Tonight, Masterclass!

Learning how to resist Temptation, how to fit a workout into a busy routine, some delicious food cookery with Janella and a healthy seafood challenge for the contestants. Been a while since we’ve had a Masterclass challenge… and this could very well be the final one!

But first up they’re in the kitchen with Janella. She doesn’t seem too surprised to see Daina there. Though Wayne isn’t there? That’s a bit odd.

Janella usually starts with something junky but today she’s going to start with some foods you should always have in the pantry.
Oily fish! Salmon, tuna, herring, deep sea fish. Good for you.
Flax seeds. Help you feel full for longer.
Ginger.
Quinoa.
Olive oil. It’s high in calories but it’s very good for you, just go easy on it.
Sweet potato.
Tofu.
Garlic.
Apple!
Broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprout and so on. Good for the liver, apparently.

And Daina gets to help make some Quinoa Pilaf.
And yeah, not recapping the recipe. Go to the website if you want the specifics! I’m just recapping anything that happens to be interesting.

Janella doesn’t take her rings off while cooking. Tsk tsk tsk! Bad food safety practice!

After an ad break Janella says there’s a couple of times a year when you might feel tempted to indulge. Christmas and birthdays.
And it’s hard to make a healthy version of this… She reveals a gorgeous slice of chocolate mud cake. 200 grams. 800 calories.
The girls are all drooling. Janella tells them they don’t love that, they don’t! Daina says she does and Hayley nods forlornly. Janella tells them to say goodbye to it and Hayley looks very sad as she says goodbye…

Lisa’s helping to cook the chocolate, walnut and orange cake. She bakes most weeks with her daughters. Cakes you use flour, eggs, sugar, sometimes eggs. That’s how most people make cakes.
But not Janella! “Of course not!” Lisa exclaims.

She’s boiled up some oranges beforehand to use. Whole oranges. Then she’s going to blitz them up, whole. How strange.
She also has some REAL maple syrup because it’s so sweet and a complex sweetener and so on. But apparently it’s super expensive. But it’s also super nice!

When spraying the baking tin with oil, Janella uses it for “one second”. One very long second. Don’t tell Michelle, she says!

Janella cuts a piece out of the cake she prepared earlier. Looks very delicious.
Blitz some mixed berries for a topping. Little spritz of cocoa on top.
260 calories for the slice and the topping. Much better!

After another ad break Shannon and Lisa admit they were chubby kids. And Janella says if you were a chubby kid you’re much more likely to be a fat adult, be less active and so on.

Janella’s going to show them a healthy after school snack for their kids. Some strange muffins. Carrot and zucchini are some of the ingredients.
Yeah, that’s an interesting combination…

After another ad break they’re in the big gym where Hayley’s waiting for them. And Wayne’s finally showed up. Interesting.
Hayley’s talking Temptations like the kinds of food that got them there in the first place. But resisting those temptations is a skill that can be learned, Hayley says.
Dr Swan is back and he says that next week they’ll do a full checkup on them (so Masterclass next week!) but where’d they start out at?

David started at Camp with a blood pressure of 156/114, which is seriously high and he hadn’t been getting treated for it.
Now he’s been through Camp Biggest Loser, how’s he doing now?
Hayley’s stroking David’s shoulder to calm him down. Personally that wouldn’t have a calming effect on me… I’m just saying!

David’s new BP is 109/75 which is lower than normal. Which is good in this instance since he’s got there from lifestyle changes.
Dr Swan says all the exercise and dietary changes are the best way to lower your blood pressure, rather than going on medication.

But how do you maintain the benefits? He’s sure they’re all quite worried about maybe slipping back into old habits.
Dr Swan says he’s been in America learning about a lot of this stuff. People used to think it was something wrong with your glands that leads to you getting so fat.

Telling the vast majority of people to eat less and exercise more? Doesn’t work!
There’s something in their genes. Partly, anyway. It’s not genes that affect their metabolism, it affects the foods they’re attracted to. Some of us are genetically attracted to sweet, high energy foods.
Donuts are Hayley’s weakness. Another thing we have in common… She says she can’t only have one either, she has to have two!

Dr Swan says the key is to learn how to control your feelings. It’s somewhat like controlling phobias.
Hayley’s very scared of spiders. Even talking about them makes her scared. Eep!
Dr Swan says that you don’t shove a tarantula in front of someone’s face if they’re that bad. You start out slow. Get them in a quiet room where they’re calm and then think about a spider and control that feeling, then work up from there.

Dr Swan then says that food isn’t a phobia though, it’s an addiction. Instead of being fearful, you’re attracted to food. So they’re training people to control their foods.

Shannon’s going to be their guinea pig for an experiment.
They’re going to start out with some graded foods that might tempt him.
What they need to do is recognise their feelings of temptation. Salivating? Tummy rumbling? Recognise that it will pass. It’s not a quick fix, you have to train yourself to do this. And it won’t work for everyone.

So this isn’t a challenge. So there’s no penalties or rewards involved. But he’s not allowed to eat it!

First dish is fried rice. Yum!
Dr Swan tells him to get a little closer and Shannon says he doesn’t need to, he could smell it before the lid was lifted!
Shannon says he doesn’t feel like he needs to eat it, but he’s mouth is certainly watering.

Next dish is beef lasagne. Hayley’s salivating just bringing it in under the lid!
Lasagne reminds Shannon of going to his Mum’s house and having a good meal and having fun with his family. Dr Swan says those good memories reinforce the behaviour and increases the attractiveness of the food.

Beef and three veg is Shannon’s final dish. It’s his favourite meal to eat.
Dr Swan says he’s been well trained by Michelle and Shannan. But six months ago?
Shannon says he’d be excited. He’d be shaking with eagerness, getting ready to eat it.

Dr Swan says that that feeling might come back. What psychologists are doing is teaching people to hold on to the thought, recognise the reactions when they occur, anticipate it and control it and it will pass. It might take 15 minutes and the steak might be cold, but it will pass.

Dr Swan says it’s handy to have someone monitoring you to give you a nudge in the right direction when occasionally you might be wavering a little.
And he actually recommends weighing yourself every morning after your shower. I thought you weren’t really meant to do that due to natural fluctuations? Hrm.

Anyway, Dr Swan is off until next week. There’ll be a big checkup at that point, apparently. Should be very interesting.

Michelle’s going to teach them some exercise stuff called “Super Setting”. You use two specific exercises and keep going back and forth between the two with no breaks. So it’s good on cardio.
Wayne’s there for the training session, too. Hmm.

Michelle says you can burn 400-700 calories within an hour doing this kind of training.

Michelle’s going to use Wayne and Daina to do some demonstration, since they’re newbies back to the comp.

Wayne’s doing some assisted chinups first then some leg presses afterwards. Back and forth and back and forth and back and forth between the two machines. Wayne’s cheating a little and Michelle’s having none of it!

Daina’s exercise is some chest presses first, then holding some dumbbells while doing step ups. Very tall step ups, she’s got the step thing set up quite a few levels higher than normal!

Wayne’s second super set is a seated rowing thing and a lean against the wall with a fitball against the wall, holding some weights.
Wayne’s doing it pretty tough already. He’s puffing and panting in the background when he’s done.

Daina’s next set is a shoulder press while standing, then walking lunges with weights in hand.
Her heart rate gets up to 151bpm, so it’s obviously a very effective workout!

More than 4 minutes for an ad break. This is getting real old, Channel 10!

Everyone comes back to the big gym for a chat with a special guest.
The guest came from humble beginnings. She had to run away from home at the age of 15, apparently. She didn’t finish Year 10 at school, even.
But instead of spiralling downwards like you might expect, she’s worked her way up. Co-founded a business which has done super well and been on the BRW rich list and along the way? Completed thirteen marathons!
Which is particularly impressive to the contestants who’ve just seen how much work that is!

Rowena MacEvoy. That’s her name. I’ve never heard of her. She immediately rushes to Lisa to give her a huge hug because she keeps seeing her on the telly and she thinks Lisa is wonderful!
She says Shannon looks sexy, last time she saw him he looked a bit like a Friar Tuck.

Rowena says you’ve got to take control of your life, go out and grab it.
Guy and a girl came to her school to teach them aerobics and she decided to do that for a living. Her Dad had wanted her to be a lawyer and her school wanted her to be a “High Achiever”… but instead she hopped on the “Spirit of Progress”, the train, to Sydney, with all her belongings.
All she wanted to do was teach aerobics! That’s all.

So she went to some famous gym and she went to the aerobics coordinator and asked to take all the classes that nobody else wants to teach. And she wanted to be paid for it.
Erm, sounds reasonable!
She asks for a dollar for each new person she brings in. Then her classes got huge and all the famous trainers wanted those sessions back!

So how’d she turn around what could have been a disaster into such a success? Her Dad told her to seek out the best. She’s done that in every area of her life.
If you drink out of a broken cup, you’re telling yourself you’re not good enough for a champagne glass. If you use a grotty old towel you’re not good enough for a fluffy white one.
Or you’re skint and just can’t afford it because you’re not on the BRW Rich List, bitch.

Rowena then repeats that rubbish about thinking of yourself as being successful and dress and act like that, you will become successful. Erm, yeah…

Rowena explains to them that they’re going to be seen as leaders in the health and fitness industry because of what they’ve done. She says they have a responsibility to set an example not just for them and their families but for everyone.

Shannon asks how they handle the pressure of people saying they’ve changed their lives because of them and so on.
Rowena doesn’t want them to slip out of the pressure, she wants them to feel it so they’ll be turned from dirty rocks into diamonds!

After another very long ad break the Losers turn up at a Coles store.
We have lots of quality seafood in Australia, Hayley says, but we don’t eat enough of it. (Probably because it smells like fish, Hayley.) And seafood is good for you!

So their challenge today is to show everyone at home that you can prepare a delicious, affordable seafood meal for two.
And the trainers have assigned them all a specific kind of fish to work with.

Daina: White fish.
Lisa: Oily fish.
Wayne: Whole fish.
David: Squid or octopus. Ew!
Shannon: Shellfish or crustaceans.

They’ll have $15 to spend on their foods. Judging criteria – nutrition, calories, taste, presentation and cost. The less you spend the better the judging will go in your favour.

Go do your shopping. You only have ten minutes, suckers! They’re shopping for all their non-core ingredients.

David cheats a little and takes some poetic license and interprets his “with legs” restriction as including prawns… Sneaky!

Lots of shopping around by all the contestants grabbing bits and pieces. Wayne’s got some weird kind of cheese I think. Not sure what he’s going to do with that and a whole salmon!

They have 30 minutes to prepare their foods.

David’s doing a thai dish with his main bits and pieces.

Shannon’s doing a prawn stir fry. He’s a little worried because he’s never done prawns in a stir fry before.
Shannan gives him a quick tip on shelling the prawns more quickly which Shannon is super grateful for as it was taking him an age.

Daina’s got a tip from her sister to roast a capsicum over the open flame and then put the capsicum in a plastic bag to rub the burnt skin off.

Wayne’s pretty much a novice at cooking so Michelle’s giving him a LOT of help. He seals it in the aluminium foil and gives it a kiss for luck. He’s put some lemon in the fish and who knows what else…

Lisa’s mostly only nervous because it’s easy to overcook the salmon, but she’s doing okay.

David’s also making some prawn toasts. In the oven and with burgen bread instead of regular bread and deep frying. Sounds like a good plan.

Shannan’s getting worried about Shannon not finishing so he’s giving him a hand with his prep work.

Another ad break!

David’s not cooked his calamari yet. Michelle’s there to help him though. 10 seconds is all it takes, she says. When you get the rubbery, chewing on a car tire feeling? That means it’s been cooked too long.
How many car tires have you gnawed on anyway, Michelle?

Running out of time everyone!

Hayley comes in and announces that time is up. And that it’s all smelling great.

Wayne’s first to be judged. His salmon looks “okay” but his boccichini? And Tomato things look very pretty.
He’s never cooked fish before but Shannan will trust him and have a crack at the salmon. Michelle has a go after Shannan pronounces it to be good.
Shannan is a big fan of the side bits.

For two people it’s $9.08 per serve. Which means Wayne’s cost $18.16.
Um, about that $15 budget…

Daina’s got a garlic and herb flathead with a char grilled salad. Hayley tastes it first and declares it to be beautiful. Shannan says the size of the plate would fill him up. $9.39 a serve.
So I guess it was just $15 for extra bits, not the fish? Hrm.

David the fish hater is next!
Thai style calamari with salad and with some prawn toast on the side.
David even likes the calamari, he’d eat that every day of the week he says. Michelle’s a fan of him converting himself!
$10.25 per serve.

Lisa has a rocket and roast vegetable salad with salmon. Dill, honey and lemon juice dressing.
$8.08 per serve. Slightly higher in calories on account of it being salmon but it has all the lovely omega 3’s and so on.

Shannon’s got banana prawn, asparagus and snow pea in a stir fry, plus some soy sauce in there. Bit of chili, too.
Hayley says the prawns are heaven!
$7.03 per serve, too. And Hayley reiterates that they’re fantastic. She says she’s being nice to him so she can have another prawn so she dives into the bowl and grabs another one.
150 calories per serve.

Shannon says to us that if he doesn’t win this shield the whole competition is rigged!

Hayley says she’d happily eat any of their meals any day of the week, even David’s prawn toast, which was beautiful.

Was a very hard decision but in the end it was unanimous.
Wayne and Shannon, you’ve yet to win the Masterclass shield, but that’s about to change for one of you.

Congratulations… SHANNON!
Shannon’s very relieved and very happy to have won, finally! He’s been there every single week and never won!
Hayley says he’s made his Mum proud.

He can’t stop grinning.

Hayley says his prawn stir fry was low calorie, nutritious, cheap and tasted beautiful. Hit all the bases, then!

And that’s it for Masterclass this week. Weigh-in’s coming up so train hard!

Sunday night, Last Chance training.
And Wayne’s having trouble keeping up in training. He’s not sure if he’s just down on fitness compared to the others or if he’s still feeling the effects of the marathon…

And someone’s let themselves down at the weigh-in, apparently. Again?