There you are, late at night, eating your chips, drinking your soda, watching the television, and some advertisement for one of these weight loss miracles comes on. Some so called 'clinical study' at some 'university' by some 'doctor' has proven it to be scientifically effective. Meanwhile, the gorgeous men and women on this advertisement are telling you it works. Feeling extremely inadequate, yet eagerly hoping, you make the decision to trust these strangers on television, and call the number on the screen. After all, you must hurry, they will throw in some useless object in addition if you call quick enough; some object which is probably factored into the original sale price of the product. But you must hurry! You talk to the nice person on the phone, whose job is one likely outsourced to a foreign country. This person probably possesses an English vocabulary more or less sufficient to satisfy their intermediary role in acquiring your personal information. The product arrives a few day later. If you were lucky you may not have had to pay shipping. You anxiously open your box and see your new product, one probably with some catchy strange name. You entertain your dreams once more. This will enable you have the body of Hercules! You won't have to sweat, or limit the foods you find enjoyable. This product eliminates any need for discipline or hard work--it's perfect! The product is used by it's owner for one day, maybe one week, or if lucky, one month, and then it gets used as a dust collector. The owner became frustrated and gave up. Those beautiful people from the television could not possibly lie, right?
I am going to say what most don't have the courage to. In fact, I'll tell you something that almost no one will tell you. They probably did lie. If you can relate to the scenario just mentioned, then you have been taken advantage of. But you did not listen to them because they told you lies. You listened to them because they told you what you wanted to hear. These advertisements play on peoples, desires as well as their gullibility. The people who advocate these products are paid models who very likely don't do the methods they are being paid to preach. The real people who have found success with them are rare and hand chosen. The doctors and clinical studies are often bogus, and funded by these companies themselves. They come with an inherent bias, and furthermore, by distorted interpretations, deceptively support the company's product. The products are outsourced and made for dirt cheap in poor countries, and then are advertised as being for a reduced price when the amount of profit being made off of them is extremely high to begin with. Okay, I'm getting a little off topic.
I do not necessarily want to give late night advertisements a bad wrap either. There are many good products shown, but the majority of them fail. Here is why. They guarantee success without any effort or discipline. They use biased claims and skewed data, which the viewer will never bother to verify or research themselves.
So now you might be wondering, how do I tell if a product or method works? Quite simple, one must listen to reviews from as many sources as possible, with as little bias as possible; be realistic--does an all ice cream diet really sound effective? Do you really think you will lose weight while watching Spongebob? A good product or method will not diminish your hard work. It will enhance it! There is a difference here. You need to work smarter and harder. I am going to put it bluntly, so please listen. This is the most important part of the article.
It is very difficult to get in good shape without any dedication, hard work, and discipline. I repeat,
it is very difficult to get in good shape without any dedication, hard work, and discipline. The three, dedication, hard work, and discipline are PREREQUISITES to good results. Many factors come into play, such as genetics and environment. It is easy for a fat person to stay fat, and a skinny person to stay skinny. Yet stockier folk put on muscle easier and are cut out for sports like football. Whereas the skinny have issues gaining weight, but can be more inclined to succeed at sports such as running. I will get into this at a later time in more detail.
If you don't learn anything from this huge wall of text, take this bit of knowledge with you, if you want to get in shape it's going to hurt. It will be uncomfortable. You will probably go to bed hungry some nights. Mommy might also get mad at you because you can't try her new pudding. Well too bad. And if you are not willing to make compromises, then leave this blog right now. Sill here? Good. Next blog I will post some cheap methods on how to make a gym in your own home.
Take Care.
