biggest loser - '09

[Oregondaisy 2,020]

I wonder why Kristin gained a lb. It would be so nice to know how the body works. I doubt that she ate anything fattening and she supposedly worked her butt off. It just doesn't make sense that she would gain. I could see a plateau, but a gain?

[Saundra 0]

Maybe not eating enough calories like when they taped what they atem her body might of freaked with the level of exercise she did and stored instead.

I'm with you though I'd love to understand stand stillsm gains and loss so I could keep my loss more steady and a little faster

I won't miss Kristin at all, I doubt they will get a chance to see brown under again but id they do I think they need to tell them good bye. I can't help it I still want Mike to grow a set and hearing him whisper I need to know its ok with you to vote for her, made me wonder if he has what it takes to help Max when he gets home.

[Gone4Now 4]

I think that Mike will suprise himself when they get home. He's still so young and he'll be going to college soon. He'll probably always love his dad, but I think those strings will be cut very soon. He's getting really cocky right now, but I think that is because of his age.

I think they were smart, even though Ron's an asshat - Mike can still not become that. Ron's too old too really change, though, so I'm hoping Mike can push through.

I did notice the similarities though when Mike dropped out of the challenge because he was scared of heights. That was very Ron-ish.

I thought Kristen's speech was very bitter and childish. HELLO, yeah they're taking out the challenge - IMO they should have canned her last week, so at least they had a chance to redeem themselves with that. They were probably kicking themselves for keeping a big competitor in the game. Plus, who gained weight?

I just hate whiney stupid bitchy things like that. You're in it for yourself, and Ron and Mike are father and son. Who in that house thinks that they'll break that? I mean, really...Just bow out with grace...YOU LOST, KRISTIN.

Shut up and go home.

[luluc 6]

finally don't have to watch kristen any longer. what a sore LOSER!!!!

[BethFromVA 5]

I did notice the similarities though when Mike dropped out of the challenge because he was scared of heights. That was very Ron-ish.

Ron is nothing but a quitter. Has he EVER started a challenge that he finished?

[Manatee 3]

Ron is nothing but a quitter. Has he EVER started a challenge that he finished?

In fairness, he did ok in this one

Off topic -- he should have kept the beard. Like many who lost a lot a weight in midlife +, he looks OLD in the neck area.

Off topic 2: Mike lost 153 lbs in 16 weeks. Holy cow.

[Saundra 0]

Yea he made in to second from last this time

Does that mean I should figure out how to grow a beard

[BethFromVA 5]

Yea he made in to second from last this time

Second from last in the up-in-the-air thing? Or did I miss a challenge?

[Saundra 0]

Mikey was first to let go and Ron was second to let go in the up in the air thingy

[tapshoes 2]

Does that mean I should figure out how to grow a beard

Sadly, menopause may take care of that for you!

[Angelyco 0]

I missed the first 45 minutes and I got home just as Tara and Helen were the only two people left in the challenge. Tara rocks!! Helen was so upset about losing--I don't remember Felipe's starting weight but I do know he lost 3 pounds, but if she had that one pound advantage, would Felipe have been below the yellow line instead?

What I'm getting really tired of hearing is "This week is so important" "This weigh-in is so important"--you've been saying that every week for the past 16 weeks! What week ISN'T important?

Gah I have so much to vent about.

Kristin and the "easy" way out--uhm, last I knew, this was a game, the point is to get rid of your competition. How is that the "easy" way? It's the "smart" way--it's just plain stupid to keep your competition around. I really don't know why she thinks it has to do with being a coward.

Yes, I was throwing pillows at the TV when Mike and Kristin were both saying that Kristin is his biggest competition...with Tara sitting right there. Just because Tara doesn't have as much weight left to lose as Kristin doesn't mean that Kristin CAN lose all the weight she has left. Tara is in it to win it and I KNOW she'll still kick ass when she goes home before the finale.

I saw that coming with Ron not writing down Kristin's name but still making sure she went home.

I was really hoping for a more explosive and damaging blowout with Mike and Ron. Ron never really answered WHY he never stopped Mike and Max from gaining weight, just kept saying that "now we know and we can teach Max" blah blah blah...and yeah, I love how he didn't say how the mom lost weight, just that "she got it under control." I have a feeling they had surgery at the same time. Then Mike and Ron cried and hugged and loved each other. I was really hoping Mike would break off and work for himself instead of staying under his dad's wing after that conversation. Blah.

God, at this rate, it seems Ripple Dad has a chance to make it to the finale. I think Tara makes it to the finale though, they showed her with her cut-out (which they only do for the contestants before they go home for the finale).

Here's a question for you all though: if Ron DOES make it to the finale, do you think he'll purposely not work as hard to make sure that Mike has the best percentage? Of course we all know that Ron won't be able to do this at home anyway, but I'm curious what you think about his motives. They actually aren't that far apart in percentages (if my math is right) Mike is at 39.4% and Ron is at 30.7%. Four months at home could easily change either of those to move up or down.

[Saundra 0]

Now I need help with my menapausal mind LOL (I barely keep up with the plucking and waxing as it is) didn't we vote last season? I keep thinking I voted my fingers off so Vicki wouldn't win it........sorry and I assum4e its an age thing since a few years ago I would get irritated with people who couldn't remember what I considered easy things. Wait I remember we voted for or against the husband and wife, he pleaded for her and we put him in the finale and she won the 100k at home prize, shey were tight with Vicki.......am I remembering right?

[MacMadame 81]

Maybe not eating enough calories like when they taped what they atem her body might of freaked with the level of exercise she did and stored instead.

Myth, myth, myth!!

Calories are a unit of energy. You can't burn energy (i.e., workout) and then store the calories. If you burn the calories, they are gone. If you operate at a calorie deficit, you lose fat and/or muscle. This is physics and has to do with the laws of conservation.

The problem is that scales measure your absolute weight which includes everything you ate that hasn't been disgested and all the Water you are retaining. Remember: your body is mostly Water. So water fluctuations can mask what is going on with your fat and muscles.

For example, if you weigh yourself in the morning and you are 200 and then you immediately have an enormous BM and you weigh yourself right afterwards, you will be under 200, maybe even as much as 1 lb. But you haven't actually lost any weight, of course. Your body fat percentage is the same and your muscles are the same.

Also, when you work out, you tear down muscle and use up the glycogen stores in your muscles. Then, overnight, your body puts the glycogen back and also rebuilds your muscles. When you use up glycogen, you release water (4 lb. of water for every pound of glycogen) and when you build them back up, you put that water back into them.

This is why you can skip a few days at the gym and still "lose" weight. You haven't really lost weight. But your body released some water because you aren't tearing down your muscles and building them back up. It's also why you can drink a lot one night and "lose" weight the next day ... alcohol is a diuretic and you can lose water weight when you drink it. This is also why you can go out to eat, but not eat off your plan, and still "gain" weight the next day -- restaurant food has a lot of sodium and that makes you retain water.

The other thing is, it takes about a day, sometimes two, for the effects of your exercise and eating to make their way through the body. That is why sometimes the day you do intensive exercise, you may not be that much hungrier than usual, but the next day you can be starving even if you don't exercise the next day. Your body rebalances your energy stores overnight while you sleep and so sometimes it takes through the next day to see what the impact was of what you did the day before.

So as to how a contestant on this show can gain a pound, there are number of ways:

1) Eating... sneak eating, eating bigger portions, putting more "stuff" on your food (more Condiments, more sauce)

2) Working out a lot and being in a state during the weigh in where your muscles are packing on the water as they restore glycogen

3) Drinking or eating too close to a weigh in

4) Being constipated

5) Slacking off on exercise (maybe working the machines at a lower intensity than in the past)

6) Not drinking enough water (water helps flush out the remains of your fat burning)

7) For women, TOM and retaining water. Some women also retain water when they ovulate.

[BethFromVA 5]

I don't remember Felipe's starting weight but I do know he lost 3 pounds, but if she had that one pound advantage, would Felipe have been below the yellow line instead?

No, because if I remember right, she had the highest percentage of weight loss anyway, even without the one-pound advantage. If I got that wrong, somebody please correct me.

Yes, I was throwing pillows at the TV when Mike and Kristin were both saying that Kristin is his biggest competition...with Tara sitting right there. Just because Tara doesn't have as much weight left to lose as Kristin doesn't mean that Kristin CAN lose all the weight she has left. Tara is in it to win it and I KNOW she'll still kick ass when she goes home before the finale.

Yes, Tara IS the bigger competition, but what they meant is between the two below the yellow line -- Kristen and Helen -- Kristen was the biggest competition. They couldn't have voted Tara out anyway.

[Saundra 0]

Wow that was very informative I wish I was as informed as you are. Thanks so much for the info and correcting my misunderstanding.

Now if I could just not retain so much I think I'd be happier with my scales lol