The truth behind weight loss and fitness marketing
- Dr. Bell Moody, PT, DPT
- Dec 4, 2023
- 2 min read
It's the holiday season-you're probably experiencing an increase in travel, celebrations, time with family and friends, etc. You might also be experiencing an increase in fitness marketing ads related to: weight loss related to holiday diets, shame surrounding partaking in holiday meals and treats, ad verbiage like "summer bodies are made in the winter", so on and so forth.
Let me tell what's true about these statements:
They work-they hook you as a buyer into thinking there is something wrong with you that they have the answer to. Your body isn't the right size/doesn't look the right way, purchase this membership and that will fix it. Your eating is shameful and wrong-buy this membership and our ideology to atone for your wrongdoings. This type of marketing is ACTIVELY using common insecurities to turn into sales and profits. This type of messaging is dangerous and truly keeping us from moving forward as a society who prioritizes preventative health measures.
Let me share another truth:
Once you know the mechanism behind marketing and advertising statements like that, you can find freedom from them! Your body doesn't need a gym membership to earn your Thanksgiving or Christmas meal. It doesn't need a detox tea to counteract extra sugar. (Your liver is the only thing that provides detoxification for you-I share all about this in this blog post here) Your body is not WRONG and doesn't need any other place to make it right.
Weight loss and aesthetic goals are common solutions that gyms and other fitness establishments will market that they have. What's true about weight loss? When is it necessary? When should this be a goal for you?
Weight loss can be a necessary goal for your health but in such fewer circumstances than most believe.
Circumstances include the following or otherwise indicated by your primary care physician:
-prediabetes, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol levels, breathing problems such as sleep apnea, symptoms associated with osteoarthritis, and extreme difficulty participating in physical activities.
If your lab results aren't indicating any of this, you're symptom free, overall enjoying your life, and you're mental health and wellbeing is normal
Your body is LOVING it's body composition! You don't need to change anything.
Being underweight and having low muscle mass/too low fat mass can cause a host of problems as well such as:
-malnutrition/vitamin deficiences and symptoms associated, osteoporosis, impaired immune system, infertility and reproductive system impairments, growth and development problems, and more.
Looking a certain way has absolutely NO reason to be an exercise or fitness goal for anyone. Looking a certain way has NO specific correlation to your health.
There are so many variables that affect how a person looks, and each of us are different! Why would you want to look the same way as a random influencer on instagram when your body is so unique and individual!
My hope is you avoid falling prey to fitness marketing schemes surrounding weight loss and aesthetic goals this holiday season. They breed horrific ideology that can lead to much much worse problems like disordered eating and negative mental health/poor quality of life.
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