Every day, without fail, I will log onto social media and I will see someone plugging some sort of “get skinny quick” propaganda. Whether it be on a paid advertisement, or a friend from high school turned magic pill pusher in-boxing me some pyramid scheme, it is relentless.

If you jump and stay mid air for 8 weeks and eat only salty sea air, it will work your core and you too will look like me #icallbullshit

See here’s the thing. Just stop.

I find it so inherently dangerous to push ideas that these formula’s work long term. That they are sustainable and realistic.

I also believe that there is a duty of care for these marketers to disclose the long term reality of their sales pitch. Perhaps in a perfect world. One where people have a conscious and a sense of responsibility. One over the incessant need to make a buck.

Just take these pills and with no effort at all you can be Victoria Secret’s next lingerie model #icallbullshit

Chances are, the people who are looking for any quick fixes, do not have the tools to keep the weight off long term. These people that are selling you these “get skinny quick” schemes, are not educating you with long term practices to help you maintain your goal. They take your money and then they run.

They wait until you are back to square one. Waiting in the wings until you are looking for another get skinny quick scheme, because the first one didn’t work. And then they take your money again.

These business’ are predatory.

You can’t drink a “skinny tea” and lose 4 kilos of basically poo that’s been stuck in your intestines, and expect to magically make sensible food choices and exercise once the 4 kilos are lost and the tea is gone.

You can’t sign up for a rigorous 8 week diet plan that basically cuts out any food that brings joy, and expects you to work out 6 days a week, and think you’ll keep it up. It’s not sustainable. A girl’s gotta eat and live longer than 8 weeks!

This is why the fitness industry is such a big marketing money making business. IT’S A BUSINESS!!

They prey on people who want instant gratification.

They prey on people who want results yesterday. People who are wanting to lose weight for the wrong reasons. They prey on people who don’t want to do the actual work it takes to reach their goals.

They don’t actually want you to reach your goals either. Nor do they don’t want you to sustain it. If that happens the product that they are selling becomes redundant.

There I said it. It’s harsh but it’s true and you all need to hear some tough love so you stop wasting your money and efforts on things that will not heal you long term.

If it sounds too good to be true, I’ll give you the hot tip: it is.

The more you invest in these notions, the more you will remain the same and the more these schemes profit!

When you want to lose weight for the wrong reasons, this is when the wheels fall off after the novelty wears off. Let me assure you, the novelty will wear off because you are probably making extreme choices in order to get skinny quicker. Your mindset will turn on you.

Once your body begins to reject the intensity of the propaganda you are fed and let’s be honest, probably paid dearly for, this is when the “fuck it” falls into play and you will come full circle right back to where you started from.

This is where you will probably be inclined to look for the next trendy scheme de jour because that’s how you’ve programmed yourself to behave.

The most recent paid advertisement that I’ve seen in my newsfeed that I feel is incredibly dangerous to mothers everywhere, is one where a mother of five, boasts about going from having a mum bod to having a super fit bod in just 2 months.

Two months. Eight weeks.

Guess what, I call bullshit.

I call bullshit and I’ll tell you why.

I too am a mother of five children who has recently changed my body composition from “mum bod” to “fit bod in the making” and it did NOT TAKE 8 WEEKS.

It is so dangerous to even suggest that is possible! Dangerous for both body and mind.

Of course if you put a sensible and sustainable amount of effort in, with the right diet and exercise you will see noticeable differences in your body in 8 weeks. Although you will not, I repeat not, see the drastic changes in your body that social media advertisements promise you before they take your money!

Want proof?

I’m going to show you my vulnerability here, so you know I must be passionate about this issue.

The following photo, is 6 months worth of progress. My progress. I have severe diastasis recti and here is my attempt to fix the separation and extra skin that has come about as a result. As you can see, over time and much effort, it has improved, although it is still a work in progress. Even after 6 months of eating well and exercising regularly. If I had believed those advertisements, I would have given up after the 8 weeks, thinking there was something wrong with me.

Work in progress. This did NOT take 8 weeks as suggested by some online “fitness gurus”.

How irresponsible of that fellow mother to suggest that I would have failed in some way because I didn’t get there as quickly as she did. That is dangerous thinking…although a brilliant marketing ploy.

These people prey on the defeated.

It takes time to change your body composition, and let me tell you it can be a bit of a mind fuck along the way.

If you take out the pressure and urgency of time that these ads place upon us, realistic goals can absolutely be met!

Did you know that when you begin to lose weight, you don’t always see the benefits initially. In fact, I found in my journey sometimes I looked worse than before I even began. This is because when you begin to lose weight, you may actually shed it in your problem areas last. So while you think you aren’t making any progress, it is still being made. Just in other areas of your body, like your face, arms, or back.

It’s a science though. Trust the process!

Just eat real food, man.

The most important thing to remember when you begin your weight loss journey, is that it’s actually a journey. It should never be a quick fix. These things take time! You need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Be in it for the long haul and that is when the real changes will take place. Write off a year of your life. The year will pass anyway. It’s up to you to choose whether to yoyo diet for the year and be miserable. Or to slow and steady it for lasting progress.

These changes won’t only be physical either. Once you choose to invest in yourself, you will transform as a person.

Stop investing in other people’s business schemes. Instead, invest in yourself by getting back to basics with good food and moderate exercise. Only then will you truly succeed in your weight loss journey.

The most important thing to remember though, is to stay the course. Whatever course you choose.

Just don’t quit. Keep going!

Changes are happening, even if you think you can’t see them!

Be patient and place the power back into your own hands. Not those of the businesses that are exploiting your insecurities!

There I said it fellow Mum’s.

Step away from the pills, the shakes, the extreme programs, and the basic ploy to take your hard earned money.

You are just worth so much more than that.

Rant over.