{"id":1288,"date":"2009-03-26T19:39:37","date_gmt":"2009-03-26T17:39:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.ultimatefatburner.com\/?p=1288"},"modified":"2015-02-13T08:34:40","modified_gmt":"2015-02-13T13:34:40","slug":"everything-i-loathe-about-womens-magazines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/everything-i-loathe-about-womens-magazines\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything I Loathe About Women’s Magazines…"},"content":{"rendered":"

…is\u00a0captured in\u00a0a slide show – “10 Reasons You’re Not Losing That Weight<\/a>” – \u00a0from “Women’s Health.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

For starters,\u00a0it was\u00a0trite and poorly thought out… For example:<\/p>\n

Roadblock number 1:<\/strong> Always a go-getter, you work out at 6 a.m.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This made no sense to me…I know plenty of very lean people who workout at the crack of dawn.\u00a0 Sure, there are a few precautions they take, depending on the nature of the exercise (high-intensity vs. low-intensity\/endurance), but I\u00a0couldn’t\u00a0see\u00a0any intrinsic reason(s) why\u00a0early morning exercise – in and of itself –\u00a0would be detrimental to weight loss.<\/p>\n

As\u00a0it turned out, the author\u00a0couldn’t either…her\u00a0point was about\u00a0inadequate sleep!\u00a0\u00a0 Ok – getting enough sleep IS important, but – needless to state –\u00a0a 6 a.m. workout time\u00a0doesn’t\u00a0automatically mean\u00a0you’re burning the candle at both ends.\u00a0 If you’re in bed by 9:30 – 10:00 p.m., you should be good to go.<\/p>\n

But the sparks really started flying\u00a0when I\u00a0read Number 6…I\u00a0couldn’t\u00a0get over\u00a0how much WRONG was packed into\u00a0these short paragraphs:<\/p>\n

Roadblock number 6: <\/strong>You’re shooting for a realistic size 6 instead of a near-impossible 2.<\/p>\n

What’s wrong with that? We know size 2 jeans look like they were made for a 10-year-old, but, according to a study of 1,801 people published in the International Journal of Obesity, women who set unrealistically high weight-loss goals dropped more weight in 24 months than those who kept their expectations low.<\/p>\n

Detour:<\/strong> The study authors concluded that having an optimistic goal motivated women to lose more weight. And the participants who failed to reach their magic number did not quit trying to drop the weight. Could aiming for Sienna Miller’s figure really help you reach your goal weight healthfully? “If you’re a driven person and a lofty goal motivates you,” says Blatner, “it can work.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

EPIC FAIL.<\/p>\n

It starts\u00a0with the research.\u00a0 The actual study<\/a> cited is behind a firewall, but a smaller,\u00a0very similar\u00a0study by the same\u00a0lead researcher (Jennifer Linde)\u00a0is open-source<\/a>…so it will serve as a proxy.\u00a0 And\u00a0it confirmed what I already suspected: the word “unrealistic”\u00a0means something\u00a0quite different than what’s implied above.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here’s how Linde and her colleagues define it:<\/p>\n

Using the best current treatments for obesity, most individuals will not reach their weight loss goals in treatment, and much of the weight they do lose will be regained within 3 years (5). Recently, there has been much clinical emphasis on moderating weight goals to reflect what is achievable<\/strong> rather than what is “ideal.” The observation that weight reductions of 5% to 10% result in significant improvements in physical health and psychosocial well-being and the fact that weight reductions of this magnitude are possible for most people have been used to justify encouraging more modest goals in weight loss programs (4,6,7,8,9,10).<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, hopes and expectations of obese people seeking weight loss are not as modest. When asked about weight loss objectives, overweight individuals typically select goals that are two to three times larger than average weight change outcomes observed in the best available treatments<\/strong> (8,11,12).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Emphasis mine.<\/p>\n

In this context, “unrealistic” means “greater\u00a0weight loss than\u00a0studies predict people will achieve\/maintain.”\u00a0 To summarize:<\/p>\n

Realistic Goal = Obese —> Slightly-Less-Obese
\nUnrealistic Goal = Obese —> Normal Weight<\/p>\n

In other words, simply wanting to\u00a0achieve a\u00a0normal weight\u00a0is “unrealistic,” since – according to the data – the odds are firmly against it.<\/p>\n

Thus, the motivating nature of “unrealistic” goals makes perfect sense (which is why the researchers\u00a0use the words “not surprisingly” to describe them).\u00a0 If I weighed – say – 200 pounds, the prospect of losing only\u00a05% – 10% of my weight\u00a0(i.e., a goal of 180 –\u00a0185 lbs.)\u00a0wouldn’t\u00a0motivate me, either…I’d want\u00a0to LOOK – as well as feel – a lot better.\u00a0 In the actual study abstract, those “unrealistic” goals equated to a\u00a021% – 27% reduction in weight.\u00a0 To use my 200 pound example, this would be a goal of 158 – 146 lbs…not exactly a size 6, let alone a size 2.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the researchers weren’t\u00a0studying how\u00a0“lofty” goals\u00a0contribute to weight loss…they were\u00a0challenging an increasingly common clinical practice.\u00a0 As they put it:<\/p>\n

“Our findings are consistent with prior studies that assessed the impact of goals on weight loss (11, 17, 18, 19, 20); results call into question the popular idea that unrealistic goals undermine weight loss success and that clinical resources should be devoted to lowering treatment expectations. Although most people’s goals are clearly at odds with empirical “reality,” until stronger evidence for the importance of weight goals in determining therapeutic outcomes is forthcoming, patients might be better served if practitioners focused on factors known to predict successful outcomes<\/strong>, such as consistent monitoring of weight and weight control behaviors, dietary restraint, and physical activity (5, 41), rather than on counseling them about their goals<\/strong>.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In essence, the study wasn’t about the value of encouraging dieters to set unrealistic goals – the subjects were doing that already.\u00a0 It was about the value of\u00a0NOT DISCOURAGING those goals.<\/p>\n

Compare this to the bizarro-world\u00a0interpretation\u00a0offered by Women’s Health:<\/p>\n

Roadblock number 6: <\/strong>You’re shooting for a realistic size 6 instead of a near-impossible 2.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I can just picture the look on the researchers’ faces…\u00a0Their definition of “realistic” is probably closer to size 20, not size 6.\u00a0 But this simple sentence reveals more than just a failure to understand some research…See the problem?<\/p>\n

Here’s a hint…next time you’re out in public, look around and\u00a0then ask yourself: \u00a0just how “realistic” is a size 6 for most women?\u00a0\u00a0You’d have to be pretty detached from reality to\u00a0see\u00a0size 6\u00a0as\u00a0a ho-hum, uninspiring, “realistic”\u00a0goal.<\/p>\n

But “detached from reality” is probably a good description of the author…who\u00a0evidently sees\u00a0“near-impossible” thinness\u00a0as\u00a0a goal\u00a0all women should dream of achieving.<\/p>\n

All I can say is…Wow.\u00a0 Just wow.<\/p>\n

Who\u00a0– in\u00a0her right mind –\u00a0dreams\u00a0of\u00a0being\u00a0a SIZE TWO????\u00a0\u00a0I sure as\u00a0hell\u00a0don’t.\u00a0I’m a size 6 right now: to be a size 2, I’d have to sacrifice my muscle mass – which is what gives my body its shape and definition.\u00a0 I wasn’t even a size two when I weighed ( a too thin) 115 lbs.\u00a0 To squeeze into a size 2 pair of jeans, I’d have to shrink down to 100 – 105 lbs.\u00a0 That would\u00a0leave me\u00a0looking like I had AIDS or some other muscle-wasting disease.<\/p>\n

Why the author of this piece imagined that fitting into jeans “…made for a 10-year-old”\u00a0would be\u00a0a motivating vision for an adult woman\u00a0is anyone’s guess.\u00a0 But this is\u00a0exactly the sort of “advice” that women DON’T need…the pursuit of extreme, unnatural\u00a0thinness is a path to eating disorders<\/a>\u00a0and distorted body image\/self esteem.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To be blunt, NO ONE\u00a0should be encouraged to go\u00a0there – even in their dreams.\u00a0 It’s bad enough to see this sort of thinking enshrined in the pages of “Cosmo” or “Vogue”…to see it in a mag\u00a0(allegedly)\u00a0concerned with\u00a0women’s health is nothing short of appalling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…is\u00a0captured in\u00a0a slide show – “10 Reasons You’re Not Losing That Weight” – \u00a0from “Women’s Health.”\u00a0 For starters,\u00a0it was\u00a0trite and poorly thought out… For example: Roadblock number 1: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19,28,29],"tags":[1851,620,642,1208,1863,1478,1479,1867,1804,1805],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1288"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1288"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8372,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1288\/revisions\/8372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}