Weight loss program commercials

We got a little rain overnight. Some weather reports last night said some snowflakes could have fallen last night, but in my yard I see no evidence that happened. It is a little wet out there, though. The National Weather Service says we could see some flaking until about 11 AM before gradual clearing sets in. Tomorrow should be a great day with sunny skies and highs in the 50s, but the NWS says there’s a 100% chance of rain Sunday.

I didn’t see President Obama’s Internet Town Meeting yesterday. I have read several reviews of the session and they fall just about where one would expect. The nature of the reviews simply reflected the views of the reviewers. So this is one time I’m going to refrain from commenting. I can’t think of any fair way for me to do it. Fairness isn’t among the traits I claim in that little box at the top of the column to the right, but I’ll still not comment.

I haven’t listened to Rush Limbaugh for probably close to a couple of years. As I had said in an earlier piece here, I don’t remember why I stopped; but once the habit of listening was broken, it was very easy to stay away. I’ve become intrigued again, thanks to the Democrats. They were trying to convince us that Rush is the titular head of the Republican Party. I don’t believe he is, but it has gotten me thinking about the radio talk show host.

So yesterday I tuned him in for a short period. I don’t remember the whole section, and since I was driving at the time I didn’t take any notes. What I did hear was interesting. He was actually warning the Democrats that what goes around comes around. Right now, he said, the Democrats have control of the federal government. He pointed out that one day the Republicans will regain control. It’s inevitable as that’s just the way cycles work.

When they do, he said, they will use all the bad laws increasing the control of the federal government to use against Republicans right back at the Democrats. Increase taxes on business leaders today; taxes will be increased on athletes and entertainers tomorrow. This is just a brief synopsis of sorts of that segment of the show. I did find it entertaining and I might start listening once again. “Might” is the operative word. As for yesterday, I reached the end of my trip and thus the end of my listening.

I haven’t offered my thoughts on a commercial for a while so here’s some. I don’t know anyone who has actually used one of those food plan weight loss programs, such as Weightwatchers, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, etc. (All of those are registered trademarks of their respective companies.) Of all the spokes folks they’ve used, I’m most impressed with Valerie Bertinelli on the Jenny Craig spots. A very close second is Marie Osmond on Nutrisystem.

I think the Jenny Craig people also like Bertinelli extremely well, too, as she seems to keep coming back with new commercials even though the company seems to be trying new people. In the commercials she claims she has lost 40 pounds. Looking at her before and after pictures is impressive; she also looks like she lost 10 or 15 years off her 49 years old age.

Osmond, who like Bertinelli, was born in 1960 and she too not only demonstrates a great weight loss (45 pounds), but also looks years younger than when she started. There are other notable celebrities who claim weight loss using Nutrisystem. I liked the results demonstrated by Don Shula and Dan Marino using the men’s plan.

Kirstie Alley claimed she lost, what? 70 pounds? on the Jenny Craig plan. Good secret there. To me she looked heavier when she stopped appearing than when she started. And the current spokes celebrity, Phyllis Rashad, is just not interesting to watch. The script they’ve given her doesn’t help at all. And can you really see any difference in her size?

My biggest question is, Do these programs really work? Sure, we see obvious results in the commercials, but what happens five, ten years down the road? I think there’s just a slim possibility that the best plan continues to be a good exercise program and diet control. Those ingredients also can fail once the program stops, but the program is certainly a whole lot less expensive.

Now my little stream of conscience: I developed this piece last night and not this morning. I’m having some trouble with my cable TV box…the high channels, especially the HD ones, keep breaking up. I’ve had to reboot my box at least once every day and some days several times. This is the worst time of the season for the problem to happen…we’re in the middle of both the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tourneys. Both are on the HD channels and break up. In fairness, I haven’t lost anything because they both can be seen on the lower channels as well.

However, I’m still angry at not being able to watch something for which I’m paying. Time Warner is coming today, anytime after 7 AM to fix my problem, so I needed to have this finished for my normal Friday publication. Hmmm. I wonder how the cost of DirecTV compares with cable.

GiM