So on our last installment of The Elastic Waist Book Club, we were discussing Jillian Michaels' new fitness-and-exercise regime (and by regime, I am deliberately implying something dictatorial) from her book Making the Cut, and how I was interested in checking it out. I invited you kids to try it along with me, and some of you expressed interest.

First, Shawn noted:

Jillian has said on her radio show that Making the Cut is specifically geared for people who are losing what she calls "vanity pounds"--the last 10-20 pounds in a weight-loss regimen. Her first book, Winning by Losing, is directed toward people who are looking to start a weight loss program.

That doesn't mean that it is necessarily a bad plan for people who have more weight to lose, but the MTC plan is apparently pretty intense--a strict eating plan, no alcohol, exercising at least five times a week. That could potentially be intimidating for someone just starting out.

Then, I started reading the introduction, and ran across things that troubled me, even more than her whole "you can't feel confident in a bikini until you are skinny" nonsense. I wrote, on the original entry:

...actually, the book's making me a little uncomfortable, now that I'm taking a closer look. It's "dramatic results at an accelerated pace," and she says "It's about seeing how far you can go, getting a little crazy, and maybe along the way making that ex of yours want you back."




And okay, that makes me pretty unhappy. That sounds like a recipe for possible obsessiveness, that it could be dangerous for anyone who is likely to get carried away, cause a lot of damage, mentally and emotionally, in a whole lot of ways.

Suggesting wholeheartedly that other people try this out feels irresponsible. So I'm going to ask that you consider this carefully, before you make a decision to do it. And if you do decide to dive in, that you not take it too seriously, not actually go crazy, give yourself a break and don't obsess over the pounds, or the weight, or any of that--think of it as a way to get strong. A kickoff to exercising regularly. Not something to drive yourself nuts with. Okay?

Okay! A few of you are up for a "non-obsessive version of the program," and I think I can be on board with that, if you are. How about--taking the food plan as guidelines and healthy recipe suggestions instead of the bible, and fitting in the exercises when we can, how we can. She seems to know what she's talking about, when it comes to strength training, and I'm on board with that.  Not buying into the whole "THIS BOOK IS YOUR GOD" pep talk from the foreword would indicate that we can't hope to gain all the OMG! Awesome! benefits that Michaels promises, but I'm pretty okay with that.

So are you in? If you're doing it, come back and check in here! And I'll post a new thread on Wednesday.