Ok let me start off my listing the winners from the past couple weeks.

Week 7
Overall BL:health1971
Red:health1971
Orange:mentalmunchie
Yellow:KateK8LoseW8
Green:tambam72
Blue:Justformel
Purple:pambo1999
Team: Blue

week8
Overall BL:Nida1932
Red:Jamiegephart
Orange:Nida1932
Yellow:Pfil
Green:jessecpwrs
Blue:Justformel
Purple:katonaroof
Team: Green
An amazing 43.6 lbs were lost in week 8! That is amazing. Green team lost about 25 lbs in one week, great job!

week9
Overall BL:Jamiegephart
Red:Jamiegephart
Orange:kaylikee
Yellow:Pfil
Green:SouthernGirlStarving
Blue:MichelleP418
Purple:ljdanny
Team:Red

I have not updated points for the past couple weeks but will throughout this week.
We have lost a total of 228 lbs so far. Thats pretty good considering there are only ~35 of us left in the challege. Wehve had alot of people drop out this season, which makes me sad but hopefully those of you who have stuck it out are enjoying it and its helping you. We are almost done, just a few weeks left until the finale. However, we are on a break from the show until January 7th. I would like us to keep weighing in and doing challenges like the show is still on though- i think if we took a break and didnt weigh in until the 7th then more people would end up dropping out, dont you think?

I hope you all learned something from the challenge last week - some of the statistics and facts posted are pretty interested and I found several of them suprising. And it was nice to see some people actually did the work workout at work (say that three times fast) but of course if you cant do it there for whatever reason thats totally understandable.

In case you are curious, here are the answers to the team trivia from last week. All teams who submitted get points for that, plus im going to give bonus points to whatever team got the most right once I figure that out.

1) A BMI of ___ is considered obese for adults
b. 30
I think most everyone got this right. BMI (body mass index) is a relation of your weight compared to your height. Its a good indicator for health, but shouldnt be the only one. For example, I have a healthy BMI of 24, yet my body fat % is over 30% which is very unhealthy. A person who has alot of muscle will tend to have a high BMI but might not actually be obese.You shouldnt just rely on one measurement to gauge your health.

2) A startling ____ of people who reach their weight loss goals relapse and gain the weight back within 5 years
c. 90%
I think I threw alot of people off by putting that 68% in there, but apparently around 90% of people will gain back the weight they lose. Thats why it is important to make lifestyle changes that you can continue, rather than trying to make a quick loss that isnt sustainable

3) All of the following diseases have been linked to obesity except
e. Crohn’s
The all of the above here seemed to trick people too, but Crohn's disease is the only only not linked to obesity. In fact, Crohns causes malabsorbtion of nutrients so the majority of patients actually are underweight. Current studies show only about 15-17% of Crohns patients are obese, compared to the 30% of the normal population that is. As obesity has been increasing in the US though, it may become more common in the near future to see more Crohns patients that are obese, but a link has not been established

4) Excess weight may be linked to memory loss. A recent study showed a ___point drop in memory score for each BMI point increase in a woman’s weight.
a. 1
The good news is that its reversible. Brain activity pattern during memory testing showed improvement in remembering and matching faces as the study participants’ average BMI dropped from 32.1 before the six-month diet to 29.2 BMI.

5) Lower levels of ____ in obese people may affect the immune system and increase the risk for asthma and allergy
c. Vitamin D
According to a recent study by the endocrine society, a link between the severity of a person’s obesity and certain biochemical measures of allergic disease has been established

6) Obesity can affect a woman’ s fertility through all of the following except
e. all of the above are linked to obesity
This was a little suprising to me, I knew most of them (menses, decreased sex drive, etc) but the excess male hormone fact was a bit unnerving

7) Obesity ranks ___ among preventable causes of death
a or b
Im accepting both of these answers. Obesity was always ranked second as a preventable cause of death, coming in just behind smoking. However, as of August 31st of this year, the CDC has now switched the two and obesity is 1st. Guess all the smoking taxes and ads have had an effect!

8) How many pounds would a 300 lb person need to lose before they started to see improvements in their health
c. 25-30 lbs
Studies show that losing about 10% of your body weight is all that you need to start seeing improvements in movement, sleep, blood pressure, etc

9) What obesity related disease, typically associated with adults is now being diagnosed in children as young as 5-10 years old in the US
a. Type 2 Diabetes
When children are diagnosed with Diabetes, it is typically type 1 (aka juvenile diabetes). Type two is ususally reserved for those in their 30s or later and is assosiated with being overweight. A lack of activity is what is getting the biggest blame for the increase among children, so get your kids up and moving if youre concerned. The good news is that , unlike type 1 diabetes, type two diabetes can be completely controlled by getting to a heaklthy weight in most cases

10) Approximately ___ of the adult US population is considered obese
c. 30%
I'll also accept 40% for this one too, as there are many possible sources. The CDC estimated that about 1/3 of the adult population is obese, and unfortunately the number just seems to keep going up.


Some suprising facts in there and I hope you learned something!


The Challenge: The Ring of Fire

With a focus on building their endurance, contestants last night had to hold a metal arm that weighs 20% of their weight in a ring 20 feet away. Dropping the arm into the flame eliminates the contestant from the challenge. The last person standing wins. The person who wins the challenge wins a one-pound advantage at the weigh-in, a huge advantage at this point.

After 45 minutes, a few contestants are already out, but an impressive number of them are still in the challenge. It gets down to Rachel, Jay and David. After an amazing 92 minutes one of them finally wins, but I wont spoil it for you

Our challenge this week is also going to be a muscle endurance one, involving three different muscle groups. Arms, legs, and core. You simply get in each position and hold it for as long as possible and then you are done. If you can do any of these for 92 minutes I will be seriously impressed. Tip: do these while watching TV as it might distract you and help you hold on longer, especially if you are watching something inspiring - like last ngiht BL eposide

The three endurance tests:
Legs - wall sit
Arms - arm extension
Core - Plank

Wall sit - put your back against a wall for support and your feet out in front of you. "Sit" down as if you were in an invisible chair. Butt and back against the wall, upper legs parallel to the floor. Make sure you are sitting down to get a good burn! Start timing

Arm Extension - Calculate 20% of your body weight (ie, 30 lbs for a 150 lb person). Grab weights of this amount, hold in your hands and bring your arms up perpendicular to your body at chest level. Hold in this position and time. If you dont have weights or cant lift 20% of your weight, go for a lesser amount, but this exercise should be done holding some weight of some type

Plank - Lay face down on the floor, resting on your forearms under your chest, parallel to the body. Push your body up off the floor so that body weight is supported by the forearms and toes. Tighten your core and make sure your back is straight, that way you are being held up by your core (back and abs) and not just by pusing on your arms. Start timing

Im really curious to know how long people can do all of these so please let us know!

correction health 1971 overall biggest loser week 7. wow girls two out of the three for red team winning overall biggest loser is awsome:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: , lets do it again this week!

How is everyone? Remember to post your weight on spreadsheet, i am not by a computer right now. I am sick with a cold, yuck! Excited for the new year to start.:drinker: