What’s the Least Expensive Diet?

March 21, 2014 by Featured Author Leave a Comment

With more than a third of Americans being obese, the US diet industry is booming.

However, many of the diets out there are not only precarious in terms of ethics, they can also pack a financial punch. Fad diets have taken over and stuck expensive price tags all over an industry already full of mixed messages.

One diet in particular, which involves consuming large amounts of protein and fat, can cost several dollars per meal. However, with diets such as this being lorded as a positive step in the journey to weight loss and a ‘better you’, it’s difficult for those new to the weight loss industry to decipher what the most affordable diets may be for their budget.

Some diet regimes may seem cheap at only a couple of dollars per meal. However, added costs such as subscription fees are often forgotten and can get expensive if your weight loss stutters. This puts an already stressed dieter under yet more pressure, potentially resulting in failure.

Read the whole article here.

Got My Goat – Diet Falacies and Pet Peeves

March 27, 2013 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

I am “goat-less.”

That’s most likely because I let too many things get my goat. Whether it’s an age-related thing or I’m just a grumpy guy, I know not – but I find myself quickly irritated of late.

My biggest goat-getter is tailgaters; drivers who follow too closely, especially on the freeway. My uncle used to slam on his brakes and scare the bejesus out them, watching in his rearview mirror as a look of terror flashed across their faces when they saw his brake lights blast, eventually causing them to back off assuming they were following a maniac (which might have been accurate). I’m not that foolish but I’ll own up to giving that action serious consideration.

Oh yes, another peeve… people in supermarkets who scrutinize their receipt while still in line. Sure, be positive you’re not overpaying; I’m down with that. But would you mind inspecting the receipt AFTER you let the other shoppers move forward? And have you noticed that those folks are the same ones who argue over a one-cent discrepancy? Here’s your penny. Move on, pal; some of us have lives.

But my ultimate irritation stems from misleading weight loss ads;

…the ones that promise to reveal, “The secret the diet industry doesn’t want you to know,” or falsely boast, “Lose weight without changing a thing.”

Recently, I had to strap duct tape around my noggin to prevent it from exploding when I heard an ad about a diet discovery you mix with water and — voila! (yes, they really said “Voila!”) — you drop 10 pounds in a week!

Class, pull out your calculators; it’s math time.

[Read more…]

What’s the Best Diet out of 600 Diets?

December 26, 2012 by Scott "Q" Marcus

Can you imagine a car company advertisement: “Never use another drop of gasoline again, and drive as far as you want”? What would happen to an investment firm that guaranteed to “double your money overnight with no risk”? Or how about mortgage companies that tout, “no money down, no interest, own your own home, whether or not you can pay for it.”

Oh, wait. The last statement did happen – and we are still dealing with the results. So why can so many in the weight loss industry make equally blatant false claims and still remain in business? More importantly, why do normally rational, intelligent people ignore what they know and put their faith in untested, poorly documented, heavily hyped diets listed on dubious web pages or shouted at us during 30-minute infomercials?

Like the coal fire in Pennsylvania that’s been burning for 50 years; no matter what we try, we cannot make the yearly onslaught of false claims and unreliable statistics that permeate the media at the beginning of each year go away.

If the results weren’t so dangerous (gambling with our health), some of the claims would be laughable: “Lose 20 pounds in one week!” “Don’t exercise or change what you eat — while dropping weight overnight!” Of course, there are always my favorites, the conspiratorial, secretive, clandestine ones: “The weight loss program the diet industry doesn’t want you to know about!”

I found a web page dedicated to reviewing virtually any diet it could find.

Listed there were 610 titles (yes, I counted) with an incredibly wide range of names. Some touted main ingredients including everything from cabbage, to cookies, to chocolate. Others tried to break through the noise by name dropping, authored or endorsed by doctors, celebrities, and chefs. The founding location of the diet was heralded many times, listing countries in every continent except Antarctica (but I’m sure that will change over time). They couldn’t agree on how long it takes to develop that new “super calm sexy slim bod;” figures ran the gamut from three hours to a longer-term approach of 120 years. Some whose names stood out to were the “World Peace Diet” and “Big Fat Boyfriend Diet.” I must admit the “Promiscuous Diet” and the “Martini Diet” did create interesting mental images. As an FYI, aside from words specifically referencing calories, diet or eating, the three most popular words in the titles were (in order): “Raw,” “Detox,” and “Life.” One could therefore logically assume that the “Celebrity doctor, St. Tropez, raw, detox, low-calorie, three-hour, world-peace, chocolate cookie, chef-designed diet that even-your-fat-boyfriend would like, diet” would be a huge hit.

[Read more…]

Of Dietary Supplements and Flying Unicorns

February 22, 2012 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

Why is the diet industry replete with so many phony claims?

Recently, I was exposed to yet another “miracle diet product” that got my hackles up — and rest assured you don’t want to be around when I have elevated hackles.

The radio ad began something like:

“We are looking for a select few people in this listening area that want to be involved in a new weight loss study who want to lose no more than two pounds a day.”

Firstly, announcements referencing “this listening area,” are not from “this listening area;” they’re part of a national or regional campaign pretending to sound local. Should they be homegrown, they would say something such as, “We need people in Northern California…” Mind you, there’s nothing wrong with national advertising; however, the fact that it’s disingenuous raises the first in a series of red flags.

Speaking of such, let’s wave some more.

Indeed, there are countless people “in this listening area” who would easily want to shed the required poundage at approximately two pounds every 24 hours. It ain’t gonna happen. Granted, they reference “no more” than two pounds a day. I mean, who would be upset if all they shed was a pound a half a day?

In one month, I have the perfect body. How cool is that?

An important admonition: One cannot lose weight — and sustain it (and that’s essential) — that rapidly without sacrificing one’s health. Therefore, the set up is not only promoting unrealistic and unhealthy expectations, but it’s setting up “participants” to feel like failures should they lose the more realistic one to two pounds per week.

Being your dedicated diet detective, I ventured to the website to suss out the details. What I discovered was that we could purchase a new miracle supplement “electromagnetically encoded to copy the effects of homeopathic formulas.” To get the aforementioned results, one consumed a few drops regularly and followed a “VCLD” (very low calorie diet) of approximately 500 calories per day.

Let’s put that in perspective.

[Read more…]

What’s the Least Expensive Diet?

With more than a third of Americans being obese, the US diet industry is booming.

Read the whole article here.

Got My Goat – Diet Falacies and Pet Peeves

I am “goat-less.”

But my ultimate irritation stems from misleading weight loss ads;

What’s the Best Diet out of 600 Diets?

I found a web page dedicated to reviewing virtually any diet it could find.

Of Dietary Supplements and Flying Unicorns

Why is the diet industry replete with so many phony claims?

In one month, I have the perfect body. How cool is that?

Let’s put that in perspective.

Contact Us Today

Product Categories

Book An Appointment

Recent Posts