"Go ahead, eat your candy and cake"
I just saw the second episode of HBO’s “Weight of the Nation”. Oh, boy. Did they really have to burn money on producing a glitzy show with the exact same failed message that everybody has already heard X number of times before?
You know, the exact same advice that has failed us through the entire obesity epidemic. The same advice that repeatedly (at least 17 times so far) turns out to be the least effective when actually subjected to scientific tests. In a word, crap advice.
You guessed it: it’s all about desperately trying to ignore your hunger, counting your calories and eating “balanced diets”. And a balanced diet is as usual defined seemingly without a shred of science involved. A balanced diet is basically what the “experts” believe that you should eat.
This is the worst part: Any junk food can in theory be “part of a healthy balanced diet”. In fact, you shouldn’t even attempt to quit the junk food. You’re actually warned from even trying! Check it out:
From part 2 of Weight of the Nation
Dialogue subtitled in yellow:
She basically tells us that obese people should keep eating the food that made them obese. Anything else would make them “feel bad”. She then tells us that by exercising more you can get a similar release of opioids in the brain as from food. Thus people who overeat (gluttons) should just exercise more (stop being lazy) to get the opioids that they need.
Ok… so people who eat too much bad food, people who have a hard time controlling the amount they eat, shouldn’t even consider trying to quit. Instead, exercise is the solution! Hmmm.
I just started to wonder why this magic method hasn’t been used more often for other kinds of addictions. But then I found some extra material on the HBO website. It turns out they have already figured it out:
From the extra material on the web:
The better solution? You guessed it: these smokers should just exercise more, then they would forget about smoking.
I found one more web only video:
And by the way
She then goes on to tell us that alcoholics should just exercise more. Then they would have no trouble controlling their drinking.
Telling alcoholics to give up alcohol completely is apparently stupid. That would make them feel bad, so it doesn’t work.
Satire or reality?
I confess. The last two examples were made up by me. I know, they’re silly. But in what way is the real one less silly?
Earlier
Newsweek: Why the Campaign to Stop America’s Obesity Crisis Keeps Failing
