Biggest Loser: Jackson Steps Up

So for first few weeks of this season’s “The Biggest Loser,” Utah contestant Jackson Carter only had modest weight loss. In fact, he was in danger of going home last week when his team lost the weight-in, especially because workouts made him vomit, and he was medically unable to contribute in team challenges.

But, as some of his teammates put it,  “Action Jackson showed up this week.” With the trainers gone working with the teenage contestants most of the week, it was up to the teams to run their own workouts, and Jackson stepped up as a leader.  He also finished the 10K challenge, and saw a big drop on the scale of 12 pounds.  Perhaps his body is finally getting in synch and letting go of the weight.  Trainer Dolvett praised him for going above and beyond expectations.

Dolvett didn’t have similar praise for Jackson’s teammate Joe, who seemed to have a hard time sticking to the workouts and ended up losing just 7 pounds.

During the last chance workout, Jillian badgered Jeff from the blue team, accusing him of “phoning it in” with his workouts.  Jeff didn’t deal well with her in-your-face treatment, and gave it right back to her, which will probably mean she’ll make his life miserable until he ends up getting sent home.

Bob, who has seen his share of Jillian tantrums over the years, even seemed stymied by her meltdown.  Jeff ended up only losing 6 pounds, so maybe she had reason to be concerned. But her tactics were over the top.

“The negative reinforcement thing, it doesn’t work for me,” Jeff said. Hmmm. Maybe Jillian should take a look around her and see if it’s working for anyone else. Because four of her five team members are gone.  When Dani won the 5K, she praised Jillian for pushing her. But there’s a line between pushing and shoving.

In fact, if the show really wants to stop the bullying of overweight people, it should start with its trainer.