106: Weight Loss vs Lifestyle Change

The news that weight loss company Jenny Craig is shutting down had me thinking back on my times in Weight Watchers. Jenny Craig was a meal replacement system where you bought prepackaged foods or foods that were already calorie counted and macro portioned with the goal of weight loss. Weight Watchers is essentially the same: counting points assigned to food to reach a certain goal that will result in weight loss. Now, though, many weight loss companies are catching on that lifestyle changes are more in line with today’s goals. We want to be healthy, we want wellness, and they are pivoting to include that. So how can you determine what program is an actual lifestyle change program and which is still a weight loss system with an overlay of lifestyle change marketing?The biggest question to ask is “is the goal of the program still to have you shrink your body?” If the goal isn’t just a healthier lifestyle but also to reduce the size of your body, the program is still just a weight loss program. Dieting is traumatizing. It does terrible things to our bodies, health, minds, and our souls. There is a lot of value in having a healthier lifestyle, absolutely, but dieting is dangerous. So I’m going to talk about things that suggest a program is more aligned with weight loss than lifestyle or health, drawing on my experiences with Weight Watchers. I have seven points to share with you. Seven points to watch out for to determine if a lifestyle program is just weight loss system in disguise. Resources discussed in this episode:“Jenny Craig bankrupt, will close down business in US and Canada” by Pete Evans for CBC News—Learn more about Dr Michelle Tubman and Wayza Health:Website: www.wayzahealth.comFollow me on Facebook and Instagram