Right now I’m in a two week lull between when the shows I watch have ended and when True Blood starts. (Although Breaking Bad is still on AMC, which I love, and I’m keeping up with Glee but am not as attached to it.) I’ve been considering watching Jillian Michaels’ new show, Losing it With Jillian, which premieres tomorrow. I’ll probably watch at least the first episode, especially now that I’ve read this interview that tough trainer Michaels did with Popeater.

Michaels is best known as the trash-talking trainer on The Biggest Loser, and in this new show she’ll be visiting overweight families at their homes to help them clean up their lives, diets and health. In the past she’s been outspoken about the fact that she doesn’t agree with all the tactics used on Biggest Loser, specifically the competitions that may put the obese contestants at risk. In this new interview she directly contrasts the methods used on her show with The Biggest Loser’s game show competition, and says that she’s unhappy with both the trials on Biggest Loser and the way it’s edited to focus on the challenges instead of the emotional journeys that the contestants go through. While she is careful to praise the show that helped her gain worldwide recognition, she also doesn’t mince words when it comes to criticizing it. Michaels kind of directly pits her new show against Biggest Loser, saying “we’re about to find out” whether the games in Biggest Loser are necessary for weight loss.

You have a new show, ‘Losing It With Jillian,’ that premieres on June 1. What is it about?
I am criss-crossing the country, moving in with different American families. It’s more about re-claiming your life — it’s not really a weight loss show. The idea is that when you’re unhappy, you become unhealthy in various aspects of your life. So whether it’s your relationships that are suffering, your physical health is suffering, whatever it might be, we kind of get in there and try to figure out what’s wrong and give them the tools to push the reboot button. By doing that, we’re coming back in two months and we’re checking to see how their lives have improved. How are they doing at work? How are they doing personally? How are they doing physically, with regard to their health. It’s really a life overhaul. That’s really what it’s about. It’s a life makeover.

How long are you with each family?
I’m with each family for a week. Then what we do is we have a system in place where we’re checking in with them every day. We’re making sure that they have a support system. If they’ve decided that they want to pursue counseling for something, we’re facilitating that for them. We have an MD, a registered dietician, myself, a therapist and what have you who are all constantly monitoring and looking after the family to make sure that they are supported.

It’s different from the ‘Biggest Loser.’
It’s very different. In fact, there’s really no common thread, other than me. ‘The Biggest Loser’ is a game show, and that’s great, but this is not. This is a very intimate, personal situation. I’m moving in to people’s homes. I’m going to work with them. I’m living in their daily lives, experiencing their unhealthy habits. It’s tough. It’s been confrontational and intense … But I feel like we’re on track. It’s definitely a process and there is a gigantic learning curve for me because I don’t have months or weeks. I don’t have people that aren’t working or an unlimited amount of money to buy them organic groceries. It’s been a real challenge.

It sounds like this experience had an effect on you.
I don’t remember the last time I’ve been challenged, or been so outside of my comfort zone. I’m living with strangers who, half of the time at least, hate me. In the beginning, it’s like declarations of hatred and then I need to sleep in the house. It’s a nightmare. I just lie in that bed and think, “I’ve got to sleep with one eye open because one of these people is going to kill me in the middle of the night.” I think the format is really stressful because I don’t have the tools that I’ve been luxuriated with previously. The country is struggling, people are really struggling financially. They are working two and three jobs. They are single parents supporting several kids. I mean, this is real life. To be honest, I’ve been fairly sheltered. I grew up in California, my parents were mid-level, you know, they were fine … [This show is] really waking me up. I will say that I’ve never been more patriotic, though. It’s kind of amazing when you travel the country and meet various families from around the [U.S.] and you really get invested in the idea of being American, which I don’t think I ever really realized until now.

What’s been your favorite part of filming this show?
When it’s good, it’s real good. When I know it’s working and when I feel that synergy click into place, I know it’s earth shattering. I know it’s absolutely going to change their lives. And not like, “Oh, they lost the weight.” ‘Biggest Loser’ is tough, because although we have the chance to dig deeper with them, that’s not what the show is about. They don’t really air it, they don’t really show it. It’s like, “We needed to have enough time to show the temptation and the challenge.” And I’m like, “We talked about … life changing s***!” It just gets all cut out. So I would say my favorite part about [‘Losing It’], this is what it’s all about. This is getting to the root of the problem. In my opinion, we’re dealing with the heart of passion, wish-fulfillment, dream-realization. And we’re not just going in there and giving it to them. They are earning it. To me, it’s what life is meant to be about. It’s about cultivating passion.

With ‘The Biggest Loser,’ which you said yourself is a game show, is it hard from your point of view to watch all the game-playing tactics?
Oh, I hate it. I hate every second of it. ‘Biggest Loser’ and I have a love-hate thing. I love what it does for the contestants, I hate the process. It’s not my show. I’ve been extremely fortunate to have the platform. Without it, I would not be able to do any of the things I’m doing. I don’t want to seem ungrateful. But if you’re asking me, everything in life is gray. There are things that you are going to love and things you are not going to love. With ‘Biggest Loser,’ there are things I don’t love. But it’s not my show, and at the end of the day, they all lose weight and they all get healthy. I think it’s inspiring millions of people around the world. But do I wish that it wasn’t a game show? Of course I do. I don’t want to shoot myself in the foot, because according to our producers, they tend to think that makes it more compelling. And maybe they are right. But I’ll tell you this, we’re about to find out because there is none of that in ‘Losing It.’

[From Popeater]

Just like there are different diets and exercise programs that work, there are also different approaches to weight loss and personal change that work! It’s short sighted to say “there is no common thread” between Biggest Loser and Losing It. Both groups of people change their lives and lose weight. Biggest Loser inspires countless people to lose weight and become healthier. Can’t Michaels realize that it doesn’t have to be one approach or their other? Plus she might not just be offending her employer, she’s potentially offending fans of Biggest Loser.

It’s great that she has her own show and that it’s more touchy feely. I’m interested to watch it just to see how her personality meshes with the people she’s trying to help. On the other hand she doesn’t have to be so damn arrogant about it when the show hasn’t even aired yet. Even if her approach helps people lose weight, we still have yet to see if it will bring in the summer ratings for NBC.