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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Hey, I met you at BlogHer and you mentioned this, so I had to go look it up and read it first hand. I’m infuriated for you! I can only imagine how pissed I would be if I were in your shoes. So completely unfair. I love your story! (the one that got the attention) I hope she responds.
This is sad because your story is so powerful. You are right, there must be more going on there. Jillian probably has more pop culture “followers” than CrossFit does so the “cult” argument is not really valid. If she’s worried about potential issues when CrossFit us not done properly, that can happen with any regimin, even hers. There are serious questions many people have over one of her trainees on the show going too far with Jillian’s program. People have their own issues they are struggling with and can abuse even what starts out as healthy living. She should have shared your story and just put a disclaimer with her own thoughts on CrossFit.
Holy crap balls! To be honest, I am not a fan of Jillian (I don’t hide it so I am not ashamed to say it here) and her professional opinion. As a woman who sticks her name on every thing in the fitness/diet/supplement would she surely seems to be trying to build a cult following like crossfit, so shouldn’t that not freak her out? Ugh, people. Sorry friend.