snake oil – sassyfitnesschick

Tips For A Healthy 2021

Happy New Year! Here we are in 2021, poised on the threshold of so many new possibilities and adventures. Like my new empty planner, the year waits to be filled with the ordinary and extraordinary.

I promise not to wax all nostalgic on you or proclaim “new year, new me!”

About the only thing new happening is getting a new haircut, with some color adjustments coming soon too 😏

Let’s face it though, before the candy and wrapping paper are out of the store aisles the focus turns to weight loss products. The snake oil people rise up in full force ready to capitalize on those bemoaning their excess weight.

Shakes, supplements, pills and cleanses abound.

All promise fast, unrealistic results, yet sadly none will work and the individual will be back where they started.

If you make any goal or resolution for yourself, don’t give in to diets or gimmicks that won’t help you in the long run.

What can you do?

I get it. 2020 was, well, intense for most of us. Quarantine had so many at home for longer periods of time, this equaled more sedentary time, out of our usual rhythm, eating more and more foods that we may not usually eat.

Enter, a few extra pounds.

This has many looking for ways to quickly get rid of it.

The reality is, there is no “fast ” sustainable way. We have to methodically work our way backwards to our goals in a slow and steady manner.

May I offer a few suggestions?

So what will work to get back on track and be sustainable?

Forget about pointless things like 21 day juice cleanses, detox teas, and pills, weight loss shakes and replacement “meals”. Don’t cut all your carbs or withhold treats or resort to the lastest diet craze.

Detoxes and cleanses do a good job of cleaning your pockets.

Besides your liver and kidneys do a great job detoxifying your body. 😉

Do however……get plenty of rest, drink 2 liters of water, get in 10k steps a day, and use a 80/20 approach to eating ( 80% of the time you eat healthy balanced food, 20%, hey have some fries 😉)

Balance is key to long term sustainable success. No one wants to feel restricted or deprived. Allowing for some treats gives us freedom and thus keeps us from giving up.

Some basic 101 food suggestions

This can work for all of us…

Eat at least two fruits a day, load up on veggies at every meal, choose complex carbs, eat lean proteins and healthy fats and make water your drink of choice. Eating a good variety keeps us satisfied and reduces the chances of binging on less healthy food later.

Finally, a few reminder notes for 2021

Focus on nutritious and healthy foods. Think of how good you’ll feel fueling your body with good food.

Focus on progress, not perfection. Slow steady progress wins over a fast quick ( temporary) fix.

Get in some purposeful exercise that you like and makes you feel good.

Track your water, exercise and food if it helps get you on track.

Set realistic weight loss goals and celebrate the big and small goals.

With some careful adjustments, 2021 will be a year of positive progress for you!

Tell me, what strategies do you use to lose a few pounds and keep your eating healthy? Do you have some goals for this year?

Weight Loss Basics

You know that old saying “don’t reinvent the wheel”? It basically means don’t duplicate a basic method that has already been optimized.

I’m carrying this thought over in today’s post to weight loss.

Heads up…I may get on my soap box regarding this topic…..

So I may be a little passionate about it

I’ve seen plenty of those weight loss “health and wellness” posts from companies lately and they just make me twitch. You know the multi level marketing gimmicks your neighbor may sell or the current hype a celebrity is pushing?

Yeah, those.

Why does it bother me? Because there are so many people desperate for a quick and easy fix to get rid of their fat and feel better about themselves that they are willing to throw money ( and a lot of money) at a bunch of hyped products and supplements that will give them the good life.

The reality is, for the most part, all the majority will lose is a lot of their hard earned money.

And listen up, if they have a secret group, will “PM you” info or won’t publicly share what their great weight loss programs are about, run.

Run far away.

If their stuff is so awesome they should be willing to shout from the roof tops to anyone who will listen.

Also, if they can’t discuss their miracle products with you and refer you instead to the cookie cutter company video on it, run. They should be educated enough on it to discuss with you. Sadly, most of them are clueless to what’s in those “amazing” products they pedal.

If your new daily diet consists of using more of their products than eating good food…..well……you better be getting away from that too.

The other reality is this……

No matter what vehicle you try to use to lose weight, it comes down to relatively simple science.

You have to expend more calories than you take in for weight loss to occur. It’s not a complicated. Yet on the daily people try to way over complicate the process.

They keep trying to reinvent the wheel for losing weight.

They keep looking for the easiest way out, the fastest way to get there.

There is no fast way, weight gain doesn’t happen overnight nor will weight loss.

Let’s get back to the wheel

I know the old school way for weight loss isn’t cool or trendy. It’s not a current diet fad or an over priced “health” program.

But somehow, it works. And if you get going and stick with it you will develop a new way of thinking and behaving. It will become a lifestyle for you, a way to simply live.

You don’t have to reinvent ways to lose weight nor does it need to be made harder than it is.

The basics

You don’t have to count calories and log every bite of food although if doing so keeps you on track, do it.

I’ve used an app called Lose It that calculates your daily calories by what you enter. Or you can use pen and paper to keep track.

To have an idea of how many calories your body needs you might find a BMR ( basal metabolic rate) calculator online. You plug in all of your info, including purposeful exercise you do ( or don’t do) and it will tell you how many calories you need to live each day. From that number you can make small reduction of calories to help with weight loss.

A reasonable, healthy and sustainable weight loss is 1-2 lbs per week. You may lose more in the first week with water weight and some weeks you may lose a bit more ( or nothing)

Any program promising big losses week to week is not realistic or sustainable.

Eat real food. Crazy I know. Don’t get caught up thinking you have to eat some weird diet foods or starve to lose weight or worse you use a companies “fat burning ” products haha ( which are nothing more than pills loaded with caffeine)

A sample of what my breakfast can be like

Eat real, nutrionally dense foods. Think single ingredients or five or less on a label. Eating real food, and enough of it, will keep you satisfied and not hungry. Eat foods you enjoy.

Oh and that….you don’t have to starve and be hungry all the time to lose weight. If you’re hungry eat a healthy, snack. It’s ok to get hungry before a meal ( those are natural given signals for us to eat)

Speaking of….get back in tune with your body. If you’ve forgotten what it’s like to be hungry, get back to that. Learn to eat when hungry and stop before you “feel” full. This could take a bit of training but it’s the best way to build a healthy relationship with eating. You don’t have to empty your plate.

Practice mindful eating. Be aware of what you eat, how it tastes, smells etc. Being mindful helps you slow down and savor the experience.

Don’t deprive yourself. Eating what you enjoy leads to success. Learn to eat smaller amounts and allow that to satisfy you. In time this will become a habit.

Weigh in weekly to check your progress . Anymore than that becomes counter productive.

Allow for treats. Life is going on, enjoy the birthday cake or an evening out. Just get back on track with your goals the next day

Exercise. You don’t need it for weight loss, ( it helps) but it does make you feel good and strong not to mention it helps clear your head too. Find activities you enjoy and pursue them. Get good at doing it.

In summary

Know how many calories your body needs for daily living then subtract 10-20 % to create a deficit.

Eat real food, enough of it, to satisfy hunger.

Set realistic weekly/monthly weight loss goals.

Relearn your bodies cues for hunger and satisfaction

Eat mindfully.

Allow for occasional treats.

Plan for purposeful exercise, most days of week ( this helps with your calorie deficit) find exercise you enjoy doing.

Be patient with yourself on your journey. Change takes some time!

You don’t need magic pills, potions or other extreme measures to lose weight . The old tried and true method works perfectly, you just need to implement it and give yourself time to reach your goals.

Tell me, do you fall back on other things to lose weight or approach it like a slow and steady lifestyle?

Saturday Snippets

Happy Saturday boys and girls!

Today’s post is short and sweet. This past week I hit on two pretty relevant topics that impact a whole lotta people.

Did you get to read them?

The first is called Diet Disasters.

https://sassyfitnesschick.com/2019/08/21/diet-disasters/

I touched on just a couple examples of extreme diets that people resort to in an attempt to lose weight.

Most diets attempted are failed with the person eager to get back to their normal way of living. Nothing extreme or depriving ever works long term.

I constantly preach an old school approach, but only because it’s true and works.

Consistency, with small daily, healthy changes lead to a permanent lifestyle change that is long term sustainable!

The other topic I hit was our relationship with food, The Emotional Impact Of Food

https://sassyfitnesschick.com/2019/08/23/the-emotional-impact-of-food/

This generated some interesting dialogue and I appreciate the feedback.

Whether we acknowledge it or not, we all have a relationship with food

Good or bad.

I took a hard look at how we can use it to support everything from our hunger to deeper unaddressed emotional needs and other issues. Understanding why we use food to medicate us is the biggest, most important first step to achieving permanent weight loss.

Tell me, are there other topics on food/nutrition/healthy eating/weight loss you’d like to see here?

Saturday Snippets

Happy Saturday lovely people!

So it’s been a red hot minute since I ranted about some snake oil diet and “health” program.

You’ve been forewarned 🤣

If someone offers you pie in the sky promises of ridiculous weight loss in a week ( largely done by starvation) and then tells you ( the victim) you will also have to pay 100’s of your hard earned dollars a month to buy all of their fabulous starvation….um….weight loss products… may I make a suggestion?

Take your 100plus dollars, buy some good running shoes, and run far, far away from it.

You’re welcome 😉

I’ve seen one particular product circulating through and it’s just so unrealistic in what it offers.

I’m sorry, but losing big amounts of weight in 8 days is not only unrealistic, it’s also unhealthy. And the reality is all you’ve done is shed a whole lotta water in those days.

I’ve read enough on it to know you basically starve yourself most days of the “program” in that first week.

I don’t exaggerate.

On top of that you spend a good amount of money to be involved in this particular diet cult.

I know it’s super old school but really, if you want to lose weight, and keep it off you’ve got to manage what goes in your mouth, eat healthy nutritious food the majority of the time ( because chocolate ya know?)and get some good purposeful exercise in most days of the week.

It will be slow and steady ( as it should) you will eat foods you enjoy, without depriving yourself, and the money you save you can use towards that new exercise hobby you fall in love with.

Stay away from the diet schemes that require you to buy their products and promise you “to good to be true” results.

Really the only results you’ll ultimately have will be a lighter bank account.

More Nutrition And Diet Myths

Oh it’s been one of those weeks. Why does it seem like every time I turn around there is just another new version of craziness when it comes to diet, nutrition and exercise?

Sometimes, I don’t notice as much, but then when there is a lot of it I guess I’m more prone to thinking… stop… like stop it already.

Many times I’m glad I’m behind a computer when I see things so my eye roll isn’t apparent and obvious haha

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What’s got me bothered?

Hmm, well I’ll tell you. Quite a few things. I guess I get troubled over information and shared ideas that people will gulp down as fast as a frog can gulp a fly.

I’m often horrified at how people believe things without their own research or fact gathering on a topic.

So what’s at the top of my list?

Can we please stop demonizing foods/food groups?

Really. Unless you have a medical condition, or a food allergy or abstaining from something just makes you overall feel better, then don’t get on the “exclude foods train” because Bob at work is doing it.

Worse yet are people who are on the train but have no idea why they are… like gluten free. Really, the only people who need to be on a gluten free diet are ones who have celiac disease.

Stop deciding foods are “bad” or that they offer no value.

Excluding entire food groups robs your body of essential vitamins and minerals not found in other foods you keep in your diet.

One of the worst things, like THE worst is how the diet industry has somehow made many fruits “bad”.

Fruit.

FRUIT!

Yes, I know I’m kinda yelling here, and yes I’m fully aware some fruits have a higher sugar content than others,

Big deal. Natural sugars found in fruits are not the same as sugars you get noshing on your donuts, cookies or candies. Or your 64 oz. big gulp soda.

Fruits are low calorie and loaded with so many amazing things for our body and really, you’d have to eat loads of high sugar fruits to make an impact on your health.

Stop demonizing fruit.

Is there a bumper sticker like that??

Listen you know what the enemy really is?

You… or more like you’re not controlling what goes in your mouth and the quantity of it. That is the problem.

Food is simply, food.

What we do with it becomes the bigger issue.

The magic diet bus.

Another one bothering me, is constantly seeing credit given to a particular diet as if it holds the very unique and magical keys to unlocking permanent and successful weight loss.

Uh…if you believe that… I’ve got some diet pills to sell you…. 😉

All together now boys and girls, there is no great diet that is the be all and end all to successful weight loss.

I hate to keep throwing the same ‘ol science bubble around but here I go again…..

weight loss occurs, and only occurs, when there is a caloric deficit plain and simple.

Not because Diet “X, Y, Z” has made you lose weight.

You are simply consuming less calories, combined with maybe some purposeful exercise and that combination will lead to weight loss.

You’ve also most likely maybe made adjustments to some “non- essential” foods that has helped too.

And by that I mean those extra snacks and treats you don’t need to live but make life worth living haha

Find what works for you, that gives your body real, nutrient dense food, and go from there. The idea is to do what is sustainable for you, for a lifetime, and not a few weeks or months.

And any plan that restricts, or eliminates foods is just not going to be long term sustainable. If it were I wouldn’t see people excited over having cheat days so they could feel normal again and have what’s been withheld from them. That’s a cycle you really don’t wanna be on.

You want a side of protein with that?

If there’s a marketing bus every company in the world has jumped on now, it’s the protein bus.

If it moves, let’s slap protein in it, and throw a big label on the package so the consumer who’s heard something about “getting more protein” will buy it up., even though they may not entirely know why. Kinda like the gluten free thing.

People really are sheep.

I mean after all, it worked for the “fat free” gimmick for years, right? I saw fat free on labels of products that would’ve never had fat in them to start with. For example…A bag of jelly beans comes to mind ..

Honestly, I cannot tell you how many products that would never be a protein source I’ve seen on store shelves proudly displaying it “contains protein”.

Here’s a couple of my thoughts on this.

Protein IS important. It is the building block our bodies for skin, hair, cell growth, muscle growth etc

Hair and nails are mostly made of protein. Your body uses protein to build and repair tissues. You also use protein to make enzymes, hormones and other body chemicals. Protein is an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood.

There is also just a certain amount our bodies need and then excess is just flushed or stored as fat.

I swear by protein as the main thing in my meals that keeps me full, not sluggish and giving me that steady energy source….of course plenty of veggies and fruits go with that too to keep me full and give me all day energy.

Real foods with protein keep us satisfied longer and keep blood sugar levels steady ( meaning no crashing feeling)

The normal person has no trouble getting in their daily protein when they eat a balanced diet.

If you’re more athletic than the normal person, or a serious competitive body builder, your needs may be different.

If at all possible, you should get your protein from real food sources and not added supplements.

Protein rich foods include dairy like Greek yogurt ( 23 grams of real protein in a cup serving of plain) cottage cheese, yogurts,eggs, lean meats, cheese, fish, milk etc

Protein is also found in non meat sources like veggies and beans. I wrote an article on that… find it here….https://sassyfitnesschick.com/2019/01/22/protein-rich-foods-for-weight-loss/

Always strive to eat real food for optimal nutrition.

Well boys and girls, that will wrap up my rants for the day.

Uh… for now anyways.

Now tell me, do you have any favorite things that make you a little crazy in the world of health and fitness?

Monday Musings

Welcome to the last edition of Monday Musings for 2018! It’s hard to believe we sit poised on another brand new year full of possibilities and adventures.

I promise this isn’t gonna be any kinda “new year, new you” post nor will it be full of cliché end of year rhetoric.

Just yours truly with some random musings to end the year with and perhaps a little sass thrown in the mix just for fun.

The holiday season has been great

OK I don’t know how it goes for everyone, but my holidays have been good.

Busy? Yes. Controlled chaos at times? Yes. Food? Ugh more than enough. Family? See “controlled chaos” ha

Seriously though, I’m blessed to have my tribe together and everyone is happy and the kids play and drag toys everywhere to which I find pieces of things tucked in my sofa till summer time and Nerf darts in odd places but it’s all good stuff, ya know?

There’s been a plethora of food and sweet treats and really at this time of year I’m officially getting sick of food.

I’ve been cooking and baking since… well… Thanksgiving.

I’m ready to get back to easy meals and I’m ready to take a break from sugary treats. I guess it’s good I’m used to eating healthy most of the time because it doesn’t take long for me to realize it’s not my comfort zone.

The Snake Oil People Are Coming

Oh I have a good time with all of the “health and wellness” leeches out there. I don’t have a voice here for no reason, and having a blog and my social media is the perfect platform for speaking out against some of the craziness.

I wrote a post on it.. find it here….https://sassyfitnesschick.com/2017/10/24/snake-oil-diets-and-more-wizardry/

The tv ads have started. The stores have begun to set up huge displays of “meal replacement shakes” with athletic wear in the front of store and my social media feeds have all the DM people hawking their wares for weight loss.

Tricks and gimmicks abound.

Yeah, yeah we all ate cookies at Christmas and maybe to much of grandmas pie.

Whatever.

Here’s the deal, you don’t need their wizardry to lose weight, honestly, you don’t. Keep your money, buy healthy, real food and smaller clothes with it.

You don’t need to be cleansed, detoxed, purified, or any of that other nonsense. ( remember you’ve got a liver and kidneys to do all that 😉 )

I’m not gonna go crazy in this post about this topic but I WILL leave you with a great article that clearly defines all the “lingo” these companies use so you’re a little educated.

https://qz.com/quartzy/1510840/a-handy-guide-to-the-toxic-language-of-diet-culture/?fbclid=IwAR2pCvjN_m6ZaQb_FwQKbQzKKD2hQmg5X1oLmOdnbLHKDeaK2MfTDdmZOPo

Let’s not forget exercise….

I have not gotten in the amount my body craves these past few weeks. I came off months of training, did the duathlon at the end of November, and headed into a busy month working and preparing for the holiday season.

I did get out the other day for a ride… of course it was one of the coldest mornings we had this week….

IMG_20181228_115811_814 — My Ninja look. I was kinda numb when I got back but I felt amazing

I hope you have found time to get out and enjoy some purposeful movement. I hope that as you move into the year ahead, you are already planning to make it a part of your daily routine.

I enjoy other less “active” activities…

The day after Christmas found me with my first “free” day in quite awhile. And by that I didn’t feel totally task oriented with a to-do list in my face. So I trolled the local stores for any after Christmas items I couldn’t live without then I went and got coffee and just spent some time… reading….

20181226_130550 — Coffee and a good book. It’s the simple things right?

I started a book ( One Bridge To Life) before Thanksgiving and it got set aside ’cause I just didn’t seem to find extra time to lay down and leisurely read.

I was able to attend a public meeting at a local church and the speaker was a 92 year old man who had survived the Holocaust.

There is something very humbling about sitting there listening to someone recount horrors from ages ago, yet watching his face at times, it was like he was seeing it all very clearly in his minds eye. That got me more than anything… seeing his look become distant as if he were seeing it all over again… and he most likely was.

Of course his time to talk went all to fast so, what do you do to fill in the gaps?

You buy his book of course.

This one is his personal recollections of his life before the invasion, during his time as a prisoner, and then his liberation.

I read and then have to walk away at times as I’m dealing with the truths that these were real people. The horror is almost like todays graphic horror except I know this was real life.

I keep reading and I start to get involved with a “character” and I want them to make it… to get out…to escape…so many never made it to survival.

I’ve had to set the book down and walk away for awhile more times than I should admit.

I just cannot wrap my mind around the horrible, ghastly, inhumane treatment of human beings done by other “human beings”.

Yeah, not light reading I know.

I believe like so many others, these stories, the lives of those who went through this monsterous atrocity, must always be remembered. I guess educating myself further is a way for me to “not forget” such a horrible point in the history of mankind.

Boy that got heavy….

I finished my weekend up by working at the shop. If you remember I shared in previous posts, I took a space in a Vintage store in town to house all my creativity and to keep some of it out of my house 😛

You can find my post on it here… https://sassyfitnesschick.com/2018/07/25/the-journey-of-opening-a-vintage-business/

Anyway, a slow afternoon let me re-work my space and take down Christmas, and overall be a bit productive.

20181230_133837 — All the pretty green things

Speaking of taking down Christmas

I will admit to feeling like… HUH? when people whip their tree and decorations down the day after Christmas.

Like what’s up with that?

I guess ’cause I put so much into my decorating I just love to enjoy it for as long as I want. My tree has stayed spectacular this year, for a live tree, now past Christmas, it’s not even dropping needles.

Considering how big it is, and how much work it took to make it look so gorgeous, I’m in no hurry to pull it down.

I jokingly tell my kids it may have Valentine hearts on it.

And with that I’ll leave you with this weeks question to ponder…

Do you take your decorations down soon after Christmas? Or do you enjoy leaving them up for awhile?

Science Or Snake Oil

As a writer, there are many paths my mind goes when it comes to sitting down and deciding what I want to let out of my head. Sometimes I just feel like talking about life and things going on. Other times, because my blog is about health, fitness, living well and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, my focus is zeroed in these areas.

One of the topics I haven’t written on lately is the ongoing, ever present, collection of products to “help” people lose weight.

Ya know, gimmicks and what not. People happily, willingly, fork their hard earned money over for the latest smoke and mirrors in an attempt to unload fat magically overnight.

I hate to break it… but it just doesn’t work…or maybe for awhile they are encouraged and see some initial water weight loss and that can spur someone on to keep going… but it’s rare.

Most of the time they just have lighter bank accounts once the novelty has worn off.

So I’m on my soapbox again….

in the mega million dollar “health and wellness” industry, there’s always a new kid on the block. There’s always some product that makes people hopeful that maybe this time, this new thing, will do the trick.

There’s one that recently caught my eye and of course I’ve started digging and reading on it.

I love when the … what do I call them? the sellers? business people? distributors? boldly post the ingredient list as if to proudly say “SEE this is what’s in it. All good and natural ingredients”

It just helps me so much. It helps my research to ferret out all those magical ingredients that lead to sweet dreams of health and being goal weight thin.

Gosh one ingredient, I do not exaggerate, has as many letters as the entire alphabet.

For real.

It should also be noted that the person writing the review and nicely breaking down all the ingredients ( they obviously sold product X) first off mentions (that this product that contains all the letters of alphabet) is chemically demonstrated….

So there’s that, whatever that is.

Let’s establish this….

Just because a product tells you it’s made of “all natural ingredients” doesn’t really mean squat.

The term “natural” is common in the supplement industry, but doesn’t always mean it’s safe. In fact there is no legal definition for natural. Often many plants that grow in nature can be deadly and natural supplements can still have added unnatural ingredients.

All natural supplements don’t always mix well with other medications we may be taking. be sure to consult with your doctor before taking any.

Pay attention boys and girls, the “all natural” thing is a huge marketing and selling gimmick designed to make you feel comfortable and good about using their products. It encourages you to buy them because, well gosh, it’s all natural so it’s gotta be super good for me, right?

Don’t buy the hype.

Diet+Snake+Oil+Cure+Take+Once+ver+2

Other things to consider..

Do you know the FDA ( food and drug administration in the U.S.) has actually banned many “natural” substances that were being put into diet and weight loss aids and products?

Why you may ask?

Oh because of pesky little problems like accelerated heart rate, shortness of breath or even heart attacks from the stimulants of these “natural” products. Many of these natural ingredients are actually mother natures version of “speed”. They can accelerate your heart and breathing, leave you feeling jumpy, nervous or agitated or provide an upset stomach and headache as well as (maybe) have effects of curbing appetite ( most likely from other said issues it causes)

In the US, herbal products and food supplements are largely unregulated.

That is, the products are not screened or subject to FDA approval
prior to their going on the market. Rather, it is the product
manufacturer that has the responsibility to make sure that anything
being sold as a food supplement is safe… or to determine how much of what to put in the mix of everything.

For that reason, you will often see statements on herbal products or weight loss supplements sold in the US to the effect of: “This statement has not been evaluated by
the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or
prevent any disease”.

Let’s look at a current example….

one of the “natural” products on the market today that everyone is jumping on is green coffee bean extract derived from unroasted coffee beans. It is currently among the worlds most popular weight loss supplements.

Basically, keeping it short, it’s claim to fame is supposedly to cause more fat loss by increasing body heat.

Green coffee bean extract comes from coffee beans that haven’t been roasted. Coffee beans contain compounds known as chlorogenic acids. Some believe these compounds have antioxidant effects, help lower blood pressure, and help you lose weight. Roasting coffee reduces chlorogenic acid content.

It’s interesting to note in all the articles I read it stated it “may” help with weight loss or lowering blood pressure etc.

There isn’t much testing or proof done on this topic to be totally conclusive and because of this there is always a lack of evidence on it’s safety. Studies are small, not long term and for the most part poorly designed.

Because there is no regulation on this manufactures can use the amounts they choose in their products. As mentioned previously, the jury is still out on the fact there isn’t enough evidence to support the claims for this product.

Speaking of evidence ….

As I read this glowing report on this particular product, she indicated “studies” had been done on the effectiveness of it. Well, of course I wanted to see who had done them and what some of the results were.

I mean, in all fairness, let’s see what they revealed. Maybe I was being a bit unfair.

Well, it turns out the studies were actually done by the company selling the product. I might be a wee bit cynical here but, I don’t see that as some kind of scientific, conclusive proof.

And of course the contestants who used said wonder product, were losing all the weight.

A company doing their own testing, to me, is not the most compelling evidence.

In summary….

not just this product but thousands of others are not well tested, have limited evidence for their claims, and are not regulated by food and drug administration on any level.

It’s important to be mindful of what you take, especially if you already take medications.

Also understand that as sweet, good or well intending your pedaling neighbor or family member is, they are simply regurgitating the company driven info that comes to them in their sales packets. The majority most likely know nothing of the effects of ingredients that are in products beyond what they’ve been told.

And of course there is the simple truth that you will not find a magic formula to help you quickly knock off the weight to get your dream body.

You just have to get that the old fashioned way. Sensible, healthy eating, the right amount of calories for your body and purposeful exercise, that and that alone is your key to success.

food pic

Snake Oil Diets And More Wizardry

snake oil

Did you grow up with siblings? If so you understand how you learn to push each others buttons on things right? Sometimes it’s to annoy each other, sometimes it’s just to get that person going on whatever topic because it amuses us in some way.

It doesn’t seem to change even when you grow up. Then we have friends who can do the same thing with us. It’s all fun and games… usually….

I’m no different, I guess. If there’s one thing that gets me going or kicks my investigator mode into high gear, it’s having someone ask me about some new diet craze or company pedaling it’s wares promising claims of extreme and swift weight loss.

Usually the companies biggest successes are emptying your pockets, not making you any thinner.

I had a friend message me recently asking if I knew of or had heard of a particular company and it’s product. People were flocking to it and it was gaining a big following. She had been asked to try it, I’m really glad she’s one of my smart friends and of course, declined.

There are so many companies and products out there trying to make a living off of peoples desperation it really is hard to keep up with them all. I got the basic name and info from her and started digging.

Oh. It didn’t take me long. It didn’t take long at all to be shocked and horrified over it on several levels. The complete nonsense presented on eating and weight loss is…well.. awful.

When I shared what I was finding with my friend the response was “go get them” haha when I mentioned I just can’t help it, (gathering info and sharing what I find) I get back…. “personally, I get a kick out of it…”

See what I mean from my opening questions? They give me the right prompts and cut me loose haha

So. What about this product?

This is a MLM (multi level marketing) company so that should tell you something right off the bat.

It’s about making money, first. There are no prices offered on website as they want you to find a “distributor” of the product and purchase from them. Hmmm.

There are several products they offer all promising you great things in a short amount of time. Reviews were glowing of big losses in only 8 days for one of their packages.

They claim to detox, fat burn, cleanse you inside and out, get you thin and make you a new healthy individual with all of their amazing products. AND… you will finally be happy…. poor… but happy. Blah. Blah. Blah.

( insert sound of me gagging here)

The hocus pocus of all the wording made my head spin in moments. Then I quickly realized people REALLY buy into this, literally and figuratively.

Like, they cough up a lot of money for all these promises of magic potions. Worse yet, they believe it all. They believe this time, something will work.

I continued my reading and searched out more info. As many of these companies and products go, you find these hard to believe reviews of awesomeness on it, and oddly, not many dissatisfied customers at all.

Another red flag my friends.

There aren’t that many happy people about anything in this world, especially weight loss products. So we have to largely believe the reviews that are so wonderful are put out by the distributors of the product.

The negatives I found, well, as to be expected, the product hadn’t done the miracles they expected, the company hadn’t followed through on it’s promises, over priced, or worse yet were the side effects from using it.

Starve. Repeat.

It didn’t take me long looking at one of their most seemingly “popular” plans, the 8 day kick starter transformation package to know why people were losing so much weight in 8 days.

You’re freaking starving to death, that’s why. Literally.

They promise 8 days to transform you. Holy crap it’s taken me 8 years to learn all this stuff, get fit, and get a decent grip on my eating behaviors. How could I have wasted all that time?? 😉

As I looked at their daily eating plan, I was thinking, what are people actually, you know, eating?? Besides sucking down all these pills, powders, “flushes”, and occasional shakes they are buying.

Ahhh here it is… I found it in the “plan”… you only get to eat 3 meals in the 8 days.

Yes. That is all.

And those “meals” are limited to 500-600 calories. I can’t even imagine how you must suck the food in at that point. Not to mention how foggy headed you must feel.

The rest of the time you are using all of their products to detox, fat burn, cleanse and whatever else bull nonsense they are hyping you over. Oh the hype.

Let’s call it what it is… you… are starving yourself. I find it ironically funny they want you to use a product that supposedly “blocks” fat absorption and causes food to pass through. Meh… it’s supposed to expand and take up space in your stomach…

Like, why the heck do you need that when you aren’t even hardly eating anything ???

I wont spend much more time on discussing this. It just made me scratch my head. People will spend money to starve themselves… ok…

They also give you an “exercise plan” to follow but honestly, I don’t see how you are able to do more than lay on the sofa with a daily caloric intake of 500-600 calories.

Anything under 1000 calories a day is a starvation diet people.

But… it’s “natural” and “plant based”

So. What.

It should be noted there are lots of natural things but they can kill you or just make you sick and not feel good. Just because someone has tossed various natural ingredients together doesn’t mean it’s good for you or that the doses are right for you.

Many of the ingredients in these products act like caffeine. It is the reason people are so hyped up and have so much “energy” when they are on them. A fancy version of speed.

It should be noted that side effects are jitteriness, racing heart, high blood pressure, sweating, nausea, and shakiness. Others are cramps, feeling bloated and an overall not feeling well.

No food and natural stimulants, no wonder those side effects present themselves.

One of the main pills you take is an appetite suppressant. It’s loaded with a bunch of herbal stuff. When you start adding a bunch of “natural” herbal things into your body, the effects can not be pleasant.

One ingredient in this appetite suppressant pill is bitter orange or synephrine. It was banned years ago and is linked to major cardiovascular risks.

Not sure I’d want to be popping that with other stimulants too. No wonder a racing heart is reported.

Oh, and the “flush” they offer. well yeah, it’s supposed to do what the name implies. It’s main ingredient is senna which is in laxatives you can buy at the store. I’ll just leave this here… you don’t really want to be on some type of laxative to help you lose weight. This type of product doesn’t “cleanse” or “detox” you.

But then there’s the cost….

Besides the fact you sign up to starve and not eat for pretty much an entire week, and that you’ll be taking another product to flush you which means you might spend more time in the bathroom than anticipated, and another product to keep you from getting hungry ( um hey….getting hungry is a natural body signal we’ve been given to know when to feed ourselves. Ignoring it isn’t smart. ) there’s the ridiculous cost of this stuff.

The rough estimate I found for the 8 day “kit” is 391.00.

Yes. Your eyes aren’t going on you, you read that correct. Almost 400.00 for some supplements and a meal shake that comes in at a whopping 50 calories made with water.

Of course, any other products you buy has an additional charge that’s just as crazy.

And people are buying it. They are jumping on it like flies on honey.

I don’t know if I should feel sad for them or just think they deserve what they get for buying into such nonsense.

But then I remember how desperate people are for a quick fix they will do anything at all to get it.

Anything but the thing that works.. because well.. it does take some time… and effort… and patience.

The old “learn to eat healthy, eat mindfully, change your habits, and get some movement into your days” thing.

I know it’s not cool or trendy but really, its the only thing that works.

The bottom line

Since the weight loss comes from starvation, once you increase your calories to a normal range ( which you will) the weight will come back. These products are not sustainable for long term nor should you do their program multiple times ( setting yourself up for a starve and binge mode isn’t a good thing) although if you want to drop almost 400 dollars for an 8 week starvation session you may have more money than common sense.

The ingredients are sketchy and found in much cheaper diet aid products if you’re still convinced that’s the way you need to go instead of the old fashioned route.

Promises of detoxing your body and turning it into a fat burning machine are just more modern day snake oil and smoke and mirrors. These products do have the ability to hype you up because of all the “natural” caffeine type ingredients they contain.

8 days won’t change your habits or behaviors with food. That’s where the biggest change occurs when you do it the old fashioned way.

Overall this is another get rich scheme for some people at the expense and desperate need of others.

If you are wanting to lose weight, don’t be brought in by hype and unrealistic promises. For all that money you can go buy a gym membership, some cool new kicks, and a whole lot of healthy foods.

Just Google It!

google

So it’s been a couple days since I’ve posted something. Life, you know ? Trying to multi task on several big things, and keep up with my training and other projects that need my attention can leave me feeling like it’s supreme effort just to think on some days.

Nod your head if you agree with me… you’ve been there…

As in yesterday. I’ve tried to make my run/cycle/run days midweek as it fits in well to my training. Anyway, to put it mildly, those days place a heavier physical demand on me than others. Add to it, after I finished I did some errands and then came home and cut grass for an hour.

I didn’t think I’d be able to drag my carcass to bed that night, much less write something smart, witty or sarcastically clever for you.

And I have all these ideas rattling around in my head clamoring to get out…for instance…

A book review I’m itching to get to. I finished such an awesome book that I think everyone should read. Seriously. Anyway, keep your eyes open for that coming soon.

Or more thoughts on healthy lifestyles. Or a couple ones on food, ’cause I love to eat and so do you 😉

BUT THEN there’s this other thing… those diet/health/wellness companies. It doesn’t help when people send me stories or ads because they know it gets me fired up ( thankfully they too, are on the same page and get it) and then I get to reading those claims about those products and thinking about the absolute, total, complete nonsense of some of it and then before I know it…

I’m writing a post on products and other overall odd stuff people buy into on the daily.

Hold on…I’m on my soapbox again… and I promised after last weeks Snake Oil post I’d settle down for a bit.

Ah, maybe I shouldn’t make such empty promises… not when there is so much rich material always at my fingertips.

I just get so passionate about people who will believe this stuff and are desperate and all they ultimately will really lose is their hard earned money. And let’s face it, there’s a plethora of companies out there with promises of health, wellness and overall ease into a healthy lifestyle.

It’s not easy! It does require work! It does require discipline and a willingness to keep at it every single day!

There are no short cuts to being healthy and fit, yet so many will go to many extremes other than simply doing what needs to be done.

Often these products are simply band-aids covering the underlying problem and never fixing or getting to the root of why a person is overweight and what their relationship is with food. Nor are they learning about balance, healthy eating and the importance of moving their bodies.

Let me just throw out some words from a few of these sales pitches that made my eyebrows arch even more…honestly… one of these days… they’re gonna arch right off my face…..

“Pounds don’t matter”, “detox fat cells to burn inches properly”, “oxygenate the body”, “build muscle”, “keep your blood sugar in check”, “lower your cholesterol”, “burn fat”, “control your cravings”, “many people can’t lose weight because of their blood sugars going up and down”, and finally my favorite…… “X product” knows how to grab the yuck and send it out while blasting oxygen throughout your body”.

WHAT?!

And last but not least, the most interesting thing in so many of these glowing endorsements is to “go Google it!”

Like…really? You’re talking something up you are supposedly an expert on and you can’t even deliver to me, your reader, credible sources of information?

As a writer, research is something not new to me. I often consult a variety of sources to glean what seems to be the most consistent, overall thoughts, or ideas on a topic.

But consulting Google on your product or better yet, conditions you are supposedly curing with it, is sketchy at best. And again I’m left wondering, why am I the reader, or better yet, anticipated future customer, having to go “Google it”.

I want to just pull out a few things to comment on from the quotes above…

“Pounds don’t matter”. Ok, so I understand there is more to the overall weight loss and getting fit than just the scale numbers. But if you’re overweight, yeah, extra pounds DO matter.

“Build muscle”. Listen, if building muscle was as easy as some supplement, pill or drink we’d all look like muscular gods. It’s not. I’ve worked my butt off for years, as have many other people I know. It takes work, discipline, and a good daily diet to build muscle.

“Keep your blood sugar in check”. So here’s the deal. Our bodies are designed in a perfect beautiful way to operate without manmade potions to keep them healthy, regulated or “balanced.”

It’s really super cool.

In case you missed biology or it’s been awhile… here’s how that works… the pancreas secretes insulin to balance glucose levels, keeping it from getting to high or to low. People with diabetes inject insulin because the pancreas is not working properly.

If you are having problems with high blood sugar, or you feel there might be a problem, you need to be working with a doctor. That means something is not working right in your body.

Otherwise, why would you take something for your blood sugar or to keep “levels in check” ? A healthy body does just fine keeping it “in check”. And who is really determining that? Are these people actually testing their blood ( as a diabetic person would) to know if everything is “in check”?

“Burns fat”. Hey, you know what burns fat? A good dose of cardio exercise several times a week. Best fat burner out there.

“Lower your cholesterol, control your cravings” just gonna throw this out there… when you eat a healthy, nutritious daily diet with scheduled meals, you won’t have that up and down swing of being hungry and craving things. Throw in at least 30% protein to every meal and you will feel “stable” and not have cravings. Stop eating junk. A healthy diet goes a long way to reducing cholesterol and even better if you add exercise in with it.

“Many people can’t lose weight because of their blood sugars going up and down” People don’t lose weight because they eat to much and don’t move enough.

“Detoxing fat cells to burn inches properly” now I’m not sure how my fat cells are going to know from this product that they should now pay attention and burn my inches off “properly”.

I just don’t have anything logical to even bring to the table on this line…. other than.. are you serious??? Burn off inches properly?

On the subject of “detox” again, back to our wonderfully made bodies. If your body isn’t “detoxing” you’ll know it. In fact, you’ll be in the hospital if it isn’t. The liver filters blood, the kidneys filter out waste and excess fluids, not to mention what goes through our intestines. If those are all systems go …. then skip the crazy detox stuff and just….eat… good, healthy foods!

As to the other… “grabbing yuck and blasting oxygen through your body”... I just have to wonder… is that on the generated company propaganda all sales people get ? I just don’t know if that sales pitch would work on me.

“Grabbing yuck”. What, pray tell, is “yuck” ? Someone. Please. Tell me.

You want oxygen blasting through your body? Exercise.

Ok well that’s a bit simplified but true.

Hey! there are other ways to get more oxygen in your body…. just Google it.

The Modern Day Snake Oil

Oh boy. I’m getting on my soap box again so buckle up boys and girls. I try and stay off of it, but with this particular topic it’s such a rich sea of constant writing opportunities it’s just hard to not capitalize on them.

What you may be wondering is it that keeps my creative writing pot over flowing?

The world of “health” and wellness companies. I’ve had a thing or two to say about them before. I’m sure it won’t be the last time either.

The products are sold by your next door neighbor, the friend you do yoga with or the sweet grandmother down the street.

Once they sign up they become health and wellness experts overnight.

Actually, they just regurgitate what the company spoon feeds them in propaganda.

Listen, I’m not knocking someone who’s trying to make a few extra bucks. Their intentions are well meaning. I know lots of people who do. I’m just suggesting you might not turn your health care over to someone who doesn’t know squat about most of the things the company tells them to promote or say.

Maybe your blood sugar is just fine and if it isn’t your neighbor isn’t the one to consult.

If you need energy maybe, perhaps, your nutrition needs adjusting and you don’t need supplements of some kind to give you “energy” ( which can translate to nothing more than “natural” speed in some products) maybe you need to lose weight to feel more energetic.

One company vendor posted a screen shot a customer had sent. The customer was proclaiming “how much energy he/she had and they hadn’t even taken their Adderol!” ( Adderol if you don’t know is a legal, controlled substance taken by many people but it’s a legal “speed”) Whatever natural thing was in the product made them feel like they had taken their meds.

That made me raise my eyebrows…a lot….well… there’s LOTS that make my eyebrows shoot off my face sometimes.

Ok well I’m getting to my main point for today. One company is huge on talking up “gut health” and telling you that you need all these products cause you’re more sickly than you realize without them. This company’s literature is loaded with all kinds of “issues” or “problems” you can have in regards to gut health. But I must say, what’s set me off on todays tangent is something I read earlier and it was a meme that said…

“Anxiety is not all in your head. It’s actually in your gut.”

WHAT?! WHAT?!

I desperately wanted to ask if it was a “for real” post ’cause it just was so… shocking to me… disturbing.. that someone would believe that or say it. Like.. do you know anyone who has anxiety issues? I couldn’t imagine telling the person I know who deals with it that it was only “in their gut”.

And I guess I was disturbed that someone would be so casual about a mental condition to use it in a meme that was designed to get you to respond so they could say… “well hey! I have all these products to fix your awful gut and it will fix up your anxiety too!”

Are. You. Kidding.

It honestly bothered me all day on lots of levels.

I have done a bit of my own research on this topic… and let’s just say in a huge way the jury is still out on the topic of “gut health”. There are lots of opinions and thoughts and there is still a lot of discussion on it. You can find various writings and articles but like anything out there, you’ve gotta consider the sources.

Ok but first, simplified, what on God’s green earth does that REALLY mean?? Here’s my definition for you so we have something to work with here.

“Gut health is anything pertaining to your digestive working system.”

Everything we eat passes through the GI tract. The tract is lined with a thin, sticky mucous and it’s lined with millions of bacteria that live, grow and metabolize ( digesting and absorbing) in what’s considered a complex ecosystem comprised of both beneficial and harmful bacteria.

So ideally, we eat foods good for us, it processes through our amazing organized system and in the GI tract the food is broken down and nutrients are delivered via the small intestine into the blood stream.

When we feed our body good foods it operates in optimal form.

However, let’s face it. Many don’t. Sometimes life is going on and we don’t eat as well as we should. So yes, you can have issues or problems with your “gut” ( and I really hate that word, just throwing that out there)

If eating poorly is a lifestyle then there can be many common problems that you may deal with:

Gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, inflammation, cramping, indigestion etc.

Wow, that all sounds fun, right? Some people might just come to assume it’s what they have to live with, that it’s normal for them.

You really don’t have to feel that way. And you really can keep your money and not buy the snake oil to “heal” you.

Our bodies were made to function on foods and not man made supplements. Healing your gut, for the most part, can be helped with improved nutrition and better eating habits.

Here’s a fun fact for you….within 20 minutes of eating whole healthy foods you can begin “healing your gut” as the bacteria in your bowels divide every 20 minutes on average. Meaning what you eat either feeds your body health promoting bacteria or non healthy bacteria.

The type of food you eat is a powerful weapon for health.

And a few other tips/suggestions to get and stay healthy:

Probiotics. The natural way to get them would be through foods. Yogurt is a wonderful source, make sure to choose ones that say active or live cultures.

Fermented foods like sauerkraut also have a high level of probiotics.

Avoid use of antibiotics unless necessary. These destroy your “good” bacteria.

Eat less refined sugars.

Lower stress levels.

Exercise.

Eat a healthy daily diet.

So here’s the thing that these companies leave out. There is a small nod to diet or exercise with them. but it’s more about “buy and use our stuff to be healthy and feel awesome.”

The list of problems their products promise to help and fix is staggering. I’m waiting to hear it cures cancer next.

Let’s keep in mind, at the end of the day, they are a marketing company and everyone is out to make money.

They aren’t telling you that good nutrition should be your goal. They aren’t telling you exercise will help you have energy, change your lab results, or help with your moods.

They are saying… hey, eat what you want and use our products to help you….why should you have to change?

If you don’t change your behaviors and your eating habits there is no product that is going to fix those problems and the only thing you’ll lose is your money to the snake oil salesman.

Rant now over.