Marketing Genius or Scum?!

There's a book called Skinny blank (rhymes with witch but starts with a B) and the other day, I was in a maternity store with my mum when I saw another version of the book, titled Skinny Witch (with a B): Bun in the Oven. I couldn't figure out what was worse - the fact that the book (I have the first and it's so stupid... they convince you to basically become a Vegan, encourage you to work out (duh), remind you that fruits and vegetables are good for you (double duh), and tell you that pooping is a good thing - wow, all things I never knew!!! *sarcasm) was in existence or that I actually chose to waste 5 minutes of my life skimming through it. Probably the latter... but anyhow, as I scanned its contents, the only thing I could think of was, do people really buy into this? The two women who wrote the book are both very skinny indeed, but their poor lives are minimized to eating Vegan (which I love by choice, but not all the time.... I'm all for a veggie sandwich every now and then but I still love a medium rare steak cooked to perfection!) and they probably go to sleep a bit hungry every night just so they can keep their too skinny bodies in shape to sell their books.

We have to be careful what we read or what we see portrayed by the media. They are all out to market, market, market, because ultimately they want to sell, sell, sell!!! You can still trust some of what you hear (a salad with creamy dressing and fried chicken is not healthier than some chicken and rice, croutons are not making your salad healthier, portion control is important considering America's decline to HUGE DOUBLE, TRIPLE sized portions!) but all of it will be logical. Yes, eating a homemade hamburger is healthier than eating one from Red Robin, because they indeed slather butter on the buns, the meat, and probably the veggies that go with it (that's why it's so dang good!). Yes, eating a homemade smoothie is less sugar than one from Jamba Juice (who uses sorbet in almost all their drinks and also add sugar on top of the natural sugars found in the blended frozen fruit). These all make sense right? But telling your body no more carbs so you can lose weight? ERROR. Telling your body to cleanse itself with lemon juice, cayenne pepper and some sort of water mix? FAIL!

Be healthy folks. Eat a balanced meal full of whole grains, veggies, protein, fruit, dairy and make exercise a part of your daily routine. No time to work out? Fine, take the stairs! No time on the weekend? Do something active with your family and friends! There's this thing called the park, I hear it's free and has lots of places to walk around, play tennis, sometimes handball and even basketball! Oh, and try to limit your sugar intake. Desserts are indeed fun and pretty, but they are dangerously high in calories and bad fats that are harder to burn. If you are accustomed to having dessert every night, try mixing in some fruity desserts and slowly weening yourself away from a chocolate cake, cheeseecake or cookie and soon, you may finding yourself just wanting some apples, watermelon or pineapple (also sugary but better).