Many of the Biggest Loser contestants experience a weight-loss plateau at some point in the competition. They'll be dropping pounds like crazy for weeks at a time, and then suddenly their weigh-in numbers will drop or flatten out. When this happens, I try to remind contestants that the body can plateau, but the mind never does. Push yourself! After all, this is a lifestyle. Your body may not do what you want today, but it will react tomorrow! Just keep going.
This season, a few of our contestants are either former athletes or people who were very athletic in their pasts. As a trainer, sometimes it's hard to penetrate the mind of an athlete who has given up. They have been psychologically pushed to perfection, and to be honest, they're often tired of it. I have to find new ways to make the workout fun and exciting! This is the challenge in training people with an athletic history, because a person with a less active history, although fearful, is sometimes so unaware that they're easy to mold.
In this week's episode, Michael received a visit from his family. During the visit, I advised Michael's wife to join Michael on his weight-loss journey at home, and it's very important that, when someone is pursuing a life-changing goal, the people at home join the journey as well. We love the people we love, and they can influence us in one direction or another, sometimes without us even realizing it's happening! A family that sweats together gets together! Building healthy families across the nation is the only answer to American health.
This week brought with it another massive change on The Biggest Loser: the contestants went from teams to singles. When the show switches to singles, reality kicks in. The contestants are reminded very quickly that this journey is their own. They came by themselves, and they are leaving by themselves. It's the ultimate wake-up call! As a trainer, I'm always thinking about the individual and the whole with my team, so I keep that focus throughout.
