What better way to start the New Year than to watch some of the most overweight and out of shape people in America lose weight and change their lives right in front of our eyes. Hopefully you’re not watching while gorging yourself on ice cream like I was during Season 1 of the show!

“The Biggest Loser” has been getting bigger and bigger and Season 9 is the biggest ever! 22 new incredibly obese contestants step onto the Biggest Loser ranch with Bob and Jillian in an effort to transform their lives from fat to fit. This season features the largest contestant ever: Michael Ventrella, with a starting weight of 526 lbs; the near half ton team of John and James Crutchfield weighing in at 969 combined pounds and Ann Arbor, Michigan natives Darrell and Andrea Hough at 711 combined pounds. The transformations this season promise to be utterly amazing.

Initial Weigh In

Episode 1 of the show opens with the contestants weighing in… at home among their own family and friends! This was incredibly painful for these contestants and I witnessed the pain first hand while in attendance at Darrell and Andrea’s weigh in. As a former contestant with my own 60” + waist I can tell you that showing the stomach violated my “Fat Rule # 5 – CTB – Cover The Belly”. See my At-Home Challenge below for a way you can identify with this seasons contestants and add a little motivation to your own New Years goals.

Pop Challenge

After their public humiliation, the contestants arrive on the ranch to a Pop Challenge in which the contestants must cycle as a team for 26.2 miles. The winner receives the most coveted prize on the campus — immunity — and the two teams who come in last place go home! Go home?! Day one? Wow, talk about an incentive! In the end, the Green team wins immunity and the Yellow and Blue teams get the boot. Almost. Bob and Jillian surprise the eliminated players and give them a glimmer of hope as they tell them that they are only going home for 30 days but are competing against the other team for a chance to come back on the ranch. At least all hope is not dead!

Near Death Experience

Next up the contestants experience some of the most grueling days of their entire lives. Nothing could possibly explain how physically and mentally demanding the first couple of weeks on the ranch are for the contestants, so I will not even attempt to put it into words.

We also see contestants share their stories and struggles of being overweight, blah, blah, blah – let’s cut to the chase and see the real star of the show – the scale!

Weigh In

The producers did not cut the contestants any slack at all and a third team will be going home this episode after this week’s weigh in.

The contestants all pretty much put up good numbers but the Brown team of John and James fall below the Yellow line and James goes home and continues to put in a solid effort by losing 100 lbs in two months, at home! Great job James.

Next Week – The Infamous Week Two Slump

As Jillian has said in the past – The only way to avoid a setback during week two is beatings, beatings, beatings. Should be fun!

At-Home Challenge – Gut Check

Join in on the fun with the Season 9 Biggest Losers and participate in this At – Home Challenge. It is called ‘Gut Check’! Here is how it works; right now, grab a camera, go to a mirror and snap a picture of your belly or have someone else take your picture. Take the photo from the front, from the side, in a sports bra whatever. Just take a picture! Then take that picture and post it on MLive. Now over the next 5 months let’s whittle that belly off along with the contestants and reveal a new Gut at the end of May, just in time for the summer. I will be asking for an update in 3 months! By the way – my picture is in the video blog.

Talk to you soon and remember,

There’s a Winner Within You!

Pete Thomas

http://WinningMan.com

Another Detroit Open Casting Call has come and gone and here are a few of my basic observations.

Don’t be a drag

The more upbeat you are the better your chances.  Not obnoxious but upbeat.  Have plenty of energy.  Want to be here.  We had three casting directors in Detroit and they took about 5-7 minutes per table. You actually bore the casting directors if you are boring.

Don’t be a dum dum!

Read, read, read all my blog articles about the open casting call process.  Read everything online.  Watch the casting directors videos, listen to the podcast we did. Take it all in!

I am surprised how many people still come in looking shabby and unkempt.  Do you really think your going to make a good impression wearing an oily t-shirt?  Even if your a ‘good ‘ole boy’, look good!  I know this may conflict with the advice you hear about being yourself. Well maybe it doesn’t.  If oily t-shirts are what you wear regularly then come on down… Just don’t expect a call back.

Go it alone

If I really really wanted to be on the show I would come alone even if they were casting teams of eleven.  But I am like that.  I believe in myself and if they are casting a Biggest Loser football team I would come with the intention of making a great impression on the Casting Directors.  Even if they did not pick me this season, they would next season!  If you are desperate enough and have the ‘goods’ then you don’t let anything stop you. Come alone if need be.

No Pick Up Lines

People that meet in line and ‘pair up’ have never made it on the show. There is no story there. I don’t even know if they have ever gotten a call backs. Enough said.

You only get one shot, do not miss your shot to blow

At the call back you have one shot to impress the people that matter most.  Be very upbeat and energetic.  Review the videos and tips that are online. You are on camera.  This is not a job interview.  If your energy is low and your personality do not show through then your blowing it.

Special Thanks

I want to extend special thanks to the productions assistants Jason, Denise, Shelia and Pam as well as Contestants Amy and Shellay from Season 6 and Carla from Season 7 who were at the Casting Call for most of the day!  Ron and Mike from Season 7 had to fly to Boston on the day of the Casting Call and drove over a 1.5 hours north just to come by the Casting Call to encourage the fans who were in line before driving an hour back South to get to the airport.  Michigan’s  Losers give back!

Highlights

I did not take video this year because some good friends did the work for me.  Check out the great footage Jenny DiDinato and Chris of MadeFitTv put together.  Check out their blog MadeFitTv.com for comments and motivation as well.

Talk to you soon and remember,

There’s A Winner Within You!

Check out this interview that Jessica Nunez of Mlive.com did with Helen Phillips, Ron Morelli and Carla Triplett. Michigan rocks! Enjoy.

Click Here

Talk to you soon and remember,

There’s A Winner Within You!

The most incredible part in her story is her training once she left the ranch.

How did Helen do it?  By training like you should be training.  By training like an athlete.  She would meet the football coach at Mott High School at 4am every morning and run stadium stairs and flip tires and run sprints until she couldn’t walk any more. Then should would get up and do it again the next day.

Usually contestants leave the ranch and find trainers who do not understand the volume of training that we contestants endured while on the Biggest Loser ranch.  The trainer looks at our age and weight and may even mentally belittle the Biggest Loser in their mind. Then they start a half baked fitness assessment period and the client learning curb has to start up and valuable training time is lost.  But Helen found someone who ‘got it’ almost immediately.

That’s what it takes to Lose It Fast.

And then I come across this article where ‘experts’ say that what we contestants go through is ‘not healthy‘. These same experts are invested in keeping you fat and miserable for the rest of your life while they collect degrees and salaries and forever fail to solve America’s obesity problem.  I guess that is the ‘healthy’ way.

So if you want to stay fat and unhealthy or just unhappy then simply keep doing what you have been doing.

For the students in my Lose It Fast Lose It Forever Class I expect no excuses from you. Complete all of your home work from Chapter 7 (Page 79) while I am out of town.  Do your long runs and your intervals before Monday’s class.  If you have already done them them do it again. I expect everyone to be in the running for this weeks Homework Challenge prize.

Talk to you soon and remember,

There’s A Winner Within You,

The contestants come back to California to run a Marathon and Weigh in. Now America will vote for which one of the Morelli’s should be a finalist.

Also have a listen as I explain some of the crazy things that happen that last week before the finale.

Here is who’s left:

Helen Phillips – Finalist
Tara Costa – Finalist
Mike Morelli – America Votes
Ron Morelli – America Votes

Damien Gurganious – Eliminated
Nicole Brewer – Eliminated
David Lee – Eliminated
Daniel Wright – Eliminated
Cathy Skell – Eliminated
Kristin Steede – Eliminated
Sione Fa – Eliminated
Filipe Fa – Eliminated
Laura Denoux – Eliminated
Carla Triplett – Eliminated
Joelle Gwynn – Eliminated
Estella Hayes – Eliminated
Gerald “Jerry” Hayes – Eliminated
Blaine Cotter – Eliminated
Gregory “Dane” Patterson – Eliminated
Shanon Thomas – Eliminated
Amanda Kramer – Eliminated
Aubrey Cheney – Eliminated

Watch the update and check out John’s blog.

Talk to You Soon and Remember,

There’s A Winner Within You!

Pete Thomas

This is the final week on the ranch for the contestants and what we don’t see is how very very hard they worked out for the opportunity to land in the final four. In the end Filipe did not make the cut gets sent home.

I had a chance to speak with Filipe Fa of the Blue Team this afternoon. As you might expect he is as jovial and as upbeat as he appeared on the show. I could not resist the chance to ask him about Train the Trainer and what it was like to push around Bob Harper.

“I talked soo much trash that day!” said Filipe.  He says they started off with Bob on the treadmill warming up at a speed of 7.5 and then bumped it to 8.5 then to 9.5 when Bob started complaining. Bob told Filipe “You have no ideal. I am going to kill you in this last chance workout.” Filipe’s response was “I don’t care! You have killed me for 17 weeks. I am going to make sure I take this opportunity to mop the floor with you”

When I asked him what was the hardest thing he had Bob doing, Filipe said “I had him crying when he was on that stair master.” as Bob was pushed up to a level 20! But “The hardest thing we had him do was the pull-ups – Jillian was yelling across the gym ‘make Bob do pull-ups. He hates them!’ So we had him do those and they didn’t show the portion where he was cussing at me.” Good thing

I then asked Filipe about his attempts to change his family and what was the hardest part of attempting to do that,

“Nutrition.” says Filipe simply.  The challenge has been to teach the family that they don’t have to “eat less food” but to make “better options” which include eating more fruits and vegetables” and whenever the family buys meat to “make sure its lean”. Sounds like what I teach in class! Great stuff.

So with two weeks to go we have 3 of the 4 contestants from Michigan in line for the $250,000 grand prize. Tune in next week as the final four have an amazing challenge (Hint – remember the relationship with Rodale Press) and then the weigh-in leading up to America voting for a finalist. Here is who’s left:

Helen Phillips
Tara Costa
Mike Morelli
Ron Morelli

Damien Gurganious – Eliminated
Nicole Brewer – Eliminated
David Lee – Eliminated
Daniel Wright – Eliminated
Cathy Skell – Eliminated
Kristin Steede – Eliminated
Sione Fa – Eliminated
Filipe Fa – Eliminated
Laura Denoux – Eliminated
Carla Triplett – Eliminated
Joelle Gwynn – Eliminated
Estella Hayes – Eliminated
Gerald “Jerry” Hayes – Eliminated
Blaine Cotter – Eliminated
Gregory “Dane” Patterson – Eliminated
Shanon Thomas – Eliminated
Amanda Kramer – Eliminated
Aubrey Cheney – Eliminated

Watch the update and check out John’s blog.

Talk to You Soon and Remember,

There’s A Winner Within You!

Pete Thomas

As the Biggest Loser winds its way to an awesome finale we are in week number 16. There is a smaller film ‘crew’ on campus and yet there is still a two hour show to produce. That means you should begin to see more of what the contestants are really like.

After a Good Housekeeping sponsored quiz show and an anticlimactic challenge we head to the weigh in.

At the weigh-in Helen from Michigan of the Yellow Team and Kristin from the Purple Team fall below the yellow line and are up for elimination. The Brown Team colludes against Mike’s biggest competition and Kristin is sent packing.

I had a chance to speak with Kristin via conference call today and she is doing absolutely great. She appears on the cover of Life and Style Magazine this week.

Kristin is a budding motivational public speaker and I often have the chance myself to motivate others so I was interested in finding out what is actually keeping her going.

Kristin shared that she gets motivation from ‘other people who are inspired by her journey’. As well, “The finale is motivation also and I expect after the finale, motivation may be constantly changing.”

When it comes to workouts Kristin explained that she had a ‘revelation on the ranch’ that she needed to make sure she did her workouts ‘For Yourself By Yourself’. This came about because her mom was an ‘early early morning person’ and Kristin herself was more of a ‘late night person’ so it was up to Kristin to get her workouts in on her own. Even now at home she hits the gym alone and if her mom can join her then it ‘is a bonus’.

That is a very good lesson for all of us to apply. Gather motivation from multiple sources but in the end you have to take ownership of the process and do the work for yourself. No one can force you to eat correctly. No one can force you to go to the gym. You must be willing to do it ‘For Yourself, By Yourself’.

Great advice Kristin. I look to see half of you at the finale’

So with three weeks to go we can see that Michigan is in line to have a strong showing at the finale’. Here is who’s left:

Helen Phillip
Filipe Fa
Tara Costa
Mike Morelli
Ron Morelly
Damien Gurganious – Eliminated
Nicole Brewer – Eliminated
David Lee – Eliminated
Daniel Wright – Eliminated
Cathy Skell – Eliminated
Kristin Steede – Eliminated
Sione Fa – Eliminated
Laura Denoux – Eliminated
Carla Triplett – Eliminated
Joelle Gwynn – Eliminated
Estella Hayes – Eliminated
Gerald “Jerry” Hayes – Eliminated
Blaine Cotter – Eliminated
Gregory “Dane” Patterson – Eliminated
Shanon Thomas – Eliminated
Amanda Kramer – Eliminated
Aubrey Cheney – Eliminated

Watch the update and check out John’s blog.

Talk to You Soon and Remember,

There’s A Winner Within You!

Pete Thomas

If you did not know already, The Biggest Loser is a reality game show and big money is on the line.  At last weeks elimination the Blue team cousins of Sione and Felipe Fa were in conflict with the Father-Son Brown team of Mike and Ron Morelli. Ron did not pull any punches this week in sharing his disdain for the Blue team and promised to lay down the law, Godfather style.  I almost expected to see a Tommy gun appear from beneath Ron’s sexy rolls as NBC played up this stereotype.

Coming into this weeks show the contestants are informed that will not be getting a vote in this weeks weigh-in unless they win the magic Golden Ticket by eating through an amazing amount of junk food in the most calorically challenging temptation in the shows history.  One person will decide the fate of the contestants that drop below the yellow line.  That is a lot of power and most of the contestants jump (well hop) for the chance to gorge for the power.  I thought I was watching a post finale buffet as everyone but Kristen enjoyed a gastrointestinal poisoning fit for a casting video.

In the end Sione was sent home peacefully and in today’s conference call he explained how Ron controlled the game.  Sione says that initially all of Bob’s old team members agreed to form an alliance but he realized that Ron’s ‘alliance to us was not that strong’.  Sione maintains a great attitude about the situation and says that he ‘harbors no hard feelings’.  I wonder if I could pitch that show to a network – the Tongans vs the Italians.  What would I call it…?

Sione is now at home working to help his family lose weight by studying to become a trainer and sharing his Biggest Loser experience with his family members.  His brother has lost 40lbs and his sister has lost 12lbs with his guidance.

“The time on the Biggest Loser ranch is as much emotional as it is physical” says Sione as he shared with me the many breakthroughs he experienced on the show.  “I realized I had a pattern of quitting something to start something else”.

The 24 hour bike challenge helped him switch to “finish mode” while the car pulling challenge showed him he needed to “pace himself” instead of just taking off after something.  Finally he shared how the 1/2 marathon showed him that he can do “amazing” things.

We look forward to seeing him at the Biggest Loser finale in May looking like half the Tongan he used to be.
Watch and check out John’s blog.

Talk to You Soon and Remember,

There’s A Winner Within You!

Ally is having her baby, Alli and Michele come visit the ranch along with 3 other special guests. Watch and check out John’s blog.

Talk to You Soon and Remember,

There’s A Winner Within You!

As I predicted, the teams are being changed around again. Sweet!  Watch and check out John’s blog.

Talk to You Soon and Remember,

There’s A Winner Within You!