Day 109 - The Biggest Loser April Update

Episode 12

At the start of the episode, contestants are told that they will be split into four teams of three - blue, green, black, and red. Each team will have one trainer and they must chose a weight with a color on the bottom in order to be sorted into their teams. Their turn to choose is based in order of the highest percentage weight loss. The new teams are:

Red - Courtney, Justin, Jennifer

Blue - Olivia, Moses, Irene

Black - Rulon and Hannah

Green - Austin, Ken, Kaylee

Rulon and Olivia are given the opportunity to bring one eliminated player back to participate on their black team. In the meantime, Bob takes his team member to his Crunch biking program so they can get into the community and find other people who are also making changes in their every day life to be more healthy. Jillian invites Rulon and Hannah to her beach house for a good workout by the water and for some heart-to-heart conversations. Brett takes his team member on a hike and tells them to take a moment to turn inward and see the progress and the changes they've made to themselves. Justin is especially emotional because he is proud of who he is. Cara takes her team to Trinity Boxing where her team members can finally get some practice fighting in a ring for real!

At the challenge, the black team reveals their decision to bring back Jay. They are also informed that Jay's weight loss will not count for their team this week. The challenge this week is to all hold onto ropes for their individual teams with a weight put up in the air, weighing the combination of their teams weight loss. The prize: video chats with their families. Even though the black team wins, they give their video chat opportunities to the blue team, who all really want to speak to their families back home.

At the weigh in, Kaylee announces that she feels she is ready to go home and therefore has asked her team to throw the weigh in. When the green team finally weighs in, Kaylee is devastated to learn that Ken did not throw the weigh in as she asked. She will be able to stay another week if she decides to stay. Kaylee is very upset but decides to stay on the ranch.

At the elimination, Justin asks his team members to do the right thing and keep Courtney at the ranch while he goes home. The players comply with his request and send him home.

Episode 13

After kicking off the episode with a statement from Kaylee, Allison has a surprise for the contestants: video footage of the moment they were told they were going to be on the Biggest Loser show. She then asks the group if they ever wondered what happened to the 12th team. Today she brings them onto the show and allows them an opportunity to win a spot on the show - if they have lost enough weight at home. Unfortunately, they both do not lose enough and cannot come onto the show. They do, however, leave inspired to continue on their journey of weight loss and will be at the finale.

For this week's challenge, the contestants are told to balance two balls on a flat board with a hole in the middle while walking over to a bucket and then dropping the balls into the bucket through the hole. The first to 10 balls wins. The green team wins the challenge, followed by the black, then the blue, and then the red. The green winners are given a 1 minute advantage at the weeks big challenge and the red team is sent packing off of the ranch for the week. The red team is given a "menu" where they are given a certain amount of dollars and different choices that cost different amounts; such as trainer for a day, massages, night out, gym memberships, etc. Amazingly, they choose to go without Brett for the week. The girls then learn they will be staying in a gorgeous, luxury house in California.

Back at the gym, Moses feels in a funk because he really misses boxing while doing his cardio workouts. Proud of him, Jillian turns off his treadmill and tells him to grab some boxing gloves. Moses feels great knowing that he is excited to be working out again with boxing and feels like he has made a breakthrough with his trainer and his ability to listen to his wants.

For this week's challenge, the teams are told they will be going on the mother of all Easter egg hunts. Each team must find and return at least 600 eggs (400 for the red team). In addition to the normal colored eggs, there is also a very special golden egg hiding out in the field with a very special prize. The green team wins the egg hunt, and Olivia finds the golden egg. When she opens it, she finds her "prize": so long as her team does not lose the weigh in, she will have the only vote.

At the weigh in, Jillian lays into Rulon for going rogue and not sticking to his healthy diet. He admits that he snacks on chips and junk food as rewards and Jillian reminds him that it's not good for him. In order to not lose the weigh in, the red team must lost 5 lbs. When Courtney loses only 2 lbs, Jen believes that she has the win in the bag. She is shocked to learn that she did not lose any weight at all! Jen is immediately eliminated from the show and leaves learning a big lesson about her need of a personal trainer at this stage in her weight-loss journey. She will continue on it at home.

Episode 14

With Jen and Justin gone, Brett is 100% focused on Courtney this week. He has to keep her on the ranch in order for him to stay as well. Allison then presents this weeks challenge to the contestants. Each team is given a flag and told to walk and place their flag as close to one mile as possible. The winning team is given the opportunity to have a night out Hollywood style, while the losing teams must completely clean the house and the gym at the ranch. The black team wins this challenge.

After last week's call out, Jillian makes a special visit with Rulon where they talk about the importance of staying on a good, healthy diet. She tells him that the rewards he is giving himself is his health and happiness, not junk foods. Hannah then talks about how excited she is to have a night out on the town where she can dress up and wear fancy heals for the first time in her life. She can finally admit to herself that she is beautiful and deserving of attention.

At the last chance workout, Courtney works her butt off and Brett claims she has the focus and determination that could win the whole show. At the weigh in, Allison lets Courtney know that it is do or die, if she loses the weigh in she will be automatically eliminated. All the teams are getting pretty good weight loss number, but most amazing is Irene who loses a whopping 6 pounds, putting her into the 160's! When Courtney weighs in, everyone is devastated to learn she has only lost one pound. Amongst shedding tears, Courtney tells everyone that it is meant to be and that she will be fine, and continuing at home. She tells her girls to finish out strong. In addition to Courtney leaving the ranch today, Brett also must leave since he does not have anyone left to train. Emotions run high as two well loved people must go home.

Episode 15

At the outset of this episode, Allison lets the contestants know that they will be spending the next two weeks in New Zealand. Kaylee and Moses are especially excited about going because New Zealand is close to the island of Tonga, where their family comes from. After answering a quick trivia question, Austin wins his way into a first class seat.

The contestants first challenge in New Zealand is to clime the 1,027 stairs to the top of the Sky Tower. Once at the top, they have two choices on how to get down - to go back down the stairs or to bungee jump off the tower. All can participate except for Moses and Rulon, who are too large to participate. Ken, who is terrified of heights, decides to jump off the tower when Bob agrees to do the same. They both face their fears together. They all make it down and are all proud of themselves.

New Zealand is full of all kinds of adventure for all the participants; including sailing a hybrid racing yacht, completing a 5K run across the mountainous terrain for a challenge, and Moses and Kaylee flying over the countryside in a helicopter. However, ever week still has its elimination and this week wasn't so great on the weight loss. Unfortunately the blue team loses the weigh in and Moses is sent home.

Episode 16

This weeks begins with Allison letting the contestants know they have made it to singles. There will no longer be teams AND Brett is back to help train them all. This week, still in New Zealand, is still full of lots of adventure; including cliff jumping, a river boating race challenge (which Olivia wins), cliff climbing, bungee jumping, and more.

At the end of the week, the contestants all go to their final weigh-in in New Zealand. The contestants all pull good numbers this week, however the vote for elimination comes down to Ken and Hannah. Ken ends up being sent home this week.

Exercise: Today my sister and I did a morning workout together. We got up and did a 20 minute run outside (before all the rain started up), running around our neighborhood. Then we came back and did another 30 minute workout using her Wii Fit game. It was fun and nice for the company.

Eat: So now we know what to look for when we are buying our bread products, but what do we need to watch out for? Cooking Light gives us three things to really be careful of when buying bread products. The first is to watch out for the phrase "made with whole grains". According to Cooking Light, "when a package reads "made with whole grains", it means the bread is made with a blend of whole-wheat flour and some other kind - most likely a less nutritious flour." While it is still a better choice than white bread, it is not the most nutritional bang for your buck.

Relax: Tonight my family all sat down together, after eating a delicious dinner Aaron made for my family, and watched two movies. Its always nice to get that family time in!

Day 108 - World Trade Organization (WTO)

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. The goal is to help the produces of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business. The organization was established in 1995.

The WTO's main activities are:

1. To negotiate the reduction or elimination of obstacles to trade and agree on rules governing the conduct of international trade.
2. To administer and monitor the application of the WTO's agreed rules for trade in goods, trade in services, and trade-related intellectual property rights.
3. To monitor and review the trade policies of our members, as well as ensure transparency of regional and bilateral trade agreements.
4. To settle disputes among our members regarding the interpretation and application of the agreements.
5. To build capacity of developing country government officials in international trade matters.
6. To assist the process of accession of some 30 countries who are not yet members of the organization.
7. To conduct economic research and collect and disseminate trade data in support of the WTO's other main activities.
8. To explain to and educate the public about the WTO, its mission and its activities.

To learn more about the WTO, its mission, its activities, and its goals, visit the WTO's Official Website.

Exercise: Today I completed a 45 minute run. I started at a speed of 4.0 and then increased my speeds every five minutes by 0.5 until I got up to 6.0. Then I went back down by increments of 0.5. The last five minutes was a cool down. I went about 3.5 miles.

Eat: A final tip from Cooking Light on how to choose the healthiest bread products is to "Choose whole grains". According to Cooking Light, "terms like "health nut", "9-grain", and "multigrain" all sound healthy, but they don't necessarily mean the breads are made with whole grains." Instead, they recommend to choose breads that say "100% whole grain" or "100% whole wheat" on the package. Also, if you look at the ingredients list, the first ingredient should be whole-wheat flour, whole grain, whole oats, or whole rye instead of "enriched".

Two more ways to tell if your bread is whole grain is to look for the FDA-approved claim, linking consumption of the product to reduced risk of heart disease and some types of cancer; and look for the black and yellow whole grain stamp. This stamp, created by the Whole Grains Council, guarantees that at least half a serving of whole wheat will be found in each serving of the product. The stamp is a voluntary program, so not all whole-grain products will carry it.

Relax: Before heading into work this morning, I was able to catch up on the latest episode of The Biggest Loser while sewing up some flowers for the Glam Finale. It was relaxing and productive!

Day 106 - Experience Life March - "To the Gulf Stream Waters"

In an article from the March 2011 edition of Experience Life, Laurel Kallenbach explores ways that you can get involved and help out the communities surrounding the tragedies of Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf Oil Spill. Kallenbach talks about many different ways that you can help out based on your interests.

Beach enthusiasts can clear up the sandy areas of garbage and debris, animal lovers can care for injured sea turtles, bird watchers can help by observing the coastal birds. You can even help out by doing things you love activity-wise; such as kayaking  and documenting water quality and animal life, diving or snorkeling and documenting the numbers of each species of fish you see, or by just visiting and vacationing in the area. This helps the community especially who make their lives by tourism and fishing and who have been hit hard ever since the oil spill. Whatever you passion, find ways to get involved in making our world, and the Gulf Stream Waters, a better and more beautiful place.

Exercise: It's a swim workout day today! I did just a tiny bit of I.M. stuff, but mostly focused on freestyle. Here's my workout:

400 freestyle warm up

2x75 (fly-back-breast, back-breast-free)

2x100 I.M.

2x200 freestyle

3x100 freestyle

3x50 freestyle

TOTAL = 1600 meters (1 mile)

Eat: So how do we choose the healthiest breads? Cooking light gives us three tips to choosing the best breads while in the supermarket. Their first tip is: "When deciding between two similar bread products, look at the calories and fiber". They tell us that a low fiber content is a sign that the processing of the bread has stripped away the fiber nutrients, which means that other nutrients could be stripped away as well!

Relax: This morning I was able to relax a bit by finishing up some blog stuff and then playing a few minutes of Harvest Moon. The game really is my guilty pleasure...

Day 105 - Heifer International

Heifer International's mission is to "work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth." The organization allows individuals to give livestock and training, to help families improve their nutrition and generate income in sustainable ways. The organization calls it's giving of livestock to families a "loan", because the family then gives one of their animal's offspring to another family in need. They call this "Passing on the Gift".

The gifts of livestock go to families in need all over the globe. You can learn more about the organization and how to get involved, make a donation, or gift a family with some kind of livestock or training by visiting Heifer International's Official Website.

Exercise: Today was my first day of working out after my two week break and man did it feel amazing!! I started out by completing a quick running workout. I went about 2.5 miles in 25 minutes. I did this in time intervals, increasing my speeds after every five minutes. Then, after doing my cool down, I went and joined in my usual Monday night yoga class. It was super tough today and really got me sweating. I didn't know if I was going to make it through the whole hour, but I managed and it felt great to be able to do the whole class.

Eat: What is considered a serving of breads/grains? Here are a couple measurements for grain servings:

1 "mini" bagel = 1 serving, 1/2 English muffin = 1 serving, 1 hamburger bun = 2 servings, 1 (6-in) pita = 2 servings, 1 (6-in) tortilla = 1 serving, 1 hot dog bun = 2 servings, 1 sandwich roll = 2 servings.

I don't know about all of you, but I didn't realize some of these were actually 2 servings!! This is definitely something to keep in mind as you are eating each day. You, like me, are probably eating way to many grains/breads each day...

Relax: This morning, I was able to spend some time in the studio working on making wall letters for the glam finale. Although it is still work, it is more of a hobby that we get paid for. I really enjoy my time working in the studio and making beautiful products.

Day 103 - Factory Farm

Factory Farm, which is a division of the Food & Water Watch Organization. They work to educate us on the dangers of meat that is produced in factory farms. They provide information on their website to help us learn about what factory farms are and the dangers they produce to our nutrition and to our environment. In addition to telling us the hard facts, they also provide outside information sources and ways to get involved and fight back against the government's regulation of factory farm products.

To learn more about factory farms or to find ways to get involved, visit the Official Website of the Food & Water Watch Organization.

Exercise: If you are working out today… this is normally my biking day. Try to get a good bike ride in (stationary or on the road) and go about 7 miles in a half an hour.

Eat: For the next nine days, I am going to talk about some different facts pertaining to breads and grains. I will talk about why to eat bread, how much, how to choose the healthiest breads, and what to watch out for. Then I will go over different kinds of bread products individually to talk about some facts and nutrition elements of them all. Today I would like to start out by asking the question: Why eat breads? According to Cooking Light, the healthiest breads can contain some very good-for-you nutrients; such as whole grains, fiber, protein, vitamin B6, vitamin E, folic acid, magnesium, and zinc! Eating healthy breads can help you gain all of these nutrients in your diet.

Relax: Didn't get to do much relaxing today with such a long day of work… but I did get to hang out with my dog and watch an episode of one of my shows on TV. I also played some video games before bed!