Helen Wins “The Biggest Loser” Season 7

The seventh season finale for The Biggest Loser took place last night and I was absolutely stunned by the results.  This is one of my favorite shows on television (and America must love it too since it’s been able to go head-to-head with heavyweights like American Idol and have great ratings!) and I get very emotionally invested.

The first order of business was to announce whether Ron, or his son, Mike, had been voted into the Top 3.   When they revealed Mikey, I couldn’t believe it.  He had started the competition as a severely obese 18-year-old boy and he emerged as a fit and toned man.  It was unbelievable and I was so thrilled when host, Allison Sweeney, said that Mike would be competing against Tara and Helen.  I thought that the he really deserved the chance to win since he played the game so well and showed over and over again that he’s a sweet and giving person (remember when he gave his grocery prize away to Aubrey who has five kids to feed???).  Besides, I don’t think Ron had many fans after he showed himself to be a master manipulator.  Thank goodness it didn’t backfire on Mikey.

The finale went on for three hours and we got to see how much weight the eliminated contestants lost  since, not only is it interesting, but the person with the highest percentage of weight loss (outside of the Top 3) takes home $100,000.

Imagine my shock when 63-year-old Jerry, who was voted off the show at the beginning after losing consciousness in the gym, beat all of the young contestants by losing 177 pounds and more than half of his body weight!  I really couldn’t believe it and it really inspired me.

There was some disappointment but, mostly, I was amazed by how much weight most of the former contestants had lost.  I have been struggling with my own weight for a few years and I know how hard it is to even lose just five pounds so when I see people get on the scale after they’ve dropped more than 100lbs, it’s just amazing and so inspiring.  That’s why I love this show!

Finally, it was time for the Top 3 to join Allison on the stage.  I was so nervous and I was certain that either Mike or Tara was going to win.  I had really dismissed 48-year-old Helen all together based on the fact that she had the least amount of weight to lose.  When they revealed all of them, I was really shocked.  Helen looked SKINNY (and I’m not even sure if she should be that small but good for her, I guess), Mike looked great (as was revealed earlier) and Tara looked amazing.  I have to admit that I was expecting Tara to be thinner than she was and I was surprised by it, in a good way.  She looked healthy and that’s more important than dress sizes.

After Helen got on the scale, Mike and Tara knew that they had their work cut out for them.  Mike needed to weigh 177 pounds and Tara needed to weigh in at 133.   The pair of them lost to Helen but such a small margin that it was crazy!  Look at their weights:

In the end, Helen beat the odds and was crowned the winner of the seventh season of The Biggest Loser.  I congratulate her and I’m happy for her but I’ve got a couple comments to add.  What do you think of the fact that Helen chose to send her much less motivated, heavier daughter home than herself when she had to choose?  I really thought that was pretty awful, especially when I saw that Shanon really hadn’t lost a lot of weight at the finale.  Also, what do you think of the fact that Helen is so tiny?  I think she looked almost underweight.  Does it send the wrong message?

NBC Photo: Chris Haston