Biggest Loser April 21

Biggest Loser April 21, 2009: An episode filled with good lessons for viewers
After Laura was eliminated last week, Tara was extremely sad at the start of this week's episode. Even though Laura was injured and couldn't really compete, Tara still didn't think she should have gone. Jillian straightened her out by telling her it was not safe for Laura to continue and Tara needs to realize that. Viewers could also learn from this that you should not push yourself if you are injured. Your body needs to heal or else you'll just get worse and worse.

Rosemary Ellis from Good Housekeeping Magazine to challenge them in a fitness and food trivia quiz. This challenge was informative not only for the contestants but also for the viewers who got to learn various tips about fitness and diet habits. For example, a small "personal" pizza turned out to be 8 servings according to it's packaging which tricked all of the contestants and shows how manufacturers trick us as well. Kristin and Mike ended up with the same score and had to go to a tie breaker. It came down to guessing the calories of a sandwich and Mike was closer so he won a trip to New York.

The next challenge was for a bigger prize - either $10,000 or a 1 pound advantage. The 6 contestants had to hang from a cage for as long as they could, using mostly upper body strength. This challenge was about more than strength though, it was also about fear. Fear of heights or fear of falling made it even harder for many of the contestants. The height scared Mike enough that he let go within just a few minutes. Filipe decides to do a little trash talking and shake the cages in hopes to distract the others but instead he is really ticking them off. I guess he's not looking to make any friends in these final weeks. The strategy failed to work as Filipe ended up falling before the girls. After an hour, Kristin couldn't take it anymore and had to let go leaving it all down to Helen and Tara. Helen fought hard to try to beat Tara, but once again the girl in green dominates and holds on with ease to the very end.

In the midst of all this, Bob asked his team to video tape their meal for the day to prove to him that they know how to eat. While they thought they were eating very healthy, Bob was so unhappy with their food choices because they cut their calories way too much and they left out protein. He taught them that a healthy diet does not mean cutting all food in half which is a great lesson for all the dieters out there!

Mike confronted his father, Ron, for allowing him to gain all the weight in the first place. This break though point is something Mike needed to go through in order to go home and continue to lose weight. All dieters out there need to find their own breakthrough point and confront their own demons in order to keep up with their weight loss plan.

Now for the weigh-in. Tara decided to take the $10,000 instead of the 1 pound advantage which is always a risky move. Jillian was actually happy to see Tara take the money and bet on herself for the win. Tara lost 5 pounds giving her 2.75% so it seems she gambled on herself and won.

* Ron - lost 4 pounds - 1.32% - under 300 pounds for the first time since he was a teenager
* Helen - lost 1 pound - 0.62%
* Mike - lost 8 pounds - 3.29%
* Filipe - lost 3 pounds - 1.21%
* Kristin - gained 1 pound - +0.41%

With Kristin and Helen below the yellow line, the contestants now had to decide who deserved to stay. While Kristin still was the bigger threat with more weight to lose, she also hasn't done well the last few weeks making it seem like she's not a threat at all. Although Ron promised he would never write Kristin's name down, he didn't promise her that he wouldn't scheme to get her out of the house. He immediately went to his son telling him that Tara and Mike had to vote for Kristin because in a tie breaker Kristin would go home for having the lowest percent of weight lose. It seems that Ron is really out to protect his son in any way possible. Ron's plan was executed exactly as he had set it out to be sending Kristin home due to her low percent of weight loss. What's sad about the whole situation is that Ron still claimed he was keeping his promise in helping her get to the end - however by giving Mike the advice to vote out Kristin it seems like Ron really didn't care to protect Kristin.

With Mike feeling on top of the world and already claiming the win, will he be sadly disappointed in the end? Tara is still a huge competitor and no one seems to be acknowledging that. If I had my vote, I'd vote for Tara to win this whole thing! Tune in next week to see the final weeks on campus before someone is named The Biggest Loser
for more info Biggest Loser April 21