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The show is now down to 9 contestants, and after lasts night's show no one is over 400 pounds. They are no longer split into two teams but are competing as individuals. This week's episode took place in Washington D.C., airing appropriately on election day in some places. Being at the capitol gave the contestants and their trainers a chance to address Congress about the nation's obesity epidemic. Unfortunately it was a very small audience, one senator from Pennsylvania and one from New York. Daniel's remarks about the need for more physical education and health education in schools was highlighted. I think it would have been better to see representatives from Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, and Tennessee, since their states have the highest rates of adult obesity. I would also like to see The Biggest Loser follow up on what impact their lobbying attempt had on the lawmakers, if any. But again, I'd also like to see an update on every contestant from all the past seasons.
There were two challenges last night. The first, to get the most people to participate in a group workout led by Bob and Jillian, seemed more like something from The Apprentice than Biggest Loser. As incentive to participate the people recruited by the winning contestant would get a free meal from that sandwich shop franchise that Biggest Loser viewers know all too well. It appeared that Amanda and Daniel would be able to use their 'celebrity' status from last season to their advantage. Liz won by 1 point, beating Allen who enlisted the help of his firefighting brothers. Hopefully Liz and her crew had Extra gum for desert instead of cookies.
The second challenge was four stages, eliminating contestants at each stage until it was heads up between Rudy and Rebecca. Rebecca was victorious, proving she just may be the one giving Danny a fight for the title. The first stage was a one mile foot race, which brought back strong emotions(tears) from Tracy who is lucky to be alive and well after the season opening stunt. I mean challenge. Other than that it was not one of the most teary episodes , although Jillian, who admits to not liking Tracy did succeed in making Tracy cry during a workout. Oh, and Tracy cried again when she fell below the yellow line. And again when she was voted off. So, except for that crybaby Tracy there weren't too many buckets of tears.
 At the White House the contestants and trainers visited and picked vegetables from the 1st Lady's garden. This is something viewers watching the show for inspiration and motivation should seriously consider- raising your own fresh produce. I think for lots of people part of their reason for not caring much for fruits or vegetables is that they are used to the stuff from the grocery store that was never given a chance to fully ripen and be enjoyed at its' peak flavor.
The trainer's tip dealt with exercising away from home. Bob Harper's suggestion was to find stairs and build a workout around them. I suggest finding a park. In addition to running or walking for cardio you can do push ups and dips as Bob suggested, but you can also use park benches for step ups and a more challenging version of dips. If you're at a park that has a jungle gym set you can use the monkey bars for hanging knee or straight leg raises, and depending on your strength and fitness level, one of my all time favorites- pull ups.
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