by David McAlpine

This week on Losing It with Jillian, our favorite Biggest Loser trainer takes on her biggest challenge yet: an entire Indian reservation. At the center of it all is the Plunkett-Marquez family, who live on the Yavapai Apache Nation reservation in Arizona, where Type 2 diabetes and obesity run wild. Upon arriving, Jillian sees it's not just the family she needs to help, it's the entire community.

After a visit to the doctor, you can't help but wonder how some of these people are still standing. Delores, the grandmother of the family, has had two heart attacks and a stroke, while Cora-Lei, her daughter is almost twice the weight she should be. Things look even worse for grandson Brandon, who is at prime risk for diabetes in a culture where there's been a 68 percent rise in the disease amongst youth.

The first food Jillian gets to witness is Indian Fry Bread. Just having that roll off your tongue, you know it's going to piss her off and make her squirm. It's dough that's fried in lard--how can it not make her cringe? You can see it in her eyes as she watches it get made, then she dumps it all in the trash at the beginning of the picnic. In response, a boy tosses his fry bread, complete with toppings, on her leather jacket while others sit in shock, not believing she actually did that.

Apparently, Jillian has a lot to learn about cultural lines. Cora-Lei had to go to tribal council (an actual one, not a Survivor crossover), then she explains to Jillian that the Native Americans never waste food. Jillian doesn't get it, though, and it was evident that fried bread drove her over the edge. In a shocking turn-around, though, Jillian points out that the fry bread represents everything negative that the Native Americans have gone through, making it doubly bad for them.

Our new favorite doctor, Dr. Van Herle, shows up to talk about health and losing weight, but most of the community doesn't show up. Jillian tries to find out why everyone seems so apathetic about losing weight and Delight (another daughter) gives her the answer she needs: she hates telling her son "no." Jillian took it and rolled with it, starting the empowerment train on part of the community.

All of a sudden, it turns out that her fry bread atrosity created a positive buzz within the community and Jillian used that to plan a fun walk for everyone on the reserve. Unlike the health talk, more than 100 people showed up to the fun walk, showing Jillian that she's making the positive impact she wants to.

Six weeks later, Jillian returned to see if her seeds had grown at all--and they had! Together, the Plunkett-Marquez family had lost over 150 pounds, lowered their cholesterol levels dramatically and reversed most signs of diabetes, which Jillian viewed as just short of a miracle. Cora-Lei even started a fitness program for the local Yavapai Apache people, which Jillian offered to help fund generously.

Tune in to next Tuesday's Losing It with Jillian to see what happens when Jillian finds nothing but resistance with every family member--only at 8/7c on NBC.

(Photo courtesy of NBC)

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