Jillian Michaels Shares Rare Photo Taken Before Her Fitness Journey and Fame

From Prevention

Jillian Michaels is having a rocky start to the New Year. She was recently criticized for her critique of Lizzo’s body size and weight, saying how she doesn’t think it’s right to “glorify obesity.”

The fitness expert responded to the criticism on Instagram with a post that read: "As I've stated repeatedly before, we are all beautiful, worthy, and equally deserving. I also feel strongly that we love ourselves enough to acknowledge there are serious health consequences that come with obesity—heart disease, diabetes, cancer to name a few. I would never wish these on ANYONE and I would hope we prioritize our health because we LOVE ourselves and our bodies."

Michaels followed up with a nostalgic post yesterday, throwing back to a photo where she’s just 14 years old.

"Here's me at 5'0 tall and 175 pounds. If I can do it, anyone can." Michaels encouraged her followers to share their own personal weight-loss transformations, and the stories were so inspiring.

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"I started at 285, I’m approaching 180 now! ✨ We all start somewhere, just move! 😁😁" one of her fans wrote, while another commented, "40 pounds down and I'm not done! I have a long way to go, but I want this to be my lifestyle."

Others questioned how she was able to lose 30 pounds with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which can make it hard to lose weight.

Michaels previously opened up to Women's Health about being overweight as a child. The fitness expert told the magazine that she would bond with her father over food and often "eat without regard" to her health.

In her teens, Michaels had a wake up call when her mom signed her up for a martial arts class, and she got called out for bringing a bag of Cheetos. She decided it was time to make healthier choices and began her weight loss journey.

"That's when I began to appreciate fitness." she told USA Today of martial arts. "It translated into every other aspect of my life—my confidence, self-worth, self-esteem. Nobody bullied me or picked on me anymore because I respected myself."

Michaels initially switched up her diet to include artificial sweeteners and low-fat foods, thinking it was healthier, but she told WH that she finally learned the components of a healthy diet in her thirties. Today, she sticks to whole foods and intermittent fasting. She also enjoys a hot lemon ginger with collagen at night.

At 45, the fitness expert still practices martial arts, but she loves other forms of exercise too, like cycling, yoga, and high-impact interval training (HIIT). And she doesn't spend more than four hours a week exercising.

"Being (or getting) healthy doesn't have to be complicated—and it shouldn't require extremes," she told Women's Health. "Healthy living is all about moderation. If you put the word "too" in front of anything—too much food, too little food, too much sleep, too little sleep—you've got chaos, whereas if everything is balanced just right, everything falls into place."

Even though she's all about fitness, Michaels's 2020 goals have nothing to do with the gym: She recently told Prevention.com that she'd "like to get my American Express bill down." I mean life's all about balance, right?!

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