Take Notice…The Problem is Everywhere
The 400 you see in the second book from the left tells an even bigger story than I’m about to share with you. You wouldn’t know it the way it’s hidden there. The “400 Calorie Fix” is finally the answer to your unwillingness to count calories. Of course, what you’ll find out is what everyone else finds out when they don’t track their eating habits closely enough. You don’t get weight loss results. But that doesn’t matter to the authors, because at that point you’ve already bought the book and they’re on to the next sucker.
The second part about that book jacket is even more disturbing when you trace the copy back to its roots. Liz Last Name is the co-author. “The former editor of Prevention Magazine, and author of the best-selling, “The Flat Belly Diet.” The problem with that book is that I tracked down the so-called science that the “Flat-Belly” concept was based on and couldn’t believe what I found. The entire book is based on 1 study of 11 people in which there were 3 groups of study participants. Which ultimately means that the group that experienced the most weight loss had a whopping three or four people in it. If you’re interested, I picked it apart in a Nomad News Desk YouTube Video some time ago.
What struck me like a sneaker wave while walking through the Hilldale Mall last weekend was the subtle proliferation of all the misinformation. In the span of 10 minutes walking from the winter farmer’s market where we buy our 100% whole wheat bread and eggs all winter, there were easily half a dozen examples of how obsessed our culture has become with the quick fix to a long-standing problem – our fatness.
The photo above was staged by me as I meandered through the bargain books box on the lower level of The University Bookstore. It didn’t take me long at all to find these books. All of them an embarassing example of our fixation on thin.
The picture below was probably most disturbing as it represents the perfect reason why hardly anyone finds a way to lose weight and keep it off. “Eleven pounds in two weeks, and some skinny 25 year old girl with the ever-present tape measure in hand.” The subject of the tape measure I’ll cover another time, but if you watch closely, it’s everywhere.
The last picture at the bottom of this post is one I've posted on this blog before and that has been sitting in front of Morgan's Shoes forever. There are two of them, in fact, one on each side of the corner that all the shoe stores at Hilldale preside on. I'm surprised it's still there, because about a year ago, Reebok got into big trouble for the claims they were making about these ridiculous shoes. They don't do anything and similar to that science of the the "Flat Belly Diet" the research was a lot thinner than those attempting to put the product to work for them.
I realize that when I point out these observations and talk about how we have become obsessed with the quick fix most people nod their head in agreement, but then go right back to their meatball sandwich at Quiznos down the hall. Does anyone other than me care?
Does it occur to anyone that allowing these kinds of advertisements, books, and bogus information to proliferate is an obscene abuse of our freedom of speech? Doesn't it bother the Hilldale management just a little bit to place an ad of a 25 year old girl right inside the main entrance even though you can be sure the product is a gimmick?
"They don't care." My wife Laura tells me.
Why not?
-John
