I never read Cosmo and now I remember why. On a recent trip to the salon for a pedicure I picked up an issue and started browsing through it as I relaxed in the chair. It wasn’t long before I was less than relaxed, a bit fired up actually.
There was an article about how staying healthy “Just Got Easier.” Okay, first of all, staying healthy can be simple but it’s certainly not EASY. This article had seven rules with everything from water drinking to sleep to the amount of exercise you should get. The second rule said “You have to work out for an hour a day” and then proceeded to debunk this “myth.” It’s true, you don’t need an hour to get an awesome workout but in their explanation they talked about how 10 minutes of errands and 10 minutes of cleaning can count as exercise. Are you kidding? Those are called normal daily activities and should not be considered strenuous exercise. You’re certainly not burning fat by running to the grocery store.
Another rule talked about how you need to eat tons of fruits and veggies per day. Cosmo easily skirted around this myth by saying that even if the fruit was dipped in chocolate or veggies battered in tempura, they still count as fruit and veggies. Well, this is true, but okay what about all of the sugar in the chocolate and the saturated fat in the tempura?
Another “rule” that really got to me was saying that 10 extra pounds won’t cause health problems. To quote the magazine “There’s nothing unhealthy about having a little bulge on your body.” Okay, maybe not 5 pounds but what about when you do nothing about it and gain 20, 30, 40 pounds. It’s all a big cycle and promoting being overweight is not okay in my book.
I understand that Cosmo needs to appeal to a certain audience, uphold an image and sell magazines. That’s fine with me but in my personal and professional life it’s not okay to have a lazy view of fitness and health. That’s the problem with our society today. Everyone is looking for the easy way out. Look around at the general public. Do tempura battered veggies and 10 minutes of walking around a grocery store sound like solutions? No way. People need vigorous exercise and healthy foods. Next time I’ll stick to US Weekly when I’m in the pedicure chair…
HA! Great commentary Callie. Yes, I have always had a problem with the messages readers pick up from reading Cosmo. This is just par for the course. While in your pedicure chair reading US Weekly, be sure to ask them for the tempura broccoli because you’re watching your weight.
Thanks Jeff! Nothing gets me fired up quite as much as people talking about how “easy” exercise is.