I was thinking to myself the other day, you know what we don’t have enough of?
Ineffective and fraudulent diet/fitness products directly marketed to desperate, unknowledgeable people. Don’t we need to do more to make sure they buy one ridiculous product after another in a futile search for the magic cure for their imperfect, loathed bodies? Shouldn’t we be teaching them to fall for one quick and often unhealthy fix after another, instead of occasionally trying to promote informed food choices, daily physical activity, and realistic body acceptance?
So I was excited when this came across my desk, as it was exactly the type of aforementioned product I looking for.
“With Flex Belt, you can train your abs even if you’re too busy or too tired for a traditional workout. Just slip on the comfortable toning belts and the clinically proven, patented medical-grade technology stimulates the nerves that make your muscles contract and relax. As a result, you get an effective abdominal workout that targets all the muscles in your abdomen – all in just 30 minutes a day. ”
So I’ve been busting my ass in the gym for a six pack when all I had to do was buy this?? Wasting all this time when I could have been using this belt in my knitting class, and getting fit while I knit? God, don’t I feel stupid now.
Everyday, as we sit are our desks and surf the net, (instead of working), we are bombarded with these images of what we are suppose to look like, these unnaturally thin, ruler type bodies that are deemed beautiful. Meanwhile, Americans held prisoners at their desks are busting through their double pleats while eating breakfast and lunch (chips, cookies, coke) from the vending machine. Exhausted, they go home to watch TV, gnaw on lettuce before later breaking down out of frustration and hunger and eating an entire bag of Oreos.
But with the Flex Belt, they can eat as many Oreos as they want, right?
Ridiculous.
Abso.fucking.lutely.ridiculous.
In an age where offensive and ridiculous diet charlatanism is endemic, this product actually managed to truly disgust me. Perhaps it’s because I’ve worked so hard for my barely there six-pack and know firsthand not only hard it is to get, but also to maintain. I guess if I had one wish for Mr. Flex Belt creator, it would be that those of you who are profiteering from this scam should somehow be wrapped into about 100 of these belts and then have the intensity be turned up to 100 on each. But, I can bet my thought isn’t original, as it’s a matter of time before the full body belt that melts away fat as you eat comes to fruition.