The dryer had stopped. iTunes was blaring. My coffee had gone cold. The phone rang. I was oblivious to it all. I was in “my happy place.” Others call it “being in the zone.” Do you ever get that? I get it when I’m engrossed in a design project. One that offers a bit of a challenge, a bit of creativity, a bit of fun, and a lot of brain power. When I get in this zone, the whole world fades away and it takes a lot to pull me out. Once, when I was in this zone my son came up to me at 11 at night asking if I was going to be cooking dinner that night or if he should just heat up something. I’m telling you, nothing, not even hunger distracts me. But this morning, while I was happily working away. I was yanked out of my happy place by a Sensa infomercial.
Great. That’s all I need! Don’t you find it frustrating that all these companies are making money off our desperate need to look like what other people have told us to look like? Maybe I’m angry because I was pulled out of my zone, but I really think I’m angry with my own weight. I’ve had a weight problem for most of my life. I’ve been on every diet from Jenny Craig, to Lindora, to Ultrametabolism. I have probably spent thousands on attempts to lose weight. Heck, I even tried some inane Celery Soup Diet until I nearly put myself in the hospital. In the end, it all comes down to me paying a lot of money to be told what I already know. Eat less, exercise more.
That’s the solution, easy enough. But nothing works and again I start some silly fad believing the ridiculous claims all over again. So I get mad. Mad at myself for being so stupid, mad at myself for not losing weight, mad at myself for not having the willpower to lose weight, then when I’m tired of being mad at myself I turn in outward. I get mad at Jack LaLane for starting the whole damn health craze; mad at the infomercials; mad at my friends for not telling me how bad I look. I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore! So, I quit. I decide there’s nothing I can do and forget about it. Until, someone takes a picture of me; my mother-in-law asks how my diet’s coming; I catch a glimpse of myself in a full-length mirror or reflection in a window; and the search for a solution begins all over again.

So there goes Sensa, blabbing on about having results from a “major university” to prove their claims. Have you every noticed that all of these programs say the results have been proven by a “major university” study?
Lipozene claims its  been “clinically proven in a recent major university double-blind study.” OptiGen says it developed its program based on a “clinical study conducted by a major university.” Isagenix claims its shakes were part of a “major university study.” Zenadrine says “one major university study…” NuLean says its weight loss cleanse was “tested at a major university.” Sheesh, even Sublimal Music claims “clinical data from a major university” has proven that their tapes help weight loss.
Yet, no matter how I search on Google, I’ve never been able to actually find any university study, let alone a “major university” study using a specific product. Don’t you think that if a major university had discovered the cure for obesity they’d let everyone know?
In fact, the only published study I could find online was not published by a “major university.” It was in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) and, though fascinating, was conducted by nutritional centers in various countries. Which basically concluded that it didn’t matter how much a woman paid for a weight loss program, its effectiveness was the same.”
Shouldn’t these companies be held accountable for their claims? Uh, isn’t that the Food and Drug Administration’s job? Before you claim anything don’t you have to show where you got the info? Even if you put the information in 3-pt script font. At least there’d be something to actually name the “major university.” I have the Lipozene (yep, fell for that too) informational paper and no where in it is there a reference about the university or where we can see the study. Over at Diet Fraud, who has its fingers on the pulse of the diet industry, they have yet to identify the major university studies.
I refuse, I absolutely refuse to plop another dime down on any product that makes such a claim without giving me the documentation to back it up. I’m pleading with my fellow weight-challenged friends to join me and just stop buying this stuff.
For an alternative, you can find a lot of free weight loss advice online. Calorie Count is a completely free solution for developing a healthy lifestyle. Run by About.com it is a free solution with a lot of benefits: They have tons of articles about weight loss. Their program also includes an iphone app to record your calorie intake, exercise, and they have a support network program where you can enlist your friends’ help, either through Facebook or on their website.

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