Home > Good Form > Archives > 2006 > December > 18
Monday, December 18, 2006
Weight Loss Business is Big Money
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Since the 1980’s, weight loss pills, diets (e.g. diet books), exercise contraptions, video tapes, and the like has turned into a multi-billion dollar industry.
You’ve heard of everything from fen phen to ephedra to hoodia. You’ve done Atkins diet to The Zone to South Beach. You’ve tried the Thy Trimmer to The Gazelle to Ab Lounge. Youv’e used the Jane Fonda Workout to Tae Bo with Billy Blanks.
All of which, have been promoted for the sake of weight loss and losing inches. All of which guarantee results. All of them will defend their legitmacy. You hear claims like, “I lost 10 pounds in one weeks” or “I lost 6 inches in my waist in 6 days!”
My question to you is this: If these things really work, then why is it that there is still an epidemic of obesity in this country? The answer is, that they don’t work. My appeal to you is that these trendy products and programs are a part of the problem. You may lose weight at first, but you gain it back with interest. For the sake of this blog, I can’t get into a lot of detail about why. However, what I can tell you is that using these products and programs can alter your physiology and behavior in such a way that you turn yourself into a fat gaining machine.
To answer why there is always something new is simple. There is no money in it. If you believe that weight loss marketeers don’t lie to you, you’d be sadly mistaken. They (the weight loss industry) are always going to come out with something new in order to make the big money.
As a fitness and weight loss mythbuster, I can rant about the deception and fraud in the weight loss industry all day (You can go to www.FitnessMythbuster.com to see more). Instead of ranting though, I ask that before you buy another weight loss product you ask yourself one question:
“Am I buying this product out of impulse or trying this because I’m desperate, or am I doing this because I want lifelong change?” The chances are that most of the time you will answer with impulse or that your desperate. Once you recognize that, you will not be as likely to buy into it. Instead, you’ll begin to desire what it takes for lifelong change and everlasting health. You know, eating right and exercise (both of them together).
Right now and this upcoming New Year, you’ll be bombarded with all kinds of different weight loss and fitness products promising to be the magic bullet. Don’t be a victim to them any more. Educate yourself and don’t try to climb a tall mountain in one day. Keeping weight off and being fit is a process, not an event.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Weight Loss
