‘Biggest Loser’: Lauren blindsided, Joe coming back?

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Blindsided. That’s the way ‘Biggest Loser’ competitor Lauren Lee, 26, of Poolesville, Md., felt when she was eliminated week.

‘I was completely shocked when my name started coming out,’ she said during Wednesday’s media conference call with this week’s eliminated player. But she did not seem like she was holding a grudge: ‘It’s a game, that’s what we signed up for,’ she said.

Lauren said she was grateful for the opportunity to turn her life around. She said she long felt like a fraud for holding dual degrees in adult fitness and exercise science with emphasis on cardiac rehab while she herself was overweight.

She said at the start of the season that she felt like her weight was holding her back not only professionally, but personally as well. At the time, she said she wanted to get married one day and have kids, but felt that her weight was keeping her from finding love.

Ironically, those were some of the reasons her teammates cited for eliminating her.

‘They said I didn’t have any children or family at home to distract me,’ Lauren said. ‘But I have plenty of other distractions’ such as finding a job to help pay off her student loans.

However, in the spirit of this season’s ‘no excuses’ theme, Lauren said she has had to move past those comments and focus on being ready to ‘kick butt’ at the finale.

She said she was working out two to four hours a day, mostly doing a combo of cardio and weights. She said her diet focuses on journaling every single morsel she puts in her mouth.

‘You have to write everything down ... keep yourself accountable for what you put inside your body,’ she said.

We asked Lauren about the tension between Bob and Dolvett. It is real or creative editing? ‘Bob and Dolvett have an interesting relationship,’ she said, adding that there did not seem to be excessive tension between them. ‘They are just two trainers,’ she added.

She said viewers at home might also have gotten a false impression of Conda. She said Conda was a blunt speaker and that her comments reflected the stress that all the competitors feel. ‘Conda is an awesome person,’ Lauren said. ‘She speaks her mind and let’s everyone know what she is thinking at this time.’ Tensions flare up, and then ‘blow over the next day,’ she said.

My take? Conda acts like she could be the snotty younger sister of a ‘Jersey Shore’ cast member. Here’s hoping she does some more maturing before she -- yeesh! -- raises that kid.

Am I the only one who had a weird feeling about Joe’s status on the show? After he shocked everyone by quitting so he could go home to his family, I kept waiting for him to come back. I was sure he was going to waltz in at the weigh-in. I also noticed that his status of the show’s website is ‘active’ (even as it has been updated to show Lauren as ‘eliminated.’)

How would you feel about Joe coming back in some manner? Bob would probably like him back because he still has plenty of strength to lose. He also proved himself to be a fierce competitor in the challenges, like his bold move to fold during the brilliant poker challenge.

But allowing Joe to return seems like it would be pretty unfair to the rest of the competitors -- they all would have loved some time at home to see their families and mentally regroup. I say, ‘Bye bye, Joe!’ (Lauren said she is in regular contact with Joe and that he is doing well on his weight-loss journey at home.’)

Final thought: HEART the ‘face-off’ challenge.

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--Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch