'Losing It' - Pilot Review

I turned on Losing It with Jillian Michaels expecting Extreme Home Makeover-meets-The Biggest Loser-meets-Made, and to be honest, that was pretty spot-on. Take a family with a tear-jerking story, give them the desire to be in shape but no motivation, throw in a hard-ass coach and you’ve got Losing It. Right off the bat I was set up for a plethora of emotion from this show. From the intro clips I know I am going to be horrified, sympathetic, touched, and most of all, rooting for the family.

Losing It with Jillian Michaels is a spin-off of a weight loss show, The Biggest Loser. In Losing It, Jillian Michaels goes to the home of a family that is in desperate need of a good diet/exercise intervention.

In the pilot episode, we meet the Mastropietros; an Italian family living outside of Boston. The family is completely overweight and boasts their diet: a balance of foods that are breaded and fried and pretty much anything that isn't green. The father and daughter have both had gastric bypass surgery… the daughter got thin and the dad didn’t. Now the daughter is the only skinny one in the family and she is going to be married in 6 months. But since we have to have sympathy for everyone, she still has big problems dealing with her “inner fat-kid.” So Jillian takes the whole fam to the gym for a serious workout, and I was honestly terrified. Jillian Michaels is not a pleasant woman to have screaming in your face while you’re delusional, on the verge of puking because you’ve worked out too hard.

Some people gave up, but in the end they all supported each other and made it through the workout (surprise, surprise).

Throughout the show we see all aspects of the family and start to really sympathize with them.

Jillian only spent one week with the family and then sent them on their way to motivate themselves. I found that to be kind of disappointing and thought that they totally wouldn’t work out off camera, but I was actually amazed at the ending! At the end of her first week with them, Jillian had each family member set a goal, and everyone either completed their goal or surpassed it by the time of the wedding.

I was honestly on the verge of tears when each person came out on the day of the wedding and how amazing they looked!

So, all in all, Losing It with Jillian Michaels is nothing outstanding or terribly original, but if you’re in the mood for a slightly touching, success story Losing It will certainly satisfy your craving.