Jillian Michaels' New Balancing Act

Jillian Michaels' New Life

Jillian Michaels barely has time to order an egg salad sandwich before the deli clerk begins telling her about his recent weight loss. "That's incredible -- good for you!" she says, as though rooting for one of her contestants on The Biggest Loser. Most of us wouldn't want our jobs to follow us wherever we go, but not Jillian. "This is what I was born to do," she says.

It's hard to disagree, considering how she's helped inspire and shape up millions of people. But life has changed for the tough-as-nails trainer. Returning to the show after a two-year hiatus, Jillian, 39, is now a mother of two, having adopted a 2-year-old daughter, Lukensia, from Haiti and welcomed a baby boy, Phoenix, with her partner, Heidi Rhoades, last spring. Suddenly her no-nonsense approach to fitness isn't quite so black-and-white.

"I used to say, 'If you're going to exercise, then you do it, and you do it 100 percent.' Now if I've got to answer e-mails while I work out on the StairMaster, well, then that's what it is," Jillian says. "People can rub my nose in it, because it is so hard -- so hard -- to take care of yourself when you're a parent."

Adjusting her expectations in order to balance work and family has been a challenge for the self-professed control freak, but she's not about to complain. "Every day I tell myself how blessed I am. I can't bitch about it, because this is what I wanted. I just thought I'd be able to manage it better," Jillian says, laughing. "My new motto: 'As long as I'm winning more than I'm losing, I'm still winning!'"

Read on to learn Jillian's revamped rules for staying fit and healthy, and check out her new Bodyshred workout to blast fat and trim and tone.

Man, it's tough. In my previous life, I could enjoy a long workout, go see a movie, order in. Right now I'm juggling two sick kids and trying to squeeze in a quick run or shower before one of them starts puking again. It's definitely best for me to work exercise into other things I'm doing that day. I try to bike to work or take a long walk-jog on the beach with the kids.

I want other moms to know that if you pick the antipasto when everyone's ordering in from the sub shop, it matters. If you can do only 20 minutes on your treadmill at home while you check your e-mail at the same time, it matters. I used to rip people apart for that, but you just get it in where you can, and that's all you can do.

I get up at 7 a.m. -- after being up all night with the baby -- and run around trying to get both kids diaper-changed, dressed, and fed. Finally I'll shower, and before I know it, I've got 50 e-mails to answer, and I need to leave for work. At the end of the day, I come home, and I'm like, OK, let me bathe you, change you, feed you, read you books, put you to bed -- wait, how am I supposed to do all this? Son of a bitch, this is hard!