‘Tis the season is almost upon us and marketers are getting weird. Sure, they’re bubbling over with ads for the ultimate honey-baked ham and Christmas sweets. But they’re also promoting a hefty dose of dieting. In other words, enjoy those holiday treats, but feel bad about eating them. So, before you fall victim to the pleasure/guilt syndrome (and sample yet another diet plan), check out these pointers from the Just Eats Network:
- Get real. You know the shtick. Lose weight in weeks. Drop inches off your _____(fill in the blank). Yet 95 percent of dieters regain their weight within three years. For marketers this is the gift that keeps on giving: they can endlessly sell their special foods, memberships, and dieters’ paraphernalia, on a false promise. JEN’s advice: Don’t believe their claims. Instead, get real. Need to lose weight? Forget the diet and focus on getting healthy, happy, and strong (read on).
- The right diet? Wrong. Look at his n’ her magazines and here’s what you find: diet and fitness ads promising men they will build up, gain muscle... True, this promise can put undue pressure on men, especially the beefy mid-life crew. But relax fellas: you get to be more of yourself. As for women? They will drop pounds, slim down…essentially become less. And why? To look better for others. As for themselves? Huh? JEN’s advice: Opt for a: “My diet, my gain” philosophy and remember, muscle weighs more than fat.
- What’s good for the gander… Flip through women’s magazines and you find “mouthwatering” recipes like Keebler’s “Minty Grasshopper Pie”, full of such tummy tumblers as cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, and fudge cookies. (They taste great and what better way to simultaneously induce a heart attack and diabetes?) They also have shots of happy men and kids digging in. As for the women: no eating. No sampling. Nothing. Cook, yes. Enjoy? Never. No fear – instead, they were treated to page after page of self-depriving diet tips! JEN’s advice: go for healthier options …and join in.
Have food-holiday tales to tell? Send them our way and we’ll pass them around!
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