Congratulations to the winners of this season’s Biggest Loser, and there were many. First of all, what a blast I had watching this finale with Jane, Jessica, Greg and Mitch. While Jane and Jessica are my friends, they are also my clients/students. Jane works out very seriously with me several times a week (and a few on her own). Jessica has just taken off an amazing amount of weight, (well over 50 pounds) as she prepares for her upcoming wedding. Greg is a mixed martial artist/personal trainer. Mitch, you all know who Mitch is. Poor guy has no choice but to care about this stuff, because he is a great “other half.”
Back to the winners. I thought Daris was a winner for being voted into the final 3 by America, beating Koli out for this position. Daris was also beaming as he introduced his very pretty girlfriend seated in the audience. His smile, his eyes and his body all looked fantastic. Shay, from last season, was a winner, losing another 52 pounds, which translated to $52,000 dollars from Subway. She looked absolutely beautiful. Next stop, running a marathon with Jarred of Subway diet fame.
Next a steady stream of winners, as all the eliminated contestants began their strut in. Jane had commented on how they have just a minute or two to show off their “evening gown” look before changing into weigh in clothes. They really put a lot into how they looked for those couple of minutes. Sunshine looked gorgeous in her sunshine yellow dress. She won back her life and her dad’s life, too. Oneal color coordinated to match his baby girl. Ashely’s mom, Sherri, looked destined to win the at home prize. She looked SKINNY and IS. She weighed in at 119 pounds, less than I weigh. Stephanie looked beautiful and I am confident that her and Sam will continue to take care of their bodies, together. What a handsome couple they make. Darrel was the biggest surprise. He did an unbelievable job taking off the weight at home. We all thought he would take away the $100,000 second prize but alas Koli had to weigh in. Can someone explain what it was he was wearing before he changed into the weigh in clothes?? Sam and Koli wore some interesting “dress” clothes for this possibly biggest night in their lives. In his weigh in clothes it was obvious that Koli was pretty skinny. He weighed in right around 200 pounds, losing 53.35 percent of his body weight and took home second prize, a big loser and a big winner!
I think I would have liked to have seen Daris win the grand prize. Last week I was really having a hard time with his going home and binge eating. This week, seeing his smile, his eyes, hearing his great little accent and seeing him beam up on the stage, I wanted him to take it all. Though still a winner, beautiful Ashley, squeaked by him in the weigh in. This left only Michael, who began the show at 526 pounds, to get on the scale. We wont even talk about what he wore to the show…but suffice to say it was ALL wrong! A skeleton belt? Did he really need to make the pants ANY tighter? Ok, whatever, he HAS always been a bit “quirky.”
Before getting on the scale, he presented his mother, Maria, (his partner on the show) with a single white rose. They have that close mother/son, Italian thing going on. I thought Maria looked WONDERFUL, by the way. She found her waist, as Jessica said about several of the women. As Michael stepped on the scale, we were reminded by Alison, that he would have to lose more than 48.93 percent of his weight to beat out Ashley.
While the 5 of us watching tried to quickly calculate the math, we all agreed that we thought he had it. I might mention here, that we were playing a little game we called guess the new weight. At certain points of the night, we got a little too wrapped up in who won the point, instead of what the actual weigh in number was which is why it’s hard for me to remember the exact numbers now! We did have a lot of laughs though and next season it will be who can come the closest WITHOUT going over.
As Michael stepped on the scale, I reminded the others that it ends pretty abruptly, which I find so disappointing. I don’t know what I want to see, but it all just happens to quickly in those final seconds. Sure enough, Michael Ventrella, (my first week’s pick, but admittedly I weaned and waned a lot as the season went on) the heaviest man to ever come on the show, the man who cried that he was still shopping in the big and tall man’s store not so long ago, the guy who could barely walk up the steps to weigh in at one time, managed to lose 50.19 percent of his weight and take home the grand prize of $250,000 dollars, bragging rights, the title of this season’s Biggest Loser winner and a whole new life. At just 31 years old, he really does have a whole new life ahead of him.
I wish for all the contestants that they remember what it feels like to be a winner and they keep that feeling alive by continuing to eat well and exercise daily. Quite a few of the contestants, like the twins, still have a way to go and I hope they get the continued support they need to stay on their life altering journey.
Oh, before I sign off, it was also great to see past winner Eric, who has been struggling with the yo-yo syndrome, looking rather slim and handsome, once again. I hope he will have the determination to keep it off this time!
Next Tuesday night, 10pm, Losing It, with Jillian. Erica, is there someone you can thank at NBC for giving me something to live for while BL is on summer break? Can’t wait to discuss all with you later!
Have a winning day, everyone. Remember, given some good motivation, there is NOTHING we can’t do!
**Sorry for typos and such…I have GOT to get ready for work or else I could go on and on…even Melissa (who made us all a little crazy this season) did a fantastic job of taking off close t 150 pounds! It takes a determined individual to make it through law school, and determination she showed in this “game ” as well.
Bonni, you wrote a perfect summation of the BL finale. We were also riveted to every second and Ted was “calculating” how many pounds each contestant needed to lose. It was a jaw-dropping evening. The beams on their faces and sparkles in their eyes showed that they were truly proud of themselves. (rightfully so) I certainly hope that they remain true to themselves and continue on this wonderful journey of good nutrition and fitness.
Did you notice that when Jillian first walked on the stage, she held on to the handrail, walked a bit wobbily and then quietly said, “I’m all right.” I wonder what that was all about.
I truly enjoyed the season and I am still in awe of all the challenges that were put before the contestants. It is quite a motivating program and hopefully it will inspire others.
rita…i think it was jillian’s high heels!!! she (like me) is not used to walking in real shoes…i totally relate
HOPE YOU ARE FEELING A BIT BETTER!
That makes sense!!
I am improving……….slowly. Thanks for asking! 🙂
oxxoxoxo
I watched live for only 30 mins last night, then went out with friends and watched the rest of the show from my DVR after midnight!
IF Koli had been voted to the final 3 he would have won the top prize having lost over 53% of his body weight. Darrell would have taken the 100k at home prize leaving Michael out completely. I wonder if Koli can get a grip on himself, he seems even more distant and uncomfortable now then he did just a few month ago.
Did you catch a glimpse of Danny – last season’s winner? He looks like he gained about 50 pounds. He’s sitting next to Shay and Eric and they certainly don’t give him any screen time because he is obviously struggling just as Eric and Matt did after they won.
I thought Stephanie was gorgeous and I thought some modeling agency should make a play for Sunshine – she’s stunningly beautiful!
Did you catch Ali mentioning the time frame of 7 months several times? That answers that question.
I’ve already set my DVR to record Jillian’s new show – can’t wait!
Carol, thanks for always adding valuable input—i hadn’t caught the 7 month time frame even once so THANK YOU, and actually i hadn’t thought about the fact that Koli would have won!!! life has a funny way of biting you in the ass sometimes–Koli does look distant…i did notice that they didnt much show danny (he was soooooo (too) skinny when he won, gonna look again…where was ali??? helen???
…i am actually going to sit down and skim back thru for about 45 minutes while i am on a break…with people here i think i missed some stuff that i would really want to see
It was an awesome show last night and I was thrilled Michael won! BL has literally saved many lives. Moooore then we know and has inspired many people to lose unhealthy pounds. I know first hand, as I watch the show with my 100 calorie bag of popcorn and Corona Light 🙂
OMG, after reading the comment on Jillian’s shoes I cracked up! When she was coming down the steps she hung onto Bob as though she were swimming with 10 cinder bricks! LMAO