Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Gimmicks


You’ve heard it before.  When something sounds too good to be true, it is.  You’re smart.  Think it through. Losing weight isn’t easy.  If it was, we’d all look like Ryan Gosling and Mariah Carey.  It takes hard work and crazy mental dedication.  Calories in versus calories out.  This is what it boils down to.  You can’t out work a bad diet.  You’ve heard this before and know that it’s true.  So why are so many people buying into the easy magic fixes?  Is it laziness?  And is laziness what got you to this point in the first place?  Mine was.  And now, even with all my kickass workouts, I still get lazy on my food some days.  It happens.  But I know better than to put myself on a grapefruit diet or drinking eight slimfast shakes a day and thinking this is going to be sustainable.  I’m 36 years old and even if it worked now in the short term, it wouldn’t last more than a few weeks and then, when you go back to normal food and eating, guess what happens?  That’s right, the weight comes back and then some.  Basic skills here of moderation, avoiding fast food, portion control, high protein…these are the winning combos!  Not diets like hCG, twinkies, tapeworm, baby food, cigarettes, Auqili soap, ear stapling and eating cotton balls.  Seriously!?!?  These are diets people have tried that are extremely dangerous and to be blunt, stupid. 

What’s even wackier?  The workout gimmicks that people come up with.  The shake weight.  2 minutes ab crunch machine.  Or my new favorite…horse riding fitness ace power.  Yeah, check out this video for a great laugh.  But what’s sad?  People actually buy this stuff on infomercials and think that the machine or equipment will do the work for them and melt away fat.  No, go get some cardio if you want to melt away fat.  Find a simple strength training regimen.  Do a workout DVD or go for a swim.  Getting your sweat on will burn fat, not riding a ridiculous machine like this!  Fast forward about 30 seconds and laugh away.   


What’s even more disturbing to me?  People that say they can’t afford $20 a month to go to the gym, but have no problem buying diet pills, eating cotton balls and spending money on crappy equipment every month that ends up in the trash because it breaks and it doesn’t work.  If you can’t make the time to go for a 30 minute walk (which is free!) then what makes you think you’re going to climb on your gazelle or ab blaster for an hour a day?  The industry takes advantage of our quick fix attitude and exploits our pocket books.  So next time, before you try the next magic skinny diet or machine, think first and ask yourself what you’re doing.  Shine, be brilliant and throw away your shake weight.   

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