SIX WEEKS TO OMG! WTF?
We predict you’ll be hearing a lot more about this one…
If your teenage daughter is skipping breakfast, drinking black coffee, exercising then sitting in an icy-cold bath for 15 minutes and blowing up balloons, it’s a sure thing she’s got her hands on the latest diet that’s caused an uproar in the UK – Six Weeks to OMG: Get Skinnier Than All Your Friends.
Dieticians and experts on girls’ self esteem have slammed the diet, both here and in the UK as being “exploitative”, “ludicrous” and “dangerous”.
The book is released in Australia today.
However, it started out as an e-book on Apple’s iTunes earlier this year – so your teen may already have it. In just weeks it had sold more than 120,000 copies, five times more than the Dukan Diet.
The book rights have been sold to US and publishers world-wide for “seven figure sums”.
Not only has the regimen been criticised for being nutritionally dubious – it says that comsuming “broccoli carbs”, fruit and smoothies are all as bad as drinking Coke – but the tagline “get skinnier than all your friends” is said to be inciting unhealthy competition between girls (and boys).
“There’s no stopping point for this competition… There is only the never-ending cycle of getting skinnier than your friends until you all completely disappear. By which I mean potentially die,” wrote Marianne Kirby in the Guardian.
Here in Australia, Dr. Samantha Thomas, health sociologist at Monash University, says the diet’s message is “dangerous” because it taps into young girls’ vulnerability.
“It sends the dangerous message that having a low body weight equals popularity,” she told The Hoopla.
“It preys on young girls especially, who are very vulnerable because they are just starting to think about diets. This book appears to tap into that. We know that there is a direct link between early-age dieting and eating disorders.”
The exhortation from the author that parents might not understand and not to tell them you are following the OMG! diet is irresponsible, she says.
“We are trying to encourage parents and children to have a focus on wellbeing… not weight. To have an open discussion.”
The writer, Paul Khanna (left) is a London gym instructor who publishes under the pen name “Venice A. Fulton”, is set to be a millionaire.
He chose the name “Venice” because California is the “home of healthy culture, of macro-fitness”.
“I was unaware of what I was unleashing,” he says of the storm of criticism around him.
But he believes he is a trail-blazer. There are some who think his diet just might work.
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32 Responses to this article
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Julie July 9, 2012
This is how sumo wrestlers deliberately put on lots of weight even while exercising/training. They skip breakfast then eat a small late lunch then a larger dinner. Exactly what most breakfast-skipping dieters end up doing.
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Kaz July 9, 2012
I think there is a body of research coming out now about the role of breakfast in kickstarting metabolism which i find very interesting. It does in fact challenge all our preconceptions. However I think there’s lots more science to be done.
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bret July 9, 2012
This research isn’t just ‘coming out’ now. It has been around for well over 100 years. But it doesn’t matter if you eat breakfast or not, what matters is that you are eating right for your particular ancestral background. Some people are pre-disposed to work better on a smaller breakfast, while others are better (like myself) who thrive on a larger full fat/protein breakfast. It comes down to your metabolic type, and if you are not eating for your own personal body type and function, then your body isn’t running at 100%……
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Emily Rhodes July 9, 2012
Wow, what utter rubbish without any credentials! What worries me is that the more bad publicity the book gets, the more PR exposure it receives which will make people take notice. The best way to healthily lose weight is with Weight Watchers. Realistic and sustainable. I have kept my 25kg off for 5 years.
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Rikki July 9, 2012
The thing is, he’s right – you will lose weight… In the very short term. You cannot sustain this type of diet. Lifestyle change is an overused term, but that’s because it works. What you will have from this is a bunch of wired out, low-energised young people… Who will likely be skinny, for now.
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Van Essa July 9, 2012
And yet…I have been going to weight watchers for 30 odd years and have yo-yoed many, many times. I have been on lots of diets and the cabbage diet was perhaps the worst. Bulemia became my friend when weight loss industries didn’t match up to their claims and psychologists tried to pick up the pieces, unsuccesfully. What makes me so addicted to food? Perhaps I should be grateful it is not drugs or gambling that is my vice of choice.
This book will take many girls on the same road as me and I hate him for it.
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bret July 9, 2012
weight watchers is not a diet for everyone… as I mentioned above, Metabolic typing is a researched backed way of determining the ‘right foods’ and the ‘right ratios’ for your own type…. If you guys want to learn how to feel better by eating what you are supposed to, not what everyone else is telling you to, then email me. I have put my name and email address up there for challenge anyone who wants to learn how their body works as it was supposed to, biomechanically and physiologically.
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Red 60 July 9, 2012
This is not only dangerous to young women, but also to young men. As a Mother of 3 sons I have seen the pressure they are also put under to ‘look’ a certain way, and the dangers it can have upon them, and now as my middle son is approaching his wedding, he stills struggles with ‘image’ issues. All these so called ‘books’, have so much to answer for, the damage they do, because young people do read , and follow every new trend, if they think it will loose even one tiny little kilo. Never realising they did not need to loose it in the beginning. Be there for your young ones, that’s all I can say…
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Daisy July 9, 2012
Okay, so in the first paragraph he tells us to skip breakfast and then further down he says that three meals a day are ideal. Maybe you have two lunches instead?
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Rikki July 9, 2012
Ha! You’re right, I didn’t even click to that – not that it was needed, but further evidence this guy might not be so pro after all.
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Ladylikestodance July 9, 2012
Interesting, I do have to say that when I switched to black coffee I was able to control my weight better. I’m shocked when I see the size of some of those gazillion caloried (milky/cream/chocolate etc) concoctions some people indulge in. It’s a liquid meal in itself, but is viewed as a beverage in addition to the meal.
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Samantha July 9, 2012
Classic example of how we teach girls to hate who they are.
But also that somehow we are meant to be competing against each other to see how skinny we can get.
Anyone remember “Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels” ?
So so wrong
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Rosie July 9, 2012
What I don’t understand is why diets and diet books even exist? It isn’t rocket science. You eat healthy, balanced food all your life and enjoy it, do a bit of exercise to keep strong and that is it!
People need to trust themselves and really think about what they are eating and drinking and what it does to their body. More education is needed not stupid diets and books by knuckleheads. I am surprised he didn’t put in his book, take up smoking! That will get you skinny when you have lung cancer!
Rant over! -
Reannon July 9, 2012
This makes me so mad! Teenagers are so impressionable & the need to fit the mould can be all consuming.
As a teen I suffered from eating disorders. At one stage all I consumed was one weet-bix, one vegemite cruskit & a tim tam or lolly pop each & every day. I was doing my HSC & working part time & would walk the 10 or so k’s to & from school each day. It came to a head when my mum found me doing sit-ups at 5 in the morning. I was stupid enough to think I wasn’t anorexic because I was still eating. I got the help I needed & am fully recovered but only in the mental sense. To this day, 14 years later, my body does not function as perfectly as it could.
This is what teenagers need to know. When you put your body through extremes for short term justifiacation it can have long term effects.-
Panda July 9, 2012
Thanks for sharing Reannon. We need to each our kids (and ourselves) to treat our bodies with respect, or pay the consequences.
I so want everyone to read Michelle Bridges book – she is no nonsense about making food choices. If you’re a grown up, grow up! You’re not a teenager any more, hoovering everything in sight. You have a choice about every piece of food you put in your mouth. I found this really empowering and lost 12kg using her yummy and nutritious recipes. And I feel great about nurturing myself (and my husband) with good food.
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Mumo2 July 9, 2012
Just what teens need, more extreme advice that seems easy to follow. Agree with many of the comments above. My metabolism and possibly digestion (now very sensitive in my 40s) were probably compromised from following calorie controlled diets from 9 years, mostly like the weight watchers my mother did. I was not overweight, but athletic and muscular, not the desired look for a dancer and sprinter. Then I developed early, not something to be proud of then like it is now. I worry about what this will do to the physical and mental health of young people who follow it for a while. Weirdly, the balloon blowing seems like it might work- to a point- its very similar to deep pilates and yoga breathing I have practiced that helps to engage the transverse abdominus and promote deep relaxation. If you don’t pass out as its *into a balloon*…
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The Huntress July 9, 2012
Wow! Well done, preying on teenagers for monetary gain (sarcastic font). The diet industry needs to come under better regulation and answer many questions as it is my belief that they are a bunch of charlatans exploiting vulnerable people.
Our teens do not need to read that they should keep their diets secret while sipping black coffee, between blowing up balloons in an icy bath. They need to learn that all bodies are different – and this is normal. They need to learn how to negotiate grocery shopping, choosing fresh, healthy food and ingredients and how to turn them into a delicious, nutritious meal. They need ideas on how to incooperate exercise into their busy days, whether it’s playing a formal sport, or walking the dog in the evenings.
If we could drop this awful celeb-worshipping culture and encourage our teens to value people for their achievements or everyday good deeds we would be doing them a great favour. Just because someone happens to be born beautiful and manages a size 0 does not make them worthy of cult worship. Removing the celeb-ideal that people seem to aspire to and replacing them with better role models could make a huge difference. If we placed a higher value on different professions that give back to society (teachers, nurses, police, doctors, scientists, authors, artists, etc.) we could move away from the “image is everything” and towards a more community orientated focus. By doing so the diet industry will have less to gain as in a few generations time we would have young adults capable of making good choices regarding their health with less focus on image being their everything.
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Tussnelda July 9, 2012
So all those tuba players and bagpipe players will have flat stomachs???
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mj July 9, 2012
How is this is guy still walking around a free man? Teenagers don’t need diets. As these comments also show, say the word diet and all sorts of garbage gets trotted out. We don’t need to obsess over body type, ancestry, commercial weight loss plans or particular food components. We need to eat fresh, natural foods, limit processed foods, and exercise. It’s not sexy, doesn’t sell books, but it is what nature intended. And nurture your teenagers – they are still your children.
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Nathan Smith July 9, 2012
This book won’t promote eating disorders. It’s unrelated. The bottom line is, he took action, took some risks, put himself out there and is now a millionaire.
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Cheryll July 9, 2012
Yahoo! Let’s celebrate the person who took action, took risks and made a bundle!! What a prince!
Well you know there are other people who have done that, too: drug traffickers, gun runners, human traffickers, child pornographers, and so many more. Let us build statues to them with collection boxes for our tithes and bow to these people who took a risk and made money.
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Malcolm Brown July 9, 2012
It works. I’ve been skipping breakfast for months and I will most likely not return to breakfast again.
People in western cultures eat far too much food. It’s as simple as eating less and starting off the day with no breakfast makes your body burn more fat because it has to.
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SandsOfTime July 9, 2012
The Huntress, as you so often do, you’ve said it all. Nail on head.
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bikerbetty July 9, 2012
“Venice”, you should be locked up, you moron. You actually have employment in the fitness industry? HOW??? You are a total idiot exploiting some of our most vulnerable and impressionable youngsters. Shame on you.
As a diet junkie and bulimia sufferer on and off in my teens and early twenties (I was a miniscule 47kgs when I got married, and THOUGHT I WAS FAT), I have to say I hate people like this cretinous “Venice”.
I tried every extreme diet that existed in the 70s, yo-yoed all over the place, fainted, slept for hours on end because I had no energy, got constipated, threw up and suffered for it. Thank goodness I have more sense now, in my 50s, at a healthy 60-odd kilos. Can’t even begin to tell you the stupid things I tried to lose weight.
Skipping breakfast, Venice? How the heck does that make sense? Surely it’d be smarter to reverse the order of your meals – big protein-rich brekky and the small light dinner before sleeping? -
B.H. July 9, 2012
I followed WW to the letter for months and did not lose a single solitary kilogram. I was accused of ‘cheating’. I got a gastric band and while I lost weight when I was on a liquid diet (the first week or so) I put that back on when I went back to soft food. My band is full, I eat what I am ‘meant’ to and I have lost no weight since being banded. I am fat. Very fat. I exercise daily and eat no differently than my thin husband and children. No one can explain why I am still fat. My point is not all diets work for everyone and not all bodies are meant to be thin even when ‘eating and exercising properly’.
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Benison O'Reilly July 9, 2012
I had to subject myself to cold baths when I was living in England because they landlord was too stingy to pay for the hot water. Can’t say I recommend it. I don’t remember losing any weight, either.
One of my teenage nieces is currently battling anorexia nervosa, so personally I’d like to lock up this health-illiterate jerk in the Tower of London and throw away the key..
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Lynne July 9, 2012
“Most contentious is the advice he gives that doctors “cannot be trusted” and are “behind the times”.”
This is what I find most disturbing about this…the same strategy that cults use to undermine the authority of experts. No point in even trying to point out what’s wrong with his methods… With this comment he ensures devotees (our teens) won’t listen.
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Keryn July 9, 2012
Grrrr!
What’s the bet my daughter with bulimia gets wind of this book – I am already doing the ‘stand outside the toilet door’ routine. Now I will have to watch the balloon supply and the production of icecubes making their way to the bathroom.
She is vulnerable and she WILL believe this idiot. -
Lorelle July 10, 2012
Where are these guys morals and ethics. As a community mental health worker I should be greatful to people like this moron for keeping me in a job but I would rather be out of work than have to try and deal with the issues that books like this create for our young, vulnerable community members. I guess you can’t stop anyone from writing books about anything but surely this guy has a conscience that tells him this is SO wrong on SO many levels. What a jerk!
