The news promo announced “A new diet lets you eat whatever you want including ice cream and pizza and still lose weight! Find out how at 10!” You bet I had to tune in!
This latest weight loss gimmick is a set of measuring cups and spoons and a poster. For $80. The creators of the diet are a couple of guys, one of whom says he lost 50 lbs on their “diet.” They tell you to eat anything you want, ANYTHING. Which is what everyone wants to be told they can do and still lose weight too. Just measure your portions with their eighty-dollar plastic measuring cups and that’s it. If you don’t already know how to use regular measuring cups, I’ll expect that you should go ahead and spend $80 on this set.
The idea of a portion-control gimmick is not new. There have been sectioned plates and containers available for years. Somebody has put the old idea in a shiny new package and paid a PR firm to get them media coverage. One of the guys looked he should be the Tanning Mom’s leathery boyfriend. I’m not going to add to their publicity by posting their product name but I will tell you what I found when I googled them. First, a bit of background.
Earlier this year I entered the instructional ebook business. This differs somewhat from retail. This type of ebook is generally sold directly from a website as a PDF file or a self-executable file. My ebook was the latter. I was shocked to discover that shortly after its release, a number of “reviews” began to appear across the Internet. Some of the “reviews” were quite detailed and extensive! All kinds of people were claiming they had rigorously evaluated and assessed my ebook and they give it a glowing thumbs up! Really? Wow! Actually. NO. These “reviews” appeared even before my ebook scored its first sales.
There are websites that simply collect content. Some of them even create content by automation. Read carefully and you realize that the content is quite devoid of detail and speaks in generalizations. Most of these types of websites purport to “review” products. Like my ebook. And like every new diet and fitness product EVER. There can even be “reviews” of the “review” which appear to be posted by satisfied and happy customers.
These websites exist to capture web traffic, get listed in web searches, and expose eyes to ads. Weight loss gimmicks are a huge market for these sites. Do a little googling and you’ll find LOADS of “reviews” for everything from “The Embarrassingly Easy Diet” to eighty dollar pieces of plastic from China. Yes, this new breakthrough product is already reviewed all over the Internet. If a site is not specifically branded by any company or publication and appears generic, it’s just junk content trying to capture your visit and show you some ads.
This latest miracle diet has “flash in the (plastic) pan” written all over it, in my estimation. Learning portion control is a good basic skill that should become intuitive over time. While you’re learning, a set of measuring cups from the dollar store will work just fine.
