Last night, Michelle was mad, really mad. And having seen Michelle mad firsthand, I know one thing for sure: you don’t want to make Michelle mad! The result is a punishing workout like no other.
Seeing her obliterate her team in training last night reminded me of a time in Series 3 when my good friend Sheridan gambled with temptation and out ate two teams. Michelle was so mad that she made it her personal mission to punish Sheridan, exhausting her body until every last calorie was burned. Of course, I remember this because I was the one who walked on the treadmill alongside Sheridan until 1am in the morning!
At the time, I remember thinking that perhaps the trainers take temptation too seriously, but as Michelle rightly pointed out last night, “Temptation represents everything that’s gone wrong for you in the past.”
I know it looked like she was singling out Cameron in her post-temptation wrath, but she’s right to be pushing his buttons, shining the spotlight on his food addiction and his inner pain. He does need to stop making excuses like “I just wanted to taste it” and take responsibility for his weight.
Cameron has brought a lot of baggage into the game. To have an ultimatum like “lose 60kg or lose 60kg [meaning his wife]” is an awful cross to bear, and seeing his breakdown with Michelle brought back a lot of memories for me…
I remember walking into The Biggest Loser house thinking that I was just there to lose weight, but the real journey (as Cameron is discovering) was finding out about myself. The challenges, the sadness, being pushed by your trainer, facing demons, looking at the truth – these are things I cherish more than the weight loss because they taught me about myself, they taught me how to be strong and determined; they helped me learn to love myself again.
I think Cameron should use the fear of his wife’s ultimatum as a motivator but at the end of the day he needs to do this for himself. Losing weight won’t save a marriage any more than having a baby will. That’s because it’s very hard to have other people love you when you don’t even like yourself. But if Cam can cut the excuses and stop putting barriers up in the ‘process’, the changes he’ll experience in himself will be truly transformative.
Speaking of things transformative, what a twist the Walk has delivered to the game – again! It’s great to see Amanda and Sean back in the house as the ‘Odd Couple’ and it’s also a good reminder for Nathan, Andrew and all of us really, that what you put out there always comes back – sometimes with interest!
I’m amazed that the brothers still love the Walk even though it doesn’t always give you the power you think it will. That’s why, as Shannan says, “no trickie dickie”. Controlling the controllables is the true way to control the game – that means a good diet, quality exercise and the best possible results on the scales.
I’m looking forward to tonight’s challenge to see how the couples survive moving 1000kg of tuna – what crazy things they make you do on Loser! Be sure to tune in at 7PM on TEN and then check your inbox in the morning for my daily update.
Episode 29 highlights
If you missed last night's show, you can watch the full episode at The Biggest Loser TV show website.
Below I've shared my favourite segment – it's where Michelle shines the spotlight on Cameron and he experiences a breakthrough.