The Biggest Loser Couples Season 7, Episode 17 Video Recap with Pete Thomas

Pete Thomas’ Biggest Loser Video Recap of Week 17

It’s down to crunch time now with just five players left. Every person is now thinking about how they will align themselves for the final push. Ron and Mike control this game since they each have a vote to keep the other in the game. Make no mistake here; the game is now the only thing on the mind of anyone left. They have made dramatic weight loss transformations and now the cash is the real focus.

As with past weeks, the show starts with a review of the previous player voted off the show. Kristin was a very popular player among the group, but when she didn’t pull the numbers to keep her above the yellow line, she became the threat that Mike and Ron made sure to dispense with. There’s a moment at the start of the show that both Mike and Ron congratulate themselves for getting at least one into the finale. Filipe says he knows that he has a target on his back and he will try anything to stay in the game.

When Bob comes in the room with Filipe and Ron he asks what happened. Ron gives him a bull story about how Mike voted his own way and because of the tie, Kristin had to go home. Bob asks him if he conspired with Mike to eliminate Kristin and Ron lied to his face. I’m sure there was embarrassment to him and his family not knowing that the microphones caught both doing what he just denied. Kristin knew what was up too and the show will verify her feelings. Let’s just say that Bob thinks a little less of Ron for being so deceiving when he felt they were honest with each other throughout the game.

Last Week at the Ranch
The group walks into the gym to find Alison there with a big screen TV. She then shows each one the initial day when they first started to workout. Everyone one of them looks nothing like they did now. There’s the inability of each to do a single pushup, hoist a weight, or run on a treadmill. Now the group is at the level of a professional athlete and they have pushed themselves (with the help of trainers Bob and Jillian) to do much more than they thought they could do. At the end of the video Alison tells them this is their last week at the Ranch.

Hearing the news from Alison has Tara and Helen feeling the fear of trying to live at home without the helpful confines of the Biggest Loser ranch. There is doubt that they can continue to keep the weight off and eat right when home. There may be credence to this fear with a look back at the time they got their “week of luxury” and all they did was overeat and hang at the bar and drink.

While they were discussing their fears, the talk turned to clothes and Tara wanted to try on the goal dress that she brought with her. It was a size 10 and she was wearing size 22 before. Helen also tried on her goal outfit which was some jeans. They were a size 8 and she fit them quite well. They then went to show the men and this prompted Mike to put on his outfit and he fit them quite well too.

Medical Review
As part of the last week at the Ranch, Dr. Huizenga brought them back to the hospital to review where each is now as compared to what they walked in as. Helen went first and she presented as a68 year old women when she first arrived. The overweight condition as well as her physical ailments made her profile this old. At that moment she now appears younger than her actual age. Tara met with the good doctor next and she had a waist that was scared by stretch marks and the dreaded “dunlap disease” (this is when the belly dun laps over the belt). She is now toned and has reduced her waist to less than half of what it was. Filipe also showed the waist of a huge man and has pulled it from the high 50 inch level to the low 40s. Mike was in bad shape and his waist was measured at 56” and is now down in the 30s. Lastly Ron was by far the biggest person ever on the show and he could barley fit in the MRI when he was first tested. He was now off his blood pressure meds as well as reduced 3 different diabetes medications. The results were amazing to see and remembering that this was all done in three months was remarkable.

Physical Challenge
Each season the final weeks has the group do a challenge with taking the original weight the stated with and having to carry it with them as they perform a physical activity. This season is no different where each has to pull some bag loaded with the weight they already shed over sixteen different hills (the hills symbolized the weeks on the show) made of sand. At each hill they took out the weight that they lost during that particular week. The winner had to choose between taking $10,000 or a pound advantage at weigh-in. A twist to this was that the person that came in second received the item the winner did not opt for.
Mike had dropped the most weight so he had the biggest bag to haul. They all started out charging to the first hill and pulled the weight out they lost at week one. They then went on to the next hill and did the same. Mike and Filipe started out very quickly, but without much surprise Tara won the challenge and Mike finished second.

One little note here was that Ron who never completed a challenge without dropping out or with assistance had his son Mike come back to help him over each hill. Ron was at hill six when the whole group had completed the sixteen hills. This guy may have lost weight, but he definitely is not in great physical shape.

Workouts
The workouts were very intense this week where each was focused and they all left nothing in the gym. This week they also got a chance to train the trainer and each one beat the stuffing out of Bob and Jillian by working them out as hard as they had been doing to the contestants.

Weigh-in
The start of the weigh-in had Tara making the decision to take the one pound advantage which gave a quick $10,000 to Mike since he came in second. Ron got on the scale first and he dropped 9 pounds. That looked like a big number to beat until Filipe stepped up next and he lost 10 pounds. Helen was next and she lost 7 pounds. The immediately guaranteed her a spot in the final four. Mike need to lose more than 9 pounds to secure his spot and he stepped up and lost 11. Tara was last and she lost 8 pounds which put her in the final four and dropped Ron and Filipe below the yellow line. Just think about that where one lost 9 pounds and the other 10 pounds and they were at the bottom.

After the scale part, Ron gave some half hearted response about needing to be at the finale with his son. Filipe pleaded with the group to keep him, but the voting still showed that Ron runs this whole show. It should be interesting next week when they come back for a final weigh-in for the live weigh-in and only two go on and one has to be voted by the public.