What Have You Done Today To Make You Feel Proud?

Biggest Loser Spoilers Ahead!! Stop reading now!!!

I have to say: for all the tension and excitement that went into this season, and especially this finale... everything happened according to plan. Well, except Heba's win, but that's another story. Some general comments before I get started. Wow-- did Ali Sweeney pop or what? Even in the last week, I kept thinking to myself, I thought she was prego, she certainly doesn't look all that prego... but tonight she certainly DID look prego!!! Holy cow! What about no one cheering for Vicky's part of the intro? That was hilarious! It was pretty obvious that the crowd was behind Michelle 100%. I think everyone was sick of the negativity that this season generated. At one point, Ali also said that they spent 102 days on the ranch and 122 days at home before the finale. So, basically, the contestants had about seven and a half months to lose this weight. Sure, it's accelerated, but it's not as bad as it is sometimes portrayed.

First thing first: Who was going to be the "third" finalist? Heba or Ed? They both looked fantastic, although I'm going to be a bit catty. I thought Ed looked old. And yes, Heba needed a more supportive bra than the one she was wearing. As someone who now has some saggy boobs due to weight loss, a supportive bra does EVERYTHING for an outfit. The dress looked great, her boobs didn't. Ali tells us with 84% of the vote, ED is the finalist. HAHAHA. I'm so glad that 84% of the voters were in the same mindset at me!

Next, they bring the kicked off families off in order: Adam and Stacey (who looked FABULOUS), LT and Tom (who weren't as heavy as they were... but still looked big), Jerry (AWESOME!!!) and Coleen, Shellay (hot mamma!) and Amy C., Phil and Amy (I'd vote them for best looking couple!), Brady (eh), Renee (looked good, but didn't really like her hair), and of course Heba. I thought the $100K at home prize weigh in was the most interesting! The lead jumped around: first, it was Stacey in the lead, then Jerry, Shellay, and Amy C in quick succession. Philip weighed in and lost 151 pounds. His wife Amy P. weighed in, lost 105 pounds... and captured the lead with a 45.85% loss. At this point, I was like YES!!! I've always liked the Red Team, and I wanted them to stick it to the Four Musketeers BIG TIME. Brady weighed in next, and although he lost 117 pounds, he didn't have the percentage to beat Amy (YES!!!). Renee lost 106 pounds, but also didn't have the percentage to beat Amy. It came down to Heba. She needed to lose 134 pounds to beat Amy... and she lost 138. Grr. So, now I was worried about H&E walking away with $350K.

So, then they brought out the finalists. Of course, they all looked great. Vicky tried to claim that she only lost 2 pounds in seven weeks, with working out four hours a day. YEAH RIGHT. C'mon. We already had seen Ed, so, Vicky came out wearing a great looking dress (although Amy P was still best dressed... that red dress looked HOT on her!). But, she couldn't move in the dress at all. And the stage was super slippery. But (being the evil kikimonster that I am) I was disappointed that we didn't get to see her fall. Bob was such a gentleman that he caught her and walked her to the front of the stage. Then Michelle came out and WOWEE!!! She looked FABULOUS.

Because Michelle had won the last week on campus, she chose the weigh in order: First, Ed, then Vicky, and then Michelle. Ed lost 139 pounds, with a 41.49% weight loss. He held onto first place when Vicky weighed in and lost 101 pounds, with a 41.06% loss. Ali tells us that to win, Michelle needs to lose 100 pounds. Seriously, at this point, I don't know how that girl kept a straight face. Her starting weight was 242 pounds, and looking at her, you KNEW she was under 140, easily. She weighed in at 132, with a total loss of 110 pounds, with a 54.54% loss. MICHELLE WINS!!!! I'm so glad this season ended on a positive note.

Although, I'm curious if we have the same commercials nationwide. Right after Ali cut to commercial, when we were all waiting with baited breath for Michelle's weigh in, NBC ran a Coco Chanel commercial starring none other than Keira Knightley. Yes, that twig of a girl. Seriously, NBC... bad timing? Someone with a bad sense of humor working the commercial desk? I just found it odd. To me, anorexic people aren't inspiring. Sorry Keira.

And what about the new season which starts January 6th? (NBC, I sure hope my check is in the mail for all this free promotion!) They're bringing in the HEAVIEST contestants ever, the OLDEST couple, the HEAVIEST woman, and the HEAVIEST CONTESTANT EVER. PERIOD. I think this is going to be a mess. I think we're going to move from being completely bitter to feeling sorry for all these people. What was up with showing the "oldest" man passing out? I seriously almost cried at that point. Sure, inspiration will be shown, but to me, sometimes, this is just torture. We'll see soon enough!

On a final, personal note, I had a hard time moving today. I was snowed in, and I spent most of the day in front of my computer, stressing over an article that I'm coauthoring with someone who works in the UK. My coauthor and I went back and forth over email for much of the afternoon until I sank into total frustration at the state of this article. I wanted it to be done by the end of the week, and that's just not going to happen. It's like we're so close to being done, but yet, because of the holiday, so far away. So, I didn't work out. However, while I was watching the finale, I couldn't help but get up and MOVE. I ended up doing SparkPeople's 30 Minute holiday workout, which someone (KK? Cammy?) had posted on their blog right before Thanksgiving. IT WAS AWESOME. There are seven exercises that you can do with NO equipment, and you do three circuits with 15 reps of each exercise. I feel great because I moved my body today. That's what I did today to make me feel proud :)