I know I know… how can anyone be mad at Oprah she’s so charitable and so nice to so many people and a total role model and on and on…
Well, recently Oprah has a new ad out partnering with Weight Watchers. She is bankrolling for spitting some false ideas at television watchers everywhere. I’ll explain just why I think so after you watch this:
Sure, the theme is great. “Live Well, Lose Weight”. Oprah goes on in this commercial to talk about how she doesn’t have to choose what she eats. Let me tell you folks, her endorsing Weight Watchers is all about the money.
How Weight Watchers Really Works:
Basically, the premise behind Weight Watchers is that they assign point values to particular foods. Junk foods have higher point values while foods with significant nutritional value that are quite filling cost less “SmartPoints” as Weight Watchers now calls them.
You then have a bank or target points value that you must maintain. When you eat a particular food it costs you X amount of points that are deducted from this bank/designated value. Your “SmartPoints” bank is setup based on your body goals so they make it seem tailored to exactly the sort of results you want to achieve.
The fitness portion of this is just an add on that they try and shove down your throat after you sign up for their ridiculous recurring subscription fee. Of course they waive their $20 starter fee for you encouraging you to add some more months to your subscription from the get go.
This seems like a bonus now, but really they aren’t concerned about that $20 once they get your CC info on file and start billing you regularly.
I’ll tell you why I’m mad about the mentality behind this “Magic Weightloss Program”.
HINT: These Magic Programs don’t exist.
Why I’m Mad:
Please don’t misunderstand me here…I am all about everyone trying to live a more healthy lifestyle. I am completely supportive of those who pursue guidance in order to reach their nutritional goals.
The fact is, I know that not everyone knows what they need to be eating in order to lose weight or gain muscle. I think that there are a ton of nutrition help programs out there that would be great for people who need someone steering them in the right direction and keeping them committed.
I also think that there are great fitness programs out there that can be tailored to meet your needs.
HOWEVER, I do not think that Weight Watchers is helping anyone.
In my opinion, Weight Watchers encourages people to eat whatever the hell they want with no regard for true health and nutrition. They limit your intake overall and allow you to munch on cake all day if you choose to do so.
You can easily take the points that you save up from not eating all day (and think you’re doing great because you’re curbing your appetite) and apply them all to a couple slices of cake. Yeah, I’ve heard of a program where you don’t eat anything all day in order to lose weight…turns out…it’s an eating disorder called Anorexia.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? How on Earth does this sound like a plan that works. Encourage people to just basically stop eating everything but the stuff they really want because it has such a high point value it’s going to take a huge chunk of their allotted daily value?
Granted, I understand that Weight Watchers has slightly modified their program. They now offer adjusted points that promote the consumption of fruit, veggies, and lean proteins. So?
I just still can’t get behind a program that is promoted as a lifestyle-changing program that says go ahead and splurge on fifteen beers and some desert as long as you stay within your daily points budget.
Do I think that Weight Watchers’ initially planned to drive people in this direction? No.
Do I think they know exactly how terrible their influence can be with this program? Yes.
Do I think they are out to rip people off and could care less about your overall health? Yes.
Do I think that Weight Watchers could work for the right person? Yes.
Should that person sign up? No.
Who It Could Work For:
The only people that Weight Watchers is going to work for are those who are sincerely dedicated to their nutritional goals. Here’s the deal though… If you are this dedicated to your nutritional goals the last thing you need to do is flush your money down the toilet by “investing” in Weight Watchers.
There are so many helpful online guides these days for nutrition and it all just depends on what your goal is. Anyone that promises that you can eat absolutely anything you want is full of *insert choice word here*. You have to be dedicated to a fit lifestyle. I have said many times before this cannot be a fad if you truly want to live healthy.
You have to cast aside your previous habits, understand what foods are good for you through hours of research and dedication, and you have to train yourself to eat the proper way.
I didn’t magically decide I wanted to be in shape. I go to the gym at a minimum 4 times a week. I cut back on drinking significantly because I knew exactly what it was doing to my body. I bought a NutriBullet and started making healthy shakes because I wasn’t eating a hearty enough breakfast. Yeah a granola bar doesn’t cut it…who knew?
I spend so much time researching how to stay healthy through my eating and my exercise because I want to live the lifestyle that will keep me around the longest. Many people might argue that I am spending time now that I could be out doing other things…To those people, it’s an investment, put something in and get more out.
I think what I’m most ticked off about right now is the fact that you get these celebrities endorsing crap programs because they are sell-outs.
Oprah can say it has helped her and that she has lost a ton of weight, but she probably gets all this Weight Watchers information for free so that she will promote it. The funny part? She’s rich, you’re not. And when everyone does see results from a free trial, it’s because they’ve probably cut back on quantity, not increased quality.
Let’s see the data Oprah, where is the exact nutrition program you are on?
What has been your specific weekly exercise program?
Where are your real results?
Have you been eating ENOUGH food for the average person?
Are you eating the RIGHT foods, or are you eating “whatever [you] want” like you said in the commercial?
Someone tell these celebrities to stop fooling innocent Americans. To all of my friends our there reading this, don’t listen. Fire up your own research, learn what works for you, and create a plan.
If you want help with ways to do this, feel free to reach out to me here in the comments. I won’t charge you some bogus subscription fee because I genuinely like to help you out.