Jillian with the Mays. Image Via: NBC.com
On the third episode of Losing It With Jillian, Jillian Michaels visited the Mays family of Bakersfield, California.
After suffering the life-altering event of a painful divorce after a 30-year marriage, Ruth and her three children are in desperate need of rebuilding their self-esteem.
With two daughters, Rachel and Ashley, and a son living at home, Ruth hasn’t been able to move forward following the divorce, which was caused by her husband’s infidelity. This has in turn caused her entire family to feel stuck in the past while relying on food and material goods for comfort and fulfillment.
Rachel and Ashley are very close in age and do everything together, including working at In-N-Out burger where fast food has become their main source of nutrition. Ashley, the quieter of the two, believes she isn’t beautiful enough for a relationship. Rachel is very loud and energetic, but uses that as a front. David, the youngest of the kids has now been given the father role of the house.
The May’s need major support overcoming the divorce so they can get back on their feet.
When Jillian comes along, she helps to transform the household by cleaning out everything and by singling out each of the siblings and working with them to help them reclaim their sense of value. The real turning point comes when Ruth realized that she can no longer be afraid to move forward. She recognized that just as her lack of direction was stifling her family, her children’s fear of her being alone was creating an enabling mess that wasn’t serving anyone.
After showing them how to exercise and eat healthy, Jillian requests that each of the four Mays create a goal to fulfill before Jillian’s return in eight weeks.
Jillian ups the ante on their weight loss goals. She doubles Ruth’s goal of 20 pounds to lose to 40 and encourages Ashley to strive for a size six rather than her goal of a size seven.
Together the family struggles hard to make these goals as they lean on each other for support and motivation.
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