Do You Still Believe in Weight Loss Scams?

Last week here in Chicago, King of the scammers Kevin Trudeau was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 10 years in jail. Clad in an orange prison jumpsuit, Trudeau stood before the judge and insisted “If I ever write a book again, if I ever do another infomercial again, I promise no embellishment, no puffery, and absolutely no lies.” The judge was unimpressed. He declared Trudeau “deceitful to the core.”

Charges against Trudeau originated from fraudulent claims made in and about his book “The Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About.” It was nothing but a weight loss scam. The diet plan was marketed as “easy” but actually required severe calorie restriction and an extremely limited choice of foods. Trudeau ran into serious legal problems when he ignored court orders by the Federal Trade Commission to stop making deceitful claims after consumer complaints.

Trudeau was tried in Federal court here in Chicago so we probably saw a lot more of it in the news than elsewhere. Each time I saw a report, a ranting “supporter” was always featured. Yes, there are people who insist that Trudeau is being “silenced”  and persecuted by the government because he dared to tell the truth! The truth THEY didn’t want you to know! There were incidents where these supporters disrupted court proceedings and had to be hauled out. When the cameras were around, they wanted to get on air and let the world know this prosecution was a TRAVESTY and the government was trying to silence the REAL TRUTH!

Kirstie Alley has all but abandoned her acting career and has instead spent the last several years selling her weight loss drama. She loses it, she gains it back, she makes a reality show about it, she loses it, she gains it back… She has had at least two websites selling weight loss products, making claims that she lost weight with the products. She’s also pushed her products on QVC. She was sued over the latest, the “Organic Liaisons” product line, which includes a “weight loss elixir” for $20 a bottle. The “fresh and easy” program is “state of the art”! Of course it does two things: Gives you loads of energy and boosts your metabolism! For $99/month, you get various apps and “tools” and an assortment of capsules to swallow throughout the day.

Update on 4/7/2014: Kirstie Alley is back in the media spotlight with a new sitcom and talking about how she has gained her weight back AGAIN. Apparently she’s not using her own products and services? She has announced that she’s doing Jenny Craig again.

At their core, there’s really little difference between these two stories and all the other “easy” claims and outright weight loss scams out there—The metabolism boosters, the fat burners, the exercise gadgets, the “just eat and lose weight” diet programs. We are willing to believe lies when they promise what we want the most desperately. We’ll “fall for it” again and again and go right to the next product and program that tells us what we want to hear. This multi-billion dollar industry of deliberate deceit exists because managing weight is so viciously difficult to do! These quick and easy fixes are actually PROOF of how desperately we struggle or their claims wouldn’t appeal to what becomes a vulnerability and a desperate, fervent hope.

There are two types of weight loss scams: Outright snake oil that does nothing and products/programs that would get some results but they are a LOT more difficult than they are represented to be. I think of that every time I see some happy group of super fit people lovin’ some “easy and fun” workout that’s so great, you won’t even think it’s exercise! Until you try it for a minute.

It’s very difficult to let go of that hope that there’s a secret diet or a magic program that will be so easy and fun and effective, it will change your life. Look into your own life, connect with your own body and mind. Accept who you are, how your mind works, and what your body does. Nothing will change your life for you. You make the changes that work uniquely for you.