The Boobie Diet




I just puked a little in my mouth.

Believe it or not, this commercial is NOT a Saturday Night Live spoof.  It's an actual NYS Dept of Health Ad. 

There are so many things that I find disturbing in this 31 second blurb that I am sitting here at the computer at a loss as to where to begin.  Aside from the deplorable script and atrocious acting (sorry), this ad is just plain wrong.   On a very basic level.

  • Breast feeding isn't about burning calories.  It's about FEEDING YOUR CHILD.  
The decision to nurse your child should NEVER be based on the desire to lose weight.  It's an intensely personal choice, and should not be touted as a weight loss aid.  Additionally, maternity pants should never be held up as an example of a "before" weight.  It has the potential to lead to some incredibly destructive mentalities regarding baby weight and self-image.

Strive for a healthy pregnancy, nourish your child and yourself.  Should you choose to nurse, yay for you. If you don't,  you can still achieve your target weight.  Whether you burn an extra 500 calories or not, it takes hard work, focus and determination.  And everyone is capable of succeeding.  



6 comments:

  1. Hmmm, yes it does burn 500 calories a day. Maybe they could focus on other benefits of breastfeeding..especially the nutritional value for the baby. There are so many other benefits that they could focus on for the infants. As for Moms; losing weight is not the only benefit. When your uterus is the size of a grape fruit, nursing your baby helps it go back to normal size rather quickly.

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  2. Lynn, the other ads in the campaign do focus on the nutritional values. With this one, they're just stretching a bit too far, imo.

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  3. That is some bad acting.

    And, yup. I get what the message is saying, but they are going about it very poorly.

    And, that is some bad acting. Wait, did I already say that?

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  4. Wow. You know I am a lactivist and even this is ridiculous! LOL. And I was told I plateaued with weight loss BECAUSE of the breastfeeding, LOL. I lost almost all my baby weight and that is it, it won't budge.

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  5. Lactivist? Is that a word? LOL, makes me giggle a little.

    OK, makes me giggle a lot :)

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