Book Review: The 6 Keys: Unlock Your Genetic Potential For Ageless Strength, Health and Beauty by Jillian Micahels

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I always seem to overload myself on trips to the library. This time was no different. In addition to my regular trove of gardening books, this one was on my list of recent arrivals. I put in on reserve weeks earlier and totally forgot about it.

You remember Jillian Michaels? She's known as the tough as nails, bada$$ trainer from the hit tv show, The Biggest Loser. Even if you didn't faithfully watch the show, I'm sure you would recognize her face and outstanding physique. She's actually the author of several books including Master Your Metabolism and Slim for Life.

This book isn't geared towards weight loss per se, but it does speak on the correlation between a healthy body weight and living longer. This book is for someone (like me) who's looking towards the future and wanting to age gracefully and beautifully. My stepson asked me if I'm doing another Spartan Race this year. I told him that wasn't likely. I'm at a point where I don't want to train that hard. I want to be strong inside and out, so I can be around for a really long time. But I'm not as interested in the size of my biceps and the definition of my shoulders. That may change as the weather heats up.

The 6 Keys is full of information, most of it way over my head. It's full of biological terms that I will never be able to remember, much less spell. But that's okay, because as with learning any new bit of knowledge, it takes time to learn the details. The takeaways presently are the foundation to build more knowledge.

There is no perfect science of course. So her book trails on from one clinical study to another, often the latter contradicting the former. 

Here are my takeways which in no way conform to the "keys":

  1. Calorie restriction
  2. Movement
  3. Control stress
  4. Control and detoxify your environment

Pretty basic stuff that we probably already know right? But the why is always the answer. Sometimes it's nice to see these in black and white as proof that you need to get yourself on track. 

Oh and before I forget, wine is okay! That's probably the best tip of all!

All in all there were a lot of good recommendations, although you must get through all the scientific terminology to get to it. But he whole book felt like a bit of a set up to prepare you for her app, which is the real product. Her app, My Fitness by Jillian Michaels, looked very comprehensive. To be honest I didn't try it, just poked around. But it does include nutrition and meal plans depending on your goals (which align with all her books) For example, my nutrition needs for the 6 Keys would be entirely different than a friend of mine who may be looking for a complete 90 day transformation of their body. It also includes workouts (super helpful) She talks a bit of a sample weekly workout routine in the book, but I imagine it's a lot more expansive in the app. And of course, there's a way to monitor and track your progress.

I didn't buy access to the app. I was a little disappointing that there wasn't at least a sample 2-3 day's meal plan in the book. Or at least a coupon code to try out the premium access. I believe you can do a one month trial if you download it. All I can say is thank goodness it was a library book. Because if I had paid $16.95 for not even a sample meal plan, I'd be upset.

So I checked out of the app. I re-downloaded My Fitness Pal instead. Why not use what I've learned along with free resources first? And if after a month I feel like I'm ready to step it up a notch, I'll give My Fitness by Jillian Michaels another look.


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