I WILL BE the Biggest Loser.......

just not on the national television show! Sad, but true!


So FIRST, I should update all of you that have no idea what has been going on the past month or so. At the end of March, the Biggest Loser had an open casting call here in Salt Lake City. My good friend and coworker wanted to try out and offered me to try out with her as a team. We thought it would be perfect. Two overweight dietitians on the Biggest Loser. What could be better? We have the knowledge of what we should do and need to do to lose weight, yet we both are substantially overweight. So, after making fantastic bright pink shirts with sparkly lettering saying "I Don't Practice What I Preach" we went down to the KSL studio to try out. We stood in line and met a bunch of awesome people who all should have been given the chance to be on the show. After standing in line for 6+ hours we went in for the casting. They had two large tables that each of the casting directors were at. Ten people were at the table and we had 7 minutes to pretty much say who we were. The first question was just to say your name, age, current weight, where you are from, and what you did for a living. The next question was about what your food vice was. Everyone around the table talked about loving specific foods but I told them about how my life is centered around food! I talk about it at work all day and then it's present at every activity I do. (That's right, I am a SOCIAL EATER! It needs to stop!) So then after 7 minutes the casting director told us all good job and said to be sure to answer a phone call from an out of state number in case they called for a 2nd interview later that day or the next.


After about 2 hours, I got the second phone call. I was SO STOKED! I just kept saying, "Holy Crap!" They said that they were really interested in doing a second interview with me and set up an appointment. I then went to Park City the next morning. I was talking with the casting director, DJ, as we were walking up to the suite. He told me that I should feel proud about even getting the 2nd call back. I was one of twenty who were selected from 1600+ people in Salt Lake to have a 2nd call back. He told me that he called me 2 1/2 hours before they even got done interviewing because he knew that he wanted to hear my story. He also said that one of his main reasons for picking me was that I was pretty as an overweight girl and that they like to have pretty people on TV, especially since he knew I would be smoking hot once they helped me lose the weight and America would want to be like me. Yes, my ego was definitely boosted at that point. We then had a one on one interview in their hotel suite. It was both of the main casting directors (DJ and Barb), me, and a large TV camera. (Kind of intimidating, I'm not going to lie!) We talked about EVERYTHING! We talked about growing up, high school, dance team, college, getting overweight while being in the dietetics program, gaining 100+ pounds while I was married (it's true!) for 18 months, being an obese divorcee back in the dating scene, being an overweight dietitian, and on and on and on. It was INTENSE!!! We laughed, we got serious, and we cried. It was a great experience. They told me that I did an awesome job. It was exactly what they were looking for and that my story was totally different from a lot of the other contestants. But they also encouraged me to not count on it. Just maintain the weight until I heard something and then if I didn't hear anything to move on and do it on my own.


One interesting part of the interview was that the casting directors we very interested in my opinion of how Jillian and Bob (the trainers on Biggest Loser, for those of you who don't watch the show) would react, how the other contestants on the show would react, and how America would react to me being a dietitan on the show. I honestly would want EVERYONE to react about it. I would have wanted them to be pissed off at me. I would want them to be disappointed in me. Because I agree that it is ridiculous that I am an overweight dietitian! I KNOW better! But just because you have all the knowledge doesn't translate to doing it. I was hoping that the show would help me realize my different insecurities about myself, mental and emotional barriers to losing weight. Because it's not about a lack of knowledge that is keeping me from doing it. It's lack of motivation, more than anything.


BUT ALAS! I checked the main casting directors Facebook page tonight and she posted that the casting is completed. I have not been selected to be on the Biggest Loser. BUT this is not the end! I don't need national humiliation to motivate me to lose the weight. All I need is myself. But a little public humiliation may be helpful too. SO, I am going public. I am going to create a blog about my weight loss goals and progress. I will post my video that I had to make for my audition that shows my weight really well. I will post my weight loss. I will post pictures. You will see how I am doing. And I WANT you all to be brutally honest. It was really hard to have everyone around me telling me I am not fat enough to be a contestant on the show. I had friends and coworkers tell me that. But sadly I am very qualified to be on the show as far as weight is concerned. I am Jillian Taylor. I am 26 (almost 27!) years old. I currently weigh 275 pounds and I would LOVE to lose at least 100-120 pounds. I am FAT ENOUGH, but not for long! So, here we go friends and family. It's time to see the Jillian Taylor Biggest Loser Show. It's time to make you all proud, and mostly I want to make myself proud!