Keto and cleanses and macros, oh my! Exploring the wonderful world of fad diets can feel overwhelming AF. Which is why weight loss expert Jillian Michaels recommends clicking your heels three times and returning to the basics.
In short, the Keeping It Real podcast host explained in an exclusive interview with E! News, "You don't need to be afraid of anything that's food. That's just bulls--t."
So, no, complex carbs are not your enemy. But fad diets just might be.
For starers, "Keto is not ideal," The Biggest Loser alum explained, railing against the seemingly endless slew of trendy eating plans. "And it's like 'Oh, I've lowered my A1Cs and my triglycerides.' Well, yeah, because you're not eating McDonald's anymore. Guess what? I do the same thing with carbs."
Her advice? "Throw out every f--king fad diet under the sun," recommended the 49-year-old. (And don't even get her started on the current weight loss tool du jour, Ozempic.)
The way she sees it, these programs are "designed to sell you a fad," Michaels said. "It's preying upon people's vulnerability and it's like, 'Oh, no, no, no, I have the answer. This is the magic bullet.' And the f--king answer is eat less food, move your body, get your sleep. And if we are then ready to take it a step further, make better food choices by utilizing common sense."
Also, don't forget to cut yourself some slack.
"It doesn't have to be perfect," she said of healthy eating. "People feel like if it's not perfect, then it's just f--ked. It's like, 'I already broke dry January. So f--k it, I'm off the wagon.' I'm like, no. If you get a flat tire, are you gonna get out of the car, slash the other three tires and stick an M-80 in the window? No, you fix the tire, you get back on the road. Progress is key here."
Ready to start your journey? Michaels has the straightforward, no B.S. advice that allows you to feel good and eat some cake, too.
Eat Less
Yep, it's that easy. Well, not easy, Jillian Michaels allowed, but definitely simple: "Just stop eating so much."
And while she joked that "of course I want people to eat organic f--king blueberries and, like, Moringa greens, grown by Tibetan monks in the third phase of the crescent moon," eating less of anything will do the trick.
"If it's too much to ask people to switch that pizza to a chicken salad, here's what we're going to do," Michaels said. "Instead of half the pie, you're going to do one slice of pizza and you're going do a side salad. Or two slices of pizza and a side salad with the dressing on the side. And we're going to opt out of the Coke. Or the two glasses of wine. Done. And all of this will work. I promise."
Pay Attention to What You Eat
This part might feel rough for a stretch, Michaels acknowledged, but it's essential to track your calories—both the ones you burn and the ones you consume.
While she knows that calorie-counting can get a bad rap, "If I don't tell you how to do it, you won't be able to actually effectuate change. And then you don't believe what I'm saying because you don't realize how much you're eating and you get discouraged and become vulnerable to more fads and trends."
She recommends taking the time to learn how many calories are in the foods you regularly eat and aim to create a 500-calorie-a-day deficit that will translate to losing roughly a pound each week. "It'll be tedious for about two weeks while you learn how many calories are in the foods that you consume regularly," Michaels said, but "once you know, you'll know forever."
Consider a Wearable
When it comes to tracking how many calories you're burning, well, there's a shortcut for that. Michaels is a big fan of smartwatches (her go-to is the collection from iTOUCH Wearables) "because they give you accurate information," she explained. "And with this accurate information, you can make informed choices, that yield powerful results."
In other words, you can have the best of intentions, but if you don't have the cold, hard facts (i.e. I've burned this many calores, thus I should aim to eat this many to see results), you could be setting yourself up for failure.
"People are like, Why does everybody give up?" Michales noted. "Because they're killing themselves. They're making sacrifices. They're working hard. And when they don’t see the fruits of that labor, they're like, f--k this."
The key to avoid that roadblock is "getting results from the work you put in," she continued. "And that's why all of these wearables play such an important role."
Avoid the All-Day Graze
Yes, it's possible to feel satisfied without turning your day into a snacking free-for-all, swears Michaels.
She recommends aiming for three to four meals a day: Breakfast, a snack three to four hours later, a late lunch "because it's going to make you eat less for dinner" and then your evening meal. It's there that she recommends trimming portion sizes. But you can also create a 500-calorie deficit by, say, skipping your favorite mocha latte.
"Don't worry about macros," she said of tracking nutrients like carbs, protein and fat. "The truth of the matter is you really don't need to think about it."
Get Things Moving
While the trainer offers seemingly endless exercise possibilities on The Fitness App, she recognizes that not everyone likes to get their sweat on.
"If you're like, 'Well, I just f--king hate it,' give me a step goal," she said of efforting to get in 10,000 steps per day.
She checks off that box with the help of a treadmill she purchased on Amazon. "I put my computer on it and I walk 1.8 miles an hour and work. It's a game-changer."
Ideally, she continued, you'd work your way up to, say, a 20-minute workout in your living room (joked Michaels, "I'm the queen of at-home fitness, right?") but if that feels daunting, "Talk on the phone standing up and pacing," she recommended. "Do two minutes of jumping jacks every hour on the hour. Just getting you to move is going to make a massive difference."
Try to Eat Food in Its Most Whole Form
Michaels joked that too deep of a TikTok dive might have you thinking that everything is off-limits, but as a rule, no food is truly off the table.
She would advise cutting back on sugars, though, the kind you might find in, say, a Twinkie, not fruits like bananas and berries.
Bottom line: "Added sugar sucks, white flour sucks. Use your common sense and eat foods as whole as possible," she said. "Start there. Don't overeat. Eat on the schedule I mentioned. Try to stop eating when you're full. Try to move your body in the way I talked about. And you can forget the rest."