revealed! my love for weight loss reality tv

here is something you may not know about me: i loves me some biggest loser. i got into this terrible weight loss reality competition show two seasons ago, in the fall of 2007, when i was trying to drop a couple of pounds on weightwatchers.com and reading the chat boards like a fiend. man, do those weight watchers board members love the biggest loser! i have to admit, the show is pretty inspirational. still, every week someone gets voted off for not losing as much weight as his or her competitors, which i always found counterproductive. getting voted off for not losing weight is the most de-motivating thing i can think of, unless you want revenge or are shooting to win the $250,000 runner up prize.

but i digress. the premise of the biggest loser is simple. very obese people come on the show to lose weight. they are shipped out to a "ranch" in the middle of nowhere, calif. and assigned teams and a trainer, who will yell at them and work them into shape and teach them how to eat better, usually through helpful tips involving product placement like sugar-free jello cups and extra gum. every week, the players compete in a challenge and the winner are rewarded with gifts like messages from home, money or extra pounds to help them in the weekly weigh in. at the weigh in, the team that has lost the least amount of weight needs to vote off one player, and usually the heaviest ones, or the "biggest threats" go first. then, when it gets down to about 10 people, its every man for himself. then, the two contestants that have lost the least amount of weight are under the knife and the remaining contestants have to choose between them. in many cases, the players still vote along team lines, so the weakest team is usually picked off one by one.

last season and this one, the show mixed it up by filling the player roster with teams of two, or "families." this season trainer jillian (who has an amazing body and the voice that sounds like nails on a chalkboard) had parent-child couples, while trainer bob had married couples. with the finale next tuesday, only four contestants remain: vicky, the wife half of a husband/wife team and one of the most manipulative characters i have ever seen on reality tv since richard hatch; michelle, the daughter in a mother/daughter team who was estranged from her mother for years before their tearful and inspirational reunion on the show; and heba and ed, a husband/wife team that was separated for a few weeks when ed was sent home, but reunited when ed beat the pants off all of the other ejected contestants to win a spot back in the game.

on last night's show, michelle and vicky won slots in the finale (and a chance to win the $500,000 jello grand prize) by losing more weight than heba and ed. now, its up to AMERICA to vote and choose which one - heba or ed - will be up for the grand prize and who will be relegated to the losers runner-up measly $250,000 prize. ed, noble husband that he is, clearly drank some water or something in order to be in the bottom two at the weigh in, because he GAINED two pounds in the final week. inconceivable! he also begged america to vote for his wife. however, heba pisses me off. after vicky, she was the least likable character this season (and yes, these people are characters, not real people. if you don't like it, don't go on a reality show and act ridiculous).

case in point: during one challenge the contestants learned that whoever ate the most calories would be able to pick the teams. heba "unselfishly" volunteered to eat one cookie and leave everyone with the trainers they had started with. but, not wanting to give her all the power, another player, phillip, ate some cookies. upon learning that she was betrayed, heba was furious. she separated the mutinous phillip from his wife amy, later voting amy off. heba and vicky also had numerous confrontations with both phillip and amy. for what reason? i bet if you asked her, heba wouldn't even know.

does she deserve to win half a million dollars? hell no. i don't even think she deserves to be in the running. but that's just me. some people like the villain.

as for me, i predict that ed will win if he's in the final three, and michelle will if he's not. vicky is maybe just evil enough to pull a win out, but since she doesn't like to eat vegetables, i think she will have a tough time staying on track during the few weeks she's at home before the finale. i guess we'll find out next week!

in the mean time, click here to vote for heba or ed.

also, here's a story about the show from the LA Times.