Friday, February 02, 2007
FitTV's The Craze
In sort of a sequel to yesterday's post, I want to talk about a TV show on FitTV called The Craze. This show features The Artist Generally Known As Joan River's Daughter buying different fitness products for people, then letting them "test" them for 30 days. At the end, they bring someone from the company who makes the product to meet the person who used it, and get a "grade" on the product in a bunch of categories, ranging from ease of assembly to quality of any accompanying videos.
The buzz around the internet is that the show is crap. That it's basically an hour long infomercial paid for by the makers of the products being demonstrated. This is backed up by the fact that the "grades" at the end of the show have been almost invariably enthusiastic.
I don't know if that's true or not. Here's what I do know:
This show teaches, well, what I was preaching yesterday. That in the end, it's not the tool that matters. In the end, it's not going to matter whether you were using a thighmaster or a bowflex or a total fitness home gym or if you were going to bally's or 24 hour fitness or were just jogging outside in the fresh air and sunshine.
What's going to matter is that you made the decision that, no matter what, you're going to get healthy and get to a healthier weight. That you were fed up--either with not having energy, or with your knees hurting (a big one for me), or with something.
In other words, what's going to lose the weight isn't something you can buy at a store or get in a box or a bottle.
All of those things are just tools. And like all tools, it's fun to find which ones are right for you. Which ones you enjoy, which ones you don't, which ones don't suit you, and which ones fit your personality.
When you really mean it, anything you try will work. Until then, nothing will.
The buzz around the internet is that the show is crap. That it's basically an hour long infomercial paid for by the makers of the products being demonstrated. This is backed up by the fact that the "grades" at the end of the show have been almost invariably enthusiastic.
I don't know if that's true or not. Here's what I do know:
This show teaches, well, what I was preaching yesterday. That in the end, it's not the tool that matters. In the end, it's not going to matter whether you were using a thighmaster or a bowflex or a total fitness home gym or if you were going to bally's or 24 hour fitness or were just jogging outside in the fresh air and sunshine.
What's going to matter is that you made the decision that, no matter what, you're going to get healthy and get to a healthier weight. That you were fed up--either with not having energy, or with your knees hurting (a big one for me), or with something.
In other words, what's going to lose the weight isn't something you can buy at a store or get in a box or a bottle.
All of those things are just tools. And like all tools, it's fun to find which ones are right for you. Which ones you enjoy, which ones you don't, which ones don't suit you, and which ones fit your personality.
When you really mean it, anything you try will work. Until then, nothing will.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
SparkPeople: Go. Sign Up. Or Not.
When last you were really hearing from me, I was praising SparkPeople.
Sparkpeople.com is a great site. I still encourage you to go there. I still encourage you to tell them docmagik sent you. I encourage you to have lots of clicky fun getting points.
Part of what I dig about tools like SparkPeople.com is the way it makes me feel in control. There's something nice about not "guessing" what I'm eating, or how many calories I'm eating, or how many calories I'm burning, that makes me feel in control and relaxes me.
But it's not that way for everybody. I was talking to a dear friend this week who says that something like SparkPeople would just add to their stress and guilt. Now, not only would they not be exercising, but they would not be logging the exercise they weren't doing on the website.
I understand that completely. See, I firmly believe that what works for one person doesn't work for others.
I also believe that just about anything can work when you want it so bad you have to it. So at that point you can just pick the thing that's fun for you and go for it with everything you've got . . .
Sparkpeople.com is a great site. I still encourage you to go there. I still encourage you to tell them docmagik sent you. I encourage you to have lots of clicky fun getting points.
Part of what I dig about tools like SparkPeople.com is the way it makes me feel in control. There's something nice about not "guessing" what I'm eating, or how many calories I'm eating, or how many calories I'm burning, that makes me feel in control and relaxes me.
But it's not that way for everybody. I was talking to a dear friend this week who says that something like SparkPeople would just add to their stress and guilt. Now, not only would they not be exercising, but they would not be logging the exercise they weren't doing on the website.
I understand that completely. See, I firmly believe that what works for one person doesn't work for others.
I also believe that just about anything can work when you want it so bad you have to it. So at that point you can just pick the thing that's fun for you and go for it with everything you've got . . .
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