Friday morning I watched an expose on the morning news, before I left for work. It was all about fraudulence in the world of diet/exercise/supplements ads. We all know that once we put pictures up on the internet, they belong to the world, but do we all understand what that translates to?
One woman, who lost a huge amount of weight, the good old fashioned way (let’s call it diet and exercise) posted her before and after pictures on the net. A company (I think it was a supplement company) lifted her pictures and claimed her weight loss was a result of using their product.
This report went on to show so many other before and after pictures that just weren’t the real deal, at all. One woman’s images were used by at least 3 entirely different companies, giving her a different first and last name in each. In another story, one plus-size model who had an image of herself for sale on the net, found that a company used her image as a before pic, and simply photo-shopped her, for the after image.
The last story was more like magic. They showed a man who was doing a before and after shoot, but the images were taken 5 minutes apart. In the first one he sat slouched with his hair all messy, wearing very unflattering shorts, pointing at his belly. He got up, shaved, fixed his hair, changed his shorts and stood for the “after” shot. He changed the lighting, flexed his biceps and his abs, and instantly, he became the finished product.
So here’s the take away. Don’t believe what you see on the internet, the TV, the magazine ads, etc. In some cases, the same person isn’t even used for the before and after shots!!! Understand and accept that when it comes to health and fitness, there is more false advertising than in any other industry as was stated in this expose. Healthy and fit bodies are a result of consistency, hard work and careful eating (unless you are just born lucky!)
Since we all want to look our best, let’s do like the last guy in the story–and all the beauties at the Oscar’s last night (congrats to them all). Let’s stand up straight, wear our most flattering clothing, and be proud of the work we put into making ourselves healthy and fit. Personally, I know I will NEVER have “thigh gap” (a story for another day) but I am so grateful for the strong legs that have been letting me jump, run, dance, lift, push and teach fitness every day for the past 3 decades.
The first Monday in March. With spring just around the corner, it’s a perfect time to get busy with your own body magic. What can you do today to treat that body of yours like the temple it is? Whatever it is, there is no better time than now….Make it a great day.
***The photo at top was a random one I chose off the net.
