Losing It With Jillian: Good For Body And Soul

*photo courtesy of Jillian Michaels Master Your Metabolism Cookbook.


I loved the first family so much last week on Losing It With Jillian, and I didn't think it was possible to top that. I was wrong! I love this week's family even more. Jillian is in Massachusetts again, this time with a family of 3. Deb is a single mom to 12 year old daughter Isabella and 10 year old son Jordan. Their husband/dad died of a heart attack 5 1/2 years ago at age 53. Ironically, Deb had finally gotten him to go to a marriage counselor with her because she believed his obesity was causing problems for the family. He had the heart attack and passed away right there in the counselor's office.

Ever since then, Deb seems like she has just given up on life. At her physical with the doctor, she discovers the she is now more than 100 pounds overweight herself. Her kids think she has turned into a female version of their father, and that makes her even more depressed. Jillian calls them to meet her at the gym, and every time she asks Deb to do something the first words out of her mouth are "I can't". This of course drives Jillian up the wall and she really lays into her about getting her life back and making sure that her kids don't lose another parent.

When they all arrive back at the house, Jillian finds a complete mess. It really looks like a hurricane blew through the house. Every single room has stuff piled and scattered all over the place, and it's difficult to even walk around. Jillian sees the room where she is supposed to sleep, and decides she'd better stay at a motel until it is livable. Deb admits she doesn't clean and is stressed out being the only one around to take care of her kids. Jillian tells her that she deserves better than this. The next day she takes Deb back to the gym while Izzy and Jordan clean their own rooms. Jillian knows Deb needs to have a breakthrough, or else her weight and the house will wind up a mess again after she leaves. Deb sobs and screams how she is tired of having to do everything by herself. Jillian mentions that the messy house is a symbol of what is broken inside of her.

After getting the house in order, Jillian tells the kids that they should be doing kid stuff and having fun. They go off to do just that while Jillian visits Deb at work. Her boss is a sweetheart and really wants to help. He shows Jillian an old picture of himself when he was overweight. Several people in the office go running together 3 days a week and are training for a 5K. Jillian loves this, and she gets Deb to commit to running with her coworkers.

Izzy gets really mad at Jillian for yelling at her mom, and they have a talk. Izzy is totally overwhelmed by the extra resposibility place on her since her dad died. Jillian puts a weighted vest on her, and Deb asks why. After Jillian lets her think about it, Deb shouts out that she should be the one carrying the weight instead. She realizes just how much she has put on her daughter's shoulders and apologizes. Izzy is interested in dance, so Jillian takes her and her mom to an African Tribal Dance class to try it out. They really enjoy it and it's something they can bond over. Of course Jillian teaches them healthier cooking, and she wants to make sure that when she leaves Deb can use her power and confidence to keep moving forward. They all go canoeing, and Jillan has a megaphone that she passes around to each family member to shout out their goals. Izzy wants to encourage her mom and lose some weight herself. JIllian tells her at that age she shouldn't focus on the scale, but just start making healthy choices and the weight will come off. Izzy decides to join her school's running club as a positive step in the right direction. Jordan vows to be a more responsible 10 year old. Deb's plans are to lose 30 pounds, run the 5K, and get off her diabetes medications. Jilliam reminds them that failure is NOT an option here!

Jillian comes back six weeks later to run the 5K with Deb and her coworkers. The kids are there to cheer everyone on. Jillian hands out pink T-shirts that have "Team Deb" on them for everyone to wear. Since Deb has a knee injury everyone wonders if she can finish the race, but Jillian is impressed with how Deb pushes through everything to complete the 5K. She's lost 32 pounds and should be off her diabetes meds within a month. The whole family looks healthier and happier, and they now know that anything is possible. Jillian presents them with a check for $50,000 to help out, courtesy of jillianmichaels.com.

This show inspires me so much, because in the real world we are not competing in gameplay to win a big prize. We are competing against ourselves to live our best lives. Not only am I motivated healthwise, but it's time to clean out the unnecessary stuff in my house! Even though my place is not anywhere near the disaster area that Deb's house was, there is still too much stuff around that we never use. It's finally time to have that garage sale and also donate items to people that need them. Now I look forward even more to Jillian's next family, and what else we will learn about life!