Sometimes I really do feel bad about always expecting the worst when I’m about to start reading a new diet and/or exercise book, but after a second or two this feeling passes.  After reading Winning by Losing, by Jillian Michaels of Biggest Loser fame, my “expect-the-worst” attitude is really vindicated.  This book has been out for a while - Michaels has just released a new book – but you can judge a fitness personality’s body of work by his or her “signature” book, in which their overall philosophy is revealed.

The vast majority of diet and exercise books follow the same, exact formula.  In your typical 250-page book, there are very few pages that give you info that can’t already be found for free on the Internet or from a variety of other sources.  You get the obligatory healthy recipes that sound like every other healthy recipe you’ve ever read, eating tips that can be filed under “duh,” and a Cliff Notes version of an exercise program complete with photos.

The original material in any of these books is usually limited to 20-pages or so where the author attempts to lay out their philosophy, and tell you why their philosophy is different and better than all of the other philosophies that are out there.  The author seems to be clueless to the fact that his or her philosophy does in fact sound exactly like everyone else’s.

Winning by Losing, by Jillian Michaels fits this description of a typical diet and exercise book to a “T.”  Ms. Michaels has become famous as a result of her being a part of NBC’s Biggest Loser television show, where morbidly obese “contestants” get a chance to get themselves into shape in a boot camp like environment.

Even though you can probably tell that I don’t think much of this book, here’s a brief summation contained in my trademarked delivery system.

Hook:  TV’s “tough-love” trainer and life-coach is going to share her secrets with you in this book.  On the book jacket, Ms. Michaels is wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the word “Bully” so we know she’s really badass.  By the way, is “life-coach” something that you go to a legitimate school to become, or is it something learned in a weekend seminar?  That’s sarcasm, by the way.

Gimmick:  Ms. Michaels’ methods are used on a television show, so they must work. She’ll teach you how to “identify and overcome the emotional roadblocks that sabotage you and lead to unhealthy eating, create a personal diet that helps you shed pounds fast, and develop a unique fitness program.”  Have your eyes glazed over yet?  Do you have the feeling that you’ve heard all of this before?

Inconsistency:  As is the case with all of these knee-jerk diet and fitness plans, there are a ton of them.

Ms. Michaels touts that her system is made up of the “3 S’s;” self, science and sweat.  “Self” incorporates all the mumbo-jumbo involved with the emotional and psychological ramifications of being overweight.  My problem here is that there’s nothing about Ms. Michaels – or the vast majority of trainers, life coaches or strength coaches – that qualifies her to deal with these issues.  The idea that a personal trainer can help people to deal with the complex issues involved with this subject is soooo 1980s, and is wrong-headed as well.  Discuss amongst yourselves.

“Science” is how we get the diet plan that is “unique” for your needs and “Sweat” is where we learn about the body and how to get the best way to “train, tone and strengthen your physique.”  Ms. Michaels also tells us that her exercise program is “innovative and uniquely effective,” and is a product of her 10 years of experience working in the field. 

The big problem here is that you shouldn’t use science to describe elements of a program, when it is so noticeably absent.  Also, invoking “science” connotes employing cutting-edge tactics, but in Winning by Losing, there’s not much that can be considered new, especially in the area of exercise. While there may be scientific underpinnings to Michaels’ nutritional philosophy, her exercise program does not employ current strength and conditioning practices. 

Simply put, Michaels’ “innovative and uniquely effective” program is nothing more that a 50-year old, body building-based program, rife with inadequacies and inefficiencies.  This program was “what was” in the field of personal training 20 years ago, so it certainly isn’t appropriate today.  I know, I was there. And since Michaels whipped out the length of her expertise, I thought I'd whip out mine.

Michaels tells us that she likes “to divide the lower body muscles into front and back: work the front on your chest day and the back on your back day.”  After letting loose with an exasperated, "Oy vey," here's what I think about that.

 This is incredibly incorrect for so many reasons.  First of all, the concept of dividing the muscles of the lower body ignores the basic fact that the muscles of the legs work in conjunction with muscles of the rest of the body to produce movement.  By working the leg muscles in isolation the legs are being trained in a manner that’s inconsistent with the way that they work in the real world.  Having a chest day is ridiculous, as the chest is a small muscle and doesn’t need to be “hit” with more than one or two exercises, one day per week.  This same logic can be applied to breaking up the muscles of the body along any of these arbitrary lines.  

Next…

Glaring Omission:  Ms. Michaels repeatedly tells us that she was a fat kid, and if she’s trying to engender support for her program by telling us she feels our pain – or your pain – she should prove it to us with a picture or two.  Don’t just tell me you were overweight; show me.  Especially if you’re trying to sell me something.  Heck, Michaels has no problem using her current appearance to in effect “prove” that she’s a good trainer and to sell her books, so why can’t we see how far she’s come, and get a fat picture?   

And I could make a smart-assed, smarmy comment that deals with the omission of any truly unique or interesting info in this book, but I’ll try to take the high road.  Try, I said.

Annoying Features:  I’m really going to challenge my ability to stay focused and brief with this one.  For one, the phony, tough trainer thing is a bit much.  When I got started in this business in the mid-1980s there was this whole school of thought that a personal trainer had to be a modern day Marquis de Sade.  It was wrong then and it’s wrong, and just plain old, now.  Wearing the “Bully” shirt on the cover is a jerky move. 

The inclusion of about 30 pages that deal with the emotional aspects of being overweight and overeating, especially at the beginning of the book, was very off-putting.  As I said above, trainers should stick to what they know, even if they are also life-coaches.

Most Outrageous Claim: Once again, in these kinds of books, outrageousness is par for the course.  And not in a good way.  Michaels says that there’s no such thing as “will power,” which is complete nonsense.  To believe that people can’t/don’t have the ability to control their impulses and actions is just nonsense of the highest degree and severely damages Michaels’ credibility.  This kind of baloney makes my head hurt, but I’ll carry on….

Michaels states that there’s no reason to bother exercising for “just” 30 minutes a day, saying that the calories you burn from daily 20-30 minute workouts over weeks are almost not worth the time it takes to go to the gym.”  This displays a remarkable lack of knowledge and sends the wrong message to boot.  When it comes to exercise the emphasis should not be on burning calories, but on exercising!  For a trainer with 10 years experience to think that you can’t accomplish much in 30 minutes, you have to wonder what Michaels has been doing for the past decade.

Also, for all of her tough-girl posturing Michaels tells us how she “ordered” a client to take a different route to work rather than pass a fast food restaurant, because he couldn’t keep himself from stopping in.  Michaels actually recommends the “approach” of avoiding taking routes that take people past fast food places, along with the farcical tactic of taping television shows so that you can skip the commercials that might drive you to snack uncontrollably.   Is this the stuff of tough love?  This is the stuff of nonsense.

Say Something Nice:  Hmm, this is a tough one…Michaels addresses the myth that low-intensity training is effective for losing fat and she does include calisthenics in her routine.

The Bottom Line:  Winning By Losing doesn’t offer anything unique in either delivery or content, and is a dull read to boot.  Ms. Michaels has a variety of products out there on the market, but based on this uninspired effort there’s no reason to buy this book or any of her other offerings.  If you’re in the market for a diet and exercise book, pick up the excellent, You On A Diet.

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written by Andrea, February 03, 2008

I think your review is mean spirited and just plain SUX! As a person who was, up until 4 years ago, nearly 300 lbs, I can attest to the fact that Jillian's attitude toward getting healthy and her workout program IS EFFECTIVE and DOES work. While Jillian's "program", as it were was not soley responsibly for my weight loss, She inspired me to STOP whining and get off my A** and MOVE, and be accountable and educate myself about what I was eating. FYI: alot of once-fat people don't like to show photos of when they were fat to anyone. Most all of mine are either BURNED or burried DEEP in boxes or drawers in the house. And You are super irresponsible for recomending "You on a DIET" because GUESS WHAT- DIETS DON'T WORK! And Jillian INSPIRES. She COACHES. And if she is doing her job RIGHT, it inspires others to get up and MOVE and take action. Who cares about her method! Oh yeah, and I LOVE the Bully shirt- and I am buying one for myself!

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written by Cammy, January 09, 2008

It's so funny that you mentioned the fact that there aren't any overweight photos of Jillian. I was just looking for them, because I heard about how she used to be overweight!! I wanna see! Thanks for the review...