Biggest Loser‘s McDonald faces her toughest week

For those of you watching NBC’s The Biggest Loser, you already know that Week 8 is my toughest week yet.

Things started off harmoniously enough when kid contestants Biingo, Sunny and Lindsay came back to help. Alison told us we have to lose 71 pounds as a group to keep everyone safe from elimination.

After a quiz about healthy foods and another fitness test, the kids were able to give us 9 pounds off the goal.

Things went downhill from there for me, and it all started with a pair of slippery gym shoes.

I complained to Dolvett that I’m having a hard time on the treadmill because of my new shoes. This prompted him to joke about how much he hates lawyers. Contestant Joe Ostaszewski chimed in not-so-jokingly, that “he hates lawyers, too!”

“He insulted my dignity and intelligence, and I refuse to work out in the same gym with him.” The tension between Joe and me had been building for some time, and that was the proverbial straw that broke this chick’s back.

And, yes, I leave the gym!

Dolvett eventually gets me to come back with the promise of personal training, and I’m having a great workout until Jillian decides to use me as an example to contestant Alex Reid. I am asked to run 5 minutes on the treadmill. I can do that right? I have run hundreds of miles on a treadmill by Week 8. I will never know why I stopped running, but I did, and chaos ensues.

I leave the gym again as Jillian lashes out at me.

Everything in life happens for a reason; sometimes we don’t know why, but there is a reason!

Bob comes to my room and tells me he feels like I am giving up. A light goes off for me when he tells me.

“If you wanna self-sabotage yourself, then you’re on the right path.” I think to myself, and I’m finally figuring this out. I am once again letting stuff get into my head and this has to stop.

In this week’s challenge, we are given the chance to knock off 10 more pounds as we work together digging through sand to uncover pole pieces. The ironic part of the challenge is when I fall and Joe picks me up! We win and now have to collectively lose 51 pounds.

Our last-chance workout was to complete a ropes course. And guess who I was paired with? Yep, Joe!

This challenge proved that even when you have disagreements, you can set them aside and work together.

Things are starting to come together for me — or so I thought. I come to the final weigh-in with optimism and “focusing on the good,” but little did I know that the trainers were not yet ready for me to move on.

I lose 4 pounds and end the night still holding the title of Biggest Loser, but the trainers still are not having it!

The trainers all agree that it wasn’t a “Gina number,” and I leave the scale in tears.

In the end, it was Francelina Morillo who was sent home.

Tune in Monday on NBC to see what a difference a week makes! I promise the best is yet to come.

This is a journey. One I took willingly. I expose raw human emotion each and every week. I am proud of my time on the ranch and forever blessed for the opportunity — a life-altering journey!

Images courtesy of NBC

More of Gina’s Biggest Loser blogs

Gina steps out of her comfort zone
McDonald “in the middle of drama”
Gina McDonald blog: My experience so far