Often, around our household, Lacie and I are confronted with a similar situation that all parents of 3-year-olds encounter: Infantile Cynicism.
Clearly, our children don’t always agree that what they need isn’t always congruent with what they want. Except, I am always a bit confused as to why my sweet little girl has such a peculiar dissident attitude towards authority.
That is until I ask the question out loud and catch a glimpse of my wife’s “Oh Really?” brow:
Okay, okay. I smell what ya cookin, Lacie. Our child is clearly exhibiting a smidgen of learned behavior. I’ll own that. But, let’s be real, I deal with a lot of folks that harbor this “child-like” tendency to not always agree with the fact that what we want isn’t always what we need. But unlike the inexperienced child, you adults have developed much more circuitous habits in regards to skating around the obvious and have become quite the masters of executing these Oscar-worthy confused performances in regards to your health failures, even though “you have been making scientifically-astute, healthy choices”. (Yes, that’s it. The face you are making right now after reading that sentence. Beautiful!)
So, what am I getting at? Well, for one, let’s touch on why one should be skeptical of certain marketed "research." This was an ad back in 1943 for General Mill’s for their scientific reasoning behind breakfast:
I saved you the time reading it and have comPILEd an in-depth photographic representation below:
But, seriously. What this ad suggests is that going 18 hours without eating can be detrimental to one’s health. So, break your fast the best way possible with a wholesome, heart-healthy bowl of Honey Bunches of Cancer. Because why wouldn’t you want to create or feed your tumors any other way?
Too harsh? Perhaps, but fitting.
This shoddy marketing is the equivalent to modern day labels. When protein became all the rage, Special K was quick to slap it on their box. And guess what: You bought it!
What’s that cereal bars? You aren’t selling as many sugar rectangles as you were last year?
BAM! Instant sales.
But you know, the industry is funny that way. Gluten Free is selling like crazy, right now. All the market has to do is throw out a popular term that we humans have heard over and over again on TV and on the radio, and magically we flutter to the flame like the stressed out, naïve moths that we are.
My point? Be Skeptical! If you are scarfing down “high protein” bars and shakes and not losing weight or making the progress that you set out to, then why are you still doing it? Why wouldn’t you question the marketing on the box that was sold to you? We all remember the guarantee-crazed buyer from Tommy Boy, don’t we?
“But T, the box guarantees that it is sugar-free and high-protein.”
Righttttttt…..
So, how does one become or stay skeptic of the health and fitness industry? Great question! Here are a few thought prodders:
- If it sounds too good to be true: It is.
- If you think that you can rationalize number #1: you can’t.
- If you think that you can fool yourself into trying it anyway: Congrats. That one you can do.
Since you are so confident in your self-negotiation skills, perhaps you can come to the front of the class and entertain us with your physiological mediation of the following:
- Convincing your pancreas that what you are eating isn’t sugar.
- Persuading your brain that this "health food" contains healthy fats.
- Sway your liver from producing excess LDL cholesterol particles.
- And my personal favorite, debating with your digestive tract whether or not to fast track the artificial contents, out the back door, before OR after you have reached the nearest toilet.
You are your own health experiment. You will continue to prove or disprove certain health hypothesis for the rest of your life. Welcome to the Wellness Game. Some days you will win. Others you will learn what not to do or do more of. If you feel as though you are losing more days than you are winning, call me. I know a guy.
