A Woman Finally Wins: Congrats Ali, Winner of the Biggest Loser: Couples

This season of The Biggest Loser (Couples) ended with a first for the show - a female won the competition for the very first time!

Following last week's episode, we were left with a bit of a cliffhanger, when America was left to choose who would be the last to be eliminated from the contestants who remained on the Biggest Loser ranch. Judging by a poll asking who deserved to win, conducted prior to the finale on The Biggest Loser's website, it came as no surprise that Mark was eliminated at the finale.

That's not to say that Mark was not a worthy competitor. In all honesty, all four people who remained on the ranch deserved their position. Each one had fought hard, shedding equal parts tears and sweat to lose the amount of weight that they did (though Mark's frequent tears became a bit of a running joke at the finale).

With the remaining three contestants, Roger, Ali, and Kelly, we were reintroduced to the contestants that had been eliminated earlier in the show, to find out who won the at-home prize. Though the at-home contestants had spent more time at home, with the lack of trainer supervision and temptations of real-life than the contestants who remained at the Biggest Loser ranch, many of them looked incredible.

For the at-home contestants, it came down to Bernie, Dan, and Mark, who were all very close in percentage of total weight loss. Each contestant looked like a completely different person, and you could see their reignited enthusiasm for life in both their facial expressions than in their actions.

After the percentages of weight loss for the at-home contestants were calculated, Dan lost out to Bernie, and then it came down to that one single pound - the one that had been haunting Mark all season, and it finally cost him his win, as Bernie cheered and shed joyful tears.

The show then turned it's attention to the contestants who were still eligible for the grand prize. Looking at the contestants who had returned, it was hard to tell who would be the winner. On the previous week's episode, Ali had the highest percentage of weight loss, but Roger came back to the finale looking even more fit and trim than he had when he left the ranch.

Six weeks at home had paid off for all three of these contestants. They had all had their own challenges at home - Roger hit a plateau, Kelly had a herniated disc, and Ali was faced with temptation, but, in the end, Ali took the prize, losing a fantastic 112 pounds and 46% of her body weight.

Prior to announcing the winner, recaps were shown of each contestant's journey, and I think one of the most poignant moments in the recaps was showing Roger talking to his son on the phone early on in the competition. His son asks him to bring home a prize, and he tells him he will. Even though he didn't win the grand prize, he still brought home the best prize that any child could get - a father who can run and play with him, a father who has added years to his life, and best of all, a father who can set a good example for his son.

As Jillian said at the end, I think it's great that a woman finally won - and not for "girl power" reasons. As a woman, I find it so discouraging that weight loss can be so difficult and so slow, especially if your metabolism is sluggish (though that does improve with exercise). Ali's win can serve as an example for all women that they can do it, too - she wasn't a celebrity who could afford expensive treatment, and though she had the help of the Biggest Loser trainers, she was still the one who was mainly responsible for her success.

In one solitary criticism of the show itself, for the at-home viewer who may not know a whole lot about nutrition or weight loss, I think it's important to emphasize in future seasons that the rate of weight loss achieved by the contestants on the show is being monitored carefully by doctors and trainers, and that a weight loss of 1-2 pounds a week is what is considered healthy. A viewer who isn't as knowledgeable about weight loss might think that the trainer's criticism of contestants when they only lose 1-2 pounds a week means that losing 1-2 pounds a week is a bad thing. In reality, any loss is good, and if you keep at it, it will pay off.

In getting back to a discussion of The Biggest Loser finale, though, in the entire group, there was not one sore loser, and with good reason - even the contestants who didn't win a monetary prize still won something even more priceless. They gave themselves the gift of health and years added to their lives.