Losing it with Jillian on NBC
By Julia Ertl
Jillian Michaels, the renowned fitness trainer and wellness
expert familiar to audiences from NBC’s hit program The Biggest Loser,
stars in her own series. Jillian goes to the roots of the problems a family
faces, giving them the tools to solve their issues and change their lives,
improving both their physical health and family relationships; as a result, the
June 29th episode of Losing it with Jillian (Sundays, 8:00
p.m. ET) was chosen as the Best TV Show of the Week.
Jillian confronts the Vivio family, who live on a farm in
Springfield, Tennessee. Their troubles started when the bridge Mark designed and
built broke, due to his weight. Mark, a football lover and father of four
children, had to close the family business when a serious heart condition forced
him to shut down the roofing company after eleven surgeries in less than one
year. In addition, there is a lack of communication in the family. Over the
years, Mark built up a wall around himself due to his father, who did the same.
He always wanted to support his family financially, but missed the opportunity
to be a loving father and husband.
This family has difficulties expressing their feelings, which
really affects Elijah, the youngest family member, who is following in his
father’s footsteps. At 14 years old, he already weighs an incredible 330 pounds.
Jillian keeps a special eye on him, since he has no self-esteem and gets bullied
in class. He feels like “a big failure,” because he can’t meet the expectations
he thinks his parents have, like playing football. Jillian digs a bit further
and finds out that this problem was triggered by Laverne, Elijah’s mother, who
herself doesn’t has enough self-confidence. Furthermore, Elijah really desires a
better connection to his father. Jillian decides to work hard with them on those
problems. At the gym and even at Elijah’s school, Jillian gives them precious
advice to restore their -- and especially Elijah’s -- confidence. Thanks to
Jillian and Mark’s willing attitude, Mark initiates a conversation with his
youngest son, so that he can start to regain what he has missed. Mark tells
Elijah how proud he is of his son. Before her departure, Jillian makes the
family rebuild the broken bridge, as a symbol that the negative changes which
occurred can be reversed with effort, strength and motivation.
After two months Jillian can’t believe her eyes. The bridge
is better than ever. Laverne has lost 31 pounds, Elijah, smiling and full of
self-esteem, has lost 50, and Mark has lost 56 pounds, and wants to make sure he
doesn’t need any heart procedures for a long time.
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” That is one of
the major messages this episode conveys: Be a good role model for your children,
they are looking up to you and imitate you. Laverne didn’t have enough
self-confidence, so neither did Elijah. Mark couldn’t express his emotions and
only felt responsible for the family’s income, just like his father.
Nevertheless, this family also demonstrates that you can
change if you believe in yourself; and with enough effort and will to
understand, you can transform your life to a better and healthier one. This
family needed to learn how to relate to one another. Mark understood that he
made a mistake and learned from his error. Communication was the key to his
problem. He can’t get the time back he missed; but from now on, he profits from
every day he can spend with his children. Laverne and Elijah also got their
confidence back, thanks to Jillian’s boost of motivation.
To put it in a nutshell, Jillian is helping families realize
that they can get back control over their lives and make a life-altering change,
simply by motivating them. So get on your feet, learn from your failures and do
something!
Best TV Show
of the Week
The Parents
Television Council -
www.parentstv.org
