The Truth About the ICE Shooting & Oprah’s "Obesity Lie"

Summary

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Keeping It Real with Jillian Michaels

Episode: The Truth About the ICE Shooting & Oprah’s "Obesity Lie"
Date: January 21, 2026

EPISODE OVERVIEW

Jillian Michaels tackles two high-profile, divisive topics in this solo episode. First, she dissects the public and political fallout from the ICE shooting of Renee Goode by officer Jonathan Ross, focusing not on legal culpability but on how society reacts, the dangers of tribalism, and the real “villains” in our system. In the second half, Jillian takes Oprah to task for recent comments on obesity, debunking the idea that it is primarily genetic, spotlighting the roles of Big Food, big pharma, and cultural narratives.

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1. The ICE Shooting: Tribalism, Narratives, and Accountability

Main Theme (00:04)

Jillian brings a direct, unflinching perspective to the controversial shooting of Renee Goode, emphasizing the rush to polarized judgment and the erasure of nuance.

Key Discussion Points

• Rejecting Black-and-White Thinking (00:04–04:15):

  • Jillian refuses to add more noise to the debate over legal guilt, instead examining why society rushes to label people as heroes or villains and the emotional need for simple stories.
  • Quote: “We collapse complexity into black and white, good and evil, victim and villain, us, them. And that kind of clarity feels stabilizing because it gives us something solid to stand on when everything else feels chaotic.” (Jillian, 03:18)

• Dehumanization on Both Sides (04:15–06:00):

  • Discusses how the media and social feeds distort the incident, reducing real people to symbols for political causes.
  • Explains the emotional drive to avoid grief or uncertainty by re-casting people as entirely good or evil.
  • Quote: “If somebody becomes all bad, you don't have to grieve for them. You don't have to hold conflicting emotions.” (Jillian, 04:15)

• Humanizing the Principal Actors (06:00–10:00):

  • Jillian lays out the impressive credentials of Jonathan Ross (decorated war veteran, worked under both Democratic and Republican administrations, specialized in dangerous offenders) and the well-regarded, compassionate background of Renee Goode (award-winning poet, school board member, mother).
  • Quote: “Neither woke up that morning wanting their day to end in death. Both believed they were serving their country in the way that their belief systems taught them to.” (Jillian, 09:07)

• Blame and the Power of Rhetoric (10:00–14:54):

  • Shows how activists, politicians, and media use incendiary language to stir up division—demonstrated by reading quotes from various Democratic leaders who characterized ICE as the Gestapo.
  • Highlights how these narratives influence people like Renee Goode, creating “moral soldiers” misled into confrontations with law enforcement.
  • Notable Quotes:
    • “Donald Trump's modern day Gestapo is scooping folks up off the street.” (Quote from Gov. Tim Walls, read by Jillian, 10:50)
    • “You don't want this smoke because we will bring it to you. The criminal in the White House would not be able to keep you from going to jail.” (Democratic police chief, 12:01)

• The Role of Political Hypocrisy & History (14:54–16:38):

  • Jillian exposes the recent flip-flop by Democratic leaders on enforcement, playing historical audio from Obama, Clinton, and Pelosi about tough border enforcement and mass deportations.
  • Quote: “Bill Clinton. He deported or returned 12 million people. Obama deported and returned 5 million people, Trump is not even at 1.5 million.” (Jillian, 16:18)

• Legal and Investigative Concerns (20:55–22:16):

  • Critiques both the left and right for leaping to conclusions or politicizing the aftermath, and raises concerns about government overreach and the lack of transparent investigation.
  • Quote: “When 10 senior federal prosecutors resign in protest because Washington ordered them to investigate the dead victim's activist ties while blocking a simultaneous investigation into the agent's use of force, you lose the moral high ground.” (Jillian, 21:07)

• Public Perception and Policy Reform (22:16–24:30):

  • Recognizes even conservatives’ discomfort with current enforcement; insists on the need for bipartisan solutions like the proposed Dignity Act for undocumented immigrants. Plays a clip explaining its provisions and why it garners support.
  • Quote: “In the court of public opinion, perception matters more than righteousness. Right or wrong becomes secondary to how people experience what they see.” (Jillian, 22:35)

• The Call to See Nuance (24:30–27:38):

  • Jillian pleads for listeners to support policy reform, resist the urge to use tragedy as a political weapon, and remember that real people, not abstractions, get caught in systemic crossfire.
  • Quote: “There's value in restraint. There's value in acknowledging that real people exist inside these moments—not racists, not killers, not fascists and not terrorists. Renee Goode and Jonathan Ross were not abstractions.” (Jillian, 26:15)

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Notable Segment Timestamps

• Breaking Down Emotional Reactions & Dehumanization: 03:18–06:00
• Humanizing Officer Ross & Renee Goode: 06:00–09:45
• Politician and Media Rhetoric on ICE: 10:00–13:40
• Historical Policy Clips from Obama, Clinton, Pelosi: 14:54–16:38
• Prosecutorial Conflicts and Moral High Ground: 21:07–21:56
• Dignity Act bipartisan proposal (explanation): 23:25–24:30

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2. Oprah’s “Obesity Lie” – Science vs. Narratives

Main Theme

Jillian takes aim at Oprah’s new messaging about obesity being genetic and the promotion of weight loss drugs, setting the record straight with scientific clarity and her signature no-BS style.

Key Discussion Points

• Oprah’s Claim & Conflict of Interest (30:28–32:30):

  • Plays Oprah’s comments suggesting people overeat because of the “obesity gene” and highlights Oprah’s deep financial involvement with Weight Watchers and GLP-1 weight loss drugs.
  • Quote (Oprah, clip): “Now I understand that if you carry the obesity gene, if that is what you have, that is what makes you overeat. You don't overeat and become obese. Obesity causes you to overeat.” (Oprah, 30:28)
  • Jillian: “On top of that, Oprah has a very complicated financial entanglement with these medications.” (31:18)

• Calories, Genetics, and the First Law of Thermodynamics (32:30–35:00):

  • Jillian brings scientific receipts—explaining that body fat is fundamentally stored energy (calories), and while genetics influence tendencies, they do not override the laws of physics.
  • Quote: “Genetics loads the gun and lifestyle pulls the trigger.” (Jillian, 33:07)

• Historical Trends in Obesity (35:00–36:38):

  • Using CDC data, Jillian shows the dramatic rise of obesity from the 1970s (5%) to 2026 (74%), refuting the idea of a sudden genetic shift.
  • Quote: “Genetics evolve over thousands of years, not over five decades. That would be a quantum leap for genetics.” (Jillian, 36:27)

• Blame Big Food—Not Biology Alone (36:38–40:32):

  • Argues that the real villain is Big Food, who engineered hyper-palatable, ultra-processed foods designed to override our satiety hormones and drive overeating.
  • Quote: “If we're looking for a villain, it is not your genetics. It's big food.” (Jillian, 37:39)

• How Weight Loss Drugs Work & Their Limits (40:32–43:00):

  • Explains that drugs like Ozempic work by helping people eat fewer calories—again, calories-in/calories-out at the core.
  • Raises concerns about the drugs’ side effects, the need for informed use and medical oversight, and their partial solution to a systemic problem.
  • Quote: “If you have to have a pharmacological solution to an external problem...we’re never really getting to the root of the issue.” (Jillian, 41:41)

• Shame, Psychology, and True Empowerment (43:00–end):

  • Condemns Oprah’s framing as disempowering and psychologically harmful: letting Big Food off the hook, erasing the trauma and coping factors that underlie much overeating.
  • Encourages listeners to address root causes (diet overhaul, therapy for trauma) and to approach medications as informed, empowered patients.
  • Quote: “You are not genetically sentenced to obesity and disease. That is not true. That's a lie.” (Jillian, 45:07)

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Notable Segment Timestamps

• Oprah's claims and industry ties: 30:28–32:00
• Fat, calories, genetics explained: 32:30–34:50
• Rise of obesity in statistics: 35:00–36:38
• Big Food and the Bliss Point: 36:38–38:30
• How drugs like GLP-1s work: 40:32–43:00
• The call for personal and societal responsibility: 45:07–46:50

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MOST MEMORABLE QUOTES & MOMENTS

• On emotional reactions: “Falling into black and white thinking doesn't make you cruel. It makes you human.” (Jillian, 05:00)
• On rhetoric: “The remedy if you oppose a law is to change that law through legislation, not to attack the people tasked with enforcing it.” (Jillian, 13:45)
• On both ICE and protestor narratives: “Ross and Goode were declared cold blooded killers by one half of the country or the other. They're not.” (Jillian, 08:42)
• On Oprah and science: “Genetics loads the gun and lifestyle pulls the trigger.” (Jillian, 33:07)
• On activism and manufactured villains: “It is the rhetoric for cliques and the propaganda for power that turns a 37-year-old mom into a soldier of a moral war...this is the evil bullshit that gets a 37-year-old mom killed.” (Jillian, 13:20)
• On personal responsibility and hope: “You are not genetically sentenced to obesity or disease. That is not true. That's a lie.” (Jillian, 45:07)

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SUMMARY

In a passionate, unfiltered solo episode, Jillian Michaels exposes how media narratives, political rhetoric, and our need for psychological certainty lead to tragic societal divisions—using the ICE shooting as a lens. She urges listeners to resist oversimplification, see the humanity in all parties, and focus on legislative reform over emotional outrage.

Shifting gears, Jillian critiques Oprah for promoting the narrative that obesity is fundamentally genetic, debunks this using clear science, and highlights the systemic sabotage by Big Food and the murky connections between influencers, pharmaceuticals, and industry. She calls for empowered, informed health choices—and above all, personal agency.

For listeners seeking clarity and depth beyond the headlines, this episode is essential, challenging us to keep it real, stay curious, and—above all—remain human.

Transcript

[A]

Keeping it real with Jillian Michaels. Alright, guys, I'm flying solo today. There are things that I just want to be between you and I have some controversial takes. I don't want any other opinions, just you guys and myself. So unless you've been living under a rock, you're well aware that the shooting of Renee Goode by ICE officer Jonathan Ross has been dominated the media cycle. Neither of these people woke up the morning of January 7th intending to kill or die. Two people walked into a moment shaped by forces that are far larger than themselves, and two lives were destroyed. And this is what happens when politics becomes theater and law becomes symbolism. And until we learn the difference, more people will be sacrificed on this chessboard while the players remain untouched. You know, when this incident happened, I was recording an episode of Actual Friends, which is a project that I do with Dave Rubin and sage Steele and Dr. Drew. So I was put into a position of needing to react in the moment, but outside of that, I've stayed out of it. You know, people were getting hit with opinions left, right and center, and I didn't feel like we needed another one adding to the noise. You know, I'm also not an Internet sleuth. I'm not gonna decide who's guilty watching tires turn in slow motion on my phone. There are experts who will determine these things and all the other stuff that people have taken to the Internet with doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if two of Renee Goode's kids live with their dad. It doesn't matter if Officer Ross called her a bad name after he shot her. None of that matters. There's literally only one legal question of relevance in this case. Did Officer Ross have a reasonable fear for his life at the moment he fired? That's it. Now, it could turn out that Renee Goode was fleeing and the officer could have moved out of the way. It could turn out that the officer reasonably believed she intended to hit and kill him. It could turn out that she wasn't intending to kill him, but in her attempt to flee, she did put his life at risk. You know, apparently he is in the hospital for internal bleeding from when her car hit him. Either way, that determination will be made by all the gathered evidence and trained use of force experts. So today's podcast is not about litigating that question. What I want to look at with you today is how we got here and the horrors of what happened after. Within hours of this incident, blame had been assigned, right? Opinions had hardened along tribal lines. Social media became a courtroom blue team. Ice agent equals thug, Nazi Gestapo, Robin killer, Red team. Renee Goode, vigilante, domestic terrorist, cop, killer. Both sides immediately got go fund me campaigns. And then the smear campaigns began. She lost custody of two of her kids. He's a fanatical maga, part of Trump's secret police. And as I mentioned, none of this matters legally. None of it. Not their politics, not their personalities, not their custody arrangements, not the fact that Ross called good a bad name. You know, these facts they're brought up to reduce these people, no pun intended, to good or bad, victim and victimizer. Because it's easier to take a side if there's no gray area. You know, when something shocking or tragic happens, especially something violent, we're suddenly flooded with emotion. Sadness, fear, anger, confusion, helplessness. It's a hell of a lot to hold all at once, especially when we're being confronted with these kinds of issues constantly. And when emotional stress gets that intense, the mind naturally looks for relief. And one of the quickest ways it finds is by simplifying the story. We collapse complexity into black and white, good and evil, victim and villain, us, them. And that kind of clarity feels stabilizing because it gives us something solid to stand on when everything else feels y chaotic.

[B]

Right?

[A]

If somebody becomes all bad, you don't have to grieve for them. You don't have to sit with sadness. You don't have to hold conflicting emotions. At the same time, if Renee Goode is framed as dumb and dangerous, then her death doesn't have to be mourned. It becomes a cautionary tale, and that softens the sadness. Conflict disappears. And on the other side, if Officer Ross is framed as a monster and a thug in a psycho, an inhuman force, then there's no need to wrestle with the harder questions. There's no need to wonder whether rhetoric escalated risk. There's no need to examine whether encouragement to defy law enforcement played a role. The story's clean. He was bad. That's what happened. Clean stories, they feel safer, but they're not true. And it's important to say this clearly. Falling into black and white thinking doesn't make you cruel. It makes you human. When identity and moral certainty feels threatened, people instinctively protect themselves. Simplifying the story preserves the sense that we are on the right side, and it spares us from deeper emotional tension. But the cost of erasing complexity is insanely high. You know, when we can't sit with emotional discomfort, we stop seeing each other as human beings, and we start reducing each other to symbols. Pain hardens us. Empathy collapses and we turn on one another instead of reckoning with what actually happened. It is okay to say this is tragic without immediately deciding who deserves blame. We can hold empathy without excusing behavior. We can tolerate uncertainty long enough for the truth to emerge. You're allowed to let more than one thing be true at the same time. Ross and Good were declared cold blooded killers by one half of the country or the other. They're not. Jonathan Ross is a war veteran. He worked for the Department of Homeland Security for over a decade. He earned the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, amongst others. He is highly decorated. After returning home as a combat Veteran, he joined U.S. border Patrol in El Paso in Texas in 2007. He worked under Obama until 2015 as a field intelligence agent, gathering and analyzing information on drug cartels and human traffickers. In 2015, he joined ICE as a deportation officer based in Minnesota. Now, his job, as he testified in a recent case, was to identify and arrest higher value targets. Okay? Not the guy that plays in the mariachi band. Not the guy who operates your favorite food truck terrorists. He also testified that he was a member of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. He served as a field intelligence officer, and his work involved investigating organized crime and national security threats. He's a father, he's a husband, and he quite literally was the guy taking really bad guys off the street. Again, I say not the sweet guy who runs your favorite taco truck. Thieves, rapists, murderers, traffickers, arsonists. Now, who was Renee Goode? Renee was an award winning poet. She was a guitar enthusiast. She was a mother of three. She was a wife. She served on the school board. She held several jobs over the course of her life. As a dental assistant, an English teacher. At one point, she started a business called Be Good Handiwork. Her family describes her as loving, compassionate, kind, a beautiful light. Neither woke up that morning wanting their day to end in death. Both of these people believed that they were serving their country in the way that their belief systems taught them to. Ross dedicated his life to pursuing violent criminals and protecting national security. Renee Goode believed that she was standing against an existential threat to her country. Now, whether you agree with her beliefs is irrelevant. There's no question that she believed him. And that matters. Whether she was a paid protester or agitator, there is still no question she was ideologically captured. Nobody puts their life at risk for what rumor has it is 20 bucks an hour. Okay? Former reports that agitators were paid $1,500 a day, have been debunked, guys. Now, having said that, there are absolutely real villains here, but they aren't. Ross or Good. Good believed that she was doing something wrong, righteous. She was encouraged by activists and leaders who framed law enforcement not as human beings operating inside a legal system, but as embodiments of oppression itself that has to be resisted at all costs. She believed that she was standing against evil. Let me read you just a few quotes from Democratic politicians. Okay, let's take a look here. We're going to start with Governor Tim Walls. Donald Trump's modern day Gestapo is scooping folks up off the street. They're in unmarked vans, wearing masks, being shipped off to foreign torture dungeons. No chance to mount a defense, not even a chance to kiss loved ones goodbye. Just grabbed up by masked agents and shoved into those vans and disappeared. Stephen Lynch, Democrat. When you compare the old films of the Gestapo grabbing people up off the streets of Poland and you compare those to the nondescript thugs, it looks like a Gestapo operation. John Larson, Democrat, referred to ICE as the SS and the Gestapo in relation to arresting individuals. Robin Kelly, Democrat, smeared ICE as the Gestapo and a betrayal of Americans. Dan Goldman, Democrat, compared ICE to the secret police. Seth Moulton compared ICE to Adolf Hitler's secret police. Also a Democrat, of course, Governor Gavin Newsom. We refuse to be bullied by these secret police tactics and we'll keep standing up for Californians against this administration's dangerous actions. Pritzker, we could be here all day. I'm going to give you a few more, Pritzker. Democrats compared Trump's administration's use of ICE to what authoritarian regimes do. This list goes on and on and on. Democratic congressmen, Democratic senators, Democratic governors, Democratic mayors, Democratic police chiefs telling ICE that if they do their job, she's going to arrest them and then threatens ICE officers. You don't want this smoke.

[C]

I call them made up, fake wannabe law enforcement because what they do is against not only legal law, but the moral law. If any of them want to come in this city and commit a crime, you would not be able to hide. Nobody will wish you off. You don't want this smoke because we will bring it to you. The criminal in the White House would not be able to keep you from going to jail.

[A]

Renee Good thought that she was legally allowed to impede federal law enforcement operations. Okay. As I said, police chiefs told ICE they would arrest them. Mayors told ICE they wouldn't cooperate. Governors told people to resist and fight back. She was told that stepping into harm's way was a moral courage and a white person's obligation to join her brothers and sisters of color. Just take a look at what Joy Reid had to say.

[B]

This woman was part of a group of people who they trained to try to be ICE Interrupters. And what they try to do is observe what ICE is doing, film them, and try to use their white privilege to be honest. They're mainly white people.

[D]

Which is what we ask.

[B]

Which is what we ask them to do, right?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Because black people, like, we can't get on. We can't put our bodies on the line because cops will shoot us. And so the presumption had been particularly a white woman. Because remember, part of the rationale for doing this with ICE is to save white women, pristine white women from being ravaged by, you know, criminal brown men. So they, white women have been taking the lead.

[A]

Okay, they did shoot her, Joy, which kind of puts a hole in your racist law enforcement position. But nevertheless, she was told that history would vindicate her. And here's what's worse. The people pushing this narrative, they don't believe it. They know better. Democratic leaders, political podcasters, and pundits, they're not ignorant. Joy Reid went to Harvard. They're highly educated. They know the law. They know Officer Ross was enforcing federal law enacted by Congress. They know that resisting federal law enforcement, spitting on officers, hurling objects at them or their vehicles, verbally assaulting them, blocking them in, it's illegal. They know it is exceptionally dangerous. They know if you oppose a law enforcement officer, you will get hurt. The remedy if you oppose a law is to change that law through legislation, not to attack the people tasked with enforcing it. It's the rhetoric for cliques and the propaganda for power that turns a 37 year old mom into a soldier of a moral war. And this is the evil bullshit that gets a 37 year old mom killed. And I'll do you one worse. If you're a boomer, if you're Gen X, if you're millennial, you should remember the endless speeches by Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Pelosi, all talking about how we have to enforce immigration laws. Take a look.

[E]

If you're a criminal, you'll be deported. If you plan to enter the US illegally, your chances of getting caught and sent back just went up. The actions I'm taking are not only lawful, they're the kinds of actions taken by every single Republican president and every single Democratic president for the past half century.

[A]

I think we got to have tough conditions.

[D]

Tell people to come out of the shadows. If they've committed a crime, deport them, no questions asked. They're gone.

[F]

All Americans, not only in the states most heavily affected, but in every place in this country, all are rightly disturbed by the large numbers of illegal aliens entering our country. The jobs they hold might otherwise be held by citizens or legal immigrants. The public service they use imposed burdens on our taxpayers. That's why our administration has moved aggressively to secure our borders more by hiring a record number of new border guards, by deporting twice as many criminal aliens as ever before, by cracking down on illegal hiring, by barring welfare benefits to illegal aliens in the budget I will present to you, we will try to do more to speed the deportation of illegal aliens who are arrested for crimes to better identify illegal aliens in the workplace as recommended by the commission headed by former Congresswoman Barbara Jordan. We are a nation of immigrants, but we are also a nation of laws. It is wrong and ultimately self defeating for a nation of immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our immigration laws we have seen in recent years. And we must do more to stop it.

[A]

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[G]

Shoot a US citizen, especially a woman, in the face. You can also see the point of view of the people that say yeah, but you don't want militarized people in the streets just roaming around snatching people up. Many of which turn out to actually be U.S. citizens. They just don't have their papers on them. Are we really going to be the the Gestapo? Where's your papers?

[A]

But it's not just Rogan. Many conservatives are uneasy watching this level of force. Many know undocumented immigrants personally. And while they want immigrants off social services, they want the end of shadow economies created by illegal labor. They want criminals out of the country. They are also open to immigration reform. In the court of public opinion, perception matters more than righteousness. Right or wrong becomes secondary to how people experience. Experience what they see. It's time to stop beating our chests and come to the table. Recently, bipartisan legislation has been proposed by Representative Maria Elvira Salazar, who's a Republican from Florida, and Representative Veronica Escobar, who's a Democrat from Texas. And it's called the Dignity Act. Take a look.

[D]

No more need to choose between amnesty or deportation. Dignity Bill is the answer. And here's how it works. If you are undocumented and you have been in the country for more than five years, you do not have a criminal record, you're working and paying taxes. You can come out of the shadows with no fear and apply for the dignity status. That means they will pay a fine of $7,000 over seven years, buy their own health insurance with no access to any federal programs, and contribute 1% of their salary to the United States Treasury. That is $50 billion plus. Just do the math. In return, they will never be deported. They will be able to go home for Christmas or to go bury their mother and come back to the United States to continue working and paying taxes. It gives them a deep dignified life. In the promised land, period.

[A]

The response from conservatives has been good. Now, who among you watching that could get behind it? Personally, with President Trump, I've actually been pretty impressed. Guys, the border's closed. Fentanyl deaths have dropped dramatically. Children are no longer being trafficked across our border by cartels. Gas is the lowest it's been in years. Markets are at the highest. He's talking about stopping Wall street from swallowing up single family homes. Maduro was captured without a single American life lost. Iran's nuclear capability was dismantled in days, not decades. There's a peace deal in Gaza. Tariffs didn't crash the economy and are now reshoring thousands of American jobs instead of. I mean, what Trump and Kennedy are doing with Maha, that's awesome. Lower drug prices, fewer chemicals in our food, a ban on sex, changes from minors. I mean, those are just a few of his real wins. But on this issue, whether it's legal or not, something has to change. People on all sides are getting hurt. We need to look at proposals like the dignity bill. We need to put more judges at the border so cases can be adjudicated more quickly and lawfully. We have to give people who love America and want to contribute a real process and make them earn it. We need to fix our asylum cords so those who are fleeing real prosecution have a chance and those abusing the system are removed swiftly. And if Democrats make reform impossible and push back to keep immigration as a political football, it doesn't weaken Republicans, it insulates them. It gives them more cover to enforce the law as written, point to obstruction, and say plainly, hey, we're at the negotiating table, waiting for them to show up. Ultimately, though, this doesn't just sit with politicians or pundits. It sits with us, with you and me, with how we choose to see one another as humans or as props in a political war. There's value in restraint. There's value in acknowledging that real people exist inside these moments. Not racists, not killers, not fascists and not terrorists. Renee Goode and Jonathan Ross were not abstractions. They were people that were caught in a system that rewards escalation and outrage and certainty instead of judgment, critical thinking and care. If you really love this country and you want to see real change, whether you're Democrat or Republican, consider supporting policy reform, because that is the only way forward. All right, guys, we'll be right back with a totally unrelated topic. Oprah is out there telling everybody that obesity is genetic, and I am pissed. Please take a moment to, like, share, comment, and subscribe. It helps me Out a ton with the algorithm.

[H]

Channel the fresh start energy of the new year and finally launch your business.

[A]

2026 is the year you rewrite your.

[H]

Story, you own your future and you make your entrepreneurial dreams come true. Start your business with Shopify in 2026 and become who you're meant to be. My wife actually just started a Shopify account for her clothing company. Because Shopify gives you everything you need to sell online and in person. Millions of entrepreneurs have already made this leap from household names to first time business owners just getting started. Shopify gives you all the tools to easily build your dream store. You can choose from hundreds of beautiful templates that you can customize to match. Your brand setup is fast. With Shopify's built in AI tools, tools, the right product descriptions and the headlines. And to help you edit product photos.

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Marketing is built in as well. You can create email and social media.

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Campaigns that reach customers wherever they scroll. And as you grow, Shopify grows with you. Handle more orders and expand to new markets and do it all from the same dashboard. So in 2026, stop waiting and start selling with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com Jillian just go to shopify.com Jillian that's shopify.com Jillian and hear your first this new year with Shopify by your side.

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Hey ladies, it's Jillian here. And let's just say that when it comes to intimate wear, the struggle is real. For many of us, bras and underwear are just afterthoughts. Basic, uncomfortable and honestly underwhelming. And for years I'd focus on my outfits, thinking the right top or the right pants would make me feel great. But Skims has flipped that script. Now the foundation pieces I put on first set the tone for my wardrobe. Confidence and comfort all day long. The fits, everybody scoop. Bralette is just what it says. It fits every body type and it's a game changer. It's supportive, it's comfortable. And even if you have a bigger bust, which I unfortunately do not, but even if you do, it feels like a perfect fit, not a constricting sports bra. Skims is just designed differently. Quality fabrics, quality construction, soft and seamless support. You feel secure, lifted and still totally natural. No digging, no adjusting. Skims is now just a wardrobe essential for me. And I'm sure it will be for you too. So you can shop my favorite bras and [e-mail] Jillian and after you place your order, please be sure to let them know that we sent you select podcast in the survey and be sure to select our show in the drop down menu that follows. All right, guys, we're back. And Oprah is back in the news. God, I wish she would stay in her lane. Take a look.

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I was overeating. I was standing there with all the food noise, what I ate, what I should eat, how many calories was that? How long is it going to take? I thought that that was because of me and my fault. Now I understand that if you carry the obesity gene, if that is what you have, that is what makes you overeat. You don't overeat and become obese. Obesity causes you to overeat.

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Oh, my God. Okay, so Oprah is making the rounds because she has released a new book about weight loss medications that she co wrote with Dr. I'm going to butcher this, and I'm sorry, Ania Jastreboff. So let's talk about Dr. Ania. Bottom line is this woman is intimately involved in researching, testing, and advocating for these weight loss drugs. She works for the drug companies who make these weight loss drugs. So I bring this up not because she's some sort of devil. She's potentially doing God's work. Right? If you're 400 pounds and you have advanced heart disease and type 2 diabetes and there are solutions like this out there for you that you can speak with your doctor about, that's wonderful. But what I'm pointing out, number one, is the inherent conflict of interest. On top of that, Oprah has a very complicated financial entanglement with these medications. She was previously the one of the top shareholders of Weight Watchers who purchased a telehealth medicine company called Sequence that sold these GLP1 drugs. And then she famously did this episode on her. I don't know what the heck show she's got nowadays. Some show where she pretended to be, you know, mind boggled about weight loss drugs, knowing that this was time to release after Weight Watchers, which she was a top shareholder of, purchase Sequence. And then when she was critiqued to all Hell, I, you know, being one of those people pointing those things out, she divested and was like, I'm gonna donate my shares. Well, after you made hundreds of millions of dollars, homie, after you did the ginormous cash out, do you not have enough money, girl? If it's not Maui, it's this. But we'll, we'll get back to that in a minute. Let's, let's talk about obesity for a second. So I have a lot of notes here, and I don't want to forget to talk to you about any of it. First thing, is what she said scientifically true? No. No, it's not. Let's begin with what is fat? Not. Not what does fat do in the body? That's a completely separate conversation. But essentially, for our intents and purposes right now, fat is stored energy, okay? A calorie is a unit of energy. So food has calories. Now, if I said to you what weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of diamonds? A pound is a pound, a calorie is a calorie. A calorie in an avocado is the same amount of energy as a calorie in a Twinkie. Now, if I said what's more valuable, you would say the diamonds, right? Well, same thing. The avocado over the Twinkie. But that's because what accompanies it is nutrients versus anti nutrients. So the avocado has vitamins and minerals, and it has macronutrients. Right? It has fiber, it has fat, all the things. And the Twinkie has nothing but garbage in it. It has anti nutrients. So where health and weight intersect, because you could be skinny, by the way, and exceptionally unhealthy. And that just means that as a skinny person, you're eating less Twinkies or you have a faster metabolism. But as I said, skinny people get type 2 diabetes and heart disease and all the things. So when it comes to bigger, smaller, there is no question that it is about eating too many calories. Now, Oprah doesn't actually try to deny that. She's like, well, I ate too many calories because I have a gene that says, eat calories. That's a lie. And we'll get to that in a second. There are numerous genetic markers for obesity. I have four of them. Take a look. Now, despite having four genetic markers for obesity and heart disease, I am not obese and I don't have heart disease. Why? Because genetics loads the gun and lifestyle pulls the trigger. So what that means is that while my son and my wife can eat whatever they want and not gain weight, I cannot and I have to function in a lower calorie allowance. Let's get back to calorie allowance for a second. This is not a question. It is the first law of thermodynamics. Energy, in this case, calories and fat is stored energy. That's what fat is. When you consume calories that you do not burn in a day, they get stored in your fat cells as fat. Calories in calories. Out. Energy is not created or destroyed in a vacuum. A closed system. Your body is not a closed system. You take energy in. When you have an energy call through activity, you burn stored fat. Okay? That's how this works. It's calories in, calories out. Having said that, if we go back to the 1970s, if we were to make the argument, oh, Jill's wrong, it's genetics. Where was obesity back in the 1970s? It was at 5% of adult Americans. Now it's at 74%. 74% of adult Americans are obese or overweight, but in the 70s, it was 5%. And childhood diabetes. Childhood diabetes, type 2 diabetes. It was actually called adult onset diabetes. We changed it to type 2 diabetes because kids started getting diabetes. There was no childhood obesity. It didn't exist. No one tracked it because it wasn't a thing. So genetics evolve over thousands of years, not over five decades. That would be a quantum leap for genetics. If you want to look at what happened. There's no question that the explosion of Americans, waistlines and chronic diseases. Because obesity is associated with 170 different comorbidities from erectile dysfunction, cognitive decline, heart disease, type 2 diabetes. The list is long and it's extensive. Well, what happened? You had an explosion of ultra processed foods. Now, people like my mom, who are boomers, they're like, well, I ate processed foods, too. Not the same. Her version of ketchup. Yeah, it's processed, mostly sugar, had like, I don't know, four ingredients. Our ketchup today has, like, 25. It has a host of chemicals that do disrupt your metabolic function. And I'll talk about big food in just a second. It's loaded with calories. But what these ultra processed foods do, they don't just make us sick because of all the garbage in them. They are designed to make us overeat. If we're looking for a villain, it is not your genetics. It's big food. Now, here's the thing. As I said, some of us can eat whatever we want and not gain weight. Arguably, those are the people who are outliers, those of us who can't eat whatever we want without gaining weight. That just means that you're genetically efficient. Because the reality is that as we evolved as human beings, there were periods of feast and periods of famine. So people who are more efficient at storing fat had ancestors that went through more periods of famine. You can even see this in the indigenous population of the Pima Indians. For example, when you look at the descendants of the great potato famine, they have slower metabolisms. But what that means is they've just become more proficient at fat storage for periods of famine. But we don't have periods of famine anymore. We have pizza and burgers and fries on every corner. Okay, Donut shops. When you look at the true villain, if we were to indict someone, it would absolutely be big food. And I'm not asking you to check your personal accountability at the door. Quite the opposite. But there is no question the system is rigged against you. These big food companies, they were bought by big tobacco in the early 1980s because tobacco was actually in free fall. It was working the campaign against big tobacco and far less people were smoking. And it caused the Philip Morris's of the world to buy the big food companies of the world and bring their playbook over to big food. They brought their team of multidisciplinary scientists and just to give you one example, they engineered something called the bliss point. So this was the perfect ratio of salt, sugar and fat that would create a state of bliss in your brain. One thing of a million things these guys did. How many times does the chip crunch? I mean, it's insane. All of the different things they did. I mean, your food is a science experiment. This ultra processed food, it's not food. But the design is to get you to eat more because it's profitable. That's the point. You've heard me say that you can't eat just one. It's not a slogan, it's a business model. So you're set up to fail. The food is hyper palatable and it blunts your satiety hormones. So what's gonna make somebody eat more or eat less? Your satiety hormones are supposed to say, yo, you're full. So we'll get to what the weight loss drugs are in a minute. But essentially they're mimetics of peptides and weight loss hormones. Think about GLP1 is a satiety, not a weight loss hormone is a satiety hormone. Okay, so does the body not make GLP1? That's what's in Ozempic. It's a replica of GLP1. Of course we do like. And what happened? Everybody's obese because we've had a GLP1 shortage. No, that's, that's not what happened. There was no GLP1. There were no weight loss drugs in the 70s. When you eat whole foods, protein, fat, fiber, the body releases GLP1, leptin, gip, all of these different satiety hormones to say, hey, you're good. Stop eating. Okay. Now, when you eat something like a soda or a Dorito, there's no fiber, there's no protein, there's no healthy fat in these foods. So not only are they not triggering the release of satiety hormones, they actually have so much sugar in them that the sugar gets dumped into your bloodstream and then your pancreas goes, oh my God, what do we do? And it releases a ton of insulin. Insulin's job is to get the sugar out of the blood and into the cells, right? And this is how you become insulin resistant, because over time, your body dumps so much insulin and the cells are like, nope, we're full, all done. And it keeps pumping out insulin, trying to hack the system. But that's different conversation. So when you dump all this insulin and you scrape all that sugar out of the blood so quickly, you now have low blood sugar again. And you're hungry again. Just again. One more mechanism to show you the ways in which these ultra processed foods trigger overeating. Now, let's look at the drugs for a second. I mentioned that they're memetics of satiety hormones. So let's leave out retatrutide. Maybe you've heard about this one. This is a new triple agonist weight loss drug that people are selling on the gray market. Don't want to get into that one. That is a real can of worms. But if we look at Ozempic or you look at Tirzepatide, wegovy, you've got GLP1 and GIP. What do these drugs do to facilitate weight loss? They help you eat less food. We're back to the conversation here of calories in, calories out. That's the mechanism by which they facilitate weight loss. Now, there's obviously some anecdotal concerns with this as well. You know, when food sits in your gut, there's unquestionably a relationship to things like small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Is it messing up your microbiome conversation for a different day? The second mechanism that these drugs work on is the pleasure center of your brain, which is why some people, there's anecdotal reports of suicidal ideation, a general malaise, because think about it, if they're dampening that pleasure center in your brain, they work well on addiction, in particular food addiction, the food noise we're talking about. But they can also cause in some people, reports of depression, for example. Now what they do is they essentially block big food from establishing that bliss point. I mean, great, I guess so here's the question. When you have to have a pharmacological solution to an external problem, to chemical experiments with our food that cause us to overeat, we're never really getting to the root of the issue. What bothers me about what Oprah's saying is, is that she's exploiting your vulnerability and your psychology because people do feel ashamed when they're overweight. They shouldn't, but they do. There are a host of psychological issues associated with obesity. People utilize food as a defense structure, a coping mechanism. You know, I've given this example many times in the past, but it's the most obvious. If you're a sexual abuse survivor, maybe you're overeating to desexualize and put on a layer of protection. Right now you're not aware of it, but arguably that's one of the reasons people unconsciously overeat who've been assaulted. So if you're telling people, hey, listen, I know you feel ashamed. I know you feel powerless, it's not you. You're genetically screwed. Screwed. You've a, disempowered them. You've b, let Big Food off the hook and the solutions that we need to find with regard to the nefarious actions those companies are engaged in. And you've totally negated the psychological piece of this where many people who are obese need help. If you want to take these drugs, by all means, it's your body. Do what you feel is right for you. But it's imperative that you go into this with the understanding of how the body works. The fact that you are not genetically sentenced to obesity and disease. That is not true. That's a lie. That what's really messing you up and throwing you off are the ultra processed foods. You are addicted to ultra processed foods. So if you want to blame someone, that's definitely one of the culprits right there. And that would be one of the first things that you should tackle. If there's psychological trauma, you might want to get counseling. You might want to seek psychedelic therapy. I've heard incredible things about people utilizing psychedelic therapy for their overeating addiction. These drugs have side effects. They need to be done under a doctor's supervision. And understanding the science is an absolute imperative. So having said all of that, zero judgment here. Just want to make sure you go into these choices with your eyes wide open. Thank you so much for watching. If you enjoyed the podcast, please, like, comment, subscribe and share. And make sure to let me know what guests you want to see on in the future.