[dicktalens]

I'm just gonna copypasta the end of the article here, since you seemed to angry to actually read (not skim) past the title. ____________________________________________________________________________________

At this point, I know what some people are thinking. “Well, Dick. If you’re so smart and it’s not about willpower, I guess no one is at fault for being fat then, huh?”

On the contrary. If there’s one thing I’ve seen in my decade of talking to thousands of people between forums, clients, Fitocracy, and real life, it’s that people are responsible for their own failures. Most times, it is their fault. But it’s not for the reasons that most people think. Most don’t fail because they didn’t eat less or move more.

They failed because they could not see beyond the oversimplification of “eat less, move more.”

Many times, this is a problem of hubris; they failed to be curious, introspective, and mindful. These people also beat themselves up for all of their past failures, not realizing those plans had them doomed for the start.

The Biggest Loser will have you believe that fitness success is about being tough, being hardcore – dangerously hardcore. In fact, it’s about the exact opposite.

Fitness success is about humility – realizing you cannot reduce one of the world’s most challenging problems to “eat less, move more,” and then seeking out the knowledge to improve yourself. Success also requires compassion – forgiving yourself for past failures so that you can try again.

Those things are the exact opposite of being “hardcore.”

That’s the ultimate irony. It’s why people are ultimately responsible for their failures – not because they failed to shrink their waist, but because they failed to expand their horizons." ____________________________________________________________________

Hth! ^_^ gl with your reading comprehension goals in 2013

[xiaoma]

>Hth! ^_^ gl with your reading comprehension goals in 2013

It isn't constructive to add this kind of barb to the end of your comment. From the top of the HN commenting guidlines:

Be civil. Don't say things you wouldn't say in a face to face conversation.

When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names. E.g. "That is an idiotic thing to say; 1 + 1 is 2, not 3" can be shortened to "1 + 1 is 2, not 3."

[dicktalens]

Let's be honest. HN comments are the cesspool of the Internet, and really, if someone isn't going to read the article IDGAF. :v

HTH! ^_^

p.s. I suspect you're mad about the cardio comment. Let's not try to sugar coat the fact that science suggests your "feelings" are wrong, ty.

p.p.s – would say this all to anyone's face. good luck with your suggestion of 1 hr of cardio/day to people new to fitness... lmk how that pans out!

[xiaoma]

I'm not angry, but I have noticed you have a certain axe to grind and that you have a tendency to cherry-pick citations to support it, make sweeping comments that go against the bulk of current research and that you're extremely hostile to those who disagree with you. I was only reminding you of the guidelines since belligerence wins over nobody and makes HN a less pleasant place to be.

>good luck with your suggestion of 1 hr of cardio/day to people new to fitness... lmk how that pans out!

Giving you the benefit of the doubt that you were asking in earnest... can only assume you're referring to what I shared earlier on HN—pretty much everyone who joined my high school swim team team made tremendous improvements in their fitness levels. Ditto for sedentary students joining cross-country. It already "panned out" years ago and it was a huge success!

[eaurouge]

Here's the statement I have the biggest problem with:

That’s because willpower is a finite resource. No amount of willpower alone will make you get up every morning to run if you hate running.

You're just making excuses for your potential customers. Your willpower may be finite but you can choose to spend it on the things that matter the most to you. You can also improve your willpower, and you can place yourself in environments where you have to use less willpower to achieve your goals.

So, yes, if you're healthy enough to do it and you want to get up every morning and run, you can build up enough willpower to do it. Period.

I have to admit that after I read that statement, I just skimmed the rest of your article. You can't just make a bunch of fallacious statements earlier in the article then expect a few qualifications in the ending paragraphs to make it all okay.