And the first biggest loser, Pinoy edition is…
…NOT Larry Martin. Sure, he had the highest weight percentage loss of 39.6 percent compared to the other members of the Fab Five: Art Mendoza, 37.83 percent; Raffy Tan, 34.84 percent; Angela Lupango, 33.63 percent and Hazel Chua, 33.01 percent. Because of his performance, he was declared the first Pinoy biggest loser and went home with one million pesos, a condo unit and other valuable prizes.
In a previous blog, I predicted that Larry and Art would dispute the number one spot and I was dead on. I placed my bet on Art, who placed second.
However, three of the 11 contestants who were eliminated in previous sessions had more impressive numbers. Ryan Razon, who won the at-home competition and got P200,000 for his effort, lost 40.61 percent of his initial weight of 293 lbs. Alan Choachuy missed winning by a measly one pound with 40.45 percent. Eric Limatog's percentage loss was 40.07.
The final weigh-ins of "The Biggest Loser: Pinoy Edition" (TBLPE) were aired live Saturday night on ABS-CBN with much hoopla and fanfare that the Kapamilya network is known for. Program host Sharon Cuneta did two musical numbers. The set was impressive with the latest video technology. The 11 eliminated competitors sang and danced. The network's big boss, Gabby Lopez, announced that aside from the second placer, who would win half a million pesos, the third to fifth placers would also get the same amount.
I was more interested in the weigh-ins. What I found fascinating was that Ryan, eliminated in week 15, Alan voted out in week 9 and Eric sent packing in week 7, accomplished their impressive weight loss away from the camp, away from trainers Chinggay Andrada and Jim Saret, away from the exercise equipment, away from the dietitian. They had to maintain their weight loss program on their own. They had to resist the tempting food and continue exercising without Chinggay and Jim looking over their shoulders. Now, that's what I call discipline.
The Fab Five continued to enjoy the benefits offered by the Biggest Loser camp yet Eric, Alan and Eric did much better than them.
The discrepancy is the weak point in this popular show. One may lose the most weight percentage-wise and still not win. That's because, in the weekly weigh-ins, the show used the weight loss from the previous week instead of using the initial weight from day one as the basis for determining the performance of the contestants. The group then voted on who among the bottom two or three should be eliminated for that week.
Then there were challenges where competitors got bonus points for winning. These gimmicks were designed to attract viewership and I do not fault ABS-CBN and creators Dave Broome, Mark Kops and Ben Silverman for introducing these features. It would be a boring production if all they showed were people exercising and weighing in. However, it still disturbs me that three of the eliminated contestants did better than the winner
On a final note, I was curious before the show started how the Megastar had fared in the weight loss department. Well, she looked like she had lost weight. It helped that she was wearing a dark outfit. She had stated in previous episodes of TBLPE that she got inspired by the contestants. How can she not get inspired? Eboy, whose starting weight was 481 lbs, the heaviest in the group and one of the heaviest in the world, lost 139 lbs. Joy lost 110 lbs., the best performance among the female contestants.
This is what Sharon said in May: "I'm getting back to my old figure. I'm kinder to myself. I'm giving myself the time that my body needs, hindi yung nagmamadali ako na pag nag-rebound, tataba na naman ako."
It was quite obvious that she has not embarked on a crash diet and that she's trying to lose weight gradually. I hope she sticks to her physical fitness program not only because her fans want to see her back on the big screen but also because we all want her to lead a long, healthy life.
Disclaimer: The views and observations of the author do not represent the position of Yahoo! Southeast Asia on the issue or topic being discussed.
