Here we are at the halfway point of the season with the remaining contestants, and thankfully I'm way past the halfway point of getting over the flu so I can recap this week! Since we're in the middle of the season, you know there will be even more twists and turns.
The main twist this week involved the weigh-in. Dice were presented, one die for each team with their faces on the sides. Each trainer would roll the dice, and the player showing on top would have to represent the team on the scale. Only his or her weight would count. This would not happen until right before the weigh-in, so nobody would know who it was going to be...except the white team, because only Danni is left to represent. Jillian was nervious about this, since Danni had pulled a big number the week before and they didn't know if she could do it again.
This twist caused anxiety and fear to come out in some of the players, particularly Gina and Jackson. Gina cried, which set Bob off. He really laid into her about all of the tears and why she always thinks the worst about herself. Eventually he took her outside to have a calmer discussion, letting her know that he sees her as a major threat in the house and she's capable of much more than she gives herself credit for. She's always afraid that she'll let people down. She vowed to start seeing herself the way Bob sees her. Jackson had a similar talk with Dolvett about always feeling like he wasn't good enough, and Dolvett made him repeat over and over that he IS good enough.
Fear is an interesting thing. I know I've talked before about it, but I can't drive the point home enough. Fear makes you doubt yourself. When you doubt you can do something, it messes with your head so that you can't do it...which only makes you doubt yourself more and fear the next challenge in your life, whatever it may be. I've been there. I STILL struggle with it. But I've begun to break that vicious cycle, putting myself out there more to try different things and push myself harder. I have to block out those who don't believe in me and prove them wrong - in fact, I have to prove that old negative inner voice wrong and just go for it. And as I build up small victories (and larger ones) my courage and confidence grow. That's what the contestants on the ranch go through, in front of the world for all to see.
Speaking of challenges, who in the world comes up with the ones for the show? As my friend Shannon on Twitter said, it looked like the set of Wipeout. Walking on a beam, dodging swinging objects and getting plates to the other side...back and forth several times...just looked so cruel. I would like to see the people who designed this challenge have to do it! And on top of that, they had to correctly put the plates with calorie counts on them with the right pictures. Finally Danni won...proving that this one-woman show can rock anything. She got to hear from her family, which had to be especially sweet since she has no teammates to lean on at this point.
The teen ambassadors had their own challenge, thankfully a much nicer one. They had to find ways to set an example for other kids around them. Biingo started his own fitness club. Sunny led her classmates in a circuit workout she created. Her parents really want her to be a doctor, but I think she has a future as a trainer. She would still be helping people get healthy! Lindsay bravely spoke in front of her school about bullying - what it did to her and how it affects others. She made them pledge to stop bullying altogether. Then she was surprised by pop star Cody Simpson, who also spoke and gave a little concert for her school. I'm really proud of her...I don't know if I could have stood before my school (including my bullies) and spoken so eloquently. Maybe she will stop some of these kids from turning into adult bullies; we know that adults are also still ridiculed by those who never grew up.
The last chance workouts were brutal. Jillian actually made Danni's fun, but she did have to get over her fear of heights to jump from a wall into a pit. Once she did, she wanted to keep on doing it! It's always good to mix it up to keep from getting bored, and use those muscles you didn't even know you had. Dolvett invited Laila Ali to lead his team in a boxing workout. It would be so cool to have a lesson from her. (And if she brought her former Dancing With The Stars partner Maks with her to gave me a cha-cha lesson...all the better!) She actually struggled with her weight as a kid, so she could relate. For Bob's team, it was basically a beating in the gym, making all of them work until he thought Alex was sweating enough. And then he even took a picture of her after she collapsed over the treadmill!
The time to face the scale arrived, and the trainers rolled the dice. Joe represented red, Jeff blue, and Danni white (of course). Jillian was worried about Danni beating Joe's percentage, but she did. I have to say she's my favorite this season! It came down to blue, and Jeff didn't lose enough to beat Joe. The blue team went to their first elimination of the season. I pretty much expected that they would send David home, considering that he has a leg injury and even when he give it his all he doesn't burn as much as the others. But seeing him at home, he's really making progress! He looks amazing and is a much better police officer now that he's fitter.
Next week, everyone goes to singles! The teams are dissolved and it's every player for himself/herself. It also looks like Jillian helps Jeff get to the root of his problem and they bond. I can't wait to see what happens next...how about you?
