Review: Jillian Michaels

 “Unless You Puke, Faint or Die, Keep Going!”

 (The "p" word is my least favorite word in the English language!)





This post is about my quickly dissolving respect for one Jillian Michaels. For those of you who don't know who she is, she's, well, many things. She's a trainer on the show The Biggest Loser. (There are many things about this show that I enjoy, and many things that I can't stand, but that's a whole different post, to come later, I'm sure), she also has her own TV show, Losing it With Jillian. I could explain the logistics of these two shows, but if you don't know and are curious, follow the links.

Ms. Michaels has also done much more than this...way more than I ever knew.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for getting healthy, eating right, and working out, but I believe there's a right way and a wrong way to approach it. Take a look at the above picture. This is Jillian standing over someone who's working out, yelling at them to keep going. I do believe that if someone approached me with this form of "training", they'd quickly get slugged, or head-butted, whichever way was more accessible at the time.

I believe that, in order for someone to get in shape and get healthy, they must make decisions about ways to change their life forever, not just for "now". By yelling and yelling at people while in the gym and encouraging them that by throwing up it means they are working at a good level, it only makes sense to me that there's a good chance they'll see working out as mean and annoying, quit doing it, and end up right back where they started, living a sedentary lifestyle. (And also, throwing up is never healthy, unless maybe you've been poisoned or have poisoned yourself with too much alcohol). Pushing yourself is definitely necessary, but not to the point where you vomit.

One thing Jillian Michaels is not is a psychologist. She has no college degree, let alone one in psychology, and yet she acts like one on her shows. This really REALLY annoys me. Stick to what you know, woman! (And please, for the love, put on a shirt!)

I do confess that I own these three of her workout videos DVDs. They are pretty good, although my favorite one, Banish Fat Boost Metabolism, is admittedly slow, mainly during the punching and kicking parts. While working out to this DVD yesterday morning, I realized how annoying her little comments are all the way through. Makers of workout DVDs need to realize that people will likely be working out to them more than once (at least, that's the goal, I'd think), and that when you say things like, "I'm going to kill you when this is over. I'm going to jump you in the parking lot" or "You should be close to death, this is so hard, " or constantly commenting on how high one of the other girls in the DVD can kick, it makes me aim all those punches and kicks at your gut. I found myself yelling, "shut up" at the TV.

While I respect what Jillian Michaels is attempting to do: help people lead a healthier lifestyle, I'm not too keen on her approach. And also, I'm SO sick of hearing about all her new products and overpriced clothing lines.


In other news, I love this.

"My shoulders aren't dainty
or proportional to my hips
Some say they are like a man's.
I say leave men out of it. They are mine.
I made them, in a swimming pool
Then I went to yoga. and made my arms.
JUST DO IT."
NIKEWOMEN.COM

 

I've been feeling this way lately; that I have "man shoulders," but then I realize that it just means I'm strong, and my shoulders are inspiration in kickboxing class :)