great numbers, but they are coming off of horrible weeks with last week’s immunity. Strategy paying off. Black team won the weigh-in, and with Liz having the highest total percentage of weigh loss, she was safe. It all looked very grim for Tracey.

While deliberating on who to send home, Coach Mo spoke up telling everyone to send him home. He said for the good of the team he should be sent home. The team agreed and off one of my favorite players went.

That’s all from this episode. I’ll see you guys next week!
-Mike Morelli

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Mike Morelli’s Biggest Loser Recap – 8.5

Hey everyone, I’m back again for the Week 4 Biggest Loser Recap. First thing noteworthy in this episode is that Tracey is not allowed to work out. At all. That stinks. Not being able to work out is almost a plane ticket home on the Biggest Loser ranch.

In a very good twist, the contestants had to order out for every single meal, after finding the kitchen completely locked down. Learning to eat well while going out is an extremely good skill to have. To go along with the new week comes a new pop challenge. The contestants had to determine which dinner had the fewest amount of calories. The winner was the pink team and they won a year’s supply of groceries.

This week’s challenge looked extremely difficult. The contestants had to hang from their arms for as long as they could above a pool of water. The winner won immunity. It came down to Allen from the green team and Daniel from orange. Daniel ended up hanging around longer and guaranteed immunity for himself and Shay for another week.

With his teammate out of commission, it was up to Coach Mo to pull the weight for the team. During the last chance workout, it looked like Mo hurt himself. Not looking good for one of my favorite contestants up to this point.

At the weigh in, Daniel and Shay lost a total of 5 pounds A very smart game-play move. They said it wasn’t, but it was, believe me, not losing weight doesn’t just happen. Shay continued to want Tracey out of the house and got mad when the purple team lost enough weight to be safe. In the end, it came down to Julio from the black team, and Danny and Liz from the brown team. The rest of the house voted to keep the brown team in the game. And my favorite team is still alive and kicking!

That’s all from this episode! See you all next week. Best in health.
-Mike Morelli

From this episode, learn more about:

• Biggest Loser Complete Calorie Counter Book
• Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge
• Biggest Loser Wii Game – Now available!

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Mike Morelli’s Biggest Loser 8.4 Recap

In a follow-up temptation, the contestant who ate the most cupcakes in 10 minutes would have the power to choose which team member would weigh in for each team. Again, Tracey stepped up and snagged the win and the power. A little early for gameplay (in my opinion), but I’m not there; maybe she’ll win from a week three power move, but I doubt it. A verbal beating and a near murder by Jillian followed.

This week’s challenge looked fun. Contestants had to carry either ten pounds from a close distance, or 25 pounds from a further distance up a steep ramp. The first team to reach 500 pounds won. I personally would have chosen the short distance, making more trips, but again I’m not there. The green team won this challenge, barely edging out the pink team and won immunity. Allen is basically diesel. End of story.

With the weigh in around the corner, Bob and Jillian really focused on the girls of the house, because they are the easier targets for elimination. It was all blood, sweat and tears, but by far the most awesome thing of the whole episode was Danny vs. the tire. That workout looks awesome! I wanna do it. Someone out there get me a giant tire. Please.

This week’s weigh in was one for the books. Tracey chose mostly women to be the deciding factor in the weigh-in, except the blue team (I thought that was odd, game play wise). In the end, the orange team and the red team fell below the yellow line. But the real story at this weigh in, was the utter silence from the group when Tracey lost 11 pounds. Gee, think they wanted her gone??

Post weigh in was pretty heart wrenching. Sean and Antoine, the red team, asked to be sent home so that Shay could stay. That was amazing of them to give up on their own chance for another team.

The elimination went as everyone expected and the red team was eliminated. They are both doing great at home and I cannot wait to see them at the finale!

(Side note, that is the second time Daniel’s team was saved by another team. Week 2 season 7 when Jerry was eliminated.)

See you all next week after another great Biggest Loser Recap!
Best in Health!
-Mike Morelli

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Mike Morelli’s Biggest Loser Recap – Episode 8.3

Right off the bat in this episode, Alison issues the contestants a challenge – lose 150 pounds as a group. Do it and no one goes home, otherwise two people are eliminated. Week two is infamous for producing poor numbers on the scale, so these contestants really had their work cut out for them.

On a better note, Tracey returned to the house from the hospital this week. She isn’t allowed back in the gym yet, but at least she’s on campus. With monitoring her nutrition she still should drop a significant amount of weight since it is her first week.

Chef Curtis Stone appeared on this week’s episode. He took the contestants on a crash course through portion sizes and cooking tips, and gave them a quiz afterward. The contestants passed his test and got a 15 pound advantage at the weigh-in.

The challenge this week was truly a team effort. The contestants racked up an additional 20 pound advantage and phone calls home. Tears flowed and everyone was happy.

With a 35 pound advantage for the weigh-in, Bob and Jillian still didn’t let up. Bob had an extremely intense session with Julio for the last chance workout. I started to ache just watching it. One thing that did spark my interest during this workout was Shay opening up. She started to release some of that mental baggage and hopefully she can overcome the rest of her obstacles.

The weigh-in went well for just about everybody. The teams lost more than enough weight to keep everyone in the house for one more week.

This week’s episode seemed a little weak to me. What did you all think? Next week looks a lot more promising.

See you next tuesday DIR!

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Mike Morelli’s Biggest Loser 8.2 Recap

Biggest Loser is back and it seems to be bigger and better. Fifteen new contestants are competing for the title of The Biggest Loser and (the more important part) to get a second chance at life. In the spirit of second chances, Daniel Wright, a season 7 alum, got to come back to compete on this season. I’m glad to see him back and hope he can conquer his weight battle once and for all.

What do you all think of Daniel coming back?

The first challenge for these new-comers was to finish the last mile of the marathon the Season 7 finalists had to complete. A mile may not seem like long for some, but believe me, when you are out of shape, it seems like a marathon.

Not surprisingly, Daniel won the marathon, but the real story here was Tracey. Tracey had to be airlifted to a hospital and was out of the game for the entire week!! Another personal favorite of mine, Coach Mo, was also taken to the hospital, but thankfully returned later in the week.

At the initial weigh-ins, the heaviest cast reported in. Four men over 400 pounds, and the heaviest contestant ever, Shay, weighed in at 476.

After the weigh-in, of course was the first workout. The thing that shocked me most out of the entire episode was Shay quitting the very first day. I can understand not liking being yelled at, but to walk out of the gym, knowing how much you need it, and how unhealthy you are is amazing to me. I hope Shay can get her act straight for the coming weeks.

The weigh-in this week was pretty impressive. The contestants all lost a lot of weight. The people who stuck out in my mind were Rebecca, who lost 18 pounds, Mo, who lost 19 pounds after being in the hospital, and Julio, losing only 13 pounds.

I say only 13 pounds, because being as big as Julio is, and how much water weight is lost the first week, something is fishy. Anywhere else 13 pounds is unbelievable, but on the Biggest Loser ranch, the first week is not good. Julio and Alexandra fell below the yellow line, and Alexandra was eliminated.

I would have voted differently, what about you all?

Of course I gotta give my three favorites for the new season:
1. Danny- I have to rep the brown team, and he seems like he’ll do great.
2. Coach Mo- he has a nickname ‘Coach’ day 1. ’nuff said.
3. Abby- her story is absolutely amazing. Someone who has overcome so much in her life already deserves to be there.

Well, that’s it for me this week, DIR nation! I’ll be back soon after next week’s new episode!

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Mike Morelli’s Biggest Loser Recap – 8.1