Biggest Loser: I finally <3 Jillian

Sadly, I did not make my meeting tonight because I am home sick. (I am going to see if I can make it to another meeting later in the week, so hopefully I can do a weekly meeting recap blog.) I can't remember the last time I was this sick. I feel so terrible that I haven't even left my apartment for about 36 hours now. Since I've been trapped at home, I've only had the energy to sleep, eat and watch TV, so I am caught up on my DVR stuff and watched The Biggest Loser tonight. And I'm inspired to talk about Jillian.

In every past season, I disliked her. I always thought she was just a bitch and wondered "Why is she so mean to everyone?!" But I see her in a very different light this season. And I do not think it's because she changed; I think it's because I changed. Now I see what she's doing and what her intentions are - she gets into their heads to help them uncover the deeper seeded issues of what got them to the condition they were in when they appeared on the ranch. She talks to them in a way that pushes them further and makes them realize that THEY are holding themselves back, that THEY need to change their thinking, that THEY need to do this for them.

I love watching those break through moments!

She summed up that process perfectly tonight when she spoke directly to the camera:

"What I'm trying to do is create an unfortunate situation that pushes them out of their comfort zone, that makes them uncomfortable, that triggers all their issues so they learn how to manage it in a safe, controlled environment where I can create a positive outcome because when it happens in the real world, they'll know what to do instead of folding."

She continued to try to get through to Amanda while she was on the treadmill, telling her:

"Why are you so attached to being a failure? Why don't you change your mind today... You want to fail. You don't want to succeed... What are you getting out of it?... You are not failing here, you quit. There is a difference between quitting and failing... It's going to require some courage, it's going to require a little bit of bravery. It doesn't mean you're going to be fearless... Step on the treadmill and make it count... You make it happen. You don't wait for life to happen. You make it happen."

Amanda did quit the treadmill and left the gym, crying, after all of that. I really wanted to see the lightbulb go off in her head and see her get back on the treadmill but she wasn't ready for it.

Then later in the episode, Jillian said to Amanda:

"You have to redefine your view of failure. It's not failure, it's a learning process. You gotta fall down a few times you gotta make a few mistakes in order to learn. It's how you grow. Think about it."

Bravo! I could not agree more!

But Jillian is not always a bitch to them, she knows when to be compassionate - she shifted gears and talked Shay through her own breakthrough about what made her morbidly obese, and the root of her issue - her heroin addicted mother who didn't love her. It was emotional and powerful and in the long run, I think it helped Shay. She also talked to Abby very gently about her personal tragedy of losing her husband and children. So she's not a bitch like I thought, she knows what she's doing.

It was tonight I realized that it's official: I am a fan of Jillian and her tough love approach. I often hear her in my head when I'm doing something at the gym. Although I've never met her or trained with her, her voice and words motivate me when I need them. Thank you, Jillian.

Speaking of The Biggest Loser, I saw during one of the commercial breaks that there is a BL game for the Wii Fit. I had been considering buying this for a while but now I'm even more excited about the idea. So it's feedback time - Do any of you have the Wii Fit? Love it/hate it/want to share your opinions? Let me know. More than likely, I will get it regardless but I'd love to hear what you have to say.

Thank you and have a great week!