“The Biggest Loser” wellness coach Jillian Michaels will motivate the crowd to stay healthy during her tour, “Maximize Your Life,” on Thursday at the Cullen Performance Hall. | Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Leading wellness and health guru Jillian Michaels will come to UH and motivate Cougars by sharing her keys to true happiness and inner success in her upcoming event “Maximize Your Life” at 7 p.m. Thursday at Cullen Performance Hall. This is a beneficial opportunity for students to get that push to get back into shape after midterms.

Although many students probably hoped to stay on track for their annual resolutions, some find it strenuous to maintain a healthy lifestyle when faced with so much temptation on a daily basis, as mathematics junior Tessa Bohnert knows all too well.

“This week, I stayed up studying all night for three nights in a row,” Bohnert said.  ”I’ve been eating a lot of pizza and ramen, so hopefully going to see her will help me get back out of those habits.”

Bohnert is one of the lucky few who won their tickets to see the show through an Instagram competition, saving herself the ticket price of the event, which starts at $25. Students can get an additional $5 off with the promo code “SHASTA.”

“I’m a pretty competitive person, so I was thrilled I’d won something,” Bohnert says.

“Fitness isn’t normally my top priority, but I consider myself fairly active. I actually just know about Jillian Michaels through my mother, who sometimes calls me to tell me about exercising to the Jillian Podcasts.”

As students who barely have time to spare with assignments, exams, organizations, part-time jobs and relationships, it is easy to understand the use of efficient solutions, such as fast food, to either save time or to soothe psychological appetite rather than physiological hunger.

“The healthy lifestyle gets worse as students move in campus,” sophomore and Campus Recreation and Wellness Center employee Anisa Boukhlif said. “Personally, I only drank water before moving in. Now, having this meal plan and going to the cafe and (Cougar) Woods every day, seeing the display of sodas all the time tempts me more, so I can see students in general making bad choices.”

“Maximize Your Life” is a motivational speaking tour visiting 35 cities — a two-hour show with the spark to kick-start your goal, as Jillian Michaels helps her followers find the self-worth and confidence to dream and achieve.

Michaels has sold more than $3.5 million worth of books, including her newest release, “Slim for Life,” an interesting subject following the end of Season 15 of “The Biggest Loser,” when recent winner Rachel Frederickson was backlashed for being too thin, a subject on which Michaels wouldn’t directly comment. However, throughout the season, many lives were completely reversed by beating out the pounds and health issues, saving lives nationally.

“It will be a big eye-opener for our students, learning about her story, from being heavy to where she is now and how she is striving to be a mentor to others and guide them to a better and healthier lifestyle. She is the motivation we need on this campus,” says Reuben Parrish, interim director of the Recreation Center.

He said he hopes the drive that people will get out of this show will inspire students to come to the Recreation Center, motivated to change their lives with the right choices in health.

“People have to look at themselves and learn to choose well. It’s a hard process and a constant battle. It won’t be a quick drastic change — it’s a lifestyle.”

arts@thedailycougar.com

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“Boosting your body” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar