Diet Drink Myths Busted

We've all heard rumors that diet soda actually makes you fatter. Well, that's not true, according to a study done by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Replacing caloric, sugar-sweetened beverages with diet beverages could be part of an effective weight-loss strategy. But drinking plain water appears to give more health benefits.  Researchers found that swapping out sugar-sweetened beverages for non-caloric ones resulted in average weight losses of 2 to 2.5%. The Lempert Report, a newsletter for food retailers, tells more about the study. 

Researchers had hypothesized that substituting a non-caloric beverage, whether it was water or diet beverages, would lead to significant weight loss. This study was  was one of the first randomized controlled trials to explore the issue of beverage substitution and weight loss. To prove their theory, researchers compared the replacement of caloric beverages with water or diet beverages as a method of weight loss with a control group, over a six month period in adults.

People who switched to calorie-free beverages were twice as likely to lose five percent or more of their body weight than those who were not counseled to change beverages

People who drank water  had lower fasting glucose levels and better hydration levels than the control group. But it was  slightly easier for the diet beverage group to reduce calories in the short-term, at three months – as compared to the water group. People may do better slowly weaning themselves off caffeine as they transition to water, says Dr. Brie Turner-McGrievy, one of the study’s authors and Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Promotion, Education and Behavior at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Turner-McGrievy and colleagues are exploring how sweet preference plays a  role in sticking to beverage substitution over time.

“Some people may drink caloric beverages, like soda and sweet tea, because they enjoy sweet foods or have a strong preference for sweet foods and drinks. The diet drinks, which still taste sweet, may have appealed to this group of sweet likers as an easier way to discontinue their caloric beverage intake,” says Dr. Turner-McGrievy.

A few years ago I reported on a study that found a link between overweight people and diet drinks. But it was hard to say which came first -- did the diet drinks make people overweight, or did overweight people drink diet soda in an attempt to lose weight? A lot of skinny people probably feel that they can drink whatever they want,and thus don't drink low-cal sodas.  Also, there's that "halo" effect that surrounds "diet" foods. Studies have shown that people tend to eat more when they feel they can get away with it. So instead of a sugar-sweetened Coke, they might have a Diet Coke along with a bag of chips or doughnut, with the thought that the Diet Coke is going to cancel out all those calories. 

If you are swapping beverages straight across, though, it makes sense that you could lose weight. 


Since over 20 percent of America's calories come from sugar-sweetened beverages, it makes sense to switch to water or lower calorie drinks.  

A 2-Minute Break To Protect Yourself From Cancer

The American Institute  for Cancer Research says that inactivity is responsible for almost 100,000 cancer cases in the U.S. every year.  So as you read this blog, if you realize that you’ve been sitting in front of your computer for an hour, get up and take a one-to two-minute “activity break” to reduce your cancer risk.  (But finish reading this post first!  I’ll be brief!)

In conjunction with its Annual Research Conference on Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and Cancer in Washington, AICR will hold a news conference on Thursday where experts will present new, evidence-based estimates that inactivity is responsible for almost 100,000 cancer cases in the U.S. every year. In response, AICR will also call on adult Americans to take 1-2 minute activity breaks every hour to reduce their cancer risk.

Christine Friedenreich, Ph.D., Senior Research Epidemiologist Associate, Alberta Health Services-Cancer Care in Canada, will summarize new evidence of the protective link between physical activity and certain cancers.


Neville Owen, Ph.D., Director of Behavioral Epidemiology at Australia's Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, will present research from the emerging field of sedentary behavior, including new findings on what happens in the body during prolonged periods of sitting.  (Yikes! this CAN’T be good!)

See you in a couple of minutes!

BIGGEST LOSER: Tension Between Bonnie and Anna

"The Biggest Loser" reality series often shows trainers yelling at contestants, telling them they're not working hard enough, etc.  But where weight loss and workouts are concerned, do people respond better with positive encouragement or negative put-downs?  I've not been in a reality series (and probably will never be). But I do know that when I'm in an exercise class and the teacher gives me a positive shout-out, I will work that much harder. I appreciate it when the instructor offers constructive criticism, such as helping me adjust a yoga pose or making sure I'm doing something correctly. Maybe I'm overly sensitive, but I don't respond well to put-downs. It's hard to know when someone is really giving it their all. A 20-something may see a 50-year-old trudging through a workout and not realize that it's the best that person can do. 

In tonight's episode. 63-year-old contestant Bonnie made it very plain to trainer Anna Kournikova that she felt she deserves more praise for her efforts.  Yet, Anna's response was to turn it around as  Bonnie's need to "express her emotions" due to tragic circumstances in her past. That harks back to the methods of former trainer Jillian Michaels, who would yell, scream and put down contestants to the point that they would start sobbing. Then Jillian would turn soft and play pseudo psychologist and "diagnose" their "issues." When in reality, their biggest issue was dealing with Jillian's rants.

Anna doesn't really rant; in fact she is the most soft-spoken of this season's three trainers. From what the cameras are showing us, it seems that Bonnie tends to feel sorry for herself and wants to be coddled a little. Perhaps Anna doesn't offer more praise because she doesn't think Bonnie is putting out the effort. If so, she needs to tell Bonnie straight out. But trying to gloss over their difficult relationship over as some deep-seated issue from Bonnie's past doesn't help either of them. 

And yeah, maybe a pat on the back wouldn't hurt now and then!

I'm interested in knowing what other viewers are thinking on the Bonnie-Anna relationship. 

BIGGEST LOSER: JUSTIN POPE'S WEIGHT LOSS TIPS

Justin Pope of Logan, Utah  lost 173 pounds during the last season of the reality series, "The Biggest Loser."  The  39-year-old bail bondsman, bounty hunter and gym owner went from 365 pounds to 192. Of all the eliminated contestants, only Deni Hill of Bountiful, Utah lost a higher percentage of weight loss, winning the $100,000 prize.  

Pope isn’t a sore loser, though.  “If I was going to lose to someone, that was definitely the person I would want to lose it to,” Pope told me  in a telephone interview.

“And my ideal would have been if we had tied,”  Hill told me. 

I recently interviewed Pope for a summer-shape-up story that ran in the Deseret News.  

Most people can’t be on a reality series where the focus is on working out all day and your diet is carefully monitored. But Pope  gained valuable knowledge to incorporate into his life now that the show has ended.  

“It’s changed my life 100 percent,” he said. “The negative side is that it’s a long time away from  home and a lot of change you go through without your family.”  He noted that he was away from home nearly six months.  “You come home and you not only look different, but in every way I am a different person.”  

While competing on “The Biggest Loser,” he spent much of the day exercising.  He's cut back his personal workout time to two hours a day. 

Known on the show for “calling out” any slackers, now teaches “Callout” classes of about 60 people. He was teaching  at Rulon’s Elite Training Center, which he owned with partner Rulon Gardner. But two weeks ago, he signed papers selling his share of the gym to Gardner.  “So I’m, looking for another place,” Pope said.  

Here are some of his fitness tips:

1. Be accountable with your food. “That’s the first thing I do when people come to my class.  I say ‘I don’t care how many calories you eat, I just want you to write them down every day.‘  After awhile, you start making decisions such as ‘Oh, I don’t want to eat that because it has so many calories in it, I’d rather have this instead.’ Making a choice based on that accountability is when I made my turnaround.” 

2.  Vegetables offer lots of nutrition for very few calories.   In a frying pan, he will saute lots of fresh vegetables together, such as summer squash, red peppers, zucchini, “any kind of vegetable that looks good,” along with egg whites, adding jalapenos, salt and pepper and srirachi sauce for flavor.

  “There are only 13 calories in an egg white, so you can do ten egg whites and you only have 130 calories.  With all the vegetables, I have a big fat plate of food and I have only got 300 calories, if you count really hard. Sometimes I’ll put in a whole egg, but I have to decide I’d rather have the taste of an egg, or the fullness of fullness of six egg whites.”   

3. Another easy meal:  Take 200 calories of whatever your protein of choice -- shrimp or steak or chicken or burger, and fry it with beef stock. Take about 4 cups of beef stock, and add lots of vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots, and flavor it with some sriacha sauce. On the Biggest Loser, we didn’t see very many carrots because they have a little more sugar in them.  But at home, I will use them. I love making a big pot of that for supper, it’s warm, soothing and if you eat the whole pot, you are only 400-500 calories into it.” 

4. Pope recommends eating 1,500-1,600 calories per day.  “Some people don’t eat ENOUGH food,” he said. “They don’t have enough energy and your body doesn’t know what to do, it’s saying ‘Are you feeding me today or starving me?’ ”

5.  Simple, easy math. Divide the day’s calories into about 400 for each meal, and the remaining 400 into two 200-calorie snacks, so you’re eating consistently throughout the day.

6. Use “good” fats, such as olive oil and avocado. “What I didn’t realize is that you have to have good fat in order to burn fat,” said Pope, who became a fan of Wholly Guacamole, a “Biggest Loser” sponsor.  “Yes, good fats still contain calories, so you have to be careful with that.”

   One of his favorite meals is Coconut Chicken — brown some chicken breasts, add a can of coconut milk, and sriracha sauce and fish sauce to taste. “And then load it up with vegetables. It’s my favorite food.”

7. Eat most of your carbohydrate foods before noon, and stick to healthy carbs such as vegetables and whole grains.  “When I was on the show, you would get most of your carbs in before noon. Brett (trainer Brett Hoebel) was big on that. It has to do with burning fat.”

8.  Do your first workout in the morning on an empty stomach. “Brett was also big on that. He said your body is looking for sugar. If you are not giving it any sugar, it will go to burn your fat reserves.”

9. “I believe in protein shakes, for longer, leaner muscle,” Pope said. “We mix them the right way and drink them at the right time. There is a window of maybe 45 minutes after a workout.  You have to put a little sugar in them so that your body grabs it and takes it directly to the muscles. I did it the whole time I was at the ranch. It gets addictive.” 

10. Group exercise helps you work harder. “There’s a certain energy level, you are feeding off of everyone’s energy,”  Pope said. “And it makes you feel accountable. I am demanding on people if they don’t show up for class.”

11. Use a heart-rate monitor (found in sporting goods stores) to let you know how hard your body is working. “It doesn’t lie to you. You might think you’re really working hard, but you look down and the monitor tells you exactly how hard you’re really working.”

BIGGEST LOSER: SARAH NITTA'S WEIGHT LOSS TIPS

Sarah Nitta was on last season's "The Biggest Loser" reality TV series. She supplied me with  favorite weight loss tips and recipes for my story that's running in the Deseret News. In future posts, I will be running tips and recipes from Sarah's mom, Deni Hill, and Justin Pope.
Sarah told me that while on the show, she developed a love of hiking. 
“I LOVE it! I love backpacking and fun things like that that keep me super active and challenge me without needing to be stuck on the treadmill,” she said. “When I do really intense things like backpacking, I am able to eat with a little more freedom because my body is burning so much more. I make much healthier choices now and am very aware of what I am putting into my body. I know understand that food equals energy now, and that is awesome!”

Deni Hill and daughter Sarah Nitta

Sarah's tips:

1. “Keep moving! Walk even between workouts. When in doubt, walk!” 
2. “No injury should ever stop you from exercising. There are always modifications that can be made.” 
3. "Every excuse is a choice to fail! That's the famous Sarah Nitta quote! You have to be honest with yourself and realize the excuses that you are making. Then cut them out and get to work.” 
4. “Don't be afraid of the weights, ladies! The more muscle you have the better your fat-burning engine!” 
5. “Drink LOTS of water! Water is necessary to break down fat, so drink up!”
6. “Carbs are your friend! But better in the morning and early afternoon.”
7. “Always couple a carbohydrate with a protein when you eat. If you are going to eat an apple, eat a string cheese with it.” 
8. “You have to eat to lose weight. Don't skip a meal.”
9. “The greener the better! Eat lots if fruits and veggies.”
10. “Become an intuitive eater. Eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full. But you must listen to your body!”

Sarah's Roasted Asparagus     Photo by Valerie Phillips

SARAH’S ROASTED ASPARAGUS

Asparagus spears, washed

Cooking spray

Garlic powder, to taste

Dried onion flakes, to taste

Mrs. Dash Onion And Herb Seasoning Blend, to taste

Lemon juice, to taste

Parmesan cheese, to taste

Preheat oven to around 400 degrees.  Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray.  Lay asparagus on on  In oven around 400 degrees lay asp on sheet with cooking spray. Sprinkle with garlic, chopped dried onion, Mrs. Dash, lemon juice and parmesan cheese. Cook to desired crispiness. I like them crisp!

— Sarah Nitta

THE SARABEAR

“Best ever.  While on the ranch, we named it the Sarahbear after me.”

3/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup almond milk (vanilla sweetened)
Sweeten to taste with Truvia (my favorite sweetener)

Mix in the blender.

— Sarah Nitta

BIGGEST LOSER: JUSTIN POPE STILL "CALLING OUT"

Justin Pope of Logan came just a few pounds short of winning the $100,000 at-home prize on NBC’s “The Biggest Loser.” But he has no hard feelings toward Deni Hill, who ended up losing the highest percentage of weight out of the eliminated contestants. 

“If I was going to lose to someone, that was definitely the person I would want to lose it to,” Justin told me in a telephone interview today. 

Coincidentally, Deni had told me earlier that she would have been perfectly happy if she and Justin could have tied and split the money.

I’m currently working on a “summer shape-up” story for the Deseret News, using tips and recipes from both Justin and Deni. 

And while getting some great workout and eating ideas from the Callout King,  I couldn’t help but ask him about the weigh-in where he got sent home. It appeared to be a game-playing move gone wrong, and had us scratching our heads and asking, “What was Ken thinking?” and "What was Kaylee thinking?"  

To refresh some memories here (just in the off-chance that not all of you readers are obsessed with Biggest Loser to instantly recall every episode) Kaylee Kinikini had told everyone it was time for her to go home. She asked her teammates Ken and Austin to purposely gain weight by water-loading so their team would lose the weigh-in, and then the group could vote her off. But, when Ken posted a 7-pound weight loss, Justin’s team was up for elimination, and the vote was between Justin and teammate Courtney.  Instead of pleading his case to stay, Justin asked the rest of the group to vote him off so that Courtney could stay longer. 

“It was such a shocker the way the whole thing went down,” Justin said. “We had all sat around at dinner and talked about Kalee going home.  Ken’s on board and Austin’s on board with it.  Then the next morning Ken had a panic attack about it. He thought it was his opportunity to send Rulon home. He figured that Rulon would take it easy that week, since we all knew the plan to send Kalee home.”

(This explanation makes sense, since Rulon was the obvious front-runner to try to beat. Also, after Ken was eliminated, he said in a media conference call that he and his son, Austin, had had a falling out with Rulon, and had told Rulon that if given the chance, they would vote him off.) 

However, the plan backfired. Rulon lost five pounds at the weigh-in, and his team was safe. 

Justin said of his decision to sacrifice himself for Courtney, “Maybe some of it has to do with our religion (he is LDS, or Mormon), where you try to be kind to other people. I wanted to change the tone of the show, I wanted it to be a positive thing.” 

Also, he had already  lost 118 pounds, from 365 pounds to 247, and didn’t envision that he could lose much more.

 “I didn’t know that my body would every look like it does now,” he said. “I figured when I got to 255 or so, I would be done.  When I was in college, I was 255, and I was in good shape.  But Brett (Hoebel, the trainer) told me that I could do it, and I  did everything he told me to do.  After I got home, I realized that I could win this.  But, in the end, it didn’t really matter.”

At the BL finale, Justin lost a total of 173 pounds, weighing in at a trim 192. 

He said the show changed his life completely. “But the negative side is that  it’s a long time away from home, and a lot of changes you go through without your family. You come home to them and you not only look different, but in every way I am a different person.”

He said he expected to be gone three months total, but instead he was away almost six months.


That's it for now-- more on Justin to come later.


I'm curious to find out what fans of the show thought about this season's game-plays and the way that voting and eliminations went down.  Who did you want to win? Were you happy with the finale?

"TIPPING THE SCALES IN YOUR FAVOR," BY DIAN THOMAS

In March of 2010, I did a story in the Deseret News about Dian Thomas, who had lost 125 pounds on a slow-but steady lifestyle change. Now her book "Tipping The Scales," came out last week, at http://www.dianthomas.com.

For years, she inspired families to cook, craft and camp on NBC's "Today" show, and ABC's "Home Show." As a young home ec teacher, she was propelled to fame after she appeared on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" in 1974.  Those under age 30  reading this post might not realize that Carson was the king of  late night TV, a forerunner to Leno and Letterman. Promoting her outdoor cooking and camping book, "Roughing It Easy," Dian showed Carson  how to start a fire with flashlight batteries and steel wool, and to cook bacon and eggs in a paper sack. 

The book went to the top of the New Your Times bestseller list, and Dian became a media darling.  There were plenty of food industry junkets, media dinners, and recipe taste-testing. Her heady-but-hectic lifestyle was filled with stress, and food became a friend.  

"I was invited to parties and on trips that included the most incredible foods, and I didn’t want to miss a bite!  I ate with reckless abandon," she said. 

Six years ago, at 5-foot-8-inches, she tipped the scales at 326½ pounds; quite a jump from the 170 pounds she weighed when she first appeared with Carson.  Her knee  hurt so much that she started using a walker to get around the house. She broke a friend’s chair just by sitting in it.  

Today, her weight hovers at around 200 pounds, with just 20 more to go to her final goal. 

"Now, I move like I’m young again! I can bike for miles at a time: last summer I completed a 480-mile bike expedition across the state of Iowa. I love walking, working out and doing water aerobics," she told me. 

Instead of a gastric bypass surgery or a crash diet, she took slow, methodical approach and started creating new habits. I aimed for a half-pound loss per week. 

"What learned is it’s not the speed that counts, but the direction you’re going. And it’s not a diet — it's a lifestyle change."

I helped Dian with some of the editing of the book, so I'm familiar with what's in it.  If  you're looking for a "magic bullet," you might be disappointed. It still comes down to eating better and exercising. So many weight loss books today focus on one thing, such as avoiding carbs or fat, or a specific exercise regimen. But Dian writes that it's a number of consistent steps, such as motivation, planning, eating right, exercise and accountability.

"It's like leading a symphony. All the instruments need to be playing together at the same time, or you don’t get the results," she writes.  "If you focus solely on the food, or only on the exercise, you’re just playing one instrument. The challenge is playing all the instruments together at the same time. And, you have to keep playing them long enough to make it a habit."

What I liked about Dian's approach is that she offers strategies,  such as organizing your fridge so it's as easy to cook a nutritious meal as it would be to hit the fast-food drive-through. And finding a type of  exercise that you love so that you can keep doing it. 

She also talks a lot about how to avoid emotional eating. Many diet books have a disconnect between what you are supposed to do and how to actually incorporate it.  We often sabotage our own good intentions. I recognized some of my own emotional eating tendencies in her book; I'm working on controlling "mindless eating" and finding better ways to cope with stress.  

PUTTING THE BUFF IN BUFFET

  When you have so many choices at a buffet, do you usually pick the best ones? Or do you pick the "good-for-you" things  -- the fresh fruit, the baked seafood, the steamed veggies -- and then throw in some onion rings and fries, and polish it off with  pie a la mode?
  This month's Shape magazine mentioned that the more food choices people, the more they tend to overeat.  I'm a prime example.  Last week I spent several days  visiting at the National Post Office Education Center where my husband is taking a three-week class. The thing I enjoy most about this place is the well-stocked gym, with just about any piece of body-building equipment, treadmills, bikes, and so on. My first day here, I did five miles on the treadmill, and went through all the weight machines, then hit the yoga class.
  The second thing I love is the Olympic size salt water pool.  I love swimming lap after lap, and then collapsing in the sun to dry off. And the weather was sunny and warm — what a relief from the Utah rain!
  And the third thing I love is the food court where the meals are all served.  Despite the stainless steel, "cafeteria" look of the place, the dishes are a far cry from the old-time "institutional" chow lines of limp veggies, gelatin salad and mystery meat.  Somehow, the chefs manage to make nearly every seem freshly cooked, even though it's mass-produced. At every meal, there's a variety of veggie dishes -- a sauteed turnip/sweet potato medley, corn spiked with a little nutmeg, orange-flavored carrot coins, sauteed broccolini with garlic cloves, crisp-tender green beans and asparagus.  There's also a salad bar.  Every day there's at least one type of seafood, such as  teriyaki glazed salmon, Mediterranean-baked swordfish, spice-dusted barramundi.  There's an herb garden in the courtyard of the dining area, and it's a good bet that the dishes benefit greatly from a sprinkling of fresh chives, cilantro and thyme.
But in addition to all the tasty "healthy" food, there are also french fries, onion rings, bacon, burgers, pie and Blue Bell ice cream.  Too often, instead of making a choice between the healthy and the not-healthy food, I end up taking a little of everything.
  So, it's back to the gym in hopes of cancelling out my calories.

BIGGEST LOSER SIGHTING - A SLIM DENI HILL

So, in today's Deseret News, my column discussed this NBC's The Biggest Loser season, and how it seemed that many of the contestants were trying to get themselves sent home (http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700132303/Im-lost-with-the-Loser-contestants.html)  Since I've read several articles mentioning Deni Hill of Bountiful enjoys Zumba classes, I added that I hoped to someday bump into her in a Zumba class.

Deni Hill and daughter Sarah at the beginning of this seasons' Biggest Loser. 

Well this morning I'm dancing away in my Body Jam class at Skills Fitness in Centerville, and I realized that the woman next to me looked familiar.  I did a double take, and finally got the nerve to ask.  Yes, it was Deni Hill.  "I just wrote a column about you in today's Deseret News," I blurted out.

"Was that you? I read it, and I agree!" she said.

  She's not allowed to do interviews with the press without NBC's authorization, but I don't know if a chance meeting in an exercise class qualifies as an interview. The only "press" we're thinking of is "bench press."

And let me say that Deni looks fabulous! I wouldn't be surprised at all if she wins the at-home $100,000 prize at the weigh in, which is coming up very soon.

BIGGEST LOSER BETS

Hey, Biggest Loser fans! Who is going to win this season? I'm hoping this week's makeover is a good episode, because I'm getting bummed. More players are trying harder to get off the show than to stay on it.  

The latest case in point was last week’s exit of Rulon Gardner, former Olympian and the last Utahan of four who started out the season.  Without bothering to weigh in, he told everyone he was leaving for “personal reasons,” and then walked off the show. 

Gardner did not participate in a media exit interview as the other eliminated contestants have done. But he did issue a press release thanking the show and the trainers who helped him get his health back, and mentioned that he is considering a return to competitive wrestling.  

 Maybe I'm just disappointed that all the Utah contestants have left "the ranch," and the two Idaho Mormons are gone as well. I'll admit, I like having someone "local" to cheer for. 

But Rulon's defection was just one more in a string of contestants who, instead of begging to stay, asked to be voted off. Or who deliberately gained weight to fall below the “yellow line” and be sent packing.  Are the grueling workouts, the months of isolation at the ranch, the screaming trainers, just too much for people?  Are these folks well-off enough that the $250,000 grand prize doesn’t matter? Perhaps they feel that they are well on their way to regaining their health, and the prize money doesn't really matter.

Near the beginning of the season, identical twins Dan and Don suddenly gained nine pounds each. Although both brothers claimed they didn’t purposely try to gain, it sure seemed suspect when other contestants were posting double-digit losses, and the twins had hinted that they wanted to go home. 

A few weeks later,  Deni Hill of Bountiful, Utah, and Jess Wornum water-loaded, gained weight and got  voted off to save their "kids" from elimination. It was puzzling because neither Sarah Nitta or Arthur Wornum seemed in imminent danger, as long as they worked hard to lose weight. And really, the best way to “save” your partner is to stay on the ranch yourself and garner support from other players. But, it appears that it was a game-playing tactic on the part of Marci Crozier.
  

In an interview published in Reality TV magazine http://realitytvmagazine.sheknows.com/2011/02/24/the-biggest-loser-deni-hill-and-jesse-wornum-elimination-interview  Deni said Marci promised to protect daughter Sarah if Deni threw the weigh-in and went home. Marci also talked parent Jesse Wornum into gaining weight as well, telling him it was his duty to sacrifice himself to save his son,. But after Jesse went home, Arthur was left vulnerable, and was booted off the next week. Deni’s daughter,  Sarah, was eliminated the week after that.  So much for Marci’s “saving the kids.” Of course, she was more interested in saving her own daughter, Courtney.

At  week 12, Kaylee Kinikini (a Mormon from Idaho) decided her “journey” was over. She purposely gained weight in an effort to be sent home. But it backfired, and the choice ended up between another Utahan, Justin Pope and Courtney Crozier. Justin asked the group to vote him off to save Courtney, since she was young and still had a lot of weight to lose.  It seemed that someone was falling on the sword nearly every week to keep Courtney. When she was finally eliminated after losing just one pound in a week, Courtney seemed more relieved than sad, making one wonder if she appreciated the sacrifices made by her elders.

Then two weeks ago, the vote came down between Moses Kinikini (Kaylee’s dad) and Olivia. Moses asked to be voted off, after Olivia said she wouldn’t be able to have children if she didn’t lose more weight. At around 170 pounds, Olivia’s plea seemed a bit stretched. But at least she showed the desire to stay. 

Moses’ elimination meant one less vote to save daughter Kaylee when she fell below the yellow line last week.  But she had already tried to go home several weeks before, so it wasn’t a heartbreaking good-bye.

To  their credit, most of these players who went home have shed an impressive amount of weight after going home, so they didn’t give up on their fitness goals. Justin  Pope, respected by his peers as a leader, continues to “call out” people in his Logan hometown to get in shape. Deni has said she considers herself “The Biggest Winner,” for the show’s opportunity, and I hope sometime I bump into her in a local Zumba class.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see one of them win the $100,000 at-home prize.  

In the midst of greedy, ruthless reality shows, it can be refreshing to see people willing to sacrifice themselves for others instead of the win-at-any-cost mentality. As much as we like a villain to cheer against, I don't think I'd like to see a replay of  Tracy or  Vicki from past seasons. 

But many fans tune in to “The Biggest Loser” to get inspired by players’ determination to win their weight battles. It helps us go the extra mile on the treadmill or pass up a dessert to better our own health. It’s disillusioning to watch them throw in the towel, especially when thousands of other obese people audition every year for a chance to be on the show.  
So who do you think will win this season? I've thought that Irene was a strong competitor, just flying under everyone's radar. But now she weighs less than 150 pounds, so she can't really lose too much more, can she?  Ditto for Hannah and Olivia.  Plus as a 55-year-old grandma who is trying to lose weight, I didn't like their entitled attitude that the older players should sacrifice themselves.  My guess is either Jay or Austin. 

.