If I was a betting person, I would have won my bet that the male coalition was going to vote off the female contestants on The Biggest Loser SA TV show one by one.
At the start of Week 10, Sharon, the last woman standing, was voted off by the men. But thanks to the twists and turns of the programme (some are quite fiendish!), Louis made his reappearance and we'll have to wait till next week to see who stays and who goes.
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X-tra House
On Sunday we watched Jacques spend a week in solitude battling to lose as much weight as possible.
An interesting point that Jacques made was that he couldn't have achieved as much as he did in 9 short weeks, if he didn't have the support of his family. When we saw him return home, it was heartening to hear that all the members of his family had gone on a diet in sympathy and that some of them had lost significant amounts of weight. The family also rallied round for the road ahead to support him every step of the way.
Families can make or break you
Our families and loved ones play a vital role, not only in weight loss, but also in weight gain.
We all know that many parents equate love with food and practically force-feed their children in an excess of 'love'. Such parents are amazed and hurt if it is pointed out to them that they are ruining their children's lives by overfeeding them. "But I love my child. I only want what's best for him. He needs his food. He was a big baby. He has a big appetite. He takes after his grandfather, etc. etc". We've all heard the excuses parents and grandparents make to hide the fact that they're actually controlling their children through food.
It takes courage for a parent to face up to the fact that his or her darling child is overweight and inactive and needs help. Some parents will do anything to sabotage their children's attempts to 'escape' the food trap.
But parents are not the only ones who can prevent you from losing weight. Many spouses also sabotage their partners' attempts to shed weight. They refuse to even contemplate a change in their own diets – even if it is an agony for the slimming spouse (usually the wife) to prepare rich, tempting meals for their husbands, while they nibble on a lettuce leaf. These saboteurs moan and groan or even denigrate the partner's attempts to get fit.
If you're struggling to stick to your diet and fitness plan because your partner is undermining your resolve, tell him or her to get lost!
It's wonderful to come across a family that gives their son such unstinting support to lose weight. Jacques is a lucky young man and I believe he will achieve his weight loss and fitness goals. Keep up the good work, Jacques!
Stress and weight gain
I understand that programmes like The Biggest Loser SA must include some thrilling footage such as making the contestants 'face their fears' to keep the audience entertained. One can also argue that anyone who has conquered a major fear like Sharon, who is pathologically scared of heights and actually managed to bungee jump, will be able to face the world with new confidence on the path to ultimate weight loss.
But let's face it, the bungee jumping and climbing the Wall of Fear a few weeks ago, didn't help the contestants lose weight.
For an individual like Sharon to be subjected to such extreme stress will have flooded her body with stress hormones, such as cortisol, and may have caused water retention that negated any fat loss. When I saw Sharon's reaction on that tower, with her shaking hands and sweat pouring off her body, I just knew that she would not lose much weight this week. And this proved true – Sharon lost only 0.9kg and was very nearly voted off the show.
Excessive stress can also undermine one's physical fitness, cause an increase in insulin secretion that in turn can lead to fat storage and generally make one feel weak and tired.
Sharon said that she had a 'bad week'. Well, I reckon that was due to the bungee jumping and her fear of heights. So although these spectacles please the audience, they're not really good for weight loss. I'm just relieved that none of the brave participants suffered an injury from this extreme sport.
The final weeks
So what's going to happen now? Sharon wasn't expelled and Louis, who lost a whopping 7kg in the X-tra House, is back. Who will win this battle? No one knows, but I am personally filled with admiration for the plucky Losers.
Most of the final contestants have lost close to or more than 30kg. In 10 weeks, that averages out at 3kg per week. Imagine losing 3 large tubs of margarine a week!
In addition, they've progressed mightily in the fitness stakes. Jacques mentioned that he had never been able to skip before and now he can, and the contestants also did very well when they joined the soccer team's training session this week. So miracles have been achieved and the Biggest Losers are a shining example to anyone who wants to lose weight. It can be done!
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