Going to Be On a Reality Show? Watch Previous Episodes!

I don’t get why someone on a reality show would get tripped up by anything they are asked to do. Do these people even watch the show they apply for? Why apply and interview and sign all those waivers if you don’t have a clue what is to come?

In episode 2 of The biggest Loser Season 9, white team’s Maria is asked to walk across a balance beam over a pool. As challenges go, this one is pretty routine. About half of the weekly challenges involve falling into a pool. Every season. Every year. Maria is so afraid of water that can’t make herself walk out over the pool even once. Not even one step, in fact. She works herself into such a fear state that she accidentally throws herself off the balance beam, landing face first onto the concrete floor. She breaks her nose and blood gushes everywhere. It’s a seriously bad situation.

I am just curious why Maria didn’t realize there would be water based challenges at the Biggest Loser Ranch.

My husband and his sister are watching every ep of Amazing Race to help them in their bid to get on the show. But Dan is a naturally researchy person. Some people would not think to do that, I guess. I know the current season’s Tongan boys mentioned they were also not Biggest Loser fans per se, but caught a few episodes of the season with Tongan cousins Sione and Felipe. That inspired them to try for the show. I really hope they sat down and religiously watched past episodes after they were casted.

I see this kind of thing on America’s Next Top Model too - where some girls get caught totally off guard about some things. Sometimes they are shocked someone cuts their hair off, or refuse to do the nude modeling shoots. Some of these girls have never walked in heels before. They cry during the inevitable CoverGirl commercial shoots because they can’t remember their lines; well, there is a CoverGirl commercial done every season. They don’t KNOW it’s coming? Get someone to help you run a few lines before you head out. And the girls don’t read up on designers and photographers…knowing Tyra is going to ask them industry questions. A half hour on the Internet would give them a few top designers and photographers to respond with. Every season some girls can’t name a single designer, or mangle their way through pronouncing the ones they dredge up. Want to be a model? Learn your craft!

You’d think wannabe models would be die-hard fans of the show and be prepared for these things.

I don’t watch any other reality shows, so I don’t know if this kind of ’show ignorance’ is rampant. But I’d think there would be no excuse for it.

On The Biggest Loser, there WILL be water based challenges, and height based ones, and sometimes both together in one challenge. There WILL be temptations. Jillian WILL climb on your body and scream in your face. Jillian will make you cry, and Bob will curse at you if you don’t join his cult. If you water load at weight-ins, people will know what you did. Betrayals in the elimination room will come back to haunt you. Sometimes eliminated players get to come back. You are expected to sweat buckets in that gym and you will probably vomit sometimes. And on and on.

Moral: you get selected to be on a reality show? Great! Now go watch every episode ever filmed.

Biggest Loser Episode 2, Season 9

I really enjoyed ep 2 - even though Maria got herself pretty banged up (that was a LOT of blood!), I loved how Jillian took her by the hand in the rainy pool and showed her that she was as strong as she wanted to be. That was pretty awesome. And Maria ROCKED it at the weight in, which I did not expect. I was so happy, because Micheal is my favorite and I want to see him there as long as possible. I believe he can go from 526 pounds to something fit and happy by the show’s end.

This was also the infamous Dr Death episode. Usually Dr H tells people their body’s real age each ep 2, and scares them with MRIs/body xrays of their own fat. I have to say that I’ve never been so shocked as to see how much fat some of these people are carrying compared to their tiny little organs and bones. Tiny little lungs! Overstressed joints! Ouch!

Bob putting 300 pounds onto his 200 pound frame was also a surprise. They never did that to him before. Bob looked like he was in tremendous pain from just trying to take a few steps. Amazing that these folks are running on treadmills and lifting weights, and big kudos to their determination.

Watching what Orange Nation eats in a day was unpleasant. I didn’t expect Jillian would actually go through with eating any of that. Almost every dish they showed looked fatty, fried, processed or sugary. I think there was ONE item (a taco) that had a few little veggies on it. As Jillian said, “this isn’t food!”

The challenge over the pool looked fun. I have really good balance, so I think I would have done well. Poor Patty had her work cut out for her with no sensation in her lower legs and feet; good for her for making it across the one time she did. She looked very proud of herself.

When Patty was under the line, I knew she would ask to go and let her daughter stay. I think it was the right call. Patty is down from nine medications to two, and looking to be meds-free by finale. Great big kudos to her!

Tonight we have episode three! I’ll be working out while watching.

Addicted to Stress - weaning yourself from adrenaline

I’ve been reading about how people these days are addicted to stress. Our society encourages it. I always considered myself an ‘involvaholic’ - too many things going on all the time, until I read somewhere about how this exhausts our adrenals and burns us out. Our bodies are not meant to run off adrenaline and cortisol except in true emergency situations.

I decided to stop living on adrenaline. One of the things I did was get away from caffeine. I drink decaf coffee, for one thing. Caffeine stimulates the adrenal glands. I know decaf is not totally devoid of caffeine, but it doesn’t get me jittery at all, and I don’t get a headache if I miss a day. And there are tons of yummy brands of decaf these days.

Weaning oneself off full-caff coffee and caffeinated sodas is one of the first steps to getting away from needing adrenaline to get through the day. And it’s a much easier one than getting into the nitty gritty of examining one’s life.

The next step is to take a look at what you do each day that gives you a ‘kick.’ Waiting for deadlines to approach is definitely one of these things! As a ex-journalist, I lived for deadlines. There was an exhilaration to it all.

Then eventually I burned out. Now I resist anything that requires me to write by a certain date. It bugs me to even have a deadline; just having one gives me anxiety. I don’t think I ever would have developed a clinical anxiety problem if I didn’t live on adrenaline for so long.

So everyone should take a look at the things you do, on a daily basis, that bring you stress.  Make a list of the things you can eliminate from your life, and don’t be afraid to make a big change to protect your health and sanity. Learn to ask for help if you need it, and learn to say no to more tasks. Decide to spend more time in relaxing activities - make a daily prescription of it!

I am trying to find peaceful contentment and creatively joyful activities to pursue these days. I want to live on proper fuels, like glucose and amino acids, and reserve adrenaline for its intended emergency use. You never know when you will need to have that adrenaline reserve ready to go, instead of having burned out adrenal glands.  :)

Living on Adrenaline, Decreasing Stress

All evidence these days points to stress as a major contributor to ill-health, in both body and mind. Apparently stress stimulates the body to respond with creating the hormone cortisol (in the adrenals).

Cortisol is the flight and fight hormone. High and prolonged levels of cortisol decrease bone density and muscle mass and increase sugar imbalances. Cortisol leads to increased abdominal fat. Also, cortisol inhibits collage formation (hello, wrinkles!).

About.com writes, “Studies have also shown that people who secrete higher levels of cortisol in response to stress also tend to eat more food, and food that is higher in carbohydrates than people who secrete less cortisol.” http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm

The wikipedia explains that cortisol addiction also contributes to clinical depression. The Mayo Clinic lays things out clearly about the negative effects of allowing stress to continue eating away at your body: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress/SR00001

In our modern world, we’ve created a high-stress culture using adrenaline as a fuel source. The adrenals were never meant to be stimulated like this - it’s a very unhealthy fuel.

I’ve been seriously working to decrease stress in my life. I don’t think we take stress seriously enough; we just live with it. Trying to actually eliminate stress is a worthwhile goal! And one I do not think is too far out of line. The adrenals are intended to help us work through temporary stressful situations - ones that we cannot control. Using cortisol as a daily fuel; that was never intended. That is what I am going to work on eliminating from my life.

Soap and Lotions Company reduces Carbon Footprint

Eclectic Lady, a one-woman home-based company that makes yummy soaps, sachets, lotions, room sprays and smelly jellies, announced recently their commitment to environmental packaging and principles.

From their press release:

Reducing Our Carbon Footprint:

As a long-time fan of Eclectic Lady’s products, I was thrilled to see that not only am I supporting a work at home mom company, but I am making sure the products I use are not hugely contributing to the planet’s waste stream.

I recommend the perfume oils, the room sprays and the smelly jellies for making your world smell great. The fair-trade African products are also unrivaled.

Joined the Tough Love Weight Loss Support Forum

Press Release from TLWL:
Tough Love Weight Loss is a free support community, where members upload their weight loss video diaries, blog about their weight loss struggles, seek out others for advice and also give advice - all with truth as the most important factor for accountability.

Visit Tough Love Weight Loss

The Tough Love comes into play when members hold each other accountable for their actions, and when they show support for their successes and failures, always putting the member first, even when the member is unable to.

Tough Love Weight Loss (TLWL) is having several contests and is in process of a membership drive. For example, if you get 50 people to sign up, you will win $50!

Come by each Saturday to see Stephanie’s new weight loss video diary. Other members are joining in too. Stephanie started the community in order to get support for herself, and to help support others differently than in the past. She doesn’t want to be coddled or told it is OK to cheat. She wants to be held accountable.

Tough Love Weight Loss holds members accountable for their actions. Join here: ToughLoveWeightLoss.com

For more information see: TLWL or email owner@toughloveweightloss.com. TLWL is seeking weight loss stories, donations for member prizes, and partnerships.

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Note from me: I always go up and down with my level of fitness and want to stay on track for good. I joined this group to be able to maintain my weight and be held accountable! I recommend joining (it’s free) and getting to know this great group of ladies. Everyone cares and will root you on…and help you stay accountable to yourself. If you join, tell them HippyGeek sent you.

What Do You Have in Your Home Gym?

I love working out at home. It’s so much easier to keep up with fitness when it’s in the comfort of my own living room, in front of MY TV, with good sound, temperature control and all the comforts of home. I don’t have to worry about what I am wearing (I can work out in my pajamas if i want to), I am not bothered by other people and their sweat/germs, I don’t have to wait for equipment, I don’t have to drive anywhere, and it’s far cheaper to own something than rent something, which is in essence what you are doing at a gym.

My home gym set up: In the livingroom, we have a treadmill and skiing type machine, yoga/stetch mats (also yoga block and strap), two twist boards, pullup/crunches bar, a weighted medicine ball, hand weights, a fitness ball, ab roller, a jump rope, a stretch rope for resistance training, boxing gloves and various workout DVDs (yoga, trance dance, tai chi, chi gong, Tae bo). While we watch TV each night we climb on our machines and work out. I’d love to add a punching bag and a Wii Fit system.

These are all things we’ve added to the mix over time. We use them all. I love having these options at home, in front of my own TV/DVD player (if I am watching something, I can’t get bored). We hardly even just sit there on the couch like vegetables. Even just stretching is making good use of our TV time.

I also have my walking, running and hiking shoes by the door. I count that as home gym stuff too.

If someone was just starting out, and didn’t have much room, I’d suggest getting a twist board (under ten dollars at Amazon.com), a yoga mat, a weighted ball (4 or 6 pounds is plenty), very light hand weights (1 or 3 pounds), and some DVDs with movement training that interests you (martial arts? kickboxing? yoga? Jane Fonda doing aerobics?). I’d suggest getting a used treadmill from Craigslist for $100, or a cycle machine (used these can be like $20).

Or go the Wii route and not worry about getting anything else.  Between all the fitness choices they’ve added, you get your whole virtual gym covered.

Do you have any home fitness equipment? Do you use it? what would you have in your perfect home gym?

Twitter Grade

I just checked my Hubspot Twitter Grade for HippyGeek - scored a 97 out of 100, and apparently there is nothing for me to improve on. I like hearing that! I need constant positive strokes to fuel my self esteem.

Here’s my badge:

I’m not sure exactly what they are basing the grade on. Follow ratio? Amount or frequency of tweets? Mixture of tweet types?

Have you checked your Twitter Grade? Twitter Grader

Saving Money by Eliminating Budget Items

Are there things you pay for each month that are not actually necessary? Depending on how frugal you need to be, there are plenty of things that can be worked around.

For example, having a land lone phone isn’t as important as it was not long ago. DH and I get along pretty well with cell phones. And we are staring to think that even cell phones are not crucial, since Skype is so cheap.

We don’t have cable for TV since we can watch just about everything online. We download older series’ and we use hulu mostly for new programs.

We don’t pay for trash service; I take care of recycling on my own, compost what i can, reduce my waste as much as possible, and trash what is left in various dumpsters or in friend’s trash bins. This saves us $18 a month, which does add up. It makes me feel happy to be more self-reliant, and it’s a fun game to see how little waste my household can produce.

We’ve changed over all our regular, wasteful lightbulbs to compact florescent bulbs from the dollar store. This will save us hundreds of dollars each year on our electric bills! I’m not off the grid yet, but someday I dream we will power our home completely from solar sources.

We buy used for most of our clothes, shoes, outdoor gear, gardening tools, home decor and books. There are thrift stores, garage sales, craigslist, ebay, etc.

We work out at home and outside rather than having a gym membership, using home equipment, walking and hiking shoes, yoga mats, fitness DVS and a pullup bar. (no, i can’t do a pullup, but dan can. I just hang from it)

Since we work at home, we really only use the one car. We’ve lived in many places where we only have one vehicle, halving all kinds of associated fees.

What ways do others find to keep their budget items low and eliminate costs entirely?