Rant about Main stream fitness mags out there

banks1850

So every once in a while I pick up a copy of mens health or mens fitness or sometimes
if it has articles on food or exercise, I pick up GQ. Recently over the last couple of
weeks, I notices a couple of things that, before I started working out, I just chuckled at,
but now, knowing how hard it is to get even 1 hour of good exercise in every day, I am
angry.

What do these magazines think anyway? That we each have 3 to 4 hours a day to do
a 2 hour work out and spend 2 hours in the kitchen preparing the 22 items needed,
and "pre-sear the meat for 10 minutes before baking for 40 minutes". Where do these people
live? Fairytale land? My wife and I are both moderately sucessful people WITH NO
KIDS, that work about 50 to 60 hours a week, we have barely the time to do a 1 to 2 hour
work out and spend 20 minutes making dinner at night, that is with pre-making half
the stuff we eat during the week. I mean, seriously, we barely have lives during the week and
we still have very little time to work out and prepare meals. These guys drive me nuts with
their 20 ingredient foods that have to be made fresh.

I could imagine how hard this would be with kids. Ugh, these magazines just annoy me.
forget the exercises, half of the exercises they profess are on machines that are too expensive for my GYM to buy, never mind me personally.

banks1850

So every once in a while I pick up a copy of mens health or mens fitness or sometimes
if it has articles on food or exercise, I pick up GQ. Recently over the last couple of
weeks, I notices a couple of things that, before I started working out, I just chuckled at,
but now, knowing how hard it is to get even 1 hour of good exercise in every day, I am
angry.

What do these magazines think anyway? That we each have 3 to 4 hours a day to do
a 2 hour work out and spend 2 hours in the kitchen preparing the 22 items needed,
and "pre-sear the meat for 10 minutes before baking for 40 minutes". Where do these people
live? Fairytale land? My wife and I are both moderately sucessful people WITH NO
KIDS, that work about 50 to 60 hours a week, we have barely the time to do a 1 to 2 hour
work out and spend 20 minutes making dinner at night, that is with pre-making half
the stuff we eat during the week. I mean, seriously, we barely have lives during the week and
we still have very little time to work out and prepare meals. These guys drive me nuts with
their 20 ingredient foods that have to be made fresh.

I could imagine how hard this would be with kids. Ugh, these magazines just annoy me.
forget the exercises, half of the exercises they profess are on machines that are too expensive for my GYM to buy, never mind me personally.

julieofthewolves

Ditto to the Dinks (double income, no kids) here. My husband and I work so hard, so many hours and volunteer a lot. So, we don't have time to work in a work out let alone create gourmet meals. (Although I am sitting here eating home-made pumkpin filled wontons with gorgonzola sauce. This isn't normal, but I took a time out to actually cook something inspirational on Sunday. )

I also can't imagine how stressed out I would be with children and am amazed at those who can pull this off.

I think these magazines are just one more way we sabotoge ourselves by trying to stack up to these unrealistic people and their lives. It can't be done. It is a made up world for the 99% of us who live fairly normal hectic lives.

Banks - try what I do and next time read it for the entertainment value rather than any real value. I loften times augh at what they have women wearing, doing and looking like. I don't know anyone who lives this stuff.

banks1850

We should start a new magazine, called "No Six Packs! The fitness magazine for NORMAL people"

julieofthewolves

Great idea!

Razboo

Clearly, you are supposed to hire a chef. What's the big question??

Just kidding!!

I'm lucky I'm a meat & potatoes guy myself. Nothing fancy on my menu, but I've had to cut out some stuff from my list. Not so much red meat and I used to be such a huge hamburger fan, too. Now I eat a lot of ham and fish and the beef usually is in the form of a stir fry, so there's not so much of it.

I've been making a list of things that are roughly one calorie / gram and try to avoid things that are much higher. Interestingly, gravy is really low cal.

The thing that ticked me off when I started was rice. I always thought rice was a great diet food, but it is not. Unless you a person who really can eat 1/4 cup of rice and call it a helping.

Well, enough hijacking of your thread. Good luck with your new magazine!

ahertel0214

Okay, so I do agree. As a SIOC (single income 1 child) it can be difficult. I do manage to get in an hour workout about 5 days a week - but some days that consists of running around the park with Juliet.

As far as the food goes - it's not really the prep time that gets me, it's the cost of buying all of these fresh and sometimes a bit out of the ordinary items. They can be really expensive!

I totally agree... I could look like the women on the covers of these magazines if I had a personal trainer, a nanny, and a chef... not to mention some one to airbrush the pictures. It's all about perspective!

Loretta_Jo

Razboo is right they have chefs, and trainers at their beck and call. They also have assistants to take care of things for them. They Have “STAFF”. Things normal everyday people don’t have and never will.
As for the people….the models….we see in those magazines their bodies are they job. Plus those pictures have been “worked” on. Photo shopped or airbrushed what ever they do to make them look that way. :noway:
The weight loss group I belong to has their own magazine. We don’t have any celebrity spokes people in it and we accept no commercial advertising. It is just TOPS members and their success. REAL people with REAL life success. We also have recipes for normal healthy food and other articles pertaining to weight loss for real people.
I am with you when it come to the magazines on the stands. They really need to have something out there for real people that have real lives. I know I would buy it.

Healthier_Me

I was able to get in about 2-3 hours of exercise when I had only 1 kid thanks to my hubby but now with this ankle biter it's almost impossible to get atleast an hour. I try to pop in a workout DVD and try to do it with her but she turns it into a ring-around-the-rosie marathon.

You know what else bugs the he!! out of me?????......
Magazines & shows like ET & Access Hollywood constantly mentioning how fast celebs lose their "baby weight"... WTH???
They have the money for a personal trainer AND a chef.... give me a friggin break!

Ok... I'm good now :happy:

cmriverside

(from Loretta's post)
I am with you when it come to the magazines on the stands. They really need to have something out there for real people that have real lives. I know I would buy it.

As a SNINK (single, no income, no kids) - I am always looking for a business opportunity. I believe this magazine could be made! Loretta, would you send me a copy of one of your TOPS magazines so I can take a look at it? I promise I'll send it back!

If you would be willing, email me with your picture as an attachment and "MFP" in the subject ine, and I'll give you my address. I'm going to disguise my email address, so it can't be phished - here it is: cheryl(dot)dolphin (at) (google's email service) gmail -and then the normal.....[ (dot) com ending]

~cmriverside

amandagreen1980

Cheryl
If you are serious about the magazine I would love to help! :flowerforyou: I am a Graphic Designer and want some magazine experience! I currently only design flyers, brochures and adverts!

Amanda

banks1850

ooh, I don't want to produce a whole magazine, but I was an english minor (weird I know, Degree in IT with a minor in English) in college and would be willing to take on a managing editor (or even just a columnist) roll if people are interested in running with it, I did write for my college newspaper (about 150 years ago I think).

Healthier_Me

Ooohhh...will there be an MFP mag in the works???? :happy:

Loretta_Jo

Hi Cheryl,
Email sent. :bigsmile:

:flowerforyou:

cmriverside

wow! There is some interest! I don't know if we could call it an MFP Magazine.....and just so's ya know: I have no "formal" magazine experience, but I too was a journalism major (in the days before IT ).

This is one of those great ideas that just screams DO IT! Banks, I'm going to do some research and get back to this thread.

~cm

Eve23

Sounds like fun:bigsmile:

I have written articles on the web for other writers if you can believe that.

Anyway I rarely look at magazines anymore but my daughter who is 15 does get a few. She is always ranting about the unrealistic people and things they put in them and like I said she is 15. I am so lucky she is able to see it for what it is.

Eve

cmriverside

Hi Cheryl,
Email sent. :bigsmile:

:flowerforyou:

Got it, thanks! I sent you my info.

Woo!

~cheryl

banks1850

Sounds like a plan :happy:

Let me know if you want me to do anything. I am always full of ideas, I'm sure I could drum up quite a few between us, and my wife's gym friends for stories for people.

Loretta_Jo

:bigsmile:

amandagreen1980

Yeah def, there are bound to be lots of success stories from people on here and people they know!
How exciting!
:laugh:

Razboo

...And an empire is born?