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"I met Jillian Michaels yesterday; she&amp;#x27;s one of the trainers on The Biggest Loser&amp;amp;#8212;and my new favorite person. Here&amp;#x27;s what she had to say. 1.) DON&amp;#x27;T APOLOGIZE FOR SELF-PRESERVATION. I told Jillian that some of my habits&amp;amp;#8212;flushing rice down the toilet so I won&amp;#x27;t eat it, bringing my own high-fiber bread to brunch&amp;amp;#8212;stirred some controversy on the blog. &amp;quot;Why?&amp;quot; she asked. &amp;quot;Why should we apologize for the practices that help us manage the symptoms while we deal with the real reasons we eat? I pour candle wax on my food at restaurants,&amp;quot; Jillian admitted. &amp;quot;Not wanting to &amp;#x27;waste food&amp;#x27; is a poor excuse for ending up far worse off later on, dealing with all the health problems that come with obesity.&amp;quot; 2.) RUN. I asked Jillian if running really is the best form of cardio for weight loss. &amp;quot;Absolutely,&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;There are lots of great ways to get your heart rate up, but if you want to see the pounds melt off, running is the fastest way. But I get that not everyone is built for it&amp;amp;#8212;knee problems, tight IT bands, heel spurs; I get it.&amp;amp;#8221; Whatever you do, she said, &amp;amp;#8220;Don&amp;#x27;t forget the weights! The more muscle you build, the faster your metabolism will run.&amp;quot; 3.) THE BIGGEST LOSER IS NOT REALITY. &amp;quot;You don&amp;#x27;t watch the Olympics and think, Hmm, I should swim for 6 hours a day like Michael Phelps, do you? But you might think about joining a pool and swimming a few times a week,&amp;quot; she said. That&amp;#x27;s what Jillian wants people watching TBL to think, too: &amp;quot;If these people can lose ten pounds in two weeks, maybe I can lose ten pounds in a couple of months.&amp;quot; She adds: &amp;quot;I want people to realize their own potential; I meet people all the time who never thought of themselves as athletic, but now? They truly are athletes.&amp;quot; 4.) FORGET WILLPOWER. &amp;quot;Losing weight is not about willpower&amp;amp;#8212;it&amp;#x27;s about moments of bravado, like the moment when you ask your waiter to take the bread away from the table right away.&amp;quot; 5.) JUST SAY THANK YOU. When I told Jillian how much weight I&amp;#x27;ve lost, she congratulated me. And then (as I always do), I added, &amp;quot;But I still have a long way to go.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Stop,&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;What does that do,&amp;quot; she said, &amp;quot;apart from negate everything you&amp;#x27;ve already accomplished? You&amp;#x27;re being self-deprecating and disempowering, and that doesn&amp;#x27;t serve anyone-and especially not you. Be proud of what you&amp;#x27;ve done for yourself.&amp;quot; Got it, Jillian. Thank you! :- ) What do you guys think&amp;amp;#8212;is weight loss about willpower? I happen to agree with Jillian and think it&amp;#x27;s NOT. It&amp;#x27;s not about gritting your teeth and finding the strength &amp;quot;deep within you&amp;quot;&amp;amp;#8212;I think that&amp;#x27;s B.S. and will leave many people feeling really bad that they can&amp;#x27;t find it. They key, I think, is to set up your environment and make decisions so that you can succeed even when willpower is nowhere to be found."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/shape-up/2008/10/5-things-i-learned-from-jillia>