An Apology to All My Weight Loss Clients

weese17
weese17 Posts: 236 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I just stumbled upon this on HuffPost, and thought it provided some good food for thought. (Pun fully intended.)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/iris-higgins/an-open-apology-to-all-of_b_3762714.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

Former shill for "popular weight loss company" (unnamed) apologizes for all the women she put on 1200 calorie diets. I quote:

"I owe you an apology, my former client and now friend, who I helped to lose too much weight. Who I watched gain the weight back, plus some. Because that's what happens when you put someone on a 1,200 calorie diet. But I didn't know. If you're reading this, then I want you to know that you have always been beautiful. And that all these fad diets are crap meant to screw with your metabolism so that you have to keep buying into them. I think now that I was a really good weight loss consultant. Because I did exactly what the company wanted (but would never dare say). I helped you lose weight and then gain it back, so that you thought we were the solution and you were the failure. You became a repeat client and we kept you in the game. I guess I did my job really well."

Replies

  • delicious_cocktail
    delicious_cocktail Posts: 5,797 Member
    That article really upsets me.

    NO. You don't get to apologize and have it all become okay. You don't get to fuel people's body dysmorphia and take their money and knowingly exacerbate their condition in order to continue to take their money.

    This would be like a shady mortgage broker from the early 2000s writing an open-letter to all of the people they conned into accepting ARMs and interest-only loans that you knew they couldn't afford.
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
    If this article helps one person off the hamster-wheel of commercial dieting, that's a good thing!
  • SadFaerie
    SadFaerie Posts: 243 Member
    Sob stories do nothing to me, but loved the "Out body image heroes" section, featuring notorious yo yo dieters Lady Gaga and Christina Aguilera; or Beth Ditto, whose image on my fridge would surefire freeze me halfway.
  • weese17
    weese17 Posts: 236 Member
    That article really upsets me.

    NO. You don't get to apologize and have it all become okay. You don't get to fuel people's body dysmorphia and take their money and knowingly exacerbate their condition in order to continue to take their money.

    This would be like a shady mortgage broker from the early 2000s writing an open-letter to all of the people they conned into accepting ARMs and interest-only loans that you knew they couldn't afford.

    I don't think she thinks she's making it all okay -- I don't read anywhere that she's expecting forgiveness.

    But I thought that it was good to read an article written by a former drinker-of-the-kool-aid, who has realized what a load of crap she was selling and wants other people to have the same realization.
  • AZ_Danny
    AZ_Danny Posts: 50 Member
    if there's no apology then you're a horrible person incapable of ever being forgiven because you should be sorry for what you've done. If you're sorry for what you've done and apologize, you're a horrible person incapable of ever being forgiven because you never should have done anything wrong.

    There's no pleasing some people. I, personally, commend this individual for coming forward
  • jen_zz
    jen_zz Posts: 1,011 Member
    Thanks for sharing.
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
    That article really upsets me.

    NO. You don't get to apologize and have it all become okay. You don't get to fuel people's body dysmorphia and take their money and knowingly exacerbate their condition in order to continue to take their money.

    This would be like a shady mortgage broker from the early 2000s writing an open-letter to all of the people they conned into accepting ARMs and interest-only loans that you knew they couldn't afford.

    Apologizing and forgiveness are what is needed. YES, ANYONE can apologize when they have wronged someone, either intentionally or unintentionally.

    As a matter of fact, those coaches that don't know because they are doing what is asked of them are doing so UNINTENTIONALLY, not on purpose.
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
    if there's no apology then you're a horrible person incapable of ever being forgiven because you should be sorry for what you've done. If you're sorry for what you've done and apologize, you're a horrible person incapable of ever being forgiven because you never should have done anything wrong.

    There's no pleasing some people. I, personally, commend this individual for coming forward

    Me too
  • HolyPeas
    HolyPeas Posts: 71
    Am I the only one who finds this pathetic? There is nothing wrong with calorie restricting to 1200 calories and in some circumstances thats the best route to go. I don't know.

    We all make our choices in life. Taking the blame for other people gaining wait smacks of some kind of strange martyrdom syndrome to me.
  • Otterluv
    Otterluv Posts: 9,083 Member
    That article really upsets me.

    NO. You don't get to apologize and have it all become okay. You don't get to fuel people's body dysmorphia and take their money and knowingly exacerbate their condition in order to continue to take their money.

    This would be like a shady mortgage broker from the early 2000s writing an open-letter to all of the people they conned into accepting ARMs and interest-only loans that you knew they couldn't afford.

    QFT
  • jmarie1967
    jmarie1967 Posts: 51 Member
    That article really upsets me.

    NO. You don't get to apologize and have it all become okay. You don't get to fuel people's body dysmorphia and take their money and knowingly exacerbate their condition in order to continue to take their money.

    This would be like a shady mortgage broker from the early 2000s writing an open-letter to all of the people they conned into accepting ARMs and interest-only loans that you knew they couldn't afford.

    I don't think she thinks she's making it all okay -- I don't read anywhere that she's expecting forgiveness.

    But I thought that it was good to read an article written by a former drinker-of-the-kool-aid, who has realized what a load of crap she was selling and wants other people to have the same realization.
    Well Said!!! Agree 100%...
  • jmarie1967
    jmarie1967 Posts: 51 Member
    Am I the only one who finds this pathetic? There is nothing wrong with calorie restricting to 1200 calories and in some circumstances thats the best route to go. I don't know.

    We all make our choices in life. Taking the blame for other people gaining wait smacks of some kind of strange martyrdom syndrome to me.

    There really is science to support that 1200 or less per day screws with your metabolism and makes it very hard to sustain weight loss.
  • jmarie1967
    jmarie1967 Posts: 51 Member
    if there's no apology then you're a horrible person incapable of ever being forgiven because you should be sorry for what you've done. If you're sorry for what you've done and apologize, you're a horrible person incapable of ever being forgiven because you never should have done anything wrong.

    There's no pleasing some people. I, personally, commend this individual for coming forward

    Me too
    DITTO
  • Jestinia
    Jestinia Posts: 1,153 Member
    If this article helps one person off the hamster-wheel of commercial dieting, that's a good thing!

    Agreed. The article is about so much more than the 1200 controversy. Definitely worth the read.

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