On tonight’s episode of The Biggest Loser, Bob finally tasted success. Ok, so “tasted” probably isn’t the best choice of words (although it’s making me laugh as I sit here and type), but tonight marked the first time a blue team has been crowned the winner. Go Bob!

I don’t think that tonight’s winner was ever really in question. You could tell throughout the episode that the blue team was far more dedicated to their workouts than the red team. Even one of the cousins on the red team (the one who lost a LOT of weight) talked in her video diary about the fact that not all of her teammates were working as hard as they could.

Even with the inevitable win by the blue team, I really liked tonight’s episode. The reason – the focus on more the “real life” issues that people have with controlling their weight. They talked a lot about the girl on the blue team who turned to cigarettes when she had to give up her sodas. She is certainly not alone – some people feel that if you stop smoking, you will gain weight. I loved that Bob questioned why, with all we know about the dangers of smoking, why anyone would light up.

They also talked about food journaling, and the danger of going to Burger King “just once.” Even Jillian will admit (I think) that truly going to Burger King just once is fine. It’s just that there’s a big difference between going once a year as a treat and going once to Burger King, and once to McDonalds, and having dessert just once…it starts a bad cycle.

The only real way to lose weight it to burn more calories than you take in – also known as diet and exercise. I love that this show promotes this, and the fact that regardless of where you are starting, you can lose weight. I guess the only thing better would be if I watched it while on the treadmill.

After watching weeks and weeks of The Biggest Loser and seeing them shrink down, I broke down and bought The Biggest Loser Workout DVD. So, I thought, "hey, if these people can do it, so can I." Heck, they weigh much more than me. And after one workout, I could barely walk. My husband thought I was being a wimp, so he did it with me. Twice. Now he can barely walk. (keep in mind, he runs 3-4 miles 3 times a week...he's in great shape) THIS is why they lose so much weight!!

Of course, I have noticed that Jillian's teams are always the ones who end up winning. And I wondered if maybe I should have bought her DVD instead (although if she works them harder than Bob, I would never be able to walk again). She is insane. And I LOVED that she handcuffed the guy from the red team to the treadmill tonight. But I think that this is the week that Bob has her beat. The red team seemed to step right out of a stereotype. Could they yell at each other any more? And I had visions of the teenage daughter coming home from her uplifting walk with the teenager from the other team to her family yelling that she was being friendly with the enemy. (and how great was the conversation between the two girls? I wish they had more stuff like that on the show)

The challenge tonight was great too. I loved the "don't hit the stop button twice" element. But why didn't the teams stop and strategize? There had to be some strategy to it -- figure out how long each person could reasonably walk or run at a fast pace, and rotate out accordingly. It seemed like they just were taking turns whenever they got tired. And my beloved karma came into play as the red team hit that stop button an extra time and lost at the end. Ha! That's what you get for yelling at your family!

Anyways, I wish I didn't have to wait a week to see them at home, even though I like seeing them make it work in "the real world." I guess I'll just have to wait...

So, it's the second half of The Biggest Loser: Special Edition featuring engaged couples. And even though this really is one of my favorite shows, I'm left feeling a bit disappointed.

I'm not even sure why I'm disappointed. They lost a lot of weight. They had arguments along the way. They got to meet Kelly from season 1. They even got to see Jillian in what can only be described as the ugliest shirt ever (you know, the one with the rainbow collar? the one that is really an insult to shirts everywhere. and rainbows).

I think part of it was that both girls were just so darn annoying. I just wanted to reach into my tv and smack them. It seemed like sometimes their fiancess wanted to do that too...probably a good thing that cameras were always on them. I don't really care that it's hard. Of course it's hard. Just stop whining all the time.

The other thing that was disappointing was that the red team won again. Seriously -- what does Jillian do to them? They just keep winning! I have got to read her book...

Speaking of Jillian, she looked strange during the finale. It might have just been another bad shirt choice (and really, that was another bad choice...what does she have against good shirts?). but she looked off. Hopefully she was just having an off night, and she is ok.

Next week looks good...I think that I saw Jillian handcuffing someone to the treadmill. So that's her secret...

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...