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On episode seven of Losing it with Jillian, we were introduced to the Franklin family, a Detroit family of four who are resistant to change.
Todd is the father who is overweight, a binge-eater and has weight-related sleep apnea. Amy, the mother, underwent gastric bypass surgery a few years back, but after her start-up business went into the red, she put back on the weight and started smoking again. Their two daughters, Lily and Chloe, are concerned over their parents’ health and don’t want to follow in their footsteps.
Jillian steps in to take back the reins with the Franklins. Unearthing jars of candy, packs of cigarettes and junk food in the kitchen pantry, Jillian does a clean sweep and delivers a strong message to the Franklins: Shape up or your health is going to continue to spiral out of control.
Todd is much more resistant to Jillian’s tough approach, but throughout the episode, he starts to see the benefit of Jillian’s words and approach. Amy is much more willing to head to the gym with Jillian, and she also returns to her beloved yoga class, where she is overcome with emotion as she reunites with her yoga instructor and many of the friendly familiar faces she practiced alongside class after class before giving it up previously.
The emotions reach a new high for Losing It with Jillian when Amy, ready to help her self and tired of being afraid of confrontation with Todd, tosses an ultimatum at Todd that he needs to turnaround his health, or she’s leaving him. This, coupled with an intervention-style dinner with his close friends, helps Todd wake-up to his reality and make the decision to make drastic changes. He tells Amy to no longer take care of him, joking that she can still make dinner, and makes a promise to do it right.
When Jillian returns six weeks later she is thrilled to see that Todd’s resistance has pretty much dissipated and so have 33 pounds of him. He also no longer needs his sleep apnea machine. Amy trimmed off 17 pounds and also kicked her smoking habit. Jillian is so encouraged by the Franklin’s progress that she starts a college fund for Lily and Chloe on behalf of JillianMichaels.com.