Was Jillian Michaels Overweight? Learn What Inspired the Trainer to Lose So Much Weight and Keep it Off

Was Jillian Michaels Overweight? Learn What Inspired the Trainer to Lose So Much Weight and Keep it Off
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You wouldn’t guess it by looking at her now, but Jillian Michaels was once overweight.

Best known as the tough as nails trainer from NBC’s reality weight loss show The Biggest Loser, Michaels struggled with her weight as a teen. On a TV talk show, Michaels showed a photo of herself at age 14 when she weighed in at 175 pounds. It’s hard to imagine the energetic trainer at that weight.

Today Jillian Michaels weighs in at 120 pounds, according to a radio interview she gave on a Los Angeles AM radio station. At just five foot two inches tall, she appears to be all muscle.

Michaels credits martial arts training with giving her the discipline and desire to lose weight and be fit. Michaels has practiced martial arts for almost twenty years now, and she started doing so because of her mother. Noticing that her teenage daughter had put on weight, Michaels’ mom enrolled the girl in classes. Today Michaels has her black belt in Akarui-Do.

Going From Overweight Teen to Fitness Entrepreneur

Despite getting in shape with martial arts in her teen years, Michaels’ first career wasn’t in the diet and fitness industry. Her first job was in the entertainment business, working as a literary motion picture agent for one of the biggest Hollywood talent agencies, ICM.

But Michael’s commitment to fitness soon overtook her commitment to her day job, and she became a personal trainer. In 2004 Michaels joined The Biggest Loser as one of two trainers who guide contestants complete fitness and health overhauls. Since then she’s continued to build a successful fitness brand that includes a website, books, DVDs, and even a video game.

Michaels is also associated with another reality TV fitness personality: Jackie Warner. Warner purchased Sky Sport and Spa, a high end Los Angeles gym, from Michaels and now stars in a show about the gym and its trainers on the Bravo network.

Jillian Michaels Fitness Products

If you want to learn about Michaels’ fitness philosophies and use her training methods, you can check out any of her products:

  • The books Master Your Metabolism, Making the Cut and Winning By Losing
  • DVDs No More Trouble Zones and Banish Fat Boost Metabolism
  • The diet and fitness website JillianMichaels.com
  • A Wii Fit video game called Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2009

Michaels even has her own meal delivery service. Details, along with the rest of her products, are available on her website.