The Biggest Loser?!?! Jillian Michaels

Okay… Here is the article, or one of the many articles going around about season 11 being Jillian Michaels last season with the Biggest Loser:  ”Jillian Michaels won’t tolerate crybabies on “The Biggest Loser,” but she’s leaving the show to raise a tiny tot of her own.  The super-buff star of the show tweeted earlier this week, “Season 11 of Biggest Loser will be my last have to finish out my contract.”

According to 36-year-old Michaels, she’s taking a hiatus from the show to pursue other, more maternal, goals.  ”Shooting [reality show] Losing It… had a big impact on me,” Michaels tweeted to a fan. “Living with kids I saw firsthand what I was missing.”

Michaels revealed earlier this year on “The Talk” that she suffers from endometriosis and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), two conditions which make pregnancy difficult if not impossible.But that’s not the only reason Michaels might be choosing an alternative approach to motherhood. In an issue of Women’s Health magazine in April of this year, Michaels revealed a fear that pregnancy might change her rock-hard bod.  ”I’m going to adopt. I can’t handle doing that to my body,” Michaels said.

She also offered a more philosophical reason for adoption, saying, “When you rescue something, it’s like rescuing a part of yourself.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2010/12/10/2010-12-10_jillian_michaels_leaving_the_biggest_loser.html#ixzz17qQxJiU2

My Opinion: Okay… to be completely honest when I first started reading the article I was genuinely happy for Jillian Michaels and her choice to be a mother.

But when I read the following statement: “I’m going to adopt…I can’t handle doing that to my body,” I was horrified!    Did she mean she couldn’t handle the physical demands of pregnancy?  getting fat?  having to get back in shape?  What did she mean?  Then I wondered… was that statement taken out of context?  So, I looked up  the original article in Women’s Health. (It is very important to note that this article is from a magazine entitled “WOMEN’S HEALTH” not the “Skinny on Women”!

Here are excerpts from the original article published in April 2010. “What exactly is her (Jillian’s) message? “We want her to be the go-to health and wellness person,” says Giancarlo Chersich, business partner at Jillian’s company, Empowered Media. “You’ve got Oprah in lifestyle, Martha in home, Rachael Ray in food, and Suze Orman in finance. There’s no one in what we call ultimate wellness.”  It’s all part of a greater plan to make her into a Jill(ian) of all trades. “By the time I’m 40, the hope is that I’ll be solidly in daytime television and producing the various other experts we’ve brought along the way,” she says. One thing’s for sure though: “I’m not going to be wearing spandex in a [workout] DVD at 40!” Jillian says. “If I am, shoot me.”

When she has a rare spare moment, Jillian rides her horse, Buzz, or whizzes along speed tracks on one of her motorcycles. And though this self-proclaimed “anti-Hollywood girl” would rather watch Lost or hang with best pal actress Vanessa Marcil than go to parties, she does squeeze in time for dates—with men or women. “I’ve been in love with both,” she says candidly…

She also hopes to have kids someday, saying, “I’m going to adopt.” One of the reasons: Jillian admits to having an aversion to pregnancy, the result of being an overweight kid. “I can’t handle doing that to my body,” she explains. “Also, when you rescue something, it’s like rescuing a part of yourself.”( source:  http://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/jillian-michaels-workout?page=2)

I was devastated, shocked, horrified, and royally ticked off after reading this article…  ”They”(whoever they are?) want to make Jillian Michaels the “go-to health and wellness person” for WOMEN?  And she has a fear of getting fat while pregnant?

Women’s bodies were made to have children.  They were designed be able to conceive, to be pregnant and “Guess what?” For the majority of healthy women that includes increasing their weight and body fat percentage!!!

What does this statement tell our young girls, young mothers, and all women?  If the Queen of Health and Wellness says I don’t want to get pregnant cause I don’t want to do that to my body.  I am “scared” of getting fat!  What is she teaching young women and all women?  And this is what is TICKING ME OFF?

Jillian Michaels is an icon, an image, a promoter of health and wellness and she is saying that gaining weight, increasing body fat, is “not healthy” and “not normal” for pregnant women.  If she is afraid of it…  she is teaching women to fear pregnancy and the effects it will have on their body.   She is in essence teaching women pregnancy and having children is not worth the price you physically have to pay.

I don’t get it…  Jillian’s mother gave her the greatest gift in the world.  She gave her life.  She sacrificed “her body” to bring Jillian into the world.  That is something mother’s do, they sacrifice to give life, they sacrifice their “selfish desires” to be part of the greatest miracle of all- LIFE!

And for a moment let’s try to see Pregnancy as it is?  It isn’t just about getting fat!  Women are suppose to have a higher body fat for their health and for the health of the baby!  Female bodies (all bodies) need fat to function properly!   In fact, if our body fat decreases substantially, women stop having their menstrual cycle and can permanently damage their reproductive system and thus never have the opportunity to get pregnant and give birth!

I am concerned, if she is the voice of wellness and health for women… what is she telling women?

I am not attacking Jillian and I applaud her willingness to become a mother and adopt.  I believe adoption is wonderful.  It gives children the opportunity to be a home where they are wanted and loved.  It gives women who can’t get pregnant the opportunity to become mothers and to have children of their “own”.   I also can’t imagine the pressure she has been under to have to look “perfect”.  But is that the image of health?  Is our society so fat adverse that women fear getting pregnant because they will get fat?

A women’s body was designed to increase and decrease in fat percentage.  You are suppose to increase in body fat when you get pregnant.  The fat insulates and protects the baby, a new life that was miraculously conceived in love.  (okay, so I am idealistic!)

Health is not about how you look!  It isn’t just about having rock hard abs and looking “sexy”.  Health is about how you view your body and the purpose of your body.  Health is not about fear of fat, but acceptance and understanding of the purpose of fat.  Health is so much more than losing weight.  There I’ve said it.  Healthy living is not just about losing weight and about having a super low body fat!  Health is not about being the “biggest loser”.

Women of the world- We don’t need to fear fat gain with pregnancy!   Weight gain and an increase in body fat is natural and needed during that season of our life.   It is NORMAL!  Don’t be afraid of pregnancy- Rejoice in the miracle!  Rejoice in the opportunity!  Be grateful to be women.  We are unique, our bodies are unique, our bodies are beautiful and fat, and well, fat is beautiful too.  It is vital to our health!