Okay…better late than never.
The show this week was sort of interesting, I thought. I was very pleased that they pointed out to the contestants that real life is not going to be as weight-loss-friendly as the campus has been, though I think one day was not a great measure of how hard it will be. But it did get them thinking, which is good.
This battle is hard. It is, I am absolutely certain, incredibly difficult to do when you are sequestered away from your family and everyone and everything that is familiar and beloved to you. However, there are compensations, not the least of which is uniformly healthy food ready to hand at all times, the best exercise equipment money can buy and all day to use it, the services of amazing personal trainers, and the constant company of others doing the exact same thing you are doing – and NO ONE anywhere near you who isn’t focused on that same goal.
Here in the real world, however, it is a very different ball game. For the average person trying to lose weight, the world not only does not help you, it does everything imaginable to yank the rug out from under your jazzercising little feet. The people around you range from sympathetic but not totally understanding (best case) to hostile and threatened by your drive (worst case); the food by which you are surrounded is dreadfully unhealthy, and you must make a massive effort and often go out of your way to find things that are healthy; you have limited equipment with which to exercise, and above all, you have no time. You are probably working, some of us more than one job; if you are not working, you are very likely a homemaker with children and a home to take care of; there is dinner to be made, dishes to be washed, laundry to be done, errands to be run…children get sick, or you do…the holidays intervene, with their rounds of parties and luncheons and shopping and frantic list-making…soccer practice…dance class…piano lessons…elderly parents…work…more work…
The interruptions and distractions are endless. No one, and nothing, does a single thing to make it easy. It is Hard, with a capital H. And I think it’s great that the contestants, who are about to be tossed back into that world, are being reminded of it. Yes, they will continue to have access to nutritionists, doctors, trainers, etc…which is more than most of us have. But they are still being taken out of their comfort zone, and the game is about to get much, much harder. A little taste of that, while wholly inadequate, is definitely not out of order.
I approved of Julie’s realization of this, and her apparent sober reflection upon it. It seemed to be a bit of a wake-up call to her more than anyone, and maybe that’s because she, unlike most of the others, had a trip home during which she lost no weight at all. So maybe she’s thinking about that…and it’s got her really worried.
The elimination was sad. I hated to see Nicole go. She is so unfailingly amiable, so happy-go-lucky. Voting her off is sort of like kicking a puppy…and it made me sad. She looks really amazing though, and I am proud of her.
At this stage, the only people I would bid farewell to without regret are unlikely to go anywhere – okay, person. I wouldn’t miss Isabeau all that much, I guess. I don’t hate her, and she’s not overwhemingly annoying, but she doesn’t really have my loyalty despite voting Amy off, which I really did appreciate. Holly I really like, though she can be whiny and temperamental at times, and Julie I really admire for her grit and outspokenness, though sometimes she does piss me off. Bill I think is just a soldier and I really believe he will go all the way, if he doesn’t have the major misfortune of falling beneath the yellow line with one of the Black team girls. Neil, I want to see make it all the way, both because he’s earned my grudging admiration and because I do NOT want only Black team members at the finale. That would really be tragic I think.
So at this point, I’m very tense about the outcome of next week’s weigh in. There are a lot of people I don’t want to see go, and almost inevitably, one of them will.
This past elimination was really a joke. I told my husband, when we saw who was beneath the yellow line, that if I were producer, at that point I’d have just patched in sort of a montage of the first three seasons and voiced over, saying, “Okay, folks, we’re not wasting your time. We all know Nicole’s going home, we’re very sad to see her go, now here are some heartwarming moments from Biggest Loser History.” Because as Neil said, it was never in doubt, no matter what people said about “the biggest threat”. Come on, how stupid do we look?
So anyway…sad, but not surprising. I pretty much knew Nicole would be the next to go. I am looking forward to seeing her at the finale though, I’ll bet she looks awesome. And for the coming week, I’m just praying it’s not Neil.
