Biggest Loser Families: October 7-8 episodes

This week delivered a double dose of The Biggest Loser, filled with a giant tub full of water for a challenge to remember. Players had to stand and hold onto skinny bars in a vat of water for as long as possible, while the water slowly drained from their chest to their toes. I immediately put my money on a guy to win this one, they typically have stronger guns. But in reality, the test required balance, strength, tolerance for pain and mental fortitude -- Vicky scored a big win for the Brown team.

Here are the winning lessons offered in both high-emotion episodes:Don't be an enabler: Bob shared that married couples often enable one another to hang onto their unhealthy habits. In order to lose weight, it's critical you figure out your own needs, take charge and don't let anyone get in your way -- including your spouse. Both trainers adhere to this value as Jillian pounded the importance of focusing on yourself first.

To cut the fat, look at your soul: Jillian was on a tear this week trying to understand the underlying emotions potentially feeding her team's negative relationships with food and lack of spunk on the treadmill. Reaching a healthy weight requires sweat in the gym and tears of self-understanding.

Intertwine family and fitness: I wiped away tears as the Red team reunited with their three sons back home for a day. They took a hike together, an activity they admittedly could not have done before the show. They vowed their family would not sit in a chair anymore watching life -- they are going to experience it. My husband and I spend hours with our kids camping, hiking, canoeing and biking -- fitness together means everything to us.

Fitness is like homework: When the trainers aren't around, they assign contestants daily homework -- a required number of minutes in the gym. You can't get an A+ body unless you hit the gym books. Oh, and those exhausting Last Chance Workouts before end-of-week weigh-ins are killer hard -- we all need Last Chance Workouts to reach our next level of fitness -- consider that your homework from That's Fit.

Scales don't always make sense: At 299 pounds, Ed worked his butt off and didn't lose one measly pound. He ended up being voted off. This is a guy who lost 10 pounds the week before. Monitor your scale, but don't let a temporary plateau extinguish your fitness fire.

Don't Miss Trainer Gems:

• Jillian says doing jumping jacks for one-minute burns 10 calories. With 10, three-minute commercial breaks per episode, get up off the couch and burn 300 calories instead. No DVR, okay?
  
• Bob loves working in 'accidental exercise' -- if you're going to a restaurant or store, park at the furthest place in the lot. Also, Subway is a winner with eight sandwiches sporting six grams of fat or less.
  
• Bob says avoid high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) at all costs. If any of your at-home foods contain this sweetener/preservative, toss 'em in the garbage. No moderation, no excuses, get rid of it.

See you next week -- photos from The Biggest Loser.