“We won’t stop being sick, until we stop making ourselves sick.”
- Bill Maher

Okay, it doesn’t matter to me which way you lean politically.  As I’ve said before, politics bores the crap out of me, and the average political debate has as much intellectual value as the banter of ex-jocks and monosyllabic shut in callers on sports radio.

But I digress.

What you think of Bill Maher doesn’t matter either.  In this video, he makes some great points that republicans, democrats, independents, liberals, conservatives, and moderates should all be able to agree upon.

Big pharmaceutical companies aren’t interested in making people healthy. There’s no money in that. The money is in having lots of sick people to sell drugs to.

Watch the video and let me know what you think.

~Dave

Food, Inc. is out on DVD today. If you eat food and haven’t seen this movie, you should pick this up. Watch the video below, then get the video on Amazon.

~Dave

Okay, I admit that there are a million scams out there in the weight loss, muscle gaining, breast and penis enlargement, memory improvement, and many other categories.

And some of the scam artists are pretty good at disguising themselves and making their ads appear completely legit.

But, this ad has to belong to either a rookie scammer, or just someone who is really bad at it. (click on it to enlarge)

These two guys don’t even remotely resemble each other.  Even a novice photoshop hack could have made their faces look somewhat similar, but apparently these scam artists just aren’t that good.

They get the Dopiest Weight Loss Scam Artists of the Day award.

Obviously I didn’t include the link with their ad.  Certainly don’t want to give them any more traffic.

~Dave

And I’m using the term ‘exercise product’ very loosely here.

I thought our last winner of the Dumb Exercise Product of the Day Award (the famous DEPDA) took the cake, but this one might just have it beat.  Watch the video.  I thought it was a spoof at first, but amazingly, it is a real product.

You really have to be a complete and total moron, with a capital MORON, to shell out $650 on this thing.  In fact, your friends and family should immediately consider a moron intervention.

~Dave

Okay, everyone knows we have a generation of kids who eat way too much crap and exercise way too little.

No debate there.  Of course, there’s plenty of debate on how to fix the issue, but that’s another post.

What isn’t open for debate though is that food manufacturers will do just about anything, no matter how sleazy, slimy, dishonest, or contemptible in order to sell one more box of the crap they try and pass off as food.

Today’s company worthy of all the scorn we can heap on them is Kellogg’s.

Their latest marketing gimmick is to plaster the front of Cocoa Krispies boxes with the bold claim that this box of shit “Now Helps Support Your Child’s Immunity”.

Yes, Cocoa Krispies, that wonderful health food that it is, apparently can now also help ward off the swine flu.

Take some nutrient-barren processed flour, high-fructose corn syrup, and trans fats, spray them with some chemical vitamin-equivalents, and shazaam, call the marketing department and have them come up with a way to present this box of crap as health food.

Puhlease.  Sugar actually makes up 40% of the product by weight.  Are you freakin’ kidding me!!?  You’d be better off emptying the cereal in the trash, shredding the box, mixing it with milk, and eating that with a multivitamin.  At least the cardboard might provide some fiber.

Only trust the info on the ingredient list and nutrition facts label.  NEVER buy any food based on what the marketing department plasters on the front of the package.  Assume they are lying.  You’ll be right most of the time.

And if you happen to know anyone who works in the marketing group at Kellogg’s, next time you see them just give them the finger.

~Dave

“All blame is a waste of time.

No matter how much fault you find with another, and regardless of how much you blame him, it will not change you. The only thing blame does is to keep the focus off you when you are looking for external reasons to explain your unhappiness or frustration.

You may succeed in making another feel guilty about something by blaming him, but you won’t succeed in changing whatever it is about you that is making you unhappy.”

~ Dr. Wayne Dyer

Ummm, yes.

There are plenty of scumbags out there marketing worthless crap, and new ones sprout up every day, especially in the diet and weight loss arena.

But, one particular scumbag who’s been around forever and just won’t seem to go away is Kevin Trudeau.

He’s already been to jail a couple of times, had to sign numerous settlements with the government, and still he’s out there scamming people out of millions. If he isn’t king of scumbag mountain, I’m not sure who is.

Your thoughts, as always, are welcomed.

~Dave

Image by Mykl Roventine via Flickr

For every fitness and weight loss expert there is an equal and opposite fitness and weight loss expert.

It’s a basic law of weight loss physics.

And what it means is that there are plenty of different opinions out there on how to lose weight and get fit.

I have my own, which are similar to some experts and different from other experts.

So who’s right?

Everyone.  And no one.

The fact is, when it comes to weight loss there is no one right way that works for everyone.

The truth is that there are plenty of right ways to lose weight, mine included.  Which one works for you depends on, well, you.  Maybe you need just some general direction that allows for lots of flexibility.  Maybe your personality requires a strict plan you can follow to the letter.  Maybe you’re somewhere in between.

You just need to find a program that works for you and then stick with it.  (And when I say program, I mean a legit fitness/fat loss program that teaches you sensible exercise and how to eat right.  I’m not talking about fads, gimmicks, pills, anything from Body by Jake, and other such weight loss stupidity.)

So, don’t look for the one right or best program out there.  It doesn’t exist.  Find a program that’s right for your personality, and then stick with it.  Here’s a list of legit ones you can check out:

The Body Transformation Course 2.0. Yeah, a shameless plug. Sue me.  By the way, the program works great.

The Diet Solution Program by Isabel De Los Rios.  Great nutrition info on healthy eating.  I’m a big fan of Isabel’s stuff.  The ad to the right probably tipped you off to that.  Pretty simple message: Don’t eat crap, eat high quality food, with a lot of easy ways to do just that.

The Truth About Abs by Mike Geary. The biggest selling fitness program on the internet where again, it comes down to eating right and exercising.

Healthy Urban Kitchen by Antonio Valladares.  If you’re looking for guidance and recipes for a program that’s organic, all natural, grass fed, gluten- and soy-free, then this is the one you’ll want to check out.

Easy Veggie Meal Plans by Kardena Pauza.  No, I’m not a vegetarian, but I also stay away from factory farmed meat, poultry, and fish as much as possible (see “Why I’m Eating Less Meat”).  Even if you’re still a committed omnivore, you’ll find a lot of great info and recipes in here.

Turbulence Training by Craig Ballantyne.  Craig’s thoughts on cardio are right in line with mine, and he’s also big on not working out for hours at a time. We’ve got a lot of similar exercises in our programs, and while some of his routines might be easier to pull off in a gym, it’s certainly not a requirement.

So there you go. Plenty of experts to choose from.  Choose the one that fits your personality best, and then just stick with it.

As always, please leave your comments below, especially if you’ve tried any of these programs.

~Dave

“Most of us are just about as happy as we make up our minds to be.”
~ William Adams (English Merchant, Adventurer and Explorer, the first Englishman to visit Japan, 1564-1620)

So true.

~Dave

10/20/90.

Nineteen years ago on that date, I was lucky enough to marry Wendy.

Since then, I’ve been even luckier to be able to bring Julia and Lauren into the mix.

I can’t think of 3 better reasons to keep doing what I’m doing.  Happy anniversary sweetie.

Love,

me