Hot and Healthy – Thriving Through Menopause One Pound at a Time – Day 71, April 21, 2024
Happy Sunday.
Two more days until weigh in.
I want to talk about preconceived notions, gossip, and television.
How old were you when you heard your first horror story about having a period? Was in on TV? A tale from a friend? An advertisement showing the worst case scenario? Did you read about it in a book?
Have you ever been pregnant? Did you hear: “My friends cousins pregnancy was so bad; she spent a week in the hospital.” “My back labor lasted for 72 hours.” I was told by many people the horrors they went through being pregnant and giving birth.
Then you have TV. Oh my, TV. How about this to start: Believe nothing you see on TV. Do not believe the tall tales in advertising, or that “4 out of 5 doctors prefer”. It’s not real. Even reality TV is not real.
I was told “Don’t believe anything you hear and half of what you see”. The original saying is thought to be coined by Edgar Allan Poe.
(That saying is especially relevant today with the creation of AI. I don’t mind AI. I use it for catchy titles sometimes and to rewrite stuff for my other businesses. It may be the first time ever that I was playing with new technology almost as soon as it became mainstream. It took me forever to get my first cell phone.)
So, the point...Both Menopause and Weight Loss have big, gigantic ties to preconceived notions and gossip. Both advertised on TV.
I don’t mind TV commercials for activities or destinations. I do mind commercials that tell me to take a drug for hot flashes that has a side effect of hot flashes.
I do mind commercials, on TV or in print, that have, for lack of a better term, “body-washed” the actors and models. Don’t you especially hate the before and after weight loss pictures where Person 1 looks NOTHING like Person 2? They passed laws against misinformation but not about using tape and other mechanisms besides air brushing to make Person 2 look better and more different than they should.
I’m so over it.
When I see these weight loss ads that tell you that “you can lose this, if you take that” and only put in small, tiny print: “Combined with a healthy diet and exercise”, I lose my mind.
And the worst? When a friend joins one of these pyramid schemes to try and sell you weight loss stuff.
Hubby and I were on vacation once during one of my exercise phases. I was going to the gym when I met this chick. She was my age, 50 (ish) at the time and was a “representative” for one of those companies. You know what, if it works for you, great, but I won’t fall prey to their antics. She tried so hard to sell me this stuff, we are no longer friends.
These advertisements come up all the time because I am constantly searching for workout videos. Pop-up ads here and there. And they get some of you. You need a car salesman’s attitude to sell this stuff. No shame at all.
So beware. Fall for nothing.
Losing weight the right way is hard work, but it’s worth it.
Ok. Workout videos I did today...
Briansyuki – This video really got me today. It was tough but a good workout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U4e4NeqWuo
Then, and partially because I am also working on degenerative neck disks, I did this workout just for back and arm fat. It mimics some of my PT exercises.
MIZI