“Wellness” & Weight Watchers ® & Peloton® Down Bad
Peloton and Weight Watchers—sorry WW—are BIG brands. The former has never made a dime, but its stock used to be $167.42 a share. Weight Watchers, a trailblazer since 1963, witnessed a peak in sales around 2012, nearing almost $2 billion, but now sees a drastic fall to about $800,000, with its stock at a mere $1.73. Both brands are in decline due to the same Fundamental misunderstandings about “calorie burning”!!
The crux of Weight Watchers' model was its POINT system, essentially a rebranded calorie count, which operated on the premise that you could eat whatever you wanted within your Point limit, especially if you exercised and then you got MORE Points!! However, this model, much like the vigorous exercise promoted by Peloton, fails to address the underlying facts about our bodies, notably the impact of the major GUT hormone such as Cortisol. Dear ole Cortisol gets us up in the Morning but then should drop. In obese people, it stays elevated which means increased hunger. Particularly bad is when it is post vigorous exercise. This flawed approach contributes to the broader issue within the “wellness” industry which used to be about appearances, but then switched to promoting health. The industry which some estimate is almost $3 trillion has failed at health and beauty!
Obviously, telling a 5'2'' female with bowlegs that she can look like Giselle if she does 100 Pilates Leg Lifts is just ridiculous— except that everyone bought it!! So when people began to size up – today 65% are obese— and also need hip and knee replacements from the “go for the burn” exercise, the industry switched to marketing HEALTH. Amidst these total failures, the Pharmaceutical companies were working hard and now the result is our Salvation. Thank you Danes for Ozempic. On the other hand, both Novo Nordisk which makes Ozempic and Eli Lilly which puts out Mounjaro are continuing the “health and wellness” formulas that have failed. This mantra that everyone loves—"Eat Healthy and Exercise More”— is still touted as complementary to these drugs when it is the EXACT OPPOSITE. Thus, the reason I offered to Weight Watchers—sorry WW—to own the 80 Bites program which trains one to eat less, less often supporting the radical understanding that it's not the type of food but the quantity that matters most. This revelation aligns with these miracle weight loss drugs that deliver because they reduce hunger. No they don’t purport to torch binge calories. The popularity of diets like intermittent fasting which seems to teach eating less except it doesn’t. IF only limits when you can stuff your face. It is artificial and tacky which dooms users to failure.
Testimonials and those famous “before and after” have long misled the public. The truth remains simple: eat less, less often, and choose foods that taste good in your own mouth. Not in the mouth of some wellness dietician who insists you eat kale. The realization that taste and enjoyment should guide our dietary choices, rather than restrictive dieting narratives, is finally getting heard. Why? We all know that no one is fat because she eats fries with her sandwich instead of a kale salad. BINGEING is what adds the pounds.
As we consider the failure of companies like Peloton and Weight Watchers, it's evident that we need to shift: FORGET all the fake science and the nutritional directives. Exercise is very beneficial but it is NOT a weight loss solution. No one needs a degree in nutrition to eat lunch. Peloton's rise and probable fall serve as a cautionary tale of market trends disconnected from reality. Similarly, Weight Watchers' decline signals the end of an era of pain and shame. Now let’s make way for enjoyment and taste and class and happiness. Remember, when no one thought about health we were slim and “healthy. ” No one cared about the H word: we all just wanted to be sexy and attractive and we were!!