Patti Gonzalez, recently voted off NBC's "The Biggest Loser," puts it succinctly when asked about her highest body weight of 280 pounds.

"Life sped up, but my lifestyle slowed down."

Gonzalez, a native San Diegan, spoke during a telephone interview just a week before she left the show. (She actually left the set this summer, but the episode aired last week.) For those who haven't seen NBC's hit about obese contestants competing to lose weight, "voting" people off is never done with animosity, but with a lot of tears as the teams have to decide which team member to send home.

A La Mesa resident, Gonzalez grew up in San Diego and gradually found life's distractions leading her to gaining weight.

"I grew up as a pretty active kid," Gonzalez said. "I ran around a lot and played on Mission Bay. I'm homegrown, so I've been able to enjoy the benefits of great weather."

She attended San Diego Mesa College, married, began working full time with Mission Federal Credit Union 15 years ago before having children and then found her health was deteriorating.

"I'd like to make excuses, but it's just that I slowed down. Fifteen years later I'm a morbidly obese couch potato."

Not that Gonzalez didn't have things to keep her busy, including three children, ages 4 to 8, and her husband of 12 years, Salvador. She's also involved in volunteer work and was named "San Diego Citizen of the Year" for her community work.

Even with all that, she says her experiences on "The Biggest Loser" reminded her that she also enjoys being physically active.

"While I was going to college and going to high school, I was an active person and liked trying things. I enjoyed being on the swim team, biking with friends, cheerleading, skydiving off Sunset Cliffs. I remembered that I liked to do these things."

Since returning home Gonzalez has continued to lose weight and is now almost 70 pounds lighter than when she began the show. With that has come a new confidence.

"I now know I have the power within me. (Team trainer) Bob (Harper) helped me see things that I couldn't see within me. He kept telling me how strong of a woman I am and helped me see these things within me."

Gonzalez has watched the show for years and was determined to lose weight.

"I thought why not do it with America holding me accountable and try to win the grand prize -- I couldn't lose."

She also knew the show would give her a chance to talk about a condition she suffers from, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which affects the liver and is made worse by obesity.

"The reason I needed to lose weight is this life-threatening disease. You could have diabetes, you could have high blood pressure, but I had this disease facing me in the face. I needed to lose weight or my liver would fail."

Gonzalez also recognizes she has the chance to influence other Latino women, who have traditionally not been encouraged to be athletic.

"When I was in high school I was the odd one out. I went out for cheerleading and tried to encourage (my friends), but they sat on the sidelines. My mom was very liberating and said, 'Yeah, you try these things,' where the other mothers were, 'You stay home and you have your chores to do.'

"It is challenging for Latinas today because of the role. I think the Latina community (which has the highest rate of diabetes) as a whole has the opportunity to come out of these boxes," Gonzalez said.

"The Biggest Loser" airs at 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays on KNSD/Channel 39.

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Watching the new ABC show "Pushing Daisies," it's hard not to think it's so good that it can't possibly last.

This is a show unlike any other on television. Lee Pace stars as Ned, a pie baker who has the unique gift -- and curse -- of being able to touch the dead and bring them back to life. When he touches them again, however, they're dead for good. And if he doesn't touch the temporarily living and send them back to the Grim Reaper, someone else has to die to take their place.

Followed all that? Now consider that he works part time with a detective and they solve murders by waking up the dead to reveal who killed them, and then Ned and the detective can collect the reward.

Since Ned can't touch people without them keeling over, he's very detached, which frustrates the waitress in his pie shop, wonderfully played by Kristen Chenoweth. Then one day Ned wakes up his childhood sweetheart and decides he'll live out his days in happiness -- even if it means he can't touch her.

All of this is played out in a magical way in the steady hands of movie director Barry Sonnenfeld ("Men in Black") and producer Bryan Fuller ("Heroes"). Joining Pace and Chenoweth is an outstanding cast including British actress Anna Friel as Ned's sweetheart, Swoosie Kurtz as her crazy aunt, and Chi McBride as the detective who views Ned's golden touch in the most cynical, monetary ways.

"Pushing Daisies" airs at 8 p.m. Wednesdays on KGTV/Channel 10.

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Two other Brits are in new television shows. Kevin McKidd, who played the Roman Legion leader on HBO's "Rome," stars as a San Francisco newspaper reporter in NBC's "Journeyman" who suddenly finds his world shifting from the present to the past.

While he's in the past, he meets his former fiance, and he saves a suicidal young man who goes on to become a life-saving doctor. Think "Quantum Leap" but much darker.

"Journeyman" airs on Monday nights following "Heroes," so it fits well with the science-fiction theme. It's not easy to follow, though, and that may doom it to an early exit this fall.

The other British actor with a new NBC show is Damian Lewis (Maj. Richard Winters on HBO's "Band of Brothers") in "Life." Lewis plays Charlie Crews, an LAPD detective who lost 12 years of his life to a prison sentence when he was framed for a murder. Now out of jail, back on the force, and enjoying the perks of a rumored $50 million lawsuit settlement, Crews spouts Zen philosophy that drives his partner crazy and has an unusual passion for eating fresh fruit.

Good shows can't be carried by one character, and "Life" benefits from performances by Sarah Shahi as Charlie's partner Dani. With her own demons shoved into her closet -- she's done rehab to overcome a drug addiction but has picked up a nasty drinking problem -- she's unnerved by Charlie's philosophical look at things. Then there's Adam Arkin as a former CEO who embezzled funds and went to the same jail as Charlie. Now he lives with the detective so he can manage his vast finances.

With his former LAPD partner lurking on the sidelines, and a department lieutenant gunning to have Dani find something on Charlie that can have him kicked off the force, Charlie knows the LAPD is still out to get him, so he spends his off hours trying to solve who framed him.

With Lewis as the charming Charlie, and with the interesting other characters in this police drama, let's hope "Life" goes on for a long time.

"Journeyman" airs at 10 p.m. Mondays on KNSD/Channel 39. "Life" airs at 10 p.m. Wednesdays on KNSD.

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The week's highlights include pre-Halloween scares and the history of San Diegans taking to the air.

Lifetime Friday Night Block -- Three series are returning to Lifetime this weekend and are programmed in a night of other-worldly experiences. "Lisa Williams: Life Among the Dead" returns at 9 p.m. Friday, followed by "America's Psychic Challenge" at 10 and then the vampire drama "Blood Ties" at 11.

"The Gathering" (9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Lifetime) -- Peter Gallagher leads a miniseries about witchcraft. Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Peter Fonda co-star.

"Flying West: The History of Aviation in San Diego" (9 p.m. Wednesday, KPBS/Channel 15) -- Local producer Patt Finn looks at the history of flying in San Diego, from a reported glider flight on Otay Mesa 20 years before the Wright Brothers flew their plane, to the modern aircraft industry.

Ann Zivotsky writes about television for the North County Times. E-mail her at nctimestv@cox.net.