Weight: 226.4 (-4.8)
Fat: 35.2% (-2.0%)
Meals: Not available
Exercise: Light Cardio (Treadmill 31:00 WL3 - 293 calories, 1.83 miles)
Pictures: Front/Side/Back
The last two blog posts I've talked about how diets don't work and why exercise isn't likely to help much either. Since I'm still posting here you can assume that the grim reality of the difficult task I have ahead of me hasn't dissuaded me. The odds are strongly against people who choose to lose weight, and I don't want to sugar-coat that fact. I can't afford the extra calories of sugar-coating anyway!
Every weight loss plan, every diet plan, every system I've come across seems to be pushing the same message. Think positive and you can do it! Just try harder and you too can lose weight! With only a few easy changes you can drop that stubborn fat! It's bullshit.
Sometimes it's just pure marketing. Everyone wants to sell you a book or personal coaching or supplements or meal plans or exercise equipment. Some of them genuinely want to help you, while others are purely in it for the buck and don't hesitate to lie to you. Next time you see someone trying to sell something with before and after pictures, look for the phrase "Results not typical".
The other night I saw a terrible infomercial for something called the Abs Circle Pro. I won't link to it as they don't deserve the traffic, but you can Google it if you're really compelled. Aside from the sleazy billing, "Try it for only $14.95" without mentioning the $35 shipping and handling, or the 5 $40 payments totaling $200, the commercial heavily promoted the idea that you only need to use it for 3 minutes a day! The fact that fitness models who spend all their time working out and carefully monitoring everything they eat were shown using the machine as if this is how they lost weight is appalling enough, but the really galling thing to me were all the testimonials that not only had the "Results not typical" disclaimer but also tried very hard to gloss over the fact that they were eating a calorie restricted diet. I digress however... this tangent of sleazy marketing can be discussed in a future blog post.
As many people are cynically using your desire to live a healthier life with less fat and more activity, some genuinely are in it to help you. Oh sure, they're making a living, but they do sincerely want you to succeed. But even these people aren't being completely honest with you. No one wants to reveal the dirty little secret of the weight loss industry: most people who embark on a diet and/or exercise plan will fail.
Let me say that again for emphasis. The majority of men and women who set out to lose weight by improving their diet and working out regularly, will fail. No one wants to mention this fact because they either want to sell you a product or they don't want you to give up before you even get started. After all, if you don't even try to start eating less and moving more, you're never going to reduce your body fat and be healthier. So they cheer you on, they push you to eat better and they gladly teach you how to work your body. Even when they succeed, the long-term prospects of keeping that weight off are dismal.
You're probably familiar with The Biggest Loser. If you're not, I do recommend it. Not only is it the only reality show I can think of that's actually pretty uplifting instead of dredging up the worst humanity has to offer, but the successes are pretty inspiring. Watching people who are 300 and even 400 pounds drop down to healthy weights is pretty amazing. The body transformations are incredible to watch and you'll feel like you can conquer anything after seeing a few episodes.
But even though these people spend months away from home, living with personal trainers, working out for insane hours each week, learning to prepare healthier meals, they are still very susceptible to failure. I've talked about the "finish line mentality" before, and no doubt will write about it even more in the future, but the show is a perfect example of setting a goal that provides an incredibly strong motivation that when it's met, can be difficult to maintain. Not only is there a cash prize involved for the biggest loser, but just getting to the finale before that huge audience watching in the studio and at home makes you want to look your best. And when it's over?
In season 1, the winner regained almost all his weight, starting at 330, dropping down to 208 for the finale and returning to 307 at last report. The biggest loser from season 3 also regained 175 of the 214 he managed to lose. Rather than rattle off a list of known regainers, here's something from the two trainers about the low success rate:
With seven The Biggest Loser seasons and more than 200 contestants in the books, Michaels told reporters that it has an "extremely high success rate of about 55%," which Harper added is "unheard of."
When 55% is considered extremely high, you know that the average person's chance of success to lose weight by "skipping desserts" and "getting on the treadmill 3 times a week" is pretty abysmal.
I'm a pessimistic person by nature and the unrestrained optimism and cheerleading makes me uncomfortable to say the least. The over-the-top bubbly positivity of so many fitness people really wears at me. Especially knowing that my chances of success are very slim indeed. And the more times you lose and regain, lose and regain, the more cynical you get. The more likely you are to not even try because you're just going to fail.
And it pisses me off. Is there any wonder why there's a pushback against weight loss? A movement for fat acceptance? That people are tired of being told to lose weight? If you've tried hard and failed, repeatedly, you'd probably be a bit pissed off too. Reasonably so in my opinion.
But despite all this, I'm still planning to lose weight. And I still believe that with a few important exceptions, anyone who does want to lose weight can too. Tomorrow I'll finally end this doom and gloom.
