Positively Against Scams!
May 3, 2012 – 8:41 am
In my recent objection to Crossfit’s unsavory advertisement of a children’s hospital, I received a nasty post from a fake facebook profile, “Sonnon your always claiming to be so positive and yet you want to attack Crossfit because we are so much more successful than you. In reality your a bitter competitor using negativeity to criticize your betters. If you were actually a positive person youd say something good about companies who are more successful than you.”
1. The poster mistakes “bright-sidedness” for positivity. Sometimes the most empowering message you can utter is, “No.” Standing idly by and ignoring malicious and unethical treatment and pretending to see the “bright side” is a form a self-deceptive cowardice. Truly positive messages are not a denial of negativity, but an affirmative resistance to it. I’m “positive” that the advertising that Crossfit has been using is inappropriate, disrespectful and demeaning to both women and children.
Concocting a facade of positivity to avoid objecting to abusive, disrespectful behavior isn’t “positive.” It’s the worst kind of negative: the one which can never heal, never protect itself, never take positive action of growth and development.
If you see something, say something. That’s positive.
2. This issue begs another topic today, the one related to the image in this photo: scams, in particular rapid weight loss scams. In an endless barrage, I receive “network affiliate” requests to sell the latest “get thin fast” scheme. Today’s touts losing 25lbs of fat in 25 days - not water weight, not muscle loss - pure fat loss: one pound of fat lost every day for 25 days.
Folks, you’re smarter than that, and you know it. But there are those out there who don’t know that these are unhealthy, dangerous scams. There’s so much wrong with this attitude:
A. Rapid weight loss is primarily expulsion of water retention. As a competitive wrestler, grappler and fighter for 30 years, I’ve seen, tried and evaluated almost every known method of “weight loss” imaginable. When you lose fast, you’re losing primarily water, not fat.
B. When you lose weight fast, you’re almost always cannibalizing muscle tissue, as well. You are losing muscle, which means you’ll eventually back-slide, since muscle burns fat. Lose fast = lose muscle = gain fat = “skinny fat” which eventually returns to “over-fat” again. It’s an endless loop.
C. The sudden metabolic ignition of adipose tissue can lead to a toxic burden by your organs, as volatile chemistry embeds in fat stores, so to ensure healthy fat loss which your system can process safely, target 1-2 pounds of fat burn per week.
D. Weight isn’t even an accurate measure of health and fitness, as muscle weighs more than fat, and as you grow stronger and healthier, you’re going to GAIN weight.
Those of you who know me, know that I don’t look for the “bright message” in everything. I look for the growth in every challenge, and the opportunity in each situation for us to develop as individuals and as a community.
Sometimes, the most positive message you can utter is, “No.”
Trust your intuition. Rely upon your common sense. If something sounds too good to be true it’s often not a “little good and a little true.” It’s usually the opposite: all bad and totally deceptive.
As a business owner, I’ve made mistakes in the past, and tried to “look at the bright side” when people I’ve worked with behaved in ways that made me uncomfortable. But every time I ignored my intuition and neglected to obey reason, I got into trouble.
Believe in your innate wisdom, and your inherent ability to detect BS. Call them as you see them.
V/R,
Scott Sonnon
