The Biggest Loser Episode 3: Grueling Times On Gumdrop Mountain

This episode was all about bad habits. Here’s what we learned:

• The average kid spends 4 ½ hours a day watching TV;
• Knowledge fights childhood obesity; and
• Being a vegetarian isn’t a healthy choice if you rely on carbs for calories.

The contestants are brought to a room filled with junk food and television. I’m not going to lie, the ice cream sundaes looked amazing.

Challenge! It’s a quiz about childhood obesity. The team that comes in last gets locked in the junk food room for 4 ½ hours a day for the entire week. The Blue Team loses and begins their time in The Room of Temptation and Despair.

The Blue Team’s trainer, Bob, is not happy about this turn of events. Meanwhile, Jillian toned down the yelling and screaming, and the remaining two members of her team are killing their workouts. The Red Team, however, has a dead weight: Cate. Her shins hurt. Shins? No. Power through, Cate.

Bob’s challenge is finding a way to get the Blue Team moving through Candyland. Jillian’s challenge is figuring out why the ladies of The Biggest Loser gained their weight in the first place. Naturally, this involves making them cry. Way to go, Jillian.

The three kids are getting visits from a childhood obesity expert, Dr. Joanna, who is also a nutritionist. Bingo plays about nine hours of video games a day during the weekends, and a little less during the week. Plus, he snacks while playing. The nutritionist cuts that back to two hours per day. Bingo is not happy.

Sunny is a vegetarian, but Dr. Joanna translates that to “carbotarian.” She has Sunny swap out white grains to whole grains.

Lindsay has pre-diabetes, which means her body is not processing insulin and sugar properly. Most children with pre-diabetes will get full diabetes within two years unless they change their diet and eating habits.  Dr. Joanna walks into the kitchen and rids it of an insane amount of junk food. Same for Bingo and Sunny, who appears to be a carbotarian chocoholic.

Challenge time again…and this time it involves carnival rides! Something about gumballs and bubblegum pits. David and Pam have not been cleared by medical, so the sole White Team contestant is merged with the Blue Team. Oh! Prizes! The winning team gets a year of fresh groceries. Apparently there’s The Biggest Loser branded carrots and celery. Do vegetables really need branding?

The contestants get messy and sticky and that gum pit is no joke. Their goals have switched from getting through the pit to not throwing up in the pit. The Red Team wins, and everyone swears off bubblegum forever.

At the weigh-in, the Blue Team does pretty well except for Alex who only lost 4 lbs. In contrast, the Red Team was a giant pile of failure. Jackson, Cate and Lisa all only lost 2 lbs. It’s almost like the Blue Team was sneaking them snacks all week. The White Team gets on the scale and beats the Red Team, which means one member of the Red Team goes home.

It’s up for a vote, and it’s Cate. But no worries, folks. She’s fine. After the show, Cate lost over forty pounds and started training for her first marathon.

What did you think of episode 3? Do you appreciate the child obesity lessons sprinkled throughout the show?

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