Jillian Michaels: The New Weight Loss Guru

For anyone who has flipped the TV channel to The Biggest Loser, Jillian Michaels is a familiar face. However, in the past year, Jillian Michaels is truly becoming a household name and has expanded beyond the show to writing books, creating exercise videos, releasing her own brand of diet supplements, to recently starting her own show. I've found her quite inspirational and also very intelligent. She approaches weight loss head-on, but in a reasonable, methodical way.

Michaels' new show airs on Tuesday nights at 10/9 central on NBC. She moves in with a new family every week, and helps them learn new eating habits and exercise routines. She also gets to the root of the families' emotional issues, which also affect their current eating and workout habits.

Finally, after visiting 8 families, there will be a reunion show a few months later where Jillian sees the families again and weighs in on their progress. Will the families keep up the good work? With Michaels' tough love program, I think they will.

Michaels has introduced dietary products, which are available at stores such as CVS and Wal-Mart. There are a variety of options you can try to assist in various aspects of weight loss. There's whey protein powders, "cleanse and burn" pills, as well as calorie control and fat control pills. 

Important: Always be cautious when using any sort of weight loss pills. They're typically not FDA approved; they have ingredients that we don't know a lot about; and they can increase your heart rate to an unhealthy level. I would suggest consulting a doctor before using any of these items; however, I've read her books and I believe she has a strong grasp of physiology and nutrition, and I would use her products over some others that are currently on the market.

Michaels has published quite a few texts. I would recommend Master Your Metabolism or Winning By Losing. For those of you who feel like you are fighting to lose a pound or keep off weight you were so proud to lose, you may need to consider different methods to increase your metabolism. Master Your Metabolism provides you with such answers. In addition, she's come out with a Master Your Metabolism cookbook and calorie counter, too!

In Winning By Losing, Michaels carefully and thoroughly examines the emotional, physical, and nutritional aspects of weight loss. The tone is very empathetic (Michaels was overweight as a child), and also based in scientific research. I really enjoyed this book; it was a quick read.

Michaels offers some really fun workout videos. They're not too long, they're easy to follow, and they work!

Her Yoga Meltdown makes you feel great. You know you're going to get toned, but you don't feel like you're going to keel over! She also has other DVDs that help you get rid of your trouble zones.

You can also try her 30-day Shred, which is designed to help you lose up to 20 pounds in 30 days. This DVD is all about circuit training. You do 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio, and 1 minute of abs, in cycles.

Before you decide to purchase the DVDs though, if you have On Demand, check out the Exercise TV station. I've done some of her workouts for free on there.

If you go to Jillian Michaels' official website, JillianMichaels.com, you will find a box titled "FREE Weight Loss Plan" to the right side of the site. By completing your current height, weight, goal weight, and e-mail address, and a few questions, you will get a free diagnostic where the website recommends workouts and dietary tips specialized for you. Also, you'll sign up for the free newsletter, and you get daily weight loss tips that are fun to read and pretty short. You don't need to pay for anything on the site--yet. I find that the newsletters are all I need.