Losing it With Jillian

Don't Yell at Me, Jillian!I’m a late-comer to “The Biggest Loser”- I was out of the country for a while and in South Korea where I hung my hat for a while, there was absolutely no need for a TV show like that; year after year, South Koreans come in as some of the least fat people in the world. Since I’ve been back, I’ve been periodically watching “The Biggest Loser” with a combination of shock, enjoyment, and awe at the participants staying power. I’ve also been enjoying working out to some of Jillian’s DVDs, so was excited to see the TV show, “Losing it With Jillian”.

The premise of the show is similar to Jamie Oliver’s show, only Jillian’s focus is set on getting Americans physically fit instead of getting them to eat better. I watched the latest episode of “Losing it With Jillian” and I have to say this as honestly as I can- she would scare the complete crap out of me if she was my physical trainer. Watching her push a chubby teenager to run stairs at a stadium brought back memories of my own previous and failed attempts to get myself into shape.

The show focuses on a 40-something-year old mother of three children who dealt with her divorce and ovarian cancer by over-eating until she reached a very unhealthy 300+ pounds. The show’s producers then scared her daughters by using computer-generated imagery to fast-forward them into their considerably larger futures.

Once the training starts, Jillian embraces her “inner bitch” and starts yelling at the daughters as loud as she possibly can; apparently, the ability to make a person who is out of shape feel like a total and complete idiot is a pre-requisite for a personal trainer to have her own TV show. In this way, she is totally and completely different from her British Jamie Oliver, who despite being from England, has a significantly more subtle approach to helping Americans (and Brits) in getting healthier lifestyles.

Her approach did lead to some weight loss and a date for the mom in the show, but I’m not really sure that her methods will keep the family fit and working out. I admire what she’s doing, but I don’t really see the value in yelling to make someone more fit. What will they do when she is not there to yell at them? I guess, of course, the answer is obvious, buy her DVDs, which actually are pretty good and involve ZERO yelling.