Since the other thread was closed, I figured I would start this one. I really don't like the fact that Daris was not able to fess up to why he gained his 2 pounds. I want Koli to go to the next round!

Daris admitted in his "plea" that he had eaten. I wonder if he wasn't ashamed of it, in front of everyone?

During Koli's plea, it was just cold and unfeeling. At least Daris showed some emotion about the whole thing. And as bad as he did at home, at least Daris WAS at home...Koli couldn't handle home and rather than sticking out the hard times like the others did, he basically ran off to a substitute ranch.

My votes are for Daris. I also don't think Koli has a chance...

I don't think either Koli or Daris have their heads completely in the right place for now. That makes the playing field equal in the "deserves to be there" category.

Pluses for Daris - set a marathon goal and accomplished it, showed good sportsmanship these last few weeks, toughed it out at home.

Minuses for Koli - he has demonstrated terrible sportsmanship since Sam left the ranch (and even before then), totally blew off the challenge of being at home.

My vote is for Daris!!!!


For the first time I am not pulling for one particular person to win the Biggest Loser because I like Ashley, Michael and Daris. This will be fun.

Overall, with the exception of Melissa, Koli and Lance, this season's contestants seemed the most committed to being supportive of each other.

LabMonkeyGirl wrote (in the closed thread):
It was depressing seeing that nearly every former contestant they ran in to during the marathon had gained at least half their weight back (except for the woman-she looked incredible). I think all of them, except for the woman, looked a bit overweight.

Do you mean Ali Vincent (who won Season 5) - who was waiting for Ashley? I was SOOO happy to see her but I was bummed that she did not say anything (well, hardly anything - maybe it got all edited out). She looked pretty much the same as when she won Season 5 although I would say her upper arms had more of a muscle definition then (but that would be understandable). This is one of my favourite pics of Ali:

I have to say that I was INCREDIBLY IMPRESSED WITH ALL OF THEM for finishing up the marathon. Especially Daris's time - WOWSERS! The whole time, when they showed Daris running, I was petrified that his knee would give up or something and he will conk out at mile 25 or so unable to continue. That is absolutely amazing that in 5 months they progressed to such a state of fitness that they were able to complete a marathon.
On the other hand, I was actually unpleasantly surprised by the way Koli ran - he did not look much like a runner - the way he held his body etc. - he seemed to be flapping around (for lack of a better word) as opposed to running.

Somebody asked about their jobs - I was wondering was Nuclear Hair was doing prior to getting on TBL? He mentioned he was mostly spending his days by downloading songs etc. - was he on disability becaue of his weight?

Ashley is turning hot, hot, HOT!!! She will be one gorgeous woman. But please, somebody tell me, after almost 150 lbs lost, WHERE IS ALL HER LOOSE SKIN? She doesn't seem to have any - unless she is stuffed, under the pink tank top, into some body sausage spandex thingy. She used to have such a huge stomach - I don't get it?!?!

Nuclear Hair is also turning into an incredibly handsome guy. But, did anybody else think that it was a bit cheap of Bob to take a shot at Michael's overweight sister and question her about "how does it feel not to fit in"? PUHLEEZE - it's one thing to be on the show (aka Michael) but I thought they should have left his sis out of it.

Daris - what should I say? I wept crocodile tears when I saw him binging. Not that I didn't understand - having done it so many time myself ) but Gawd, he must have eaten a LOT to actually gain 2 lbs. I wonder if he is prone to stress himself out too much needlessly - he was saying he worries if he will be able to find a girlfriend - it's not like going to a store to buy a pair of socks. Finding a girlfriend may take some time and I feel he is rushing into this too much - he needs to give himself time to find a routine, now that he is off the ranch, to adjust, and allow things to happen naturally.

Koli - I actually thought it was smart of him to get away and start the martial training - it may not have helped him to be one of the 3 finalists, but I thought it was a good move.


Eh - sorry this is so long, I always get carried away in my blabber.

Alena

I think Daris is putting too much pressure on himself in the girlfriend area too, Tomato...I mean, he'd been home about 20 minutes and was already saying he still hadn't found a girlfriend.

I fear he's been under the impression that being SMALLER will solve all his life problems, much like I was 80 or so pounds ago. I never really considered the mental after-effects of it - I was just focused on losing. Now that he IS smaller and the journey is nearly over, his life isn't magically better - the girls aren't flocking to him. Yet.

^^^^ Completely agree. And thats a lesson we all have to learn, huh?

I hope it didn't cost him his chance to win--although I think Ashley has this one in the bag. What an awesome job she did!

OK...you want my "its a reality show so I have no clue but here is my marathon training" reason why Daris binged? Cause i've been there

They never expected anyone to actually train like a marathoner for a marathon. So he went home trying to stick to his 1500 calorie per day diet. Which you can not do if you are training to run a 4 hr marathon at nearly 200 lbs. His body rebelled. And he ate. Because he was freaking starving. But because the eating was unplanned that cycled him back into feeling BADLY about what he ate and eating more. Until you acknowledge that you NEED more food to do what he wants to do, you can not do it without guilt. What he needed was someone to sit him down and say "on these days your calorie needs are higher and you need to accomodate that to stop the binging"

Daris has a girlfriend now. His facebook status says he's in a relationship with a girl named Heather. She's a little blonde thing, she looks smaller than Alison.

I think Koli is having some of the same issues as Daris and Bob has talked to him about it. When they offered the past winner Erik appearing on this finale as incentive to lose, I remember thinking, okay, and what happens afterwards when that incentive is gone, when the finale is over, just as it was for him before? I think Koli and Daris, maybe to a lesser extent, are the same way...focusing on a particular event (like winning the marathon or winning the show) as primary motivation.

I'm thinking, if we say that the winner will be the one to lose at least 50% of their weight (and probably more), that would bring Michael to 263 pounds. He's at 299 now and with 6 weeks between the penultimate and final shows, that is doable for him. I was worried about his frustration getting the better of him but I think he'll be fine. As the biggest contestant ever, I'm glad to see he made it this far. Daris would have to be at 173 to get to 50%--not impossible but he may struggle with it. Ashley would have to get to 187--again, not impossible but she'd have to pretty much duplicate what she just did. Koli, as I said in the other thread...I doubt he will be voted in but if he were, I think he'd probably win because he's obsessed with it and he'd pull a Helen. I think he'll either win the at home prize or be a serious contender for it--Ashley's mom looks so far to be a good candidate for that, too.

Well I never ever vote on these shows and last night my votes went to Koli. I like Daris, I think he's going to be a great athlete...but not until he confronts his demons. I dont see him as a "the biggest loser" he's not there yet. Koli is playing the eric game its all bout winning at this point. At this point I'm hoping for Mike I believe.

I am training for a marathon so last nights epi was especially touching for me. I was so impressed with the times! But at the same time it scares the heck out of me!

Sione lives in the same town as we do. His daughter was taking ballet with my daughter. He definitely put weight back on but i think he is pretty active...teaches boot camp classes and such here. I think his body just went a "happy" weight. He definitely did not go back to the orginal weight he was...

Ali Vincent definitely made a career out of Biggest Loser - she also lives in a neighboring city...she occastionally does some classes at 24 hour...its cool to see her and see how well she has done.

My vote went to Daris. Even though he did sabotage himself a littler, I definitely do not think he was aware. Sure, he was aware he was eating more, but give me a break, he NEEDED more fuel for what he was doing. A previous poster said something about BL not expecting people to train properly for a marathon and that is exactly what Daris did and it bit him in the bum! I agree that he didn't know how to deal with the hunger result of all that cardio ect and it breaks my heart that his training for that exceptional time may put him out of the final 3! I think he has more to do still mentally and THAT is why he needs to stay to the end. Koli is seeming competative for competition sake, whereas Daris is in it to grow as a person and experience things he never had the chance for. I dunno, Koli just rubbed me the wrong way and I think Daris deserves it. Although, I am straight up torn between wanting Daris and Mike to win. I love Ashley too, but I think those two men worked SOOOO hard!!
Team Daris!

I voted for Daris too -- I was torn but I just identified so strongly with Daris and I want him to have a reason and the motivation to overcome his issue. (I do also believe him that the weight gain was marathon-related, as I've gained weight when training for half-marathons.) And I hate to say it because it sounds superficial, but besides his bad attitude the reason I don't like Koli is his terrible posture! Just thinking about it makes me feel the need to sit up straighter now!

I want Ashley to win, but as trekkie girl pointed out, the math is in Mike's favor. Not to mention, he's done great at home for the most part. I was anti-Mike for a while because I think he is obnoxiously entitled in a way that is very "lazy 30 year old man who lives with his mom", but I am happy for him that he seems to be outgrowing that.

eastcoastgirl, I totally get what you are saying about Mike! I couldn't put my finger on it, but that pretty much sums it up. I feel like he has come such a long way maturity and responsibility wise and I love him more every episode! He seems to really be coming into his own and finding his personality. Sigh, I love this show! This is the first season that I got really involved with! I watched last season here and there, but I don't know if it is because my own weight loss hit rock bottom and something clicked for me or I wanted to see other people succeeding or what.. but this season has been so addicting for me! I even jog in place during commercial breaks because I just feel so... inspired!

It looks like more and more of the past contestants are re gaining their weight. I wonder if this is associated to the increasing # of seasons and the whole "game play" attitude.

Maintaining is NOT easy, but it is doable.

Hi all,

I usually just lurk around here but when I read Ennay's words about marathon training I had to jump in, especially this from the previous thread:

"They keep having the people run this marathon but I have seen nothing to indicate that TBL knows anything about giving them ANY guidelines on how to train for one. And definitely not how to train and lose at the same time."

I couldn't agree more! It seems to me that the bigger contestants could have benefitted from a Galloway-type training method (walk-run), and that Daris' problems, while likely linked to a history of bingeing, also might have had something to do with his training.

My husband also gained weight while marathon training -- and he never gains weight. He was ravenous. I was cooking lots of extra food just for him!

I do like Koli, and I think his aggressiveness was just him visualizing success and getting in a mindset to win. I always remind myself, too, that the producers edit the show to give us certain "personalities." They want good guys and bad guys, and they choose to show us moments and quotations that support that. However, my votes went to Daris -- I mean, 4:02!?!??!