I'm watching yet another commercial on tv between shows tonight and here comes Marie Osmond struttin' her stuff on Nutrisystems...

I find it amusing/irritating that a lot of eating plans (Nutrisystems, Jenny Craig, maybe even weight watchers??) seem to just emphasize if you only eat well, you "can" lose 40, 50, 60, or heck even 80 pounds.

*I notice sometimes, they'll have a VERY small disclaimer on the bottom of the screen that the presenter of the eating diet plan, also exercised.*

I know they first and foremost selling their eating plan on tv... that I get totally.

But the impression they leave me in trying to sell their meal plan is cutting calories is the only thing that works and you can forget about exercise & continue to be a lazy couch potato.... why? They think everybody is a slug or something??

It irritates me since I spend a good hour or so in the gym sweatin' my behind off six days a week in addition to eating well, ya know???

Anyone else notice that??

~ tea

I think most people can lose a good amount of weight just be diet.

I'm the opposite - It's the infomercial exercise programs that irk me, making it seem like you can just exercise and lose weight and not diet.

Ever notice the disclaimer they flash "results not typical"

Yep, that's what I was going to say but you beat me to it! I know that lots of people are able to lose without exercise (or so I hear), but that's never been true for me. Oh, I can lose a few pounds in the beginning but then the honeymoon is over and I have to start exercising. The nice thing is that the dread of the exercise only lasts a few weeks and then I get into the grove and kinda like it.

When selling any product, you emphasize the attractive features and de-emphasize (or don't mention) the unattractive ones, and for many potential customers, even those who do, or will exercise, still find it a "downside."

I always get a huge kick out of the "results not typical" disclaimer. Cracks me up.

These commercials are not interested in telling you all the gory details in their 60 seconds worth. They're looking to make their product as appealing as possible. Although that results not typical disclaimer is quite contradictory.

Yeah, it's all marketing. If they gave you the "typical results" and told you that you need to exercise and so on, it would look less appealing and fewer people would buy it.

And yeah, I love the little disclaimers. ^_^

Tea, I hear ya! I think it's just the pursuit of the almighty buck. As a veteran of the "wishing that the magic pill would work", I carried the thought for years that somewhere out there, there was an easy way to get healthy. I was willing to overlook the failure of "the pill" - gee, it must just be the wrong formula for me ... and I'd just buy into the next one that came along.

A major common theme that I see among the big and permanent losers here is that they've dropped out of the consumerist society - they aren't buying the quick fixes, they eat less but better foods, they don't blow money on things they've learned won't work. The "winning losers" aren't making money for ANYBODY - the health care system, the processed food makers, the drug companies, the fad-diet industry. They've stopped smoking, they don't go out to restaurants as much ... the list goes on!

So, please forgive my cynicism so early in the morning, but I think there are many, many market forces that would like to keep people ignorant about what it takes to be healthy ... simply because there is NO profit in it.

Well-said, ICUwishing. It all goes back to making permanent, healthy changes to your life rather than trying for the "quick fixes" or trying to take the easy way out of exercising/eating right.

I get annoyed by both the exercise commercials and the diet commercials. If Marie Osmond had not been on Dancing with the Stars, she wouldn't be doing a Nutrisystem commercial! Ugh! And results not typical....lol...that's just too funny for me...I'm one of those unfortunate people who has to workout in the gym like a madwoman and eat right consistently to lose weight, so I guess my results are not typical either..lol

There is a new rule the FTC came out with that is under final review and could possibly be ending the "results not typical" or "individual results may vary" so we might be seeing a shift soon in the way companies in the dieting industry showcase their products on commercials.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...tory?track=rss

Well you can lose significant amounts of weight without regular exercise. I've lost 113lbs and not seen the inside of a gym. I'm not a couch potato either and have a fairly busy lifestyle working full-time and having two kids with lots of hobbies. You might consider I'm not a good role model and maybe not typical but I've tried to lose weight with diet and regular exercise and just couldn't get the balance right (I'd lose weight initially and then hit a plateau).

Kitty

So you've noticed this, too. It's really struck me, since until now, I have lived a fairly mainstream life. Suddenly, though, I seem to be looking more & more into what much of my family sees as a separate or "alternative" lifestyle. One that involves yoga, meditation, trips to little esoteric food stores that carry things I want. Also, I am easing more into the "gym culture" and the athlete culture. The changes are so small & have been so incremental that I don't notice them until I have to go back to my extended family's small town for Easter & I see how they eat & what they eat & how they spend their time. Then I realize where I am now & how many of those things I don't participate in or buy anymore. And you know what? About 95% of the time, I don't miss them at all.

Yup people don't want to hear they have to work hard. My friend who has seen my progress asked me "how have you done it so far?" And I say I eat very healthy meals, lots of fruits and veggies (oh she doesn't like fruits and veggies), I drink at least 8 glasses of water a day (oh she doesn't like to drink water), and then I try to work out a few times a week (oh she can't go to the gym...)

I'm just like

Well I guess then my "secret" doesn't work for her. lol.

I think she wanted to hear "I eat all the food I want, mashed potatoes, gravy, and meatloaf and the weight just FALLS OFF!