The Biggest Loser: Late Night Self-Sabotage

Week 18 at "The Biggest Loser" encompassed the final four's 30-day grind back home before returning to run a full marathon and weigh-in for the top two slots at the May 25 live finale awarding $250,000. The third finalist is up for grabs in a nationwide vote. Former at-home eating and drinking habits had everyone on edge this episode -- enough to drive Koli out of town and Daris into late night snacking self-sabotage. Let's see who handled the pressure and kept losing.

$10,000 Marathon. Alison promised $10,000 to a charity of choice for any contestant who jogged, walked or crawled across the marathon finish line. Fans were shocked that producers tossed in a marathon challenge back in Season 7, but here we sit in Season 9 feeling confident. Running a marathon after being morbidly obese just weeks before is no big deal, right? This is the magic of "The Biggest Loser" -- if contestants can jog it, you can start changing your habits to lose it. Set those 26.2 excuses aside and get moving and eating toward your goal.

At-Home Highs and Lows. Michael reunited with his Chicago Italian family and taught them how to make lean turkey meatballs for family pasta nights. Frying and bread crumbs were replaced by chickpeas and baking. Ashley decided her wild drinking days were behind her. Koli couldn't stand all the at-home attention, so he fled to a mixed martial arts training studio in Las Vegas. Koli's workouts were awesome, but hanging out with a group of martial art junkies digging into nightly pizza as he ate fish and veggies was unnerving. Bob was concerned Koli was too focused on winning instead of folding his healthy habits into real life.

Curtis Stone's Rib Joint Makeover. Instead of winning a kitchen house call in Week 17, Daris ended up scoring a visit by chef Curtis Stone to his favorite rib joint. Curtis added four new dishes on the restaurant's menu and invited Daris's family and friends out to dinner. Dishes included spicy black bean soup (160 calories); smoked trout dip (240 calories); green bean salad for a light 90 calories; and chipotle grilled pork tenderloin (300 calories). Trout dip at a rib joint? But healthy eating by day didn't help, Daris doubled up on calories during one late night kitchen binge, then said, "I'm so full I want to throw up." Daris shows us why the road to morbid obesity can be as complicated and baffling as any addiction.

Don't Miss Trainer Gems
"When you feel you're being pushed to the limits by your trainer, take out your healthy rage on the equipment, not us," said Jillian. Fair enough. Or you can always ask them to step into the boxing ring. Has anyone ever fired a trainer for being too tough?

Marathon Record and a Sione Surprise. Late night snacking didn't hurt Daris's marathon time. He shattered Season 7 Tara's 4:55 record with a 4:02 finish, even with a sore knee. Koli finished at 6:08 after failing to run for more than 30 seconds a few months before. Michael and Ashley finished together at 6:26. Former contestants Sione Fa, Mike Morelli, Ali Vincent and Matt Hoover jogged along at key milestones to keep the final four motivated. Ali and Mike look slim; we already know Matt has gained significant weight back (check out the photos), however the real surprise was Sione. Maybe it was the cameras, but Sione appeared to have put on several pounds since his Season 7 departure, proving that maintenance is tricky.

At the final weigh-in, Ashley went from 231 pounds to 213 for an 18 pound loss (7.79 percent). Michael dropped 23 to land at 299 (7.14 percent), the first time he's broken 300 pounds in a long time. Both percentages were good enough for the top two spots. Koli's martial arts infusion delivered a lesser 5.63 percent weight loss, and Daris's late night snacking resulted in a depressing two pound gain followed by a tongue lashing from Jillian.

After Daris explained his weight gain away to focusing on marathon training, not weight loss, Jillian retorted, "You clearly sabotaged yourself. This is make or break time. This is where you either get real about what happened and why it happened, or you can go into denial." Poor Daris. Now it's your chance to vote for the third finalist for the May 25 finale. It's not who needs the ranch more at this point ... or is it?

See you next week. Don't forget to text, click or phone in your vote for either Koli or Daris by 12:00 pm ET on May 24. Then get ready for the May 25 live finale by tossing out the sugar and burning away the fat with Bob Harper's new Inside Out Method DVDs.