I like the format of The Biggest Loser: Special Edition -- shorter times on the ranch, more time in "the real world." And since I watched tonight and last week's episodes both tonight (once again, thank goodness for tivo and the foresight to set it before leaving to visit my family), the format itself is the best part of this mini-season.

The thing about The Biggest Loser is how it doesn't really seem realistic. Even if I were to spend the money and hire a personal trainer, I wouldn't have hours and hours each day to exercise. So by only having the contestants on the ranch for 12 days means that there's a lot more "real life" weight loss -- the kind that you can do while working or going to school (although I got the impression that at least part of this was filmed over summer vacation). The bottom line is that if you commit to eating healthy and exercising, you will lose weight.

One more note from last week's episode -- the red team won. This is only important in the fact that Jillian was their trainer -- in fact, Jillian has been the trainer for the two winners of the regular show as well. Now, Bob is by far my favorite trainer. I wish I had the money to hire him to train me -- he just comes across as being caring but tough all rolled into one really good looking package. But Jillian, for all her harshness, seems to get the better results. I don't know if it's just a coincidence. But it's enough for me to have just ordered Jillian's book from Amazon.

Tonight's special edition featured engaged couples looking for their fairy tale weddings, which, of course, means losing weight. Now, for those of you who are not married, you need to understand that nearly every bride out there strives to lose weight before her wedding. When you realize that your entire family and all your friends will be sitting in a church/synagogue/chapel/Vegas and staring at your backside as you exchange vows, you are suddenly motivated to get on the treadmill. In fact, the year I got married was the year I took kick boxing classes (for, what my then fiancee called, an alternate universe where aerobics can kill). Anyways, even though both girls got on my nerves by the end of the hour, I liked the idea of engaged couples competing with each other. If you can survive your fiancee knowing how much you weigh, and then watching him lose weight twice as fast as you, even though you are eating the exact same things and working out just as hard, you can survive anything together.

So, I am looking forward to next week's episode, especially to see how they will handle the challenge when faced with the stress of being home and planning a wedding. And I'm patiently waiting for the next "real" season to start as well...