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Gasp: Jillian Michaels Hates Exercising

Posted: 05/22/08 12:12 PM ET

2008-05-22-images-jillianmichaelsbookcoverthumb310x388.jpg

The workout queen made famous by her Biggest Loser bi-polar swings and Wonder Woman abs, when asked what her least favorite exercise was, answered, "All of it. I hate all of it. You show me someone who likes to work out and I'll show you a weirdo." She goes on to explain that exercise is like maintaining a house. You want your house to stay dry in the rain? Clean out the gutters every once in awhile.

Now that is honesty I haven't seen come out of Hollywood since Julianne Moore dropped the effortlessly thin crap and confessed to subsisting mainly on yogurt and granola bars, lamenting "I'm hungry all the time."

I'm not sure how I feel about this revelation. On one hand: yay! Even super buff personal trainer extraordinaires hate exercise! Stars... they are just like us! They even make bad analogies just like us! But on the other hand, what kind of example does this set for the rest of us? Certainly exercise has its awful moments, but to hate all of it?

I get that exercise is work and work is hard, blah, blah, blah. But exercise doesn't have to be all work -- in fact, if you hate all of it then you just aren't doing it right. (My apologies to Ms. Michaels, please don't deck-check me!). I think this perception of exercise as an odious thing that one must do if one wants to be a responsible member of society and not infuriate random strangers on the Internet is one of the main factors in our "obesity crisis."

Exercise doesn't have to suck! You don't like to run? Don't run! Be the anti-Forrest! There are plenty of ways to exercise that are enjoyable: dance, play tennis, join an adult dodgeball league, cage fight. And when you get bored of that? Try something else!

In the end, I don't think Jillian really hates exercise. The endorphins pretty much ensure that. I think she was just trying to be accessible -- to be just like us. And that's the problem.

 
 
 

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The workout queen made famous by her Biggest Loser bi-polar swings and Wonder Woman abs, when asked what her least favorite exercise was, answered, "All of it. I hate all of it. You show me someone ...
The workout queen made famous by her Biggest Loser bi-polar swings and Wonder Woman abs, when asked what her least favorite exercise was, answered, "All of it. I hate all of it. You show me someone ...
 
 
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06:08 PM on 05/27/2008
Excellent point! I would hate to deprive anyone of their right to crabbiness;) I gotta say I really admire you for sticking with something that you really don't enjoy. And kudos for trying everything - at least you've got some good stories, right?
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10:56 AM on 05/26/2008
Nah! I agree with her. I HATE all exercise. I've had lessons in everything. I am able to do it - I just Hate doing it. Why? It's simple. I don't like the sweating and I don't like exerting myself. I know I am not alone, maybe just alone in admitting it! LOL!

I have a new personal trainer -- I'm trying to convince him to give up trying to "get me upbeat!" Let's just do the workout, ignore my grumbling, know that I will never stop grumbling, and just get on with it. I, in 48 years - have never gotten the endorphine rush. Perhaps certain individuals never do!

Trainers & workout leaders: Please realize that there are lots of folks like me -- Don't waste your breath trying to get me "into it." You are just annoying me, on top of the fact that I hate working out. That pushes people to quit -- coz you're saying: "Don't be you - be like Me." Well, I'm not you. Give me credit for hiring you -- do your job - perhaps even sympathize with my feelings. Don't tell me I'm feeling "wrong!" Find a way to help me do it & bear it. Your happy-talk is driving me Insane!!!

Yet Another reason why obesity is soaring....