Celebrity Endorsements?!@&*?

If I see another celebrity enorsement for diet plans based on fake food and quick fixes, I may just vomit.  Are these people for real?  And do the people buying it really believe it?

Lets start with my favorite – Nutrisystem.  For a start up cost of $300 you can get a truckload of boxed up food that requires no refrigeration.  Yeah, on the commericals they boast that their food can be taken on the go because it doesn’t have to go in the refrigerator.  OK- everyone’s common sense – o – meters should be going crazy.  How is this possible?  This just doesn’t sound right, does it?  Their hamburgers, for instance, are prepared by rehydrating them in a bowl of hot water.  Wow, that sounds appetizing. 

I can’t even fathom what goes into those ready made meals.  They are full of additives, preservatives, and toxins but I wonder if it’s really food at all.  Maybe the reason people are able to lose weight is because your body doesn’t even identify it as food and it passes right through the system.  That leads us to a good point…losing weight does NOT equal being healthier.  You can lose weight a number of ways but not all of them are healthy.  My husband has a great quote, “You may lose weight but you’ll die earlier.  The only thing it does is make it easier on your pall bearers.”  Here’s another one of his Fredisms (Fred is my husbands name) , “there are plenty of skinny sick people out there.” 

So why are these things so popular?  Well, it comes down to people’s neverending quest for the magic bullet- a pill, a quick fix, prepared food, etc.  Guess what, it doesn’t work that way.  Anything worthwhile takes discipline and commitment.  Trying to beat the system and skirting around the truth only makes matters worse.  If we spent as much time, money, and energy on just doing the right thing instead of searching for a quick fix many of the issues Americans face would be solved. 

For example, take that $300 you are ready to lay out for Nutrisystems man-made, laboratory specimens and put it towards buying some organic, natural food and getting your butt into the kitchen.  I guarantee that that $300 would go so much further and would actually be bringing you a superior level of nutrition and health.  And hey, you could actually talk to your family. 

All of these companies that assert that they are there to help you lose weight and get healthier are fooling you.  All they care about is profits and selling more of their crappy products.  Just look at the ingredient labels of some of the Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, Atkins, etc…I have personally seen them loaded with things like MSG, trans fats, colorings, flavorings, artificial sweeteners, nitrites, etc. 

The plan that works is simple.  Eat foods that God and Mother Nature put on the planet for us to consume, stay away from man-altered food (much of our meat, conventional produce, etc), get enough exercise, and listen to your body.  (It is also important to note that addressing stress, relationship issues, time issues, and making sure your body is functioning at 100% are also essential)

So what’s up with these celebrities?  I like Queen Latifah and Valerie Bertinelli!  While they may have the best of intentions, they are NOT promoting health.  Come on, does anybody really believe that they are exclusively eating the crap these companies make?  I seriously doubt it.  They have access to the top personal trainers, personal chefs, etc.  Let’s face it- they are not like the rest of us but we want to be like them so we listen to what they say.  

Come on people, the answers are out there you just have to look and GET COMMITTED!  And here’s a hint…the answers are not in a package you have to rip open and microwave or plop into a bowl of hot water.

Is anyone with me out there?