- Share This Post
- submit
- 6
-
Sparkle (0)
Whether you're single, married, or somewhere in-between, there are a lot of women out there who want to take care of their bodies. One woman who has succeeded in doing that is fitness expert Jillian Michaels. She spoke at an AOL Body-sponsored lunch event at last week's BlogHer '07, where she led a diet and fitness Q&A session. I put my name on the list the day before the event because I recognized her name; I thought it might be an interesting lunch diversion in-between the other sessions I would be attending. How was I to know it would end up being one of my favorite things about the conference?
Part of the reason I liked it so much is because I've recently started working out, and Jillian is a great inspiration. She answered questions about fitness, eating, and body image, with a little bit of relationship advice mixed in. Even though the talk wasn't specifically about blogging, many of the ladies in attendance write about health and body issues, or have struggled in some way with their weight and incorporate that into their writing. I was coming from a different point of view -- my struggles have been with having not enough body weight, and I've recently started a strength training and cardio routine to focus on being healthy, not just skinny -- but there were other women in the audience who had been in circumstances similar to mine, so the questions were still relevant.
Jillian has been a trainer for several seasons on NBC's The Biggest Loser. I remember seeing her on the show during the first season, but I haven't watched it since then (not because of the program itself; I'm just not a big TV fan). Due to her husky voice and confident personality (not to mention her boot camp instructor-like yelling) she can come across as larger than life. In person, though -- especially in an off-camera, small group, all-female environment -- she seemed much more down to earth and "normal." And also short. Like 5 ft tall short (I'm 5'9").
But not only was she normal, she was nice. A lunch session that was supposed to end at an hour and fifteen minutes lasted over two hours. She kept on talking and answering questions, and most of the people in our small group stayed right where they were instead of going to the next scheduled conference session. If you're already getting good information, why go somewhere else?
What I liked the most about Jillian was her honesty, which I found very inspiring. She talked openly about her body insecurities, her struggles with self-image, and her issues with food. At one point she mentioned that we often look at other people and think they must really have it going on, but those seemingly "perfect" people have the same insecurities and issues as everyone else. She has to stick to a very restrictive eating plan in order to look the way she does. When she goes to a restaurant, she automatically gets the waiter to box up half of her meal before he puts it on the table. If she has food in the house that she doesn't want to eat, she destroys it in some way (by pouring salt or ketchup all over it) before throwing it in the trash so she won't be tempted to go after it. (Remember that Sex and the City episode where Miranda eats chocolate cake out of the garbage can?). She said she used to have a former boyfriend lock up her stash of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and ration out only one per day, because otherwise she'd go crazy with them (that's actually a good tip: if it's not there, you can't eat it!).
One thing she said that surprised me (because she's a well-known personal trainer with many fitness certifications), was there's never a day when she's working out that she tells herself, "I love this." But she does it because she likes the results, and because she likes working with and inspiring other people, so it's personally fulfilling for her. When people ask her how they can find time to work out when they lead such busy lives, she answers, "You have to decide if you're worth it."
I wasn't the only one who found her talk inspirational. When I started looking for posts,
