pills are not (always) the answer

Amidst the barrage of other "get fixed quick" medicines is yet another weight loss pill guaranteed (with pretty much the same guarantee as all the others) to help reduce weight and body fat. The wonderful miracle pill: Lipozene. One brief comment before getting into the heart of this post: it may be clinically proven to do what it does--i.e., reduce weight and body fat (though I personally have my doubts)--but it has yet to be proven what it will do to one's body 10 or 15 years down the road. (Of course, that's pretty much the same nagging question yet to be answered by the makers of all the other "get fixed quick" meds).

Here's my problem with this new (non-)wonder drug: Within the sales pitch, by the seemingly nice lady on the video, is a short blurb about an "amazing" perk with Lipozene. If we take this pill, then we do not have to change our lifestyle--we can continue eating as we have been. As long as the we take Lipozene, we have nothing to fear about eating what we want. Another implication within this is that we do not have to join a gym or (more pointedly) get off the couch and do something. That, to me, is absolutely asinine! The lifestyle is more than likely the leading cause of why some of us added on the pounds in the first place. To say that a lifestyle change is not needed, while certainly an enticing plug, is not going to solve the primary problem.

The primary problem is that we need to acknowledge the cause for the extra poundage--i.e., not eating well, not exercising, being flat out lazy, etc--and change those habits. There are more established findings that general exercise and eating well have significant results on the whole person. And here's the greatest part about making such lifestyle changes: it's cheap!! In fact, for the most part, it's free!! Lipozene cannot guarantee to save us money--mainly because they want our money. When it comes down to the bare bones, they could honestly care less about us losing any weight. Their primary concern is to convince us to buy their product (for nearly the rest of our lives) so that they can make a ton of cash.

And that's just it--if we want to maintain the results, we have to keep buying the product (for $29 a pop). And if the maximum dosage is taken (6 pills per day), one bottle is only going to last 10 days. Now they may try to sucker us in by giving us a free bottle when we buy the first one ("oh wow; gee thanks! . . .), but that is only a one-time deal (. . . jerks"). And if one bottle only lasts 10 days, that means at least 3 bottles per month for 12 months, which obviously translates into 36 bottles per year for $29 each, giving us a grand total of: $1,044 per year. (Keep in mind: if we want to maintain the result they promise, we have to keep buying the pills). My basic one-year membership to Gold's Gym: $469 (beat that Lipozene).* Even if we choose not to pay for a gym membership, there are many websites (including Gold's Gym, for example) that have information on things that can be done around the home--for free!

If we are completely honest with ourselves, we would realize the really bad logic within the rhetoric of commercial advertising. Their whole job is to make their product sound/seem beneficial and worthy of the consumer's hard-earned money. Try this experiment the next time you're watching TV (especially if you watch late-night TV):** listen to the list of perks given or arguments for why you should buy certain products. I guarantee you that they will be nearly parallel to other products that promote the same concept. (This especially applies to info-mercials where each product [most notably exercise machines of some kind] uses a standard list of comments). The industries who use this rhetoric are truly only concerned about getting money. But here's the thing: buying their product is not always going to solve the problem.*** In fact, buying their product may generate other problems (e.g., financial troubles due to buying stupid products); though if you watch TV long enough, there may be another product to help with the new problems--one that is "guaranteed" to help. It's a meaningless and vicious cycle that can be avoided.

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* I have recently cancelled my membership--not because it interfered with my lifestyle, but because I realized that I could general stuff around the house (for free) and get nearly the same results.
** Another experiment to do with late-night TV is to notice the kinds of commercials shown at that time in relation to those shown during the day.
*** I openly admit that there are some medication that are needed in order to help alleviate/regulate various struggles (e.g., clinical depression); but this does not necessarily apply across the board--especially weight loss.