Diet is a four letter word
I have been thinking a lot about religion lately. Namely, my own personal search for a greater truth that rings completely and utterly true. I have yet to find one that I can accept and practice wholeheartedly.
But I did start thinking about the skeleton of most religions-a set of beliefs describing the workings of the world and its people, defined practices and/or rituals, a spiritual guide, and some sort of end result-peace, eternal life, etc...Often there are devout followers who preach their own belief system to anyone who will (or won't) listen.
My question is-how is this different from dieting?
Hear me out-I am not saying we should replace religion with dieting-I am just saying there is a correlation between how both are marketed and practiced. Let's start with the beginning:
1) Most diet books offer a (fairly) easy premise to understand, which is the basis of the diet. Like accepting Jesus as one's personal savior or the concept that life is suffering, there is usually one premise that acts as the underlying foundation for the diet-all carbs/fat/transfats/red meat, i. e. is/are evil and should be shunned. Usually, there are larger societal factors at play, such as a more modernized economy has led to a more sedentary life and more processed foods, etc...
2) Defined practices and/or rituals-like memorizing commandments, prayers, or rituals, dieters are encouraged to read, learn, and absorb information about their chosen diets, much like devout worshippers. I myself can give a pretty good estimate of how many calories I have ingested each day-like forswearing non-Kosher foods, I regularly avoid high-calorie fare that I deem "not worth" the sin (and penance) of ingesting. If not calories, then a list of specific foods to (or not to) eat, charts, indexes, etc...Tell me how attending Weight Watchers meetings is not like attending Sunday School.
3) Spiritual Guides-like many preachers, pastors, ministers, imams, whateveryoucall them, diet book authors and creators claim to know the one and only path to the Weightloss. According to these doctors and nondoctors, all other diet gurus will lead you down the wrong path to a hell of failure and weight-related problems. They all explicitly point out what is wrong with other theories and beliefs and how science backs up their claim. Sounds like the debate between Creationism and Evolution to me....
4)The Money Shot-Most religions offer some sort of everlasting life and/or peace. An end result that makes all of the pain, suffering, and hard work worth it. All diets offer this same prize of accomplishment-Do What I Say and Ye Shall Overcome....and Slip into a Size 4.
There are closet dieters-people who are ashamed of their chosen "religion" and, like Peter, will deny that they are on a diet rather than admit the truth, for fear of shame and humiliation. No one likes to admit that they are a "sinner."
Then there are the opposite, people who try to "spread the good news" about their chosen religion and make as many converts as they can. If we become a low-carb nation, more low-carb food choices will be available for everyone and we can all be happy and trim, right?
There are people like me, who weigh themselves religiously (every day) and read everything they can about the various diets and exercise, seeking the truth of how to lose weight and be healthy. The goal is to be healthy, live long, and look acceptable. Sometimes, it borders on fanatic. We are checked by guilt. We do penance for our sins.
Then there are atheistic dieters-people who don't give a damn about what the most current (read: popular) truth peddler says and will eat whatever they please. To hell with heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, etc....these are the Taoists of the diet world.
So I guess my question is-do diets market like religions or are religions marketing like diets? Which is a more disturbing concept? And, more personally, do I myself gravitate towards health and nutritional information because it is the only "tangible" (i.e. based on science) "religion" that I have been able to find?
That was either a really deep thought or a really lame one.
Or maybe it's just late and I am tired.
But I did start thinking about the skeleton of most religions-a set of beliefs describing the workings of the world and its people, defined practices and/or rituals, a spiritual guide, and some sort of end result-peace, eternal life, etc...Often there are devout followers who preach their own belief system to anyone who will (or won't) listen.
My question is-how is this different from dieting?
Hear me out-I am not saying we should replace religion with dieting-I am just saying there is a correlation between how both are marketed and practiced. Let's start with the beginning:
1) Most diet books offer a (fairly) easy premise to understand, which is the basis of the diet. Like accepting Jesus as one's personal savior or the concept that life is suffering, there is usually one premise that acts as the underlying foundation for the diet-all carbs/fat/transfats/red meat, i. e. is/are evil and should be shunned. Usually, there are larger societal factors at play, such as a more modernized economy has led to a more sedentary life and more processed foods, etc...
2) Defined practices and/or rituals-like memorizing commandments, prayers, or rituals, dieters are encouraged to read, learn, and absorb information about their chosen diets, much like devout worshippers. I myself can give a pretty good estimate of how many calories I have ingested each day-like forswearing non-Kosher foods, I regularly avoid high-calorie fare that I deem "not worth" the sin (and penance) of ingesting. If not calories, then a list of specific foods to (or not to) eat, charts, indexes, etc...Tell me how attending Weight Watchers meetings is not like attending Sunday School.
3) Spiritual Guides-like many preachers, pastors, ministers, imams, whateveryoucall them, diet book authors and creators claim to know the one and only path to the Weightloss. According to these doctors and nondoctors, all other diet gurus will lead you down the wrong path to a hell of failure and weight-related problems. They all explicitly point out what is wrong with other theories and beliefs and how science backs up their claim. Sounds like the debate between Creationism and Evolution to me....
4)The Money Shot-Most religions offer some sort of everlasting life and/or peace. An end result that makes all of the pain, suffering, and hard work worth it. All diets offer this same prize of accomplishment-Do What I Say and Ye Shall Overcome....and Slip into a Size 4.
There are closet dieters-people who are ashamed of their chosen "religion" and, like Peter, will deny that they are on a diet rather than admit the truth, for fear of shame and humiliation. No one likes to admit that they are a "sinner."
Then there are the opposite, people who try to "spread the good news" about their chosen religion and make as many converts as they can. If we become a low-carb nation, more low-carb food choices will be available for everyone and we can all be happy and trim, right?
There are people like me, who weigh themselves religiously (every day) and read everything they can about the various diets and exercise, seeking the truth of how to lose weight and be healthy. The goal is to be healthy, live long, and look acceptable. Sometimes, it borders on fanatic. We are checked by guilt. We do penance for our sins.
Then there are atheistic dieters-people who don't give a damn about what the most current (read: popular) truth peddler says and will eat whatever they please. To hell with heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, etc....these are the Taoists of the diet world.
So I guess my question is-do diets market like religions or are religions marketing like diets? Which is a more disturbing concept? And, more personally, do I myself gravitate towards health and nutritional information because it is the only "tangible" (i.e. based on science) "religion" that I have been able to find?
That was either a really deep thought or a really lame one.
Or maybe it's just late and I am tired.
posted by waltzingmathilda @ 11:03 PM
2 Comments:
At 9:13 AM,
Kevin Smith said…
Religion has the oldest, most well tested marketing program in the world. Give the people what they want. People want a reason, they want comfort, they want answers. Religion provides all.
Personally, I worship at the religion of professional sport(sign of the football, baseball moon rising in Red Sox). Sure, it's corrupt, filled with cheating. But it makes no pretense about money like other religions do. Like other religions, it's filled with its mantras and commandments - it is what it is, we're taking it one game at a time, I don't care what their record says - they're a tough team over there, and so on.
We have our rituals - we worship in Sundays in our living rooms, preferrably with pizza, wings, and beer, as we watch our own sect take another sect apart.
And the great thing about it all is that guilt has no place in this religion.
Go Pats.
At 9:31 AM,
waltzingmathilda said…
Kevin, being a Red Sox fan for as long as you have, we all know you have to have some sort of faith that can transcend reality...
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