(S09E03) The theme this week at the Biggest Loser Ranch was apparently anger. The first part of the episode focused on the Green team. Migdalia, the daughter, does a great job of bottling her emotions, thinking of tears as weakness. But those defensive walls almost prove her undoing. I thought her anger issues would be all we might get, but by the end of the episode, there was anger, bitterness and resentment flying all around.

Alison lets the contestants know that this week will be Student-Teacher week. One teammate will be the teacher, and will be the only one training with Bob and Jillian. The other teammate will be the Student. The only training they'll receive will be at the hands of the Teacher, and only the Student's weight will determine which team falls below the yellow line.

After that, she threw an Immunity Challenge at them that had more twists and turns in the way it played out than it did in what the contestants were actually doing.

That may be my all-time favorite challenge, too. Alison had the Teachers tangle ribbon all throughout a playground, under the impression that someone else would be unraveling it. As such, Michael of the White Team, made his insanely difficult. After they were done, Ali revealed that in fact the Student from their own team would be rolling back up their handiwork, and they'd be doing so blindfolded and guided by the Teacher.

What a gloriously devious thing to do. Poor Maria, Michael's mother, was beside herself trying to undo the knot of messes her son had made. In fact, his twists proved the undoing of several of the teams, except for the Pink Team, which seemed to thwart themselves at the very beginning of the ribbon. In the end, the Gray Team pulled out a victory, earning Immunity and the ability to switch one team's Teacher-Student positions at the weigh-in.

Pink Team had won the first challenge, in one of the lowest calorie temptations I've ever seen. M&M's (or cheap knock-offs) were the temptation. Eating one at a time, the last person still eating would win. Michael and Sherry were the only two who ate the first one, and then Sherry was the only one to eat the second. Three pieces of candy total eaten: 15 calories. I wondered what they were going to do with all the candy that was left ... man, I love M&M's.

For the most part, Pink seemed to choose teams based on what combination they thought would help that team do the best at the weigh-in. In fact, they wound up more worried about their choice of Ashley as the Student on their own team, going up against mostly bigger guys.

Through much of the episode, the focus was on Jillian and Bob's attempts to break through Migdalia's defensive walls of anger and frustration. Jillian's "mean" tactic didn't work, as she anticipated, and Migdalia stormed away ready to quit the show; also as Jillian anticipated. Bob got to play "good cop" and convince her to stay. What was great to see was her mother, Miggy, reiterating some of the points that Jillian had made. Here is a woman Migdalia will listen to, so hopefully she can begin to tackle some of her demons. The Green Team has been a tough one from the beginning, so I'd love to see them find happiness along with their successes.

At the weigh-in, the Gray Team expressed their disappointment in Michael's lack of commitment by switching him from Teacher to Student for the White Team. In the end, he didn't lose enough, sending the White Team below the yellow line. In looking at the final numbers, it looked like they would have fallen below anyway, as Maria's performance was actually worse than her son's.

Red Team's Maria followed up a one-pound gain last week with a one-pound loss this week, setting Bob and Jillian off into a tirade against her for throwing weigh-ins. She denied it, they screamed at her, her husband Lance couldn't even talk (I'll bet he's pissed!), and there's no way we're done with this one.

Honoring Maria's wishes, the Gray Team along with everyone except the makeshift team of John and Stephanie, voted to send her home and keep Michael on the Ranch. She showed that she has lost another 20 or so pounds at home and continues to directly face her fear of the water.

Maria's an amazing woman, but after listening to Koli and Sam, I kind of have to agree with them about Michael. He's kind of been coasting along, enjoying the ride. Sure, he's had double-digit losses each week, but coming in at 526 pounds, he'd have to try hard not to in this environment. He really needs to step up his game, as I really do like him. I'd just love to see that drive in him that I'm seeing in so many of the others.

[Catch up with clips and full episodes of The Biggest Loser on SlashControl.]

My Pound for Pound Challenge

You know, this is harder than it looks on paper. My total weight loss since I started this adventure now is sitting at a one-pound gain. That's right, I clocked in at 225 tonight, three pounds higher than last week. To be completely transparent, I did stand on the scale yesterday at one point (I know I said I wouldn't) and it showed a 223; I tend to fluctuate a lot. The bottom line is that what I did this past week didn't get the job done.

I did get my hands on Jillian Michaels' 30-Day Shred workout video. To give you an idea of what terrible shape I'm in, the morning of this latest episode was the first time I was able to work completely through the Level One workout on it without feeling like I was about to pass out. I picked up a couple of five-pound weights, and found some good jogging pants for colder weather, so I'm hoping to get outside some this week as well.

I'm not going to get discouraged over a bad week, because weight loss is a marathon and not a sprint. I had a lot of distractions, including a massive project that consumed every moment of free time I've had, but that's the way life is. I've got a long way to go, and even some extra time as I'm not going to stop working out when The Biggest Loser goes on its Olympic-sized hiatus.

With an exercise regime taking shape that really is making me feel the burn on a regular basis, it's time to focus more on diet. I can and will do this because it's now or start looking ahead to 250 pounds, and how much a new wardrobe is going to cost me.