[Trying4Thin]

Hi everyone!

I was asked early this week to start writing a weekly recap of the series. I was only too happy to accept. I didn't tape the first episode since I was home for the holiday; so it is going to be from my memory. I may be fuzzy on some details. So I guess I will start at the beginning....

Meet the 10 teams:

Pink (Mother/daughter) Bette Sue, Ali
Orange (Mother/son) Jackie, Dan
Yellow (Ex husband/ex wife) Paul, Kelly
Green (Father/daughter) Lynn, Jenni
Blue (Stranger/stranger) *2 people randomly picked from the Biggest Loser Club (Brittany, Bernie)
Purple (Friend/friend) Maggie, Jenn
Brown (Husband/wife) Curtis, Mallory
Black (Brother/brother) Jay, Mark
White (Newlyweds) Neill, Amanda
Grey (Teammates from football) Trent, Roger

The first day begins with the teams being introduced to each other; and the introduction of the Blue team as the strangers. Right after that they are lined up to compete in their first challenge. Run up a hill, touch the marker, and run back down. After crossing the finish line; they are to line up behind the trainer they wish to have. Each trainer can only have 5 teams. Both team members must line up behind the same trainer. Also of note; this hill is huge! As daunting as this challenge is; everyone has crossed the finish line except the pink team who is lagging behind because BetteSue is unable to keep up with her daughter, Ali. They finally cross the line and are assigned to Bob; even though the daughter had hoped for Jillian. Bob appeared hurt because the majority of people seemed to gravitate towards Jillian. They may live to regret that decision later....

The trainers take their teams to different locations to begin their workouts. Bob made the comment that Bette Sue could be quite the competitor if she would just quit complaining.

Later on; the teams are taken to a hospital to meet with the show's doctor who has some surprises in store for them. I think the idea was to shock the contestants as to how dire their situation really was. Some members were taken to the morgue; others were taken to speak with a fertility specialist. Carrying excess weight can cause complications to an unborn fetus, and also decrease the chances of even being able to conceive. An added bonus for the contestants was that the fertility specialist had been a former contestant on the show. She was one of the ones sent home because she was not chosen to stay at the ranch. Like BL Alumni Poppy Kramer; it didn't seem to bother her too much. She looked incredible. More proof that this can be done without surgery or being on the ranch.

Next up was challenge number 2. Each team was hooked up to a helium balloon and had to walk around a course and be the first to cross the finish line. The prize was losing 2 pounds to their overall loss for the week. But; whoever came in last had to add the 2 pounds to their total loss. Team Pink was determined not to come in last again and was off to a strong start, followed by black and brown. Bringing up the rear was purple, green, and yellow. The black team crossed the finish line first winning the advantage. The last team to cross was purple.

During a regular workout; Bernie was sent to the hospital where he remained for most of the week. Elsewhere tensions rose between members of the green team when the father (Lynn) chose to skip out on a workout because of foot blisters. His daughter (Jenni) who was concerned for his health left in tears. Early the next morning he went to the gym and got in some cardio. Too little too late; because the tension was already building in the house.

Bernie came back from the hospital and was able to lightly participate in the last chance workout.

Tears began to flow before the weigh in between members of the pink (Ali) and orange (Jackie) teams. Both were panicking that they couldn't compete with the men or the other younger players. They needn't have worried because both teams were safe and everyone put up good numbers; except (ironically enough) Jenni who had worked so hard while her father just complained and slept. Also below the yellow line were the two best friends on the purple team; Jenn and Maggie. Allison told the teams they had 1 hour to make their decision on who was leaving the ranch.

While packing their bags; Lynn said some pretty harsh things to his daughter. It appeared that he blamed her for the team being below the yellow line. "Yes he knows how it works and she lost the least amount of weight." Pretty heartless coming from a man who made it painfully obvious he didn't want to be there.

It was pretty obvious that the other remaining players had a tough decision to make. How do you send home a team when one person worked their tail off; while the other did nothing and lost more weight because he got lucky.

In the end; the Green team was sent home and the purple team was spared for another week. Team Green update; 6 weeks after leaving the ranch; the Jenni was looking really good; and Lynn was eating well but had to be pushed to work out. We will see what happens in the finale....

Things to think about....

1) What do you think of the two hour format and what they are chosing to spend their time on? Should they focus less on drama and more on nutrition? Should they tell you more about what they are doing in the gym?

2) What's with the blatent product pushing?? Yes; Brita donated the nice green water bottles and filters. We get that they are still doing the whole GREEN EARTH THEME; and that water is important for fat and toxin flushing.

3) Do you think both team members should be voted off at the same time? Do you think they made the right decision (green over purple?)

Week 2: Coming soon so check back!