When I was first exposed to celebrity trainer Jillian Michaels, I thought she was an a-hole. Some people told me that she was tough but caring on Biggest Loser and that I should give her a chance. Then she talked smack about Biggest Loser, adopted two children with her partner, and talked openly about how hard it was to be a parent. I appreciated that she wasn’t afraid to criticize her employer to the press, because I think Biggest Loser is more for entertainment purposes and that it gives a really inaccurate impression of weight loss.

Anyway Jillian did a cover interview with Women’s Health and she talked so much crap that I’m inclined to dislike her again. Maybe this is just how she is – plainspoken and hyperbolic, but there’s something mildly obnoxious about it. E! has some excerpts.

“If I had to think about finding something in the gym that doesn’t make me wish I was dead in the moment, I really love body-weight training and being very creative with my physicality,” she tells Women’s Health. “Whether it’s free running, or any type of calisthenics exercise, that peaks my curiosity….

“The interesting thing about me is that I…people always ask ‘Why YOU? Why are you so successful?’ and they would always find so much fault with any aspect of my fitness pedigree or my physique and yet ask why have I been so successful in the field of fitness? And I think there are a host of reasons—from authenticity, passion, etc. But another reason I think that I’m so relatable is because I hate to workout,” she tells the magazine.

“So when you ask me, ‘What do love about the gym? What do you hate about it?’ what I love is that I feel empowered. What I love is I feel comfortable in my own skin, let alone my own skinny jeans, and that’s a big deal for me,” she adds. “Fitness is transcendent. When you feel strong physically, you feel strong in every other facet of your life…

“I’m not into fitness professionals who post selfies that show off their butts or other body parts. Come on, that’s not fitness—it’s softcore porn. God bless, but let’s call it what it is,” she says. “We’ve come so far, and this is where you’re taking the movement? Put your clothes on. I get it—you love your body and bravo that—but it’s not fitness. Fitness to me is about empowering people. It’s about redefining self-image.”

Having a positive self-image, she says, is the most important, but she doesn’t believe it should get in the way of a healthy style. “I think people need to love themselves no matter who they are or what they look like, because only from that place can you truly have happiness and abundance. But I’m not going to embrace people being unhealthy,” she says. “People ask me what’s a through line for the morbidly obese, and I’d say a lack of self worth. If you really loved yourself, you would know that if we cut your artery open, it wouldn’t be a beautiful thing.

“So this is where I’m like, ‘Let’s completely separate your beauty and your worth from your body. You as a person? You’re beautiful; you’re worthy. Your body? Unhealthy.’ Let’s cut the s–t.”

[From E! Online]

This isn’t the first time Jillian has said she hates to workout. Jillian Michaels saying she hates to work out would be like me saying I hate to gossip. I love gossiping or else I never would have made this my career. Yes sometimes even gossiping can become a chore, but when that’s the case you step back, remember what you love about talking smack, and try to bring a little of that back in your day to day work. She does say she loves some aspects of exercise, but why be so negative? You should exercise in a way that makes you feel good. Of course you should push yourself and try different things, but if you “hate” it and don’t look forward to it, you’re going to avoid it.

I’ve tried to do Jillian Michaels’ workouts. (They have them for free on BeFit’s Youtube channel.) The one I tried was a real bitch and I didn’t enjoy it at all. Maybe that’s because burpees are the devil’s work, but if you compare Michaels to celebrity Zumba instructors or to my favorite celebrity instructor of all time, Denise Austin, she falls flat for me. I want my instructor to be motivational in way that makes me feel happy. When the teacher isn’t having a good time, that comes through. That’s not “relatable,” that’s punishing. Some people want a tough trainer, though and I guess she fills that niche.

It’s worth noting that Michaels is complaining about fitness professionals posting butt selfies while she’s wearing booty shorts and a half shirt. This is a magazine photoshoot sure, but she’s not above using her great body for self promotion, she’s just doing it on a different platform.

Jillian Michaels has a new reality show on E! It’s probably cheaper to produce than The Soup but they cancelled that show and they’re bringing us Jillian Michaels.