Ketzel July 15, 2014 Share July 15, 2014 From TV Guide: Nina Davuluri, 2014 Miss America, helps a 329-lb. 29-year-old makeup artist lose weight Link to comment
Greeneyedlady July 16, 2014 Share July 16, 2014 I know this is a cliche' but Brandi really did have a beautiful face, even before the weight loss. Link to comment
DietCokeJunkie July 16, 2014 Share July 16, 2014 Brandi did look beautiful at the finale, but I could not get past her anger and attitude at the 9-month weigh in. Yes, it's upsetting to learn that a private investigator has been monitoring your workout schedule, but you signed up for this show to lose weight. Chris can't help you if you lie to him. Maybe he should have told her someone would be checking in to see if she was exercising? I don't know. 1 Link to comment
Whimsy July 16, 2014 Share July 16, 2014 Brandi did look beautiful at the finale, but I could not get past her anger and attitude at the 9-month weigh in. Yes, it's upsetting to learn that a private investigator has been monitoring your workout schedule, but you signed up for this show to lose weight. Chris can't help you if you lie to him. Maybe he should have told her someone would be checking in to see if she was exercising? I don't know. I agree 1000%. How could she sit there all pissed off that Chris "did that" to her??? She was the one lying!! Ugh. I hate when liars get caught and they're pissed at the person who caught them and get all indignant about it. I don't know, overall I didn't enjoy this one. Admittedly, I was also dealing with my dog who was freaking out over thunder and lightening so I wasn't paying full attention. I missed the final number. Did she just make it, or was it more than her final goal? 1 Link to comment
AV8n July 16, 2014 Share July 16, 2014 The Heidi pregnancy merry-go-round this season is making me nauseous. First she's pregnant, then she's not, then again, then not. I know they are showing stuff out of order, but it makes it look like she is churning out about half a dozen little Powells with very short gestational periods. I'm a little lost on the purpose of the PI being on a 3-way call. She was just sitting there shaking her head and talking to the camera. I was wanting her to chime in with a "bullshit" or two at least. And doesn't Chris have cameras in the house? So is a PI sitting outside really necessary? 1 Link to comment
Ketzel July 16, 2014 Author Share July 16, 2014 Sigh. Brandi going on the attack with Chris after he caught her lying to him brought back a lot of bad memories. There are so many people whose response in that situation is "How dare you catch me?" rather than "I'm sorry I lied to you." I'm always taken aback by people who get all indignant that they weren't trusted, after it's become perfectly obvious that they weren't trustworthy in the slightest. 3 Link to comment
DietCokeJunkie July 16, 2014 Share July 16, 2014 GenL, Brandi's revised goal for the final weigh-in was 180. She came in at 178. 1 Link to comment
ramble July 16, 2014 Share July 16, 2014 I agree with what everyone is saying. Brandi's defensive & angry attitude about being caught in lies put a shadow over the rest of the show. Why didn't Chris address that? He confronted her & then ignored it. She didn't just not go workout, she boldly lied about her schedule. To me that spells trouble after the cameras are off for good. I thought she was a very pretty girl but her attitude took away a lot of that beauty. 2 Link to comment
Corvino July 16, 2014 Share July 16, 2014 Oh Lord yes, her smug smirk when taxed with lying about her workouts was off-putting and depressing. Presumably the smirk was pasted on to cover up chagrin (I hope). The hairdresser they've got for the way premature "makeovers" on this show seems to see making the person's hair stick straight up in front as the answer to everything. I hate that style! Bangs 4 ever! So I thought it really detracted from Bruce and Melissa's looks for a while (I missed Dave; did he get that too?) and was cheered by the thought they couldn't do that to Brandi with her short curls. But they did, curls lifted off the forehead. Not quite as bad as the others, but still in my opinion a minus. She really was SO pretty above the neck at the beginning of the show; at the finale, she was pretty in an entirely different way (the hair was so completely unrelated) and kind of unrecognizable. It's frustrating that we didn't get to see the result of skin removal surgery for her when she so particularly needed it; the jacket and evening gown were presumably to cover up the look of those arms and legs with tons of loose skin. It was already loose when she began!! I'd think she could have had the surgery at 204 pounds (or 278) just as well as at 199! I'm being shallow, but the show is so much about looks, so... Link to comment
Whimsy July 16, 2014 Share July 16, 2014 The hairdresser they've got for the way premature "makeovers" on this show seems to see making the person's hair stick straight up in front as the answer to everything. I hate that style! Bangs 4 ever! So I thought it really detracted from Bruce and Melissa's looks for a while (I missed Dave; did he get that too?) and was cheered by the thought they couldn't do that to Brandi with her short curls. But they did, curls lifted off the forehead. Not quite as bad as the others, but still in my opinion a minus. She really was SO pretty above the neck at the beginning of the show; at the finale, she was pretty in an entirely different way (the hair was so completely unrelated) and kind of unrecognizable. It's frustrating that we didn't get to see the result of skin removal surgery for her when she so particularly needed it; the jacket and evening gown were presumably to cover up the look of those arms and legs with tons of loose skin. It was already loose when she began!! I'd think she could have had the surgery at 204 pounds (or 278) just as well as at 199! I'm being shallow, but the show is so much about looks, so... Yeah, I've noticed that the initial make-overs suck. They do practically nothing different with the hair and the clothes are often poor choices. So, do they just send the person out to do these things on their own with no input? When a person losses that much weight that fast they don't know HOW to dress for their new body type. I was really curious what happened to her huge arm tattoo. Did most of it get cut off with skin removal? How did that affect the design? I was hoping to see that and then she came out in a jacket. Oh well. Link to comment
WhineandCheez July 16, 2014 Share July 16, 2014 That whole private investigator thing is a production ploy. If she doesn't show up for a work out, the trainer, WHO THE SHOW HIRES, can call the company and report it. They have to kill 2 hours somehow. I would be please as punch if I ate family packs of meat and potatoes every Friday cheat day, and bags of chips, and skipped workouta and only came in 4 pounds over my inflated 3rd quarter goal weight? makes no sense. And Chris sadly shakes his head like Brandi just stomped on a puppy. It's so stupid. If I had the worlds most enormous arms as Brandi did, I wouldn't call everyone' attention to them with a huge-ass tattoo. Now let me go and adjust my knit horizontally-striped skirt... 2 Link to comment
ramble July 16, 2014 Share July 16, 2014 If I had the worlds most enormous arms as Brandi did, I wouldn't call everyone' attention to them with a huge-ass tattoo. Now let me go and adjust my knit horizontally-striped skirt... Hahaha! This made me snort. It's a good thing I wasn't wolfing down some of my Sunday Funday pile o'food, or the snort would've been most unfortunate. 1 Link to comment
absolutelyido July 17, 2014 Share July 17, 2014 I'm pretty sure Brandi will gain all the weight back, plus maybe more. She was too thrilled about her Sunday cheat day binges and too lax in her exercising to stick with a program to keep the weight off. Link to comment
k2p2 July 17, 2014 Share July 17, 2014 I agree with everything so far: pretty girl at any weight, no ownership of sketchy behaviors, still has some skills to fine-tune if she wants to be successful in the long haul. So... What's up with her dad? There was more than one mention of him being critical of her weight, but precious little pop psychology encouraging her to confront him. It's not like the show to let that opportunity pass by. Also, her mother was quite a bit overweight. How does that fit into the equation? 2 Link to comment
Mrsjumbo July 17, 2014 Share July 17, 2014 She lost 74 lbs in 90 days. Chris's first words are "what happened?" And all of the disappointment over 4 measly lbs at the 9 mo weigh in. This is why shows like this & TBL make me angry. I did like when they showed her breakup & when Chris talked about emotional weight weighing you down as much as physical weight. So true. I agree the PI was stupid. Her trainer would have called Chris after a few skipped sessions. Why hadn't she trained in open water swimming? It is so different than swimming in a pool. She is a beautiful girl, even at her heaviest. I suppose she chose that outfit at the finale because she did not have the surgery so the jacket hid her sagging arms. & the dress hid sagging legs. 1 Link to comment
Ketzel July 17, 2014 Author Share July 17, 2014 I have to say I am somewhat curious at what job would require a (free lance?) makeup artist to work 12 to 14 hours a day. And this is the second time a participant has come home from the boot camp to have to begin working 12 to 14 hour days (Dave the Chef, also). Obviously, if you are working over eighty or more hours a week, it's going to be hard to put in hours-long daily workouts, plus plan and cook healthy meals. And to me it also raises the question, if Brandi were actually working those hours, why would the PI be reporting she wasn't leaving her house? Was she only under surveillance on her days off? 2 Link to comment
Canada July 17, 2014 Share July 17, 2014 I thought it was hilarious that the woman she gave the gift certificate to at the end was smaller than her! Maybe she should have given it to herself. She should have given it to her mother, who could barely walk with out assistance. I found Brandi annoying and I FF'ed through most of the episode. 1 Link to comment
Lola16 July 17, 2014 Share July 17, 2014 I think a bigger deal should have been made about the extreme pig outs on cheat days and all the skipped workouts. It doesn't look like Brandi is used to being held accountable for her actions or lack of. I did appreciate that they didn't award her the skin surgery when she missed her weigh-in goals repeatedly. I think they did Brandi a huge disservice if they truly didn't address her issues and lack of effort. Brandi did look beautiful at the finale, but I could not get past her anger and attitude at the 9-month weigh in. Yes, it's upsetting to learn that a private investigator has been monitoring your workout schedule, but you signed up for this show to lose weight. Chris can't help you if you lie to him. Maybe he should have told her someone would be checking in to see if she was exercising? The best defense is a good offense. I had a former bf like that. That's how I knew he was lying because he'd come out swinging (figuratively and literally at times) when asked about a lie. GenL, Brandi's revised goal for the final weigh-in was 180. She came in at 178. What was her original goal? I agree with what everyone is saying. Brandi's defensive & angry attitude about being caught in lies put a shadow over the rest of the show. Why didn't Chris address that? He confronted her & then ignored it. She didn't just not go workout, she boldly lied about her schedule. To me that spells trouble after the cameras are off for good. I thought she was a very pretty girl but her attitude took away a lot of that beauty. I don't always like the deep dive into psychological problems but this episode skipped over the whole thing. She needs to learn to take ownership and nothing that was shown addressed that. I have to say I am somewhat curious at what job would require a (free lance?) makeup artist to work 12 to 14 hours a day. And this is the second time a participant has come home from the boot camp to have to begin working 12 to 14 hour days (Dave the Chef, also). Obviously, if you are working over eighty or more hours a week, it's going to be hard to put in hours-long daily workouts, plus plan and cook healthy meals. And to me it also raises the question, if Brandi were actually working those hours, why would the PI be reporting she wasn't leaving her house? Was she only under surveillance on her days off? Pageants or fashion shows? Not sure but I don't think it was a 12 hour day 5x a week permanent gig. Link to comment
Canada July 17, 2014 Share July 17, 2014 It could be TV or movie work as well. They work really long days on set. Link to comment
auntie thesis July 17, 2014 Share July 17, 2014 (edited) I didn't care much for Brandi. There. I said it. I did like that this was a Chris episode with minimal Heidi. I also like the Triathlon training guy, although I did think that a half Ironman was a big ambitious for a six month goal. I really don't have much to say that hasn't been said already. Shitty makeovers? Check. Liar McLiarface caught lying? Check. Unresolved daddy issues? Check. Messy breakup that was awkward to watch on camera? Check. Overworked person trying to get into an unrealistic health routine? Check. Chris' unwarranted indignation at the weigh ins? Check. Why no skin surgery? Check. Girl had some vicious bingo wings and was in need of skin removal surgery. If Josh and Dave got skin surgery for their gut overhang and mantits, then why couldn't Brandi get it for her bingo wings? Big wah-wah over her missing the mark by 4lbs and that was enough for the show to say "Fuck no, you cannot have your bingo wings removed!" to her? Didn't make sense to me, but this show rarely does. Edited July 17, 2014 by auntie thesis 2 Link to comment
Lola16 July 17, 2014 Share July 17, 2014 I don't think Brandi missed the goal by 4 lbs. It was much larger than that. And they revised the goals each time she missed one. They said she could have it if she was 180 or less and she managed to attain that at the end. Anyone catch what kind of noodles Rocco D used? That salisbury steak looked like dog food to me and that also didn't look like 1 serving size. Link to comment
4leafclover July 18, 2014 Share July 18, 2014 Anyone catch what kind of noodles Rocco D used? Shirataki noodles--I've tried them, they're gross. 1 Link to comment
jonesingjay July 18, 2014 Share July 18, 2014 Girl had some vicious bingo wings and was in need of skin removal surgery. If Josh and Dave got skin surgery for their gut overhang and mantits, then why couldn't Brandi get it for her bingo wings? Big wah-wah over her missing the mark by 4lbs and that was enough for the show to say "Fuck no, you cannot have your bingo wings removed!" to her? Didn't make sense to me, but this show rarely does. Probably because she was quite unpleasant and they wanted to stick it to her. Link to comment
Lola16 July 18, 2014 Share July 18, 2014 Brandi is getting the surgery --- she just didn't get it at the 3/4 mark because she missed all her goals including the revised ones and it was for a lack of trying. It would have been way worse to reward that behavior. Link to comment
zxy556575 July 18, 2014 Share July 18, 2014 Well, hell. I think Brandi was unpleasant at times and is at a very high risk of backsliding, but the woman lost 151 pounds and should be congratulated. I can't castigate her for failing to achieve unrealistic and punitive goals established solely for the purposes of television without much consideration for her own well being or psyche. 3 Link to comment
Lola16 July 18, 2014 Share July 18, 2014 I have no problem pointing out that her cheat days were more like pig out days and she lied repeatedly about working out. Self sabotage. Doesn't bode well. 1 Link to comment
auntie thesis July 18, 2014 Share July 18, 2014 I don't think that Brandi was horribly unpleasant. She wasn't the most likeable person they have ever had on the show, but she was far from the worst. (Ty comes to mind, as does Nyla and a few others from previous seasons.) I wasn't sure but how much she had missed the goals. I know 40% was the goal to get skin surgery and she had only reached 38.xxxx% at the 9mo weigh-in. I didn't recall the lbs goal being 180 to get it, but in all fairness, I was FFing through most of the last half hour because I had to leave for work afterwards. Brandi is getting the surgery --- she just didn't get it at the 3/4 mark because she missed all her goals including the revised ones and it was for a lack of trying. It would have been way worse to reward that behavior. Agreed. I have to wonder how much of her lackluster efforts reflected her upbringing. She mentioned quitting everything when she was a tween. Did her parents not put their feet down and tell her that she needed to finish what she started, etc? It seems to me that she just kept giving up and doing whatever she wanted and then having tantrums when the results came back to bite her in the butt. I think the reason why I didn't really feel Brandi's story was that a lot of it seemed to be based around issues that were never addressed. Usually we get a montage and a meltdown or two about childhood upbringing, college, first loves, big regrets, whatever that shed some light on how the person got the way they are. Dave, Charita and Kathie all had such stories that made their episodes watchable and they themselves easier to root for. Brandi didn't have that, imo. It was a cut and paste "used to be a pageant princess, then I got fat" storyline that seemed more fitting of MTV's "I Used to Be Fat" than EWL. Brandi herself seemed to be stuck in the mentality of a late teen/college student even though she was pushing 30. (IIRC, she was 27 or 28. I might be wrong though.) I have no problem pointing out that her cheat days were more like pig out days and she lied repeatedly about working out. Self sabotage. Doesn't bode well. I also thought that Chris indulged her a bit too much at the beginning. Rocco made her a junky looking meal that was oddly devoid of any vegetables or fruit. She was having Sunday funday with no restrictions later on, per Chris' program. He works with food addicts. He should know that you can't give them license to eat whatever they want. It just doesn't work like that. You wouldn't give an alcoholic non-alcoholic beer in rehab, or let them have wine on Sundays...so why let a food addict fill up on essentially empty calories and low fat/calorie free garbage and let them have junky crap on Sundays? I suppose that the program is workable if people can have a normal meal with their family or maybe a single 20oz soda or a candy bar on Sundays, but obviously Brandi was going way beyond those boundaries. I believe that Chris knew about the sabotage and if he didn't, TPTB and her trainers in Georgia did. Ultimately, Brandi was responsible for herself and she failed. That is probably why they kept revising her goals and denied her skin surgery at the 9mo mark, imo. 1 Link to comment
Brooklynista July 18, 2014 Share July 18, 2014 Has this show ever done a Where are They Now? I would love to check in w BRandi in a year. Just to see how many of her cheat days turned into cheat weeks. 1 Link to comment
jonesingjay July 18, 2014 Share July 18, 2014 Has this show ever done a Where are They Now? I would love to check in w BRandi in a year. Just to see how many of her cheat days turned into cheat weeks. More like cheat months. 1 Link to comment
auntie thesis July 18, 2014 Share July 18, 2014 No where are they nows yet. A few of the former participants have turned into life coaches and the like. Jacquie from season 2(?) has been on a few times. Bruce from this season will undoubtedly be back next year as well. Link to comment
irisheyes July 20, 2014 Share July 20, 2014 (edited) Brandi's cheat days were crazy. I'm using WW to lose weight fairly slowly, and my cheat days consist of ordering pizza and having 2 slices with a couple of breadsticks and maybe a treat of some sort. I certainly don't eat my weight in processed crap. That's the way WW works. You get extra cheat points, so you still track what you eat. Of course, that probably explains why Brandi was 300+ pounds. I'm not very confident that she'll be able to stay below 200 pounds for too long. Edited July 20, 2014 by irisheyes 1 Link to comment
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