‘Biggest Loser:’ A new car, a mud fight, payback and more

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Will Sunshine win this thing?

That’s Suze Orman’s pick: The Queen of Personal Finance paid a visit to ‘The Biggest Loser’ ranch and, based on credit ratings, debt and other financial factors, and predicted this season’s winner. If that sounds like a crazy way to pick a winner, she did it last year, picking Danny C to take home the prize -- and he did. She was poised to pick Koli as this season’s winner ... until she found out that he wasn’t counting his calories the way he’s supposed to. Busted!

She said that her pick then went to Sunshine. But if Koli starts counting those calories, maybe it’s a Koli vs. Sunshine showdown? Regardless, she urged the contestants -- many of whom had difficult financial issues -- to attack their money woes in the same persistent, step-by-step fashion with which they are attacking their weight. Calories in verses calories out isn’t all that different from dollars in, dollars out.

What a wacky challenge -- balancing quarters. It looked so easy but those people were in pain in no time. Michael emerged victorious, with $2,000 to show for it, and so did Sunshine, for coming in second. That was followed by a frantic win to take home two brand-new Mazdas: Contestants had to run up a muddy hill, in the rain, to fetch keys tied to a balloon. If the key fit the ignition, they won the car. All I kept thinking was, man, that driver’s seat is all sweaty and wet and the floord boards must be muddy. Hopefully they got it detailed. Andrea, who apparently drives a junker, won it. Sunshine was dying to win the other, but instead her dad won it and, no surprise, promptly gave it to his beloved daughter. These two are just such a sweet pair.

Many of the contestants are starting to show the wear and tear of the season -- but also have the finish line in their sights and are responding accordingly.

Daris is focusing on keeping his stress level in check, lest it show up on the scale. And poor little Miss Vicky is making up for lost time at the ranch, and doing so under the watchful glare of Jillian, who once again worked her magic. On one day, Vicky had trouble making it through a five interval workout, insisting that it was too hard, she wasn’t ready, blah blah blah. So, the following day, what does Jillian have her do? Run the same set the following day....alongside all of the competitors who can run. The math: 35 intervals total. It was punishment for not following Jillian -- but, more importantly, Jillian’s attempt to get her to go beyond her limits. Mission accomplished.

Still to be figured out: Why, exactly, did Vicky end up at 300+ pounds. One thing that is causing pain: Her belief that her parents deserve a prettier daughter. I was reaching for the Kleenex at that one.

A mud fight later ensued, with the players literally dragging Bob through the mud, and he was a good sport about it. Then, he turned the crowd on Jillian. Admit it: Seeing that look on Jillian’s face as she realized she couldn’t turn the masses back and began running for her life was priceless. (We rewatched that door-slamming scene, and it got funnier each time.)

Of course, the final laugh went to Jillian during the last-chance workout, which is always brutal. But ‘This time, it’s personal.... I beat them until I literally thought their brains were going to pour out of their ears and their noses.’

In another example of pushing through the pain and personal limitations: Michael jogged a mile, a personal first. Great, Bob said, ‘now do it again.’ But Michael figured he couldn’t just stop at two, right? So he made it a 5K. And then, since he was already on the darned treadmill, he just made it an honest five miles jogged. So he went from never jogging a mile in his life to jogging five. Unbelievable. Now, Michael just looks like a heavy dude -- no sign of that incredibly obese Michael who first showed up at the ranch.

Bob told Michael that he will be in the final four ‘if it kills us both.’

It was a tough week on the scale. The numbers weren’t much to write home about, except for a pigtailed Michael, who lost nine pounds. The low numbers sent Andrea and Sam -- who lost zero pounds -- below the yellow line. It was Andrea’s time to go home. She looks great at home, is teaching cycling classes, and it was so nice to see her jogging with her dog, who was underexercised due to Andrea’s weight. (Was it me, or did you also hear that dog say ‘Yippie! I’m running with my mom!’)

--Rene Lynch
Join me on Twitter @renelynch