This is far to big and vague a subject for jut one blog post…
so what I really mean is:
Media manipulation of the truth in order to sell health and fitness programs / supplements / accessories etc…
Which I also admit is a massive subject and I can’t hope to cover at once!
everyone by now has seen the endless before and after photos that come with every single workout dvd or “diet plan”
you only have to google Insanity or 30 day shred to see pages and pages of photos of people who have undergone a miraculous transformation…
the difference between insanity and 30ds (and some others) is they promise dramatic results, but not without hard work!
You don’t end up buying either of these programs without knowing you are going to have to sweat (a lot!) to get the results. And to be honest some of them ever come with taglines that say 3 rounds or 2 rounds, implying that it might take more than one go through the program to get the results.
The real problems are the gadgets and diets that are sold promising almost magical transformations with zero effort in only minutes a day…
you know the ones for ab trainer plus pro things or the cabbage and grasshopper diet…
or that one wierd trick that will help you lose belly fat fast…
Does anyone know what that is by the way?
I have never clicked on the link but I would love it if you clicked through and paid what ever it is and there was just pdf that said:
Eat better, move more!
There are seemingly endless ways to lose weight and size and whatnot with absolutely no effort at all apparently!
And every one of these things comes with its own ultra convincing set of before and after photos…
The problem is I don’t trust any of them!
I know full well that anything that only last 3 mins or is so easy you don’t know you are doing anything is just not going to give sensible results…it just isn’t. I know this, you know this…so what is with the before and after photos.
If those results can be attained from those “tricks” then everything I thought I knew was wrong.
and if they can’t and the pictures are faked, then what about the ones associated with the more reputable programs based on sensible concepts…
can I trust those?
We have all, by now seen the “amazing transformations” made in 15 mins with good lighting and better fitting clothes…(if not go look)
It has got to the point where I have no idea what is a real transformation and what is faked by the media, and that is a shame. There are people out there who really have done amazing things with weight loss, and it is not fair that their hard work is called into question because there are magazines / TV companies putting up all the fake pictures to sell more stuff!
I really wish the media would stop!
Is there any wonder that so many people out there are getting the whole thing so wrong! Even with genuine knowledge gained from professional qualifications, I still sometimes look at these things and think…”oooh that looks intriguing…” it only lasts for seconds in my case, and i do have enough knowledge to see whether these things are based in science, but what about the people who don’t?
Remember, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is!!
This is, unfortunately, just another instance of the media and businesses playing on people’s insecurities to make money.
I am not saying there aren’t systems and workouts and such out there that work, Insanity is blooming brilliant for example< but none of them will work without effort!
I am going to stop now before this turns into (more of) a rant.
Project Warrior Goddess 
I also want to know what that ‘one weird trick’ is – I’ve never clicked the link either! if anybody does know, please share it with us all! It makes me angry that these companies prey on the insecurities of people – first the media presents us with these near-impossible to achieve images of perfection, then they sell ad space to these buggers who only really want to take our cash. I read something only yesterday about a diet that promises you can eat pizza and doughnuts and still lose weight – yes, if you only eat one a day and starve the rest of the time. You might lose weight, but you won’t be very healthy. The confusion of ‘thin’ and ‘healthy’ annoys me too. Being thin doesn’t necessarily mean healthy, just as there are plenty of heavier people who are probably ten times as fit as I am. Pah. I feel myself ranting so I might just have to go and find that doughnut…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree!! rant away!! It winds me up, especially as a not thin but still healthy and fit person…I have to constantly get over that assumption from people that I won’t be able to do stuff!
Walking into an exercise class for the first time and surprising people is always fun! but I do get angry!
I had this post on hold for ages because I thought it might be too much of a rant, but on re-reading it turned out ok.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is not rant-y enough, in fact! But seriously, it is important that people like yourself (proper fitness people!) speak out about this sort of nonsense. Too many people – especially the youngsters – waste a lot of time on faddy diets and equipment, thinking they are going to look like a supermodel in twenty minutes and it isn’t right.
I am not thin either – I am lucky to have a narrow waist but I have retained the hips and thighs of my hockey playing days and look pretty much like Mr T from the waist down. I mean… sort of chunky, not… anything else that Mr T might keep below the waist 😉 I bet it’s brilliant surprising those snotty skinny minnies with your super hero-like abilities! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is important that people realise that these things are invented to make money! And if they worked people wouldn’t keep buying them!!
It is like weight watchers…a terrible organisation which is not there to help but to make a profit!!
Profiting from people’s insecurities and fears!!
I had a very strange picture for a minute there with your top half joined in to mr t’s bottom halt…it was like two pages had got stuck together in a book
LikeLiked by 1 person
I actually think that Mr T’s bottom half is slightly more feminine…
LikeLiked by 1 person
hahahaha…
probably not all of it…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I reckon my bum is less hairy. Possibly. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
probably…and you probably have smaller feet…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh yes, my feet are TINY! I swear I used to be a size 5, but I recently tried on a size 5 and they were massive so I have to concede that I am a size 4. If I shrink any more I might vanish entirely 😮
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am a size 4-5…well 4 and a half really but they don’t exist in many shoes…
I forget though as my runnign shoes and dancing shoes are size 6 because of the expansion and forward pushing on your toes…
Don’t vanish!!
think big foot thoughts!!
although I am not actually sure what big foot thinks about…
I may have lost the plot in that comment somewhere…
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is my favourite sort of comment. Starts off about shoes, end up about Bigfoot philosophy. I sometimes wonder what I did before blogging, but no way was it as much fun as this 🙂
I think Bigfoot thinks about food, mainly. So I shall think about that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I certainly didn’t expect any of this madness when i started blogging…
this is so much better than I expected! I thought I would be writing basically to myself…
and probably not answering myself because that would be odd…
althugh that is not a certainty…
Bigfoot almost certainly thinks about food, and trees, and feet.
and whether he exists or not…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Blogging is excellent!! I have learnt so much and made new friends! New friends who I have convinced to be in madcap videos… life is good! 😀
I really hope he exists and I also hope that, ironically, his feet are not that big at all, he just wears clown shoes to help him walk in the snow.
LikeLiked by 1 person
yes!! It never occurred to me I would actually make friends doing this 😀
or be in madcap videos 😀 😀
I do hope that is the truth of bigfoot, he is just a fan of large shoes and not sinking in the snow and has been stereotyped as having big feet, and he hides easily during the summer months when his foot prints are not easily distinguishable from other creatures…thus allowing him to travel freely around the world!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Blogging as quite literally changed my life – sounds dramatic but it’s actually true!! (Can’t wait til 27th woop woop!!)
I reckon he has tiny, dainty little feet like a ballet dancer and spends the summer pirouetting through the woodland, prancing elegantly among the shrubs and chatting with the bees…
Wow I lost myself there for a moment…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Funnily enough it changed mine too 🙂 I am sure I wouldn’t be where I am if I hadn’t started blogging as well as exercising!!
I love that picture!! Dainty dancing Bigfoot with his tiny feet 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Now I want to do an investigative piece about how blogging has changed peoples’ lives… but if I take on another project I might have to give up eating and sleeping 😉 Concentrate, Lucy, CONCENTRATE!
I shall forward my theory to the chief Bigfoot scientists, it might just be the breakthrough they have been looking for.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Concentrate!!
Although if (when) you do that I will happily contribute 🙂
You are right! I shall await the breaking news in all the foremost Bigfoot journals!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Eat better, move more!” – this. ^_^ Hit the nail on the head.
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀 thank you!!
It really is (more or less) that simple!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Don’t forget the tapeworms! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
oh yes!! how could I forget the tapeworms!!
they sounds like such a good idea… lets got those
LikeLiked by 1 person
You first! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
no no, after you!
I wouldn’t dream of depriving you of the privilege 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person