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Weight loss ads are everywhere. I mean every-fucking-where. They are on the television, the radio, in pop-ups and web page sidebars. On roadside billboards, and in magazines and newspapers. They are being promoted into our Facebook feeds. There are weight loss spam bots on twitter.
Like I said, every-fucking-where.
And I get it, I really do, that these ads focus on the “standard of beauty” and aren’t representing the populace as a whole, or that they are intending to promote a healthier lifestyle, and that obesity is a big problem in America, especially in the southeast.
But. I saw an ad on my fb feed this morning. All credit for the pic below to the site advertising it, dieting-plus (dot) com, because I want no claim to this bullshit.
Quick disclaimer: there are naturally thin people, naturally large people, naturally tall people, and naturally short people, and so on and so forth. Rock on, all of you. My rant isn’t about disgust at the various types of people’s bodies, my disgust is at the advertisement’s insinuations.
This ad said (paraphrasing) “She lost 23 pounds! Click here to find out how!”
The picture on the right was the “after” picture. The results. The “better looking” picture.
The picture on the left was the “before” picture. The one that needed to lose weight.
When I see shit like this…
I mean, I would love to look like the “before” picture. And this ad makes me feel that this woman was not good enough, that she needed to lose all that “extra” weight. Imagine how that makes all 5’11” and 250+ pounds of me feel. When I can’t even reach the goals I want to, and then have a weight loss ad tell me even that wouldn’t be enough.
akaKody 
Jesus. I like the before pic way better!
I honestly can’t even tell the difference – I guess the first one’s thighs are a bit dimply and touch in the middle, but that’s pretty definitely been ‘fixed’ by her standing differently and having a fake tan applied in the second one, No way there’s a 23lb loss or gain between the two pictures. Which isn’t the point, I know, but it’s an additional layer of WTF.
You are so right. The average size woman in the US is a 14. I’m sure you are beautiful just the way you are.
ABSOLUTELY and the horse they road in on!! Where the hell did this girl lose weight? Between her toes? Did she have this gigantic butt protrusion we can’t see in the first photo! Wow, that’s truly atrocious. And, yeah, I could wear a size 6 until around 2009, but my BEFORE picture in 2002 definitely looks like a woman who was 60 pounds heavier after I lost weight, but this girl makes me wanna shovel more fried food and whatever into my pie hole cuz if she’s FAT, then my now size 12/14ish behind is OBESE no matter what my BMI or what the scale says!
Everything around us is geared to say two things. 1) You are worthless as a human being if you are fat! How dare you?! 2) Weight loss is Easy! Just take our pills/diet food/exercise regime/latest new procedure and just watch the pounds fly off. How dare you be fat when losing weight is just sooooo easy!
All of it’s a lie. Weight loss is HARD work. There are lots of physical reasons that it’s hard to lose weight, age, hormones etc., and the changes needed to be made to actually lose weight are permament ones or else you’re just going to gain all that weight back. The urge to just give up is there everytime you come up against an obstacle. The urge to stuff your face with unhealthy ‘comfort’ foods is there anytime something goes wrong because we have all been raised to pretty much eat our feelings. It’s hard, hard work and I can only offer best wishes in reaching your weight loss goal. You have my admiration.
Btw, I am 37, a single mom, 5’3″, and between 230-250lbs. (Scale currently has a dead battery, but I don’t weigh myself on a reg basis anyways). I put single mom first because THAT is what defines me, not my physical looks.
Okay, SO I just found this post that you obvisly wrote about me. Yepp that’s me in the picture. First of all, I’m NOT an average american woman, I’m from Sweden. Second: I have never, NEVER taken any diet pills, tried ANY diets, taken any Medical help and so on. MY picture has been stolen by Companys for advertisment all over the World. Claiming that I used this pill or that diet. BUT I DID NOT!!!! I did my weightloss all natural with cardio/powerwalking, gym, less junk food/snacks and more healthy food and nothing else. I’m so sick of people telling me I was so much prettier Before (it’s just SO rude), it’s not me on both of the Pictures (Oh yes it is, the first one is when I were in Crete, 2nd home in my room), that I have different skintone on the 2nd picture (may be cause it was in the end of the summer and I’ve tanned all summer long, so NOOOOO it’s not a fake tan) and so on.
I really can’t belive how rude people can be. Seriously, I’m a human with feelings just like everybody else and I gets to me when you for example say how cute I was before and how I’m not now.
Even if I was cuter Before, I’m so much more happier now. I lost the Pound I needed (17,5 for those of you who think I didn’t lost anything) and is much more healthy today and therefor will have a better/longer Life.
I’ll post my blog here as well so you can see it’s really me and then I hope you’ll help me spread this instead of putting me in a bad seat.
Hugs!