This Week’s Workout Schedule

(photo credit - www.fitsugar.com)

I love all the trainers on The Biggest Loser. So glad this season has started. I always ask myself every season who I would choose if I could have one of these guys train me. I usually flip flop, but I think I’ve settled on Bob. He can kick your butt, be sympathetic, AND take no excuses from anyone. All at the same time. Plus he seems to have a great sense of humor (I love his laugh). Dolvett is a close second, and Jillian is a close third.

I’ve decided to plan out my workouts for the week from now on. Leslie Sansone’s October challenge made me decide to do that. Having my workouts planned ahead of time made me get it done faster and earlier in the day.

This week’s schedule looks like this:

Monday – Full body strength training and 5K With A Twist DVD

Tuesday – Elliptical for 1 mile

Wednesday – Full body strength training and 5K With A Twist DVD

Thursday – Elliptical for 1 mile

Friday – Full body strength training and 5K With A Twist DVD

Saturday – Elliptical for 1 mile

Sunday – Elliptical for 1 mile or take a rest day depending on how I feel

This schedule does not include any marching in place I will do as I watch TV or my YouTube subscriptions. It also doesn’t include biking. Hopefully I can get my workouts done early in the morning this week. That’s my goal. At least the strength training.

Hope everyone has a successful and active week. Keep moving! Who’s your favorite Biggest Loser trainer?

Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway

And that's exactly what I did. For the last 5 days or so, I've been having bad balance issues (even worse than usual). I've been avoiding certain things because of the fear of the falling sensation I described in yesterday's blog. But I knew I had to keep moving or it would just get worse.
So, I kept repeating the phrase "feel the fear and do it anyway" which I believe Bob Harper said a time or two on The Biggest Loser (it might have been Jillian though, I can't remember). That phrase has stuck with me since, although I might not always practice it. Today I did, and it helped.

I told myself to get on the elliptical and do just .1 mile at a time. For the first 10th of a mile I told myself to just use the side railings for support and not use the arm poles on my elliptical. I did, and yes it felt unsteady at first, but it did get easier. I got off and took a minute, then told myself to get on again for another 10th of a mile, and this time use the arm poles. Again, it felt unsteady, but got easier. After that I took it a 10th of a mile at a time. I did 1/2 mile and it was slower than normal (about 17 minutes instead of 15), but that's OK. I wasn't going for speed, just for the movement.

The scariest part was getting on and off. Not scary as in petrified, but still a little scary. I kept repeating that phrase over and over, and I got through it. Getting on and off didn't get easier, but I did deal with it and got it done.

I then prepared for my shower, and brought in my "shower shoes" (just a pair of pool shoes). I haven't needed those shoes since March or so, and I brought them in just in case. But, I persevered, and got in without them.

I won't say the string of bad balance days are over yet, but they might coming to an end. I hope so anyway. And until it is over, I'll feel the fear and do it anyway.

*Posted this on my SparkPeople blog, and decided to post it here also.

Anna Kournikova Is Leaving Biggest Loser

I wasn’t surprised at all when I read that one of the new trainers on The Biggest Loser, Anna Kournikova, will not be returning next season. The word is that she didn’t mesh well with the staff behind the scenes. And a lot of the contestants didn’t like her approach to training. They thought she was “too brash”.

I don’t know what Anna Kournikova’s background is as far as being a personal trainer, but I thought her approach was a little unsympathetic. She told one contestant to basically suck it up and deal with it when the teams got rearranged. She’s not the best when it comes to capitalizing on the contestants breakthrough moments. There are times when a contestant is worked out so hard they have a mental breakthrough. On an episode a few weeks ago, one contestant (I forget who it was now, Becky maybe?) was definitely at that breakthrough moment (the times when Jillian Michaels would ask “why are you here?" over and over), and Anna didn’t get it.

She seems like a nice person on camera, and I know she’s a wonderful tennis player. But I don’t think Anna Kourniva is cut out for the personal trainer scene. I don’t know if she realized that herself and left the show on her own, or if she was let go by the higher ups, but I hope she realized it herself and stepped down.

There’s no mention yet on who will be replacing her, if anyone. Personally I think Bob Harper and Dolvett Quince could do nicely by themselves. They’ve both got the personal trainer background experience, and they both are in-tune with how the contestants are feeling. They capitalize on breakthrough moments. Both Bob and Dolvett really listen to what the contestants have to say. They don’t just nod in agreement and tell them to deal with it.

Season 13 of The Biggest Loser starts January 3, and it will interesting to see who the trainers are. I haven’t heard anything about Dolvett leaving, so it will probably be Dolvett and Bob for sure, and possibly someone new. We shall see.

Biggest Loser Rant Post

If you haven’t seen this week’s Biggest Loser episode, then don’t read this until you do. I’m annoyed at several of the contestants this season. Why? Because they basically quit. I’m referring to Dan, Don (twins – black team), and Irene (orange team). Both Dan and Don were missing home and missing their families. I can understand that, but you signed up for the show for a reason. You were chosen to go to the Biggest Loser ranch out of millions of contestants. I’m not sure how long the contestants are on the ranch from the first week to the last, but I think it’s about 4 months. Yes, that’s a long time to be away from your family. But again, you signed up to do it. If you’re not sure you can handle being away from home that long, think twice about applying.

A few weeks ago, Dan and Don had enough (it was only week 3 at the time), and decided (in my opinion) to sabotage themselves. They both gained 9 pounds at that week’s weigh in. My jaw dropped at that, and I could not believe it. Nine pounds…each. I’ve seen contestants gain before, but 9 pounds? My first question was how. How can anyone gain 9 pounds in one week? One pound is equal to 3,500 calories. To gain 9 pounds, they’d have to consume 31,500 calories. Each. How do you do that? The cameras never showed them eating, but they had to have eaten a ton of food when no one was around.

Here’s my problem with Dan and Don (I’ll get to Irene in a minute). If you’re that homesick, why not just walk away? Why wait to be eliminated? Why waste everyone’s time? My husband gave me that answer. They waited to be eliminated so they could still participate in the “at home” challenge. This made me even more annoyed. If you sabotage yourself (and I have no doubt they did), you should be disqualified for the at home portion of the competition. It’s the same thing with the show Survivor. Last season, two contestants on Survivor quit, but were still a part of the jury. I am so glad that Survivor put a new rule stating that if a person quits from now on, they will not be on the jury (I was angry last season about the two being allowed to stay). Anyway, back to The Biggest Loser. If you gain weight on purpose, you should be out, gone, and not allowed to come back. It may sound harsh, but that type of B.S. gets on my last nerve.

Now, onto Irene. Since Irene’s partner went home the first week, and one of the twins left, Irene and the other twin got paired up to be a team for the week. Fine. Fast forward to the weigh in. Not only did the twin (keep forgetting which one) gain 6 pounds, but Irene gained 6 also. What?!?!?!? Why did she agree to gain weight? I don’t get it. Again, if you want to go home, go home. Just leave. Don’t bring someone in on your plan to be eliminated. Why did Irene agree to gain weight? I have no clue. It makes no sense to me. I want her gone soon.

I understand this is just a show, but for a lot of the contestants it’s more than just winning $250,000 at the end. It’s about learning a healthy way of living. They want to learn how to eat right and exercise to maintain a healthy weight. Obviously Dan, Don and Irene blew the healthy eating (even if they didn’t show it, I believe they ate a lot), part of the lifestyle change. I keep thinking about all the other people out there who would love to have been chosen for the opportunity to train with Bob, Jillian, Cara, and Bret. Even Bob said that a few weeks ago when Dan and Don gained 9 pounds. He said he couldn’t help but think two other people could have been there instead.

So, that’s my rant. It bugs the heck out of me that these three people just blew it like that. I want them to lose the weight and be healthy, don’t get me wrong. Both Dan and Don continued to lose weight, and are looking good. But, it just irks me to no end that they pulled that stunt.

I don’t have a favorite contestant this season yet. I am sad that this will be the last season with Jillian Michaels in it. I’ll miss her on future seasons, but understand her reasons for leaving. I need to get used to Cara and Bret. I need to see more of how they train people. Right now, it seems to be only boxing workouts. I’m glad Bob Harper is staying (as far as I know). I always flip flop on who I would choose to train with if I had the opportunity. Bob or Jillian. It’s hard to choose.

How do you all feel about what happened on the show? Are you annoyed?

Biggest Loser Rant Post

If you haven’t seen this week’s Biggest Loser episode, then don’t read this until you do. I’m annoyed at several of the contestants this season. Why? Because they basically quit. I’m referring to Dan, Don (twins – black team), and Irene (orange team). Both Dan and Don were missing home and missing their families. I can understand that, but you signed up for the show for a reason. You were chosen to go to the Biggest Loser ranch out of millions of contestants. I’m not sure how long the contestants are on the ranch from the first week to the last, but I think it’s about 4 months. Yes, that’s a long time to be away from your family. But again, you signed up to do it. If you’re not sure you can handle being away from home that long, think twice about applying.

A few weeks ago, Dan and Don had enough (it was only week 3 at the time), and decided (in my opinion) to sabotage themselves. They both gained 9 pounds at that week’s weigh in. My jaw dropped at that, and I could not believe it. Nine pounds…each. I’ve seen contestants gain before, but 9 pounds? My first question was how. How can anyone gain 9 pounds in one week? One pound is equal to 3,500 calories. To gain 9 pounds, they’d have to consume 31,500 calories. Each. How do you do that? The cameras never showed them eating, but they had to have eaten a ton of food when no one was around.

Here’s my problem with Dan and Don (I’ll get to Irene in a minute). If you’re that homesick, why not just walk away? Why wait to be eliminated? Why waste everyone’s time? My husband gave me that answer. They waited to be eliminated so they could still participate in the “at home” challenge. This made me even more annoyed. If you sabotage yourself (and I have no doubt they did), you should be disqualified for the at home portion of the competition. It’s the same thing with the show Survivor. Last season, two contestants on Survivor quit, but were still a part of the jury. I am so glad that Survivor put a new rule stating that if a person quits from now on, they will not be on the jury (I was angry last season about the two being allowed to stay). Anyway, back to The Biggest Loser. If you gain weight on purpose, you should be out, gone, and not allowed to come back. It may sound harsh, but that type of B.S. gets on my last nerve.

Now, onto Irene. Since Irene’s partner went home the first week, and one of the twins left, Irene and the other twin got paired up to be a team for the week. Fine. Fast forward to the weigh in. Not only did the twin (keep forgetting which one) gain 6 pounds, but Irene gained 6 also. What?!?!?!? Why did she agree to gain weight? I don’t get it. Again, if you want to go home, go home. Just leave. Don’t bring someone in on your plan to be eliminated. Why did Irene agree to gain weight? I have no clue. It makes no sense to me. I want her gone soon.

I understand this is just a show, but for a lot of the contestants it’s more than just winning $250,000 at the end. It’s about learning a healthy way of living. They want to learn how to eat right and exercise to maintain a healthy weight. Obviously Dan, Don and Irene blew the healthy eating (even if they didn’t show it, I believe they ate a lot), part of the lifestyle change. I keep thinking about all the other people out there who would love to have been chosen for the opportunity to train with Bob, Jillian, Cara, and Bret. Even Bob said that a few weeks ago when Dan and Don gained 9 pounds. He said he couldn’t help but think two other people could have been there instead.

So, that’s my rant. It bugs the heck out of me that these three people just blew it like that. I want them to lose the weight and be healthy, don’t get me wrong. Both Dan and Don continued to lose weight, and are looking good. But, it just irks me to no end that they pulled that stunt.

I don’t have a favorite contestant this season yet. I am sad that this will be the last season with Jillian Michaels in it. I’ll miss her on future seasons, but understand her reasons for leaving. I need to get used to Cara and Bret. I need to see more of how they train people. Right now, it seems to be only boxing workouts. I’m glad Bob Harper is staying (as far as I know). I always flip flop on who I would choose to train with if I had the opportunity. Bob or Jillian. It’s hard to choose.

How do you all feel about what happened on the show? Are you annoyed?