Biggest Loser: Raleigh native released from hospital

Our Biggest Loser correspondent, The N&O's Michelle Aldrich, gives us her recap of last night's show.

OK, so Mr. Tivo and I aren't much for reality TV. "Mad Men," "The Office," and "30 Rock" are what we look forward to. I do like the sub-genre of celeb-reality (i.e. "The Osbornes," "Tori & Dean," "Rachel Zoe") and then a few years ago, we got sucked into NBC's "The Biggest Loser." It's overwhelmingly positive and it's the rare program that gets real about food and weight issues in America.

Episode two kicked off with a very l-e-n-g-t-h-y recap of last week's elimination. So bye bye Alexandra - but the upside was she looked GREAT in the clip showing how well she's doing at home. (I love those.) Julio however, is the target of many dirty looks from contestants questioning his being allowed to remain. He'll have a lot to lose and prove this week.

Host Alison has a proposition for them: if the entire team can collectively lose 150 pounds in one week, NO ONE will go home. Miss the mark? TWO people will be eliminated. 15 contestants remain ... sounds possible, right? Not so fast -- there's the WEEK TWO CURSE! As longtime viewers know (and we're repeatedly reminded over the next 100 minutes), contestants rarely lose much during week two, as their bodies adjust to the extremes of life on the ranch. (And some even gain a few pounds.)

As Daniel from Willow Spring attests: during week 1 of season seven, he lost 30 pounds -- and during week 2? Only THREE.

But Coach Mo of the purple team takes charge with a pep talk. And emphasizes that if everyone works together as a team, "It will be done!"

What do our fearless trainers think of this twist? Well in the words of Jillian, "we might as well send two of 'em home right now!"

Bob leads circuit training and Jillian starts lecturing about nutrition. Much workout screaming from Danny. Dina's freaking out. Rudy gets all motivational. Jillian shows how you can write on Ziploc bags containing pre-portioned snacks. Coach Mo visits Raleigh native Tracey in the hospital. Shay and Daniel kvetch about Julio's lackluster efforts in the gym.

And now Tracey's out of the hospital and back on campus - yeah! She and Bob discuss how since she can't go full throttle exercising, nutrition will be super-critical. So Bob prescribes "Biggest Loser Protein Powder." What? Really Bob?

The whole group takes a field trip to the California Health & Longevity Institute for "Kitchen Boot Camp" with Chef Curtis Stone. This is followed by a quiz. If they can answer 5 out of 8 questions correctly, Alison will award them a 15 lb advantage at the weigh-in. Awesome. We learn that Sean is a soda junkie - "I swim in it!" Ok then.

The team successfully answers 5 of the first 7 questions. Hooray! Just 135 pounds to go.

Next up: group challenge on the waterfront. They have to cross a series of balance beams and should anyone fall into the water - game over. With each section complete, they win incremental prizes - another 5 lb advantage, phone calls home - but the beams narrow. After much wobbling, squealing and commercial breaks -- they win it all. 20 more pounds off their total (bringing the goal to 115) and here come the waterworks ... Phone calls home.

Julio's Mom said to him in Spanish, "You're not crying are you?"

Abby describes "two butterflies" that followed her on a mountain hike ... (SOB!)

Sean learns that his preggo wife is expecting a girl.

And Danny moodily plays his guitar by the pool.

Dang you "Biggest Loser" for making me weep like this! Where's Kelly Osborne when you need her? Ah, she's on "Dancing with the Stars" this season.

Ok. So everyone's feeling great about winning the challenge. They got nice and supportive words from home. They're enjoying lunch from Subway ... Time for Bob and Jillian to provide another WEEK 2 reality check and here comes The Last Chance Workout! (And they actually confer, "Kill Julio!")

And Mr. Tivo's passing me more kleenex ... Why? Shay wants to be happy. After losing her Mom to heroin and surviving the fallout, Bob helps her say that she deserves to be happy. Ohmigoodness.

Let the dreaded week 2 weigh-in begin with two observations from Mr. Tivo

1) "Jillian looks like she belongs on the crew of Battlestar Galactica."

2) "It's just mean the way the ladies have to wear those sports bras while they're awaiting their turn. The guys don't have to remove their t-shirts until it's time to get up on the scale!"

After the 35-pound advantage earned during the week's two challenges, they must lose 115 pounds. Approximately 7 pounds per contestant.

Pink gets off to a slow start with just 10 pounds

Purple loses 19 - yeah Triangle-Tracey who was in the-hospital & Coach Mo!
Red = 19
Green = 21
Brown = 22
Blue = 22
Julio shut everyone up with a loss of 19 pounds!
And Orange lost another 20

So that means 155 pounds altogether! What week 2 curse? This season showed us something different and we're excited to spend another week with this group.