Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

I didn’t watch The Biggest Loser all last year because I hated the new “Barbie” that they replaced Jillian with. This year, however, Jillian’s back and she’s out for blood.

They started The Biggest Loser out with a bang by having a race across the desert to be the team captain. Once you won the race, you could choose who you wanted to be on your team. The only problem was, you could only choose five people and that left six people never picked for a team. Those six were to go home while the two teams worked out with “Barbie” and Bob.

When Jerry picked Kae for the Blue Team, she was the first to be chosen. The look of shock and joy on her face for being the first one picked was genuine.

She said, “Jerry picked me as the first person and that’s why I was so surprised. Me?! First?! I’ve never been first before!”

I’ve never been picked first before either. In fact, every fat kid knows the feeling of being last or almost last, just praying that they pick your best buddy after you just so you won’t be last.

Yes, The Biggest Loser vividly recreated that feeling of being picked last for six people right off the bat. But instead of being picked last, they weren’t picked at all and told they had to go home. As the people who were never picked for the team were waiting for their bus to go home, I felt that sick feeling in my stomach of never being picked.

Julie said, “I feel like the fat kid at camp. As a person who’s overweight, you deal with disappointment a lot, but this felt like just one more rejection.”

Then a black motorcycle pulled up.

Julie predicted it perfectly, “Who is that?! Please, God, tell me that’s Jillian!”

The motorcyclist pulls off her helmet, and Julie got her wish. Jillian is back! She screams, “You’re not going home! We’re the new Black Team! You’ll wish you were goin’ home, Dude!”

While the Blue and Red Teams are competing in the typical Biggest Loser fashion, Jillian’s Black Team has been hiding in the desert, training with bags of sand and abandoned industrial tires. For every kid who got picked last, the Black Team is there. Jillian won’t let them forget it. She screams while they work out:

“I expect NOTHING less than the BEST! Aren’t you the ones who were not chosen? Don’t let me find a reason why! Why weren’t you chosen?”

Julie answers,

“Because I wasn’t strong enough.”

Jillian replies,

“Show me you’re strong enough!”

Next time you’re thinking about skipping your workout, remember what it feels like to be chosen last for a team, get to the gym and show me that you’re strong enough.

This season is going to kick ASS!