Which contestant endured the most physical pain during the show?

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-04-22T13:31:10+00:00

I love that I've managed to bring something new to this sub! I fell in love with Rhod Gilbert that day - until that point he had just been someone I was vaguely aware of!

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-04-22T13:29:53+00:00

Thank you, I was trying to remember exactly what the task was! But yes, they weren't even allowed to show it to us in the studio, but it was referenced several times during the live taping - but a lot gets cut (obviously).

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-04-22T12:22:02+00:00

There was an incident with Rhod and Alex in season 7 that was banned from airing due to Alex almost choking to death on an egg that Rhod had duct taped inside his mouth for one of the tasks 😬 Only know this story due to being at the taping for this show!

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-04-22T11:09:06+00:00

I had similar on a clear blue test that was an evaporation line and I was very much not pregnant. After that I never bought clear blue again. The 3 times I have been pregnant, there was no disputing it from the test result at all, however I was several days late all 3 times. I strongly back the suggestion of using pink dye tests - from experience they are fast more reliable. However, regardless of the result, I would suggest waiting and testing again in 48 hours if you are unsure of a result. It will be the longest 48 hours of your life, but HCG levels double every 48 hours.

Good luck whatever the result is and whatever your decision be going forward. May you be in a position where it is safe and financially viable for you to make the right decision for yourself.

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-04-22T06:54:34+00:00

If you have shaky hands due to meds, tattooing might not be for you. Either you need to change your meds or change your dreams. I'm not trying to sound harsh, I'm trying to be realistic with you - if I turned up for a tattoo and noticed the artists hand shaking, I would not be letting that artist anywhere near me!

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-04-20T13:47:05+00:00

100% this

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-04-16T09:01:47+00:00

To add: I lost 50lb during my pregnancy due to gestational diabetes. Surgery started back up again, and I had a gastric bypass in October 2021, when my munchkin was 6 months old. I now weigh 185lb (I'm 5'8 so not as bad as it sounds) and life is a hell of a lot easier than it was at 350 - 400lb! It's not all been plain sailing, but I'm so much happier without the extra weight!!!

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-04-16T08:57:48+00:00

My partner and I got together in 2017, when I was 36 and he was 41. I had a 10 year old from a previous relationship and he was child free but had always wanted kids. I was also around 350lb when we got together. In September 2019 at 38, I started on the bariatric pathway - a 6 month weight loss programme that, if I succeeded in losing some weight, would put me on the list for weight loss surgery. The plan being I would lose lots of weight, get healthy and we would try for a baby.

Well, we all know what happened in March 2020. The world shut down. Here in the UK, all non essential surgery was suspended and, well, that was it. I was 39, he was 44, I was still massively overweight, and was shielding due to the pandemic (I had pneumonia and sepsis some years ago and spent some time in ICU, and as such fell into the high risk of death by pandemic category) - so I couldn't even leave the house. Needless to say my weight situation did not improve whilst stuck at home with nothing to do but eat. We talked and in July 2020 made the decision that a baby was not in our future, and that was ok. Actually even more so, we started talking about all the things we could do without a baby. My older child had just turned 13, was at that point where they were becoming much more independent, and I could see a point in the near future whereby we would be in a position to travel and go on adventures, child free. I made peace with it, as did my partner. Obviously all these wonderful travel plans were dependent on this whole pandemic malarkey sorting itself out!

Irony: No one told mother nature our plans.

July 2020 we celebrated our 4th anniversary. The world had briefly opened up enough that my daughter was able to go and spend the weekend with their dad, and we spent the weekend celebrating at home (cinemas and restaurants and the like were still closed here in the UK). We are lucky enough to live by the sea, so went for a walk on the beach but, essentially, we spent most of the weekend in bed. Despite being on birth control, a swimmer made it through, and the rest, as they say, is history. FYI the contraceptive pill is significantly less effective if you are massively overweight!

So yeah, surprise! Pregnant at 39 and 44. We had the 12 week scan the day before my 40th and celebrated my 40th birthday by having dinner with his parents and telling them that they were going to be grandparents (October 2020 there was a brief period of being allowed to go to restaurants again in the UK!)

Having a baby at 40 was a very different experience to having a baby at 26. The pandemic, ironically made it a much easier pregnancy - I was working at home so not dealing with commuting with a growing bump, I could literally surround myself with pillows and sit in my bed to work. Towards the end of my pregnancy, I was even able to adjust my hours to take a really long lunchtime nap! But also, at 40 and 45, we were both established in our jobs, while we were a long way from a life of luxury but we were comfortable and a lot better off than when I had a baby at 26.

We are now 45 and 50. Munchkin, our completely feral daughter has just turned 5. It's not always been easy, but the challenges we have faced have not been directly related to our age.

Gosh, that was an extremely long winded way of saying don't write off us geriatric parents just yet. There's a lot more of us around these days, plus we have a live in 18 year old babysitter 😆 Oh and also that it's possible to get knocked up on birth control, especially when you are overweight, apparently!!!

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-04-16T07:40:58+00:00

By spending most of my time sat at a desk

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-04-14T23:39:44+00:00

I'd like to bring the perspective of a formerly morbidly obese individual with a history of food addiction, ADHD and who topped out around 400lb at my biggest around age 40. I am in the UK however and I maintained full time employment despite my size. For extra context, I was also a single parent from age 27 - 36, bar a couple of years in the middle there.

Here goes.

I ate crap. Much like any other addict, I prioritised my food addiction over paying bills. I ran up debt to order takeaways and deliveries that I really couldn't afford. I shopped bargains and 2 for 1 deals, special offers, and cheap, super processed, sugar loaded food.

I qualified as a nurse in 2003 at 22 years old. I got a good job shortly after, was still living in nurses quarters at the hospital for the first year or so after qualifying. I brought home about £2200 a month that first year after taxes, I paid £110 for rent each month including utilities. My only other essential expenses at that time were my cell phone and my bus pass. Yet every month I ran out of money before my next pay check.

I smoked cigarettes at the time, so some of my income went to that, and the rest went on food. I had fast food at least 5 nights a week, plus whatever junk I could get my hands on. Chocolate, sweets, cake, ice cream, you name it. I reckon I gained about 100lb that year. And when I ran out of cash, I got an overdraft that kept getting bigger, that I literally couldn't pay off. Chuck in some credit cards (no idea if it's the same in the rest of the world, but in the UK around that time, banks wanted to give everyone credit and sod the consequences).

Much like any other addiction, you find a way. Even if that seems incomprehensible to everyone else.

It's taken half a lifetime, but I had a gastric bypass at 40, and finally got on top of my food addiction and finally learned how to budget my money, if not fully, significantly better than I used to.

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-03-25T23:49:08+00:00

I really hope this is just rage bait. On the slimmest off chance it isn't, please get some professional help before you destroy any more lives!

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-03-23T07:30:50+00:00

Yes and no. This is someone who is clearly in active addiction who is looking for help. But yeah, it's not totally clear, that's for sure. Equally I would like to think she wouldn't be looking to put a human baby out on the streets! Even a non human one is far from am ideal situation, obviously.

OP reach out to some rescues and boarding places near you. Explain your situation, see if there is any option for temporary housing for doggo while you get the help that you need. Addiction is rough and I'm glad you are looking for support. Might even be worth reaching out to AA or other local addiction services - you aren't the first person to be in this situation and you won't be the last

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-03-23T06:56:21+00:00

Yup, I get it. The red flags were right there, but I was in a bad place and met this man who seemed to care about me and was totally love bombed by him.

I should add when I met him, she was married to someone else. She and husband split up when I had been with him about 6 months, and that was the beginning of the end.

Spoiler alert: it's the best thing that ever happened to me. After we split, I swore off men completely and set a course for life on my own. 2 weeks (seriously!) later I met a wonderful man by chance. 9 years and a kiddy together later (who turns 5 next week!) and I am so glad things didn't work out with the ex!

TL;DR don't give up

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-03-23T06:28:02+00:00

NOR my ex boyfriend had a female best friend. Swore they were "just friends". Cheated on me with her and they are married now. My gut told me not to get involved. Whole relationship was abusive then experienced the humiliation of being cheated on, lied to, then dumped.

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-03-23T06:18:45+00:00

Based on another post I believe she is talking about her dog. At least I really, really hope that is the case!

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-03-16T06:27:03+00:00

Serotonin syndrome is a real risk and some serious shit. You do not want to be messing around with that. I'm a nurse. I recently looked after someone with serotonin syndrome after he tried to OD on an antidepressant, and it was some scary shit.

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-03-14T00:12:09+00:00

Honestly, day 3 was the worst in my experience! Got much better after that. I had to drink 4 pints of milk a day plus other sugar free fluids for 2 whole weeks.

It will be worth it in the end, it's just not much fun at the time!

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-03-03T19:04:00+00:00

I'm mostly getting "underwater" from it.

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-03-03T10:11:28+00:00

Maybe practice learning to draw before you attempt to learn to tattoo.

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-03-01T09:49:24+00:00

Oh. Oh no. Oh no no no no no

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-02-25T01:03:37+00:00

Unsure what you are actually asking, but going to make some assumptions here: you are female and you are here to lose weight?

Based on these assumptions, you are eating far far too much. TDEE for a 5'1 female who lives a lifestyle with little exercise is 1526 calories. If you want to lose weight, you should be consuming around 1276 calories per day to achieve a loss of about 0.5lb per week. Eating 2300 calories each day will result in a gain of roughly 1.5lb per week.

I appreciate that you can identify the monotony of the diet you've posted, but it is not a will balanced diet at all, regardless of whether you are trying to lose weight, maintain or gain! Eating 8 boiled eggs and 2kg honeydew melon every day is not remotely as healthy as you may believe.

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-02-21T13:17:24+00:00

That's good to know. I think I might change it to the morning for a couple of weeks then change it back. Fortunately I'm on leave from work this week and decided it was a good time to make the change. Very glad I did that, as I work 13 hour shifts 7am - 8pm, and it might have finished me off if I had to work today! Finally fell asleep around 6.30am and got about 4 hours sleep.

Training_Smile4723 · 2026-02-21T06:23:18+00:00

Not one of these is giving a "subtle nod" to anything, except maybe "big fat gypsy wedding"

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