A product or pill will not change your life, you will.

This is me. Well, it's not actually me. It kind of looks like me. But this is what I look like today, mouth open, hands by my face, totally frustrated.

I'm a fitness professional. I love my job. My job is to change lives. This is all good. But sometimes, it's so frustrating. Sometimes I want to stand on a mountain and scream, mouth open, hands by my face and SCREAM:

"A product or pill will not change your life, you will"

If you are a member of my Facebook fanpage, you have heard this for the past two days. It's been my status update for two days now. Hoping that it will sink in.

So, as a fitness professional, here's my dilemma and my frustrations:

• The unending "marketing and advertising" of beautiful, fake, unhealthy food
• The distortive and truth-bending "marketing and advertising" of super products - pills, shakes, exercise equipment - that is going to make you drop 7-10 lbs immediately - complete with a barrage of before and after photos that really make you want it
• The sell-out trainers that promote these products - Jillian Michaels - oh yes, when it comes to the "show", it's all about emotional healing, get inside, do the hard work, but in reality, it's "here, take this speed pill [fat burner] because it's the only way you can do it" - sell-out

That's it in a nutshell. And that's why I feel like screaming. Because...

• You have to do your research when a new product comes out and read labels
• You have to do your research when something looks too good to be true and find the true sponsor of a product
• You have to use common sense and look for the true motives of a person, even a popular fitness trainer

But, this is too hard. It's too much work. It's too time consuming. It's easier to just sit on the couch, watch these unbelievable ads and promotions, listen to the complete bullshit, and take that frickin' pill. Deprive yourself of real food. Don't worry about real exercise. Stop listening to that inside voice that gives you guidelines.

Friends, it's not going to happen that way.
I've been there.
But maybe I'm the stupid one here.

Because...

• They are making money
• They are selling product
• They are convincing people

And what am I doing?

• I'm not making money
• I'm not selling a product
• I'm trying hard to convince people

So, see the screaming part now? I want to make money. I want to support my family. I want to change the world. To do this, do I have to give up one or the other? I could have just given up years ago and just SOLD THE FRICKIN' PRODUCT, but I didn't and I haven't. I keep training, I keep educating, I keep talking to anyone who will listen that there's a good way to lose weight, to live a healthy life. And it doesn't involve taking a pill. It doesn't involve taking shakes. It doesn't involve exercising for hours a day. It does involve common sense. It does involve listening to your instinct, your inside voice. And it does involve change, doing the hard things that you know you ought to do.

So, I will say one more time for emphasis and then I will go on and do what I do:

"A product or pill will not change your life, you will"

So, now do it.