The fifth week of Losing It with Jillian might have been one of the best yet. While each is moving and motivating for their own specific reasons, this one had a lot of heart. Not to mention, no whining!
Most of the families we’ve seen so far have gotten into fights with star and trainer Jillian Michaels just minutes in to their first workouts. They give up quickly, complain about the pain and admit to not being capable of the work. Jillian calls their bluff everytime. However, with this week’s family, the Vivio family of Tennessee, there was not a moment of that. This family of four stepped up and took everything Jillian dished. And they’re better for it.
The main story of this week’s episode was the youngest son Elijah, who at only 14-years old weighed 330 pounds. He admits to Jillian that he’s the butt of fat jokes at school and wants to change he way people talk to him. He is visibly surprised when, during a one-on-one conversation, she admits to being an overweight teen as well. She shares how discovering martial arts helped her physically and emotionally. Elijah also shares that “What I really want out of this week is a better relationship with my father.”
Mark, Elijah’s father, has built walls and been emotionally unavailable for his youngest son Elijah, three older sons, and his wife, Laverne. He blames it on having been raised in a “suck it up” environment and has passed that on to his family. At the opening of the show, Mark showed how poor his health’s condition is as he underwent his thirteenth heart procedure. Unable to workout, Jillian feels the work with him was stacked against her.
After a week of helping the family learn how to connect emotionally, push each other phsycially, and enjoy each other over healthier meals, Jillian challenges each member of the family to say aloud their goals for when she returns eight weeks later to check on them.
Laverne says she wants to weigh 190 pounds, less than her wedding day; she accomplishes this and weighed in less than when she got married. She looked beautiful, happy and more confident.
Mark’s goal was to eliminate the “suck it up” attitude, remove the emotional walls, and lose 50 pounds; he weighed in 56 pounds lighter!
Elijah’s goal was to have a better relationship with his dad, have more confidence and be able to feel proud of himself; he too met his goals, walking a little prouder across the bridge the family built together on their rural farm. He lost 50 pounds as well, and joined the swim team!
The entire family was deeply grateful for the tremendous changes she helped them enact for themselves and the family. She presented them with $50,000 from JillianMichaels.com to help them continue their new healthier lifestyle.
“I feel like a leprechaun!” remarked Jillian as she met the Vivio family, who was visibly larger than her in height and weight. No doubt she made a giant impact on each of their lives.
Catch Losing It with Jillian each Tuesday night at 8/7c on NBC.
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