I received an email yesterday morning from one of my readers that said, “I’m not sure if you listen to Jillian Michaels but I listen to her podcasts every day and today she was talking about you!!” (Shout out to Leigh-Ann for running on the treadmill AND typing on her phone at the same time—that’s talent!)
Of course the only logical response was, “What!? For real? Holy shit!” Followed up a few seconds later with, “Actually, that deserves a
‘HOLY SHIT BALLS!’
All I could think was, O.M.G. JILLIAN MICHAELS READ MY 10+ Reasons I Love My Ugly Body BLOG!!!
I was ecstatic! But after listening to the first four minutes of the episode I was left with very mixed emotions.
I was THRILLED because when she said, “I LOVED HER” she was referring to ME! (JM LOVES ME!) But then I was sad because she said she wouldn’t share my story with her audience. WHY?! Why, Jillian, WHY?!?!?
She tells her listeners she has been looking for an inspiring post to share with her followers, a story that focuses on body acceptance AND health, not just accepting an unhealthy body. She said that my Ugly Body post has everything she is looking for but…well this is what she said:
“There was this one girl, and the only reason I didn’t post this one, because I really liked her and I really like everything she had to say, is because she was a CrossFitter and I don’t believe in CrossFit.”
I assumed that meant that she doesn’t believe in the methodology, or the coaching style, or the certification process, or the programming. And believe it or not, I can TOTALLY understand- there’s a lot of shit CrossFit out there.
But instead of saying ANY of those things from her professional point-of-view which I would fully respect, she goes on to say, “She would have been the one I would have posted but then you get into this whole cult of CrossFit which freaks me out”
DUDE! WHAT THE CRAP JILLIAN?!
I cannot for the life of me understand why she wouldn’t post an article that has received hundreds (if not thousands) of sob-fest inducing (I cry like a baby when I read them) comments and emails proclaiming from many that reading that article was “life changing” because CrossFit freaks her out.
I totally get not being a fan of CrossFit, I have no problem with that. As a certified personal trainer AND discerning human being, I am fully aware that it has its flaws. While I love doing it and recognize what it has done for me, even I am not a fan of all things CrossFit. I just know that MY CrossFit experience allowed me to find a LOVE for fitness that has enabled me to do things physically that never even seemed possible.
I respect her as a professional—I know she knows her shit—I hope to know half as much as she does about health and fitness one day—I’m working on it! But I cannot for the life of me understand how she could possibly keep something from her audience that she herself LOVED just because it has the word “CrossFit” attached to it.
**Facepalm**
I wish I had a celebrity telephone so I could just call her and be all like, “Yo! Jillian! What’s up with being freaked out by CrossFit? It’s not like I’m wrestling snakes in a mud pit! And also, my story is about WAY more than CrossFit, it’s about being FASTER, STRONGER, BETTER, aka HEALTHIER than ever before and isn’t THAT what it’s about? Let’s hang out some time.”
Anyway, I tweeted to her this morning but haven’t gotten a response. I’m sure she gets tweeted at all day and the chances of my tweets getting lost in the sea of tweets is probably pretty likely. But I am going to remain hopeful that she will see them and maybe, just maybe she will reconsider.
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I used to be a fan of Jillian’s until she had her radio show and her true thoughts would come out. It was basically her way or forget about it as far as organic food, not using plastic bags, not believing in the bodybugg, but then she would tout these same items on the show which I thought was so hypocritical. So not surprised she won’t share your information because you’re a cross fitter because it doesn’t fall under her beliefs. Hopefully Bob will take your story and run with it. Good luck.
Hi! I’m kind of new to reading your blog and all that. I had a GBP in December and was before and still am an endurance athlete. While I’m new to your adventure, I’ve been listening to Jillian Michaels for years. I heard the episode you are talking about and I can see where your dismay and confusion come from. If you were to listen to her regularly though, you would understand her comments, maybe not agree with them, but understand why she made them.
Jillian has a very set way of doing things and the extremes of CrossFit and other aspects of it (I missed the boat on CrossFit, so I don’t know much about it) go against what she knows as best practice. Yes, her dear friend Bob is big on CrossFit, but she doesn’t understand that either.
I wish that she had taken more time to read your blog and find out more about you. I think maybe she wouldn’t have made that snap judgement. Unfortunately though, she is also very against weight loss surgery, so she still may have come to the same conclusion.
I think Jillian is great at what she does, but she doesn’t know everything. One thing I will say though after years of listening to her is that she will admit when she’s wrong about something. She has good sound nutritional advice and general fitness advice on her show, but it’s now starting to evolve into more life coaching than just fitness.
Anyway.. I hope that helps with some of your confusion. btw, I love what you are doing!
Falmpalm indeed.
I mean, let’s be honest, this is the person who also said her favorite thing about herself was her abs. Not her brain or her personality or her ability to reach thousands. Her abs.
Forget her. CrossFit (when done right) rocks and so do you!!