Biggest Loser: It's back with Blue v. Black

Remember where we left off? Biggest Loser: Olympic Style

Darrell lost the challenge against Cheryl, holding a squat while balancing a torch on his head for just under 10 minutes. He has nothing to be ashamed of though; he lost 75 pounds in six weeks.

This week the contestants broke out of pairs into Blue vs. Black teams. The person who got to divide the teams was the winner of a food temptation. Only Drea and Michael decided to play. The game was set up like the old fashioned Memory game. The person who found two matching golden tickets would have the power.

If they selected two spaces that weren't a match, they would have to eat a cookie. I could see a lot of cookies in their future! Make a match of the snack foods -- some healthy, some crappy -- and the other person had to eat it and would lose a turn.

Both Michael and Drea start feeling sick from all the sugar and fat. When Drea handed Michael a blueberry muffin, he semi-jokingly said "I'm going to throw up on you." After a bit, Michael was getting the meat sweats (what movie is that from?), only this time it was the treat sweats.

Finally, after eating 2,310 calories worth of snacks, Michael found the two matching golden tickets, winning the right to make the teams, plus the chance to give one person immunity.

The teams were divided into 6 and 6, with one person given immunity. Next week, the person with immunity will join the team that loses a player at the weigh in.

So here is how Michael divided the players (former colors in parenthesis):

Black - Jillian
Sam (grey)
Cheryl (orange)
Drea (black)
Stephanie (purple)
Sherry (pink)
Ashley (pink)

Blue - Bob
Koli (grey)
Daris (orange)
Lance (red)
Miggy (green)
Sunshine (yellow)
Michael (white)

Michael gave immunity to O'Neal (yellow) and took the guaranteed spot on the Bob's Blue team. That insured he would be on the team he wanted. If he had taken immunity for himself, his fate would have fallen to whichever team lost the weigh in.

Once the teams were divided, Bob and Jillian came in and Jillian freaked out at how badly Michael stacked the Blue team. I really wanted the Black team to show up the Blue team on the scale. Bob tried to warn the Blue team not to get complacent and think they have the weigh in won already.

Michael kept saying he finally put himself first. Maybe it's a wrong assumption on my part, but a 30-something single man who still lives with mom and dad? My guess is that he's put first a lot.

Once the teams were divided, Ashley and Stephanie started talking about forming alliances.

The first Blue v. Black challenge took place off campus. They had to lift their teams banner from the ground to the top of a building -- standing on the roof. No flipping way. I would have sat down on the sidewalk right then and there.

The Blue team got off to an early lead, but the Black team pulled steadily in unison and stayed close behind. Every time the teams leaned back to pull the banner, I got the heebee jeebees, thinking that someone was going to fall of the side of the building.

Ultimately, Blue team won the challenge and the opportunity to read letters from home. Sam, on the losing Black team, had the best reaction:

"We're not here to get letters. We're here to lose weight. If we want letters, we can go to work for the post office."

Last chance work out -- Black team really kicked butt, but will it be enough?

Weigh in:

Blue Team: Total Lost - 48 pounds or 2.7%
Michael: -15 which means he set a new BL record: 109 pounds in 7 weeks
Sunshine: -7
Lance: -5 He'd hoped to get out of the 300's, but stopped right at 300.
Miggy: -4
Daris: -7
Koli: -10

So the Black Team needed to lose more than 39 pounds.
Drea: -5
Cheryl: -4
Sherry: -6
Sam: -8
Stephanie: -8
Ashley: -10!

The Black Team beat the Blue Team on the scale! Woohoo! 41 pounds or 2.82%. I'm not sure I have an opinion about which team I like better, but I was happy to see the underdogs win.

So the Blue Team went to the elimination room. I'm worried Sunshine would be sent home, but it was wasted worry. The votes all were cast for either Lance or Miggy.

I wish you all could sit with my husband during the weigh in. "Oh, he voted for Lance, but it's ok because he wrote 'sorry' with a little sad face." It just makes me giggle.

In the end, Miggy was voted off the ranch. Even though Lance had the lowest percentage of weight loss, his ability to win challenges saved him. In the transformation moment, Miggy said she's learned to meditate to help release her negative energy and she really did look much happier. She was down to 170 something.

They also showed Darrell's transformation. He's lost a total of 120 pounds, weighing in at just under 300 pounds.

Next week, I'm sure the Blue team will be gunning to get back at the Black team. Should make for good TV!

The Biggest Loser: A mop and a bucket

That's what I need to wade through tonight's Biggest Loser drama -- a mop and a bucket. The opening temptation was to spin a big Wheel-of-Fortune type wheel. The contestants had to either eat what was under the lid or they could win a golden ticket that would allow the winner to divide the teams into black and blue, Jillian and Bob's teams. Everyone except Abby chose to participate.

As luck would have it -- or as the producers arranged it -- Tracey found the golden ticket. She broke up every team, except for hers (with her partner Mo) and Daniel and Shay. Plenty of people were upset with Tracey for breaking up the teams. But no one was more angry and more outspoken about having Tracey in the crosshairs than Liz.

"What do Southern women do when they get mad?" Jillian wanted to know.

"They get even," said Liz, ever so seriously.

Abby and Tracey still can't train, though by the last chance workout, Tracey was walking slowly on the treadmill.

Best quote of the night: Jillian to Dina when Dina couldn't make herself jump up on the Plio stool. "You're life is not changing today, but at least your butt will get smaller."

Then the teams had their first blue vs. black challenge: a chariot challenge. Each team had to carry one member of the team on a platform up a hill, through the mud. The winning team -- BLUE -- won videos from home. Rebecca gave her opportunity to watch the video to Dina, who is on the black team, saying "Go get that step," referring to the Plio stool. But Dina turned it down, because she had to get on that step on her own. It was a totally scripted exchange. Clean up on aisle 13!

Liz asked Danny to watch her video with her and I was thinking that her behavior was approaching inappropriate -- they are both married. But it was really Danny's video. His wife said she's lost 20 pounds and several members of her family are losing weight too, inspired by Danny's efforts on the ranch.

On to the last chance workout. Bob heads to 24 Hour Fitness with his team. No surprise there. Jillian pushes her team to the limit in an outdoor workout. She shows a surprising bit of compassion by letting Dina stop her workout even though she didn't make it on top of that stool.

In the weigh in room, can Jillian keep her win streak going?

Blue (Bob's team)
Tracey -7 (no one seemed to be happy)
Mo -6
Allen -7
Rudy -8
Rebecca -7
Liz -8
Blue team percentage of weight loss: 2.56% (43 pounds)

Black
Abby -5
Dina -6
Amanda -6
Danny -10
Daniel -11
Shay -- Needed to lose 8 pounds to keep the black team safe. She dropped 16 pounds!
Black team percentage of weight loss: 3.05% (54 pounds)

Tracey said her head is on the chopping block because she split everyone up. But her head was in a precarious position because of her attitude and her actions for several weeks in a row. However, I had a hard time believing that the producers weree going to let her leave now. She brings too much drama to let her go.

Sure enough, as the blue team was discussing who should go, Coach Mo threw himself on the sword. He's been pulling the lowest numbers, he told them. He should go home.

I thought Rebecca was going to kill Coach Mo. She was really gunning for Tracey to go home. Rudy argued that having Mo around would be better for the team than having Tracey around. Mo is supportive and encouraging. Tracey has and likely will continue to make things insane.

Liz flip flopped from her original position and voted to send Mo home. I'm thinking she thought that Tracey is the next obvious target, so keeping Tracey one more week guarantees Liz at least two more.

Wonder what the black team will think when they see Tracey still on the ranch?

In the Biggest Loser Transformation Moment, Coach Mo had lost 76 pounds and looks great! Next week's show is Old Home week -- the remaining contestants get to go home for a week. Should be interesting.

One thing you didn't see on the show itself was me, actually exercising during several commercial breaks. I'd like to say I was inspired by the show -- and that was a part of it. But I was also feeling guilty because I had a frustrating evening and chose to feed that frustration with a Quarter Pounder (No cheese, though. That should count for something!), fries and Oreos. Why the heck did I do that?

So anyway, I spent several commercials walking up and down my stairs, doing toe touches on the steps, and simulating my own Plio stool by jumping up onto the second stair.

Do you exercise during the show? If yes, what do you do?