Category — Excess Baggage

Excess Baggage continued to differentiate itself from The Biggest Loser by showing at the finale last night that there were contestants who had not lost a lot of weight.

After the calibration of points using a formula for health that was impenetrable (unless you had a Masters of Mathematics), the purple team of Ajay Rochester and Matt won the $100,000. Ajay’s portion goes to her selected charity.

Excess Baggage contestant Gabby Millgate sat on my couch to talk the Excess Baggage finale, how it is different from The Biggest Loser (well that was said quite subtly), the ratings, what she is doing now, and Big Brother for those who don’t know she was runner up on Celebrity Big Brother.

Also check out Gabby as Julia Spillard on her YouTube Channel here. Or follow her on Twitter at @GabbyMillgate.

Excess Baggage finale on tonight on GO at 6.30pm.

Excess Baggage finale is on this Thursday. Who do you think will win?

Contestant from the show the talented and very funny Gabby Millgate has again blogged on the show and what she has been doing after her elimination. By the way Gabby I wish when I was out exercising that the personal trainer Christian would emerge like an oasis does in a the desert! Now that would be motivating.

Over to you Gabby:

Week 4

Monday
6:30am:  Started with a happiness walk which turned into  a happiness run around the bay. (Drummoyne).
My Video Parody of Kevin Rudd swearing video has been the most viewed 2000 views overnight
It’s on the front page of smh online and has played on Sunrise7. Later in the day News Ltd will put it on their site.
By tuesday morning 8000 have viewed it on my YouTube channel. (Editors note: It now has over 20,000 and must confess every time I watch it I laugh out loud)

I DID THIS. In my bathroom. Doing my own makeup lighting sound performing filming editing uploading and tweeting.
OOOOH this feels good.

During my 8km Bay run I see a beautiful man running towards me in a glistening blur. Even though I didn’t have my glasses on
I still recognised that well sculpted tanned chest. CHRISTIAN, my boxing coach.
Deidre Chambers what a co-incidence. I love it when I run into people I love and who love me.
It’s here I have to paint the Mills & Boon-esq relationship I have with Christian

6pm: Get flight from Syd to Tassi to visit Brant Webb.
On the drive from the airport he tells me that he’s crashed so many time he’s uninsurable.
He also shows me a certificate he received after the Beaconsfield rescue and plays me two songs written about him.
I sing him and his wife, Rachel, the song I’ve written about myself.

I visit Brants shop. Take Away called Pot of Gold Take Away
It’s like a food porn shop.
Chips chocolate a soft serve icecream that I really wanted to make come out into my mouth. Freezers full of ice cream that promised to give me new mouth adventure. Chocolates that promised to give me satisfaction
OOOh I haven’t tried those peanut butter m&Ms
The chips were talkin to me…”we would be amazing for breakfast”.
I grab a take away menu and a chocolate billabong (98cals…)

Back in Sydney.

The Pink team have been eliminated.  And now the yellow team too.
I ring Sarah and shes happy to hear from me and wants to try fun stuff like surfing…cool.
I ring Kate and arrange to meet up with her.
She’s having a similar experience to me adjusting to leaving the show and getting back into training and diet. All the symptoms of grief. I share what I’m going through and share ideas
We go to walk the dog.
Then the dog looks so happy i suggest we just run for a bit and we ran and ran (slow jog really).
We didn’t know where we were going…we just ran with curiosity.
We didn’t run with striving or trying or counting or suffering or battling or competing or timing.
We ran and chatted and laughed and were impressed with how much we could run.

“how much do you think we’ve run”
“dunno…feels like a lot but it wasn’t punishing.
Kate did the maths and we’d run 4kms easy.

Next morning I ring her and we go to the pool
Kate’s first time back in a pool for a few years she told me afterwards.
We did swimming drills:
50m freestyle…30 sec rest x10
50m kickboard with flippers x 10
50m hand flippers freestyle x10
25m sprints freestyle 25m recovery freestyle X10

By the end of 55 I’d swum 2km….well that was not hard I made an effort but I didn’t feel panicked or breathless.

I’ve also done a couple of Powerplate sessions at  www.bodytransformationcentre.com.au which I must say make me feel good.
Having a chat with the trainers. The classes are small so I get a lot of attention to my form and get to work out in 1/2 hour with a an amazing stretching for 10 mins before and after feels awesome.
Powerplate massage at the end.
My diet has been pretty good and I also do a couple of Nintendo wii sesions with the hula hoop 10 mins and the jogging
intervals of 2 mins doing a Gladiator move between sets

run 300 punches
run 10 burpies
run 20 pushups
run  30 sit ups
run 40 stair climbs
run 300 punches

I’ve also done a stock take of everything and put it on a whiteboard with pretty stickers (I loves me stationary).

Better out than in
Now I’ve got some visual goals.

And the Finale is this Thursday
Looking forward to seeing everyone again.

I hope I haven’t put on weight
I ate Brant”s Nutella…what?!
We’ll see at the final Bod Pod.

Thank you Gabby for sharing your post Excess Baggage journey with us we are indeed privileged.

GABBY’s Blog  1 Week after elimination… 

I’ve had a turbulent time. When I came off the show I wanted to rest.

The first week off the show I gave myself a week off from exercising…was this a Mistake?

See what I did to the kitchen after a late night binge.

Or click the link to clip here.

I felt sad.

I felt grief.

I felt fear.

And I know I felt fear because all I wanted to do was sleep and eat, just like at the Gordon Dam Abseil.

I felt angry that I’ve had opportunities stolen from me by people who were competitive rather than collaborative-at my expense. (running theme).

I felt defeated that the unexpected wipes out my foundations over and over again and I’m always back at the beginning. (who knew a high jump would be my down fall…deep)

I felt depressed- I’m not practiced in being clever or competitive…I only know how to collaborate and serve with honor-I don’t belong in a world that doesn’t have these values.

I felt depressed that I didn’t belong..to anything …except maybe a tele-thon for reality contestants of canned/panned reality shows.

“Well” I says to self “Find a group to belong to”. After visiting a number of gyms that just didn’t feel right, I found one that did.

I love my new gym. The best I’ve ever seen. On the cutting edge with their training and support.

The name is perfect too: the Body Transformation Centre. They are the first group I belonged to. I’ll be uploading videos of my progress with them.

I think I’ve put on a couple of post elimination kgs. This time I’ll catch it before it creeps up.

Dr Tim had suggested I identify & use my strengths. Blogging lets me offer my efforts to sharing what works & doesn’t work for me.

I’m now part of my local community and they help me…that’s where I feel I belong.

The twitter and facebook support has been amazing. Thankyou thankyou thankyou.

Even the guy who cleaned my windscreen at the lights said” Muriel’s wedding right?…you’ve done well on that show…lost a lot of weight”.

“Thanks for helping me see better” I said. He said: “I’m here everyday”.  So please check out his intersection (Annandale cnr Pmtta rd).

I’m really missing the cast &crew of excess baggage…the daily interactions…the dramas.

Luckily I can still watch them all on TV.

This week I’ve got to stop all the swirling “what ifs” and “what nows?” that are swirling in my head.

I think a good stock take is in order. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Gabby

Excess Baggage screens on GO at 6.30pm Monday to Thursday.

Gabby Millgate was unfortunately eliminated last night on Excess Baggage, but lucky for us she has written her swan song (well hopefully not her last blog post) here.

Over to you Gabby:

Dearest Youse!
My twitter friends and the curious gather round for the tale of the second human sacrifice on #excessbaggage-THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE
or
Two self sacrificing virgins

Even before we lost Benny and I both believe that it’s the way you play the game is important. That we help each other because the biggest prize  is the friends you win, and working together as a community makes us all stronger.

If we’re not fighting…what joy do can we bring?
If we’re not worrying…what are we imagining?
If we’re not serious…what lights up?

Benny, Mate…It’s up to you now. Give to yourself all that love and commitment that you give to other people…to yourself. I’ll do the same and let you know if it works.

I knew when we’d become as close as two fat people could when I could open up to you and asked you ( a 23 year old man from newcastle) what I (a glamorous movie star) should do if a guy poked me on Facebook. The answer was obvious to you ”Finger bang him back”!  Like.

Aunty Christine…Look after Aunty Lisa. Tell Nathan I think he is a very funny clever man

Lana I swear to god next time I see you its ON! The old Orange Green rivalry. I will wrestle you like heavy velcro.

Kevin…I’m sorry Dr Jo and Christian took away the best drinkin’ buddy you’ll ever have the privilege to see throw up.

Thank you to everyone in Fremantle production and GO!/CH9.
Thankyou  tweeters. We’ve been through a lot together.  @talldark_clumsy inspired me to start the #virtualbuddy hashtag of support.

Thanks to the thousands of people who didn’t give up on us.
I want to stay in contact. So please leave a comment of contact me on @gabbymillgate, and I reckon I’ll continue to blog…just give me a week and I’ll be back.

Nigh Nighs everyone I reckon I’ve got a bit of recovery time from being thrown into a volcano of emotions.
Perhaps my lead will turn into gold?

Johnny, Brant I’m comin’ for a visit it sounds like heaven!

Hello you!
The Sydney athletic challenge saw us all show why we are not representing at the 2012 Olympics. Although Lisa would definitely have a shot. Yup! she revealed a secret.  She has been the Australian Champion at shot put.

While we were waiting to start the shot put Sarah and Kate had an altercation. Kate came off looking hard arsed and Sarah
came off looking really sad. This elicited a lot of twitter support for Sarah and quite a lot of Kate hate.

What wasn’t shown on television was more of this dynamic. Girls can get emotional - nuff said

From my perspective it was two people trying to find new ways of communicating their frustrations. I was a little emotional myself.
I didn’t win the high jump which meant our team  may be in the bottom two for the 2nd elimination.

We need big check in numbers to stay in the competition. So I was a bit emotional when I said Kevin’s lifestyle choices
were catching up to him.

NOTE TO SELF….send high horse to the glue factory

Tonight was the first elimination from Excess Baggage – and Gabby Millgate tells us about Brant and John. Love it, and Gabby sign me up to the Bay Fun run.

Over to you Gabby:

Tonight we said goodbye to two much loved competitors the Grey team John Rose and Brant Webb. From the get go John knew Brant was off his chops because they were Brants first words to John when they met in the Kimberly (the place not the lady).

John would greet everyone with a “howzit goin’ champ?”

Everyday and together we devised a compliment game. I would say “my goodness John, your earlobes are angelic”. And he would say ” why thank you and you have quite an angelic presence yourself”. Then we would score the compliments and declare a winner.

And Brant was Brant.

Tonight The Judges said they had not seen the real Brant, that is because he is unreal and just like dogs know dogs Brant knew me (Well without the sniffing and licking).

I had the pleasure of spending some time with his wife when she visited the set. The best couple I have ever seen. Married at 17 and he’s happy & she’s happy! I want to be them when I grow up.

There’s lots of speculation as to why Brant said he didn’t need to stay. He only needed to stay for John and us. We needed him for that too.

They’re not dead and this is not a eulogy…it’s a declaration of admiration for two of the most wonderful men I have ever met.

I’m also very proud to have won $10 000 for my charity CMRI http://www.cmri.org.au/

I hope to be doing a fun run to raise more money for them as the work they do is searching for a cure for childhood illnesses, most likely the Bay Run in Drummoyne Sydney.

Let me know if you’d like to do your own with me in your community once the show is finished.

The fabulous Gabby Millgate has agreed to blog on Excess Baggage for Reality Ravings, so we get a unique perspective of the show, plus a witty recap. You can follow her on Twitter @gabbymillgate or check out her website or her YouTube Channel for a laugh.

Over to you Gabby Millgate:

Hello you!

I’ve been asked by Reality Ravings to write a guest blog about last night on excess baggage WED 29 Feb on Go!

As I am a contestant on Excess Baggage my perspective is going to colour this whole blog (…as being informative & self indulgent is  such a rare opportunity).
My perspective is this :I watch the show & tweet after a day of workouts & challenges.

LOCATION: GOLD COAST
ENDURANC: CHALLENGE
IN A NUTSHELL:High rise stairs from hell with aspects of Gold Coast Meter-maid
BEST TWEET: @MrsMRecommends ”might have guessed Ajay wouldn’ do it #shirker I feel for the camera and sound crew having to do it! #excessbaggage”

RECAP

Firstly the most important info:
WHO VOMITED? Nathan…its his usual reaction to anything extreme.

WHO NEARLY DIES? Kate DeRugio AND Nathan

Lets start with Darryn and Lisa (RED TEAM).
They come last again but not before @MarniKelly tweeted ”@lusheslamour call @DarrynLyonsMrP geriatric & a cockatoo in 1 show,brilliant”.

The Orange team with Dippa and Lana continue to delight me. Lana unique turn of phrase describing Dippa’s frustration made judge @joannanutrition  tweet this “Thank goodness Dipper is a gent I kept my teeth ”.

The Blue team K-Fed /Renea showed us love and exhaustion. It’s amazing how K-fed pulls all the chicks…right up 78 floor of stairs. and Renae seemed to do it effortlessly…Is she a robot from the future sent back in time to loose weight?
He said I love you and she heaved onto his chest…..which is understandable  78 floors with Matt Purple team behind her…somewhere down a few flights a giant man
on a mission to win.

It was like watching something from a horror movie.

Then Nathan vomited (in his team colour-yellow), and then Kate nearly died.
Ben (my teammate) came to the rescue and got her to safety, but to do that they had to keep climbing.

Watching this made me ask some important questions.

What is the purpose of the competition element?
Is it survival of the fittest?
If it was for Ben he would have kept walking and left Kate to be taken care of by someone else.
Helping your mate no matter what team you’re on, seems to be at Ben’s core.
How do you score that in a competition?
Are we on a battlefield or a playground?
I’m glad this show is about choice.

Me…I was very brave and waited really hard at the top having taken the elevator.
I closed my eyes and imagined sending Ben energy…dunno if it worked
That can’t be measure either.

Next show:
Thursday Night March 1 is the first Elimination. Who will be in the bottom two?
Who do you think will be standing in front of the judges explaining and justifying why they deserve to escape ELIMINATION?!!
Everybody’s worried. Everybody should be. Understandable

Gabby Millgate continues to pump out funny clips in her character of Julia Spillard. Lucky for her Julia is still Prime Minister.

Here are her two latest:

 

The children of Excess Baggage‘s Kevin Federline had better make the most of their childhood.  They have approximately 10 years before their dad is going to set them to work, according to a report in the Herald-Sun.

“I’ll have them working at Micky D’s,” Federline said.

“That’s how we had to do it! I worked at a car wash, I worked at a pizza place. Things like that made me.

“I can be in this business now and I’m still the same person I am back then, because I know what I want out of life and how to treat people.”

I’m not sure that encouraging the kids to flip burgers is going to keep him on the healthy lifestyle kick.

Anyway, the show might not be working for viewers, but it’s working for K-Fed who has lost 16kg.  It has also sparked a love affair with Australia to the extent that he hopes to retire here.