I honestly don't even know where or how to start this post. In the last 10 days I've been sent some information that is not only frightening, but extremely eye opening as to what is really going on in the good old US of A, in the world of health. What I've decided to do, instead of go off on a rant as to the information, is to present it to you, and allow you to decide for yourselves what you think.
I do want to add in just a few of my personal observations, and to set the scene for you regarding each of the links. The first one, is in regards to a study on young girls, age 10, mind you, who are now in a state of panic because they are afraid of becoming fat. Not that they are even remotely fat, but its the perception of being overweight that has them freaked, and it all relates back to looks as opposed to health. Again, the girls are age 10. My question - what message are we sending the youth? Clearly all the talk about "Strong is the new Skinny" is unfortunately more creative marketing than a movement that has taken hold. To call it sad is a disservice to the word. But wait, this is just the beginning of the downward spiral of what America has become.
Staying with the young, is a report of a "Diva Run". On its face, it seems like it would be something empowering for women - an all women's 5K; there are several events like this around the country, and they aren't just running events. There are all women triathlons, adventure races, Mud runs, etc, all designed to make women feel more comfortable competing not to mention, feel good about themselves. There are no men to impress, no men to compete with, its a much more relaxed and fun environment, and it clearly works, based on the number of entrants for the events. But the latest one, wow, the message its sending isn't just hypocritical, its absolutely offensive. This particular Diva Run had some rather big prizes for the top 3 in each age group. 3rd Place - Free teeth whitening, 2nd place - Free laser hair removal, and 1st place - Botox. So here's the message - doing something healthy isn't enough to make you feel good - its all about how you look. So there are literally 15 year olds racing for these awards. 15 year olds racing for Botox. Do I really need to say more? Are you connecting the dots?
The last link is something that I have known, but the media has been excellent at hiding, and worse yet actually promoting it. I'm talking about rapid weight loss programs, via the multi-billion dollar diet pill/program industry and shows like "The Biggest Loser". My personal take on the Biggest Loser is this - in theory, its a great idea. Helping people lose weight, learn healthy habits, empower them to go back to their normal lives and continue what they learned. Here's the reality - over 90% of the contestants who are on the show GAIN back all the weight they lost plus more, and its become more of a freak show than a show of empowerment. But that's not what viewers see - they don't see the need for surgery by the contestants after they lose the weight because of all the excess skin that is hanging from their bodies, (not to mention this is the same thing people who go on binge diets and lose massive amounts of weight rapidly face) they don't see the lack of self control people have when they leave the show, and return to their old habits, causing the weight gain, they don't see the incredible strain on the organs, primarily the heart, that the rapid weight loss and gain has on the contestants and the feeling of dissatisfaction many of them feel after losing the weight. The author of this particular post decided to lose weight on her own, and chronicled her transformation via "selfies" that she took to commemorate her progress. I'll let the pictures do the taking.
Bottom line - the paradigm needs to shift, and it must be done now. We are still so obsessed with looks over health, that we have become the 2nd fattest country in the world (Thanks Mexico!) with the most advanced technology to get healthy, yet we have an obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemic, and we are determined to not learn from our mistakes by continuing to place looks over health as the two links show, by encouraging the generations behind us to do the same. There is plenty of blame to go around. As a coach and personal trainer, I feel responsible. I know I work with an outstanding group of individuals all dedicated to help our members gain better health and fitness, but its stories like this that make me wonder if we are doing enough. The one takeaway is that I know the team I work with is not giving up, and is always staying on the front line to combat the barrage of bullshit that is out there.
I'll leave you with this. Last week, Dr. Barry Sears, author of "The Zone Diet" was discussing the type 2 diabetes epidemic. He stated that by 2014, doctors will be prescribing gastric bypass surgery to help stave off some of the effects of diabetes. That's right, we are so lazy, so uncaring about our health, we'd rather have extremely invasive surgery, (which is not a permanent fix) than get off the couch and be proactive about our health. Am I angry? Hell yes. The better question is, are you? And if you aren't, why the hell not?
Stay strong,
Guy
