S05.E08: Rachel

[Chip]

Born with a winning spirit, Rachel began dancing at three years old. As Rachel grew older, her spirit was hampered by mixed feelings towards love, sex and religion, so she turned to food for emotional support and became obese. Rachel is now looking to "get her groove back".

[CaughtOnTape]

Every time they show these people running Red Rocks I instantly want to throw up.  I've done that.  I graduated there and they made us walk up and down those stairs a million times during rehearsals.  Those stairs are no joke.  I can't believe drunk people walk up and down them during concerts.  By far, the most intense workouts I've ever had happened at Red Rocks.  *shudders*

[Suzysite]

So how annoying was Rachel?   She bugged me with her manic behavior.  I don't know if that's typical of an addict or what, but yikes.

[Meraji]

I liked her, but maybe I am predisposed since we share a name, an age and I felt I could relate to her story as well. I cracked up at her fitting her body into her pants and dancing around like a goof! I don't remember if she called herself a perfectionist, but it seems like she is. Once one thing is ruined, what's the use of trying? She lost her virginity to a man who didn't become her husband so she apparently slept with a series of men who she wasn't serious about. She screws up her diet around thanksgiving and resumes binge eating because her diet's broken. Anyway, that's how I see it. That's how I am and so I was duly inspired that she met most of her goals and stayed on track.

[MakeMeLaugh]

This is the one person I think will regain all of her weight. Totally agree with the manic level of her behavior, speech, activity. She is almost delusional talking about how now she will make a good mother and find a husband--um, just live your life, Rachel, and let things happen or not, instead of setting yourself up for possible major disappointment. She has a lot to offer but one date at a time. She seems very needy. I hope she continues her therapy forever.

Her cheerleading squad looked appalled at her when she surprised them wearing their squad uniform. Is that typical of a cheerleader coach, to dress like the girls? But wearing her UCLA uniform to the Rose Bowl was just awesome.

Otoh I liked the level of Heidi involvement.

Chris dancing to Ne-Yo was hilarious. Just love Chris Powell.

Edited July 29, 2015 by MakeMeLaugh

[ChicagoCita]

Yay, minimal Heidi!  I swear, when she saw the pizza deliveryman, she went into total Nurse Rached mode.  I get no empathy vibes from her, not even a bit.  She scares me.

 

Man, when Chris was announcing the reveal -- take a breath, man!  His speech was like a five-minute run-on sentence.

 

Rachel drove me nuts, and it took me a while to figure out why.  I should have liked her.  I went to UCLA. I suffer from the same perfectionism/if-it-ain't-perfect-it's-worthless feelings.  But she absolutely made me insane.

 

Finally, the penny dropped.  Rachel reminded me of a friend who was hugely obese, usually between 500-600 lbs. My friend would do anything for male approval. In her mind, she needed "fixing" if she didn't have a guy interested in her, and the minute she started getting positive male attention, well, that meant she was "cured" and completely fine and no longer needed to work on anything, like her weight.  She got into some very damaging and devastating situations, which I'm not comfortable going into detail about, except to say that she went to some dark places that ended up harming her body and soul.  But -- as long as guys found her attractive (and there are men who find women her size attractive), she was fine, just super!

 

And that's the exact vibe I got from Rachel.  I'm really glad they showed her going to therapy, because that may be what saves her. But I fear for her the first time a serious relationship breaks up, or she gets dumped.  Because all her interactions had to do with seeking male approval, and that being the barometer on which she judged her worth.

 

I wish her luck.  She is a stunning woman.

[meisje]

 

Yay, minimal Heidi!  I swear, when she saw the pizza deliveryman, she went into total Nurse Rached mode.  I get no empathy vibes from her, not even a bit.  She scares me.

 

I didn't even  FF through any of this epi, so I can honestly say I'm boggled by all of the secret crap that Chris and Heidi pulled as it seemed completely unnecessary. 

 

At the 6-month weigh in, she volunteered all of the info about bingeing and realizing how serious her problems were, and Chris barely took interest since, I assume, he was so euphoric over her numbers. I couldn't figure out why he didn't address what she said, and then I was curious but relieved that he didn't immediately volunteer his "expert" of a wife to talk to her. Instead, Chris just marched ahead like nothing was wrong until he wasn't happy with her numbers! And then they sent out a PI to catch her getting pizza after she'd confessed the eating problems months before -- wtf?! And then Wonder Heidi was sent in... ugh.

 

The first shaming based on Chris having footage of her having a guy over was very OTT. She was right; if that was something they wanted, it should have been stated outright. Are they keeping track of the couples' first 3 months and whether or not they're getting handsy with each other after workouts, Jesus. If she wasn't seeing a counselor during the first part, that was his bad, and that issue should have been a therapy issue. What is wrong with Peeping Chris?

 

I did not get the teeth thing at all this episode. Her new as-seen-from-space veneers looked a lot like her teeth, only slightly radioactive. Why was that necessary at all? I'm all for helping people feel better if they have something legitimate that needs work, but her teeth looked like straight, white, healthy teeth to begin with. And I did not need to know that this "amazing" dentist is responsible for Heidi's horse teeth or Chris' mouth either, ugh! There was a shot this episode where I was shocked to see Heidi's real hair amongst the mass of extensions she wears. I'm sure she had them carefully weighed though so she can subtract that from her weight tally each day -- and it might be why she won't risk a deep condition for that broom top. 

 

The sand hike left me almost speechless. I don't know if I nodded off because after hearing Rachel state that it was like 5 steps forward and 4 back, I never heard Chris follow up by explaining that this type of forward/backward stuff was exactly what she was doing to herself. I didn't have much time to think much of Rachel actually because Chris and Heidi's behavior was so off the mark and completely delusional that it was tough to focus. I do enjoy the new skin-surgery checker though, she looks like she asks for the strength to not get slappy with Chris before each appointment where he's present.

 

 

[ClareWalks]

These episodes should really be a tight 60 minutes. 2 hours is a ridiculous slog. Anyway.

 

Time for Personal Training Pedantry from ClareWalks, ACSM-CPT :)

 

I actually liked how Chris addressed her "I lost my virginity to a guy who turned out to be a jerk" excuse for starting the weight gain. That is probably the story of 90% of the world's female population. Chris pointed out that she needs to take responsibility and stop being a victim. 100% correct. The good news is SHE can make the changes, she is not at the mercy of a now-dead ex.

 

She puts entirely too much emphasis on guys liking her. It's probably because she was a cute cheerleader and a lot of her personal power came from being liked by boys. (I also wonder if she has daddy issues.) That's why whenever I have a female teen client I put a strong emphasis on the body's capabilities rather than its appearance. It's not about weight loss, it's about eating to fuel your body. It's not about being skinny so boys will like you, it's about finding activities that make you happy. They tend to have much more functional relationships when they take my advice to heart. "Function over ornamentation," that's the way to go :)

 

90-day weigh-in: Chris set her goal at 75 lb, which is less than the 76 lb that last week's girl set for herself, despite Rachel starting out heavier than that girl. And Chris was pissed at the girl last week for setting too low a goal. Whatever. 

 

What was up with Notre Dame High School, and the ripped-off Notre Dame fight song and the ripped-off Notre Dame logo? Holy crap.

 

Rachel is definitely a food addict and I'm glad she admitted it. She also definitely has binge eating disorder. She could really benefit from Overeaters Anonymous in addition to therapy. Nobody benefits from talking to friggin' Heidi on the phone. Her "advice" was terrible. Yeah, just tell her "you will always be a food addict! Accept it!" over and over. That's helpful. UGH HEIDI. How about some strategies for dealing with the urge to binge? The reasons you feel the urge to binge? I don't think Heidi was a binge-eater anyway. Wasn't she anorexic? That is damn near the exact opposite, both physically and psychologically, as binge-eating.

 

Overall I thought this was a decent transformation. Less Heidi is definitely good. Not a lot of complaints from me about their workouts, since she got out of it injury-free, but that's probably largely due to her flexibility and athleticism.

[MakeMeLaugh]

...

 

I did not get the teeth thing at all this episode. Her new as-seen-from-space veneers looked a lot like her teeth, only slightly radioactive. Why was that necessary at all? I'm all for helping people feel better if they have something legitimate that needs work, but her teeth looked like straight, white, healthy teeth to begin with. ...

YES! I think the veneers are this season's substitution for the former Walmart gift card. Rachel's teeth were fine before and now look like glowing chiclets. Last week Pearls got veneers on the top teeth too but the show didn't mention them, probably because they made the unveneered bottom teeth look so much worse.

[4leafclover]

I really used to like this show but now I'm finding it more and more difficult to get behind some of these people and cheer them on.  I found Rachel to be utterly obnoxious--don't know if it was her whining, her neediness or her constant use of the word "like."  I wanted scream at the screen, "Damn girl, you're not a valley-girl cheerleader anymore.  Start speaking like a 35 year old woman!"  I hope she continues working with a therapist because now that she will be getting more and more attention from men, she is a likely candidate to jump off the deep end.  I began to wonder if that first boyfriend was as much of a jerk as she described, or did he just get sick of her neediness and take a powder?  Even so, there was no excuse for him cheating on her.  

 

I like Chris Powell, even more when Heidi is not around.  But I do get sick of their pseudo-psychology sessions.  I would have much more respect for this show if they would introduce a real and licensed therapist to address some of those issues with the ones trying to lose weight.  We wouldn't have to hear the sessions, but they could let us hear them say what Chris and Heidi say, it would just mean more coming from a professional with a degree.

 

Did anyone else notice next week's contestant had a horse-shoe shaped scar around his belly-button?  That can't be good..........

[ethalfrida]

Rocco is incorrect about putting avocados in the fridge. If you have some that are ripe that is where you store them. They can also be frozen. However, if they need ripening then don't put them in there.

[absolutelyido]

I thought the side eye Ne-Yo gave Chris when he was 'dancing' to the music was hilarious. Best part of the episode, by far.

[Shibori]

If she's drop the eyeliner-by-Sharpie, she'd probably be down another pound or two. I think it ages her and looks cheap.

But thumbs up to a reduced Heidi episode. I fast forwarded a lot less.

[Eeksquire]

I liked Rachel, but all of her talk about her identity being so wrapped up in being a "good Catholic girl" and all its attendant shame and fear made me really sad for her. She seemed to really buy into the whole "if you're not a wife and mother you are a FAILURE because that is your only role as a woman in the world" business and I don't think that anything they did this year will help her shed that.

[editorgrrl]

I liked Rachel, but all of her talk about her identity being so wrapped up in being a "good Catholic girl" and all its attendant shame and fear made me really sad for her. She seemed to really buy into the whole "if you're not a wife and mother you are a FAILURE because that is your only role as a woman in the world" business and I don't think that anything they did this year will help her shed that.

Hopefully therapy will.

Rachel's a horrible role model for young women. Her entire self-worth is based on attention from men. She should be teaching her students functional fitness—not playing dress-up.

That said, I enjoyed her giving a student a piggyback ride up the stairs. Rachel put in the hard work—too bad it's for all the wrong reasons. I expect a relapse the very first time a man hurts her feelings.

[ethalfrida]

Everytime I see a grown person give another adult a piggy back ride I remember that Robert Crumb would require his employees and some friends to give him piggy back rides. He admitted it was sexual. Robert Crumb is the artist who created Keep On Trucking graphic.

[gardendiva]

Were those hickeys on her neck at her "homecoming" to the high school? I confess I spent most of the episode cooking so I wasn't watching the screen the whole time, but when I looked up and saw her talking about her homecoming and saw two red marks on her neck, I had to wonder. Not sure how much time had elapsed since she kicked "boy toy" to the curb and her return home, but I had a few raised eyebrows at that.

[Litnit]

Getting a huge immaturity vibe off of Rachel. Good luck with the therapy because holding on to a relationship from over a decade ago is ridiculous.  I guess I just don't understand the cheerleader culture because I don't get why anybody would have squeezing into a cheerleader uniform their big goal in life.  Also, it was embarrassing when she wore her school's uniform.  I've seen that look on teenagers' faces.  It's the look you see when the teacher tries to be "cool" and misses the mark.  I imagined thought bubbles above their heads like "Am I going to look like that in 20 years?".

 

 I kind of felt sorry for her about the hook up because it was embarrassing.  However, she came to these people for help to break habits, and that was one of her habits.  Ultimately, I was glad she got called on it.  

 

The binging was handled terribly.  Heidi looks awful.  She has that awful cleavage of skinny women with over-enhanced breasts.  Are veneers a thing that people outside of the entertainment industry do?  I can't say I've encountered a lot in my life.  I thought Rachel's teeth looked fine before.

 

I call BS on that being the exact same cheerleader outfit.  

 

Rachel looked great at the end.  I think she'll probably gain back 50 of it fairly quickly.

[ClareWalks]

Litnit agree about Heidi's cleavage. It is the "I have giant fake hooters and massive, manly pecs" cleavage. It starts at the clavicle.

[editorgrrl]

Are veneers a thing that people outside of the entertainment industry do? I can't say I've encountered a lot in my life. I thought Rachel's teeth looked fine before.

Plenty of people get veneers, but this screamed "paid product placement."

[4leafclover]

I have veneers and my dentist specifically suggested I not opt for what she called the "toilet bowl white" shade that Hollywood seems to favor.  Instead, I chose the "natural white" shade and I'm very pleased with the results.  Glad I listened to her suggestion.

[meisje]

I have veneers and my dentist specifically suggested I not opt for what she called the "toilet bowl white" shade that Hollywood seems to favor.  Instead, I chose the "natural white" shade and I'm very pleased with the results.  Glad I listened to her suggestion.

Sounds like your dentist has an excellent grip on what most dentists are doing wrong; "toilet bowl white" is disgustingly accurate!

[Canada]

I couldn't even make it through half of this episode.  The constant whining and crying just pissed me off too much.  This woman basically had an amazing life and she's still a whiny little baby.  What a brat.