Episode 143 Transcript

Read transcript alongside audio.

You're listening to the Fierce Fatty Podcast episode 143. Beachbody announced they are body positive. But are they really? Let's do it.

Unknown Speaker 0:26

Hello, fatties and fat allies. Welcome to this episode. I'm so excited to talk to you today about this juicy, little bit of gossip.

Unknown Speaker 0:39

And we have a guest. Oh my goodness. I know you're not used to ever having guests on the show. But I know someone who is a giant. I don't know if they're gonna be okay with me saying this nerd when it comes to this topic. And I was like, I will not do this topic, justice, justice. So I want to introduce you to our guest, Jen say Hi, Jen. Hello, everybody. How are you today, Vinny? Oh, well, I thought you're talking to the audience and say how are you already? Everybody? Everyone's Yeah. How's the audience doing today? I hope well, yes. Well, fingers. Obviously they're doing well then listen to the face value podcast that makes?

Unknown Speaker 1:25

Yeah, no kidding.

Unknown Speaker 1:28

So I met Jen on the Instagrams. We were connected like probably before when I was probably messaging messaging about stuff and and then recently, you had either shared or commented on on a post that I had reshard of mine, which was about the intersection of LM, L, M. R, for fuck sake. I always struggle with this. I want to call them m&ms. But there's M L M's, if I refer to them as m&ms From now on, we'll know what that is. And we will talk about what that isn't.

Unknown Speaker 1:58

And so lmm

Unknown Speaker 2:01

m&ms,

Unknown Speaker 2:03

diet culture, and cults and the intersections there and so that, you know, got restarted talking about that. And you were telling me all about Beachbody, and I was like, Oh,

Unknown Speaker 2:17

this

Unknown Speaker 2:18

guy started talking. But anyway, before we get into all of that, Jen, tell us who you are, what you do.

Unknown Speaker 2:25

Everything just tell us your life story basically. Nice and simple. That's too much. Um, so my name is Jen Brousseau, I am a certified personal trainer, and nutrition coach, former Beachbody, quote unquote, coach that is what they call their M M and M reps with an m&m company be so much better. So MLM is multi level marketing. So we'll throw that out there. I was, in Beachbody for many years as a rep, and let's just say the experience was not good. In the end, I still wanted to help people with health and fitness. And come from a place that is complete opposite of what they do there. And so I consider myself size inclusive, I do I have a certification in that I try and make fitness accessible to everybody.

Unknown Speaker 3:21

Everybody, and every body is really important to me.

Unknown Speaker 3:27

I want to say I create a safe space. But I don't know if I can actually say that quite yet. But I work hard to.

Unknown Speaker 3:36

And I just I meet people where they're at. That's the biggest thing for me. meeting people where they're at in their health and fitness journey, because not everybody is going to be the same because every body is different.

Unknown Speaker 3:51

Mm hmm. And so how long were you with Beachbody? Um,

Unknown Speaker 3:57

I started with Beachbody in 2012. But they burned set of insanity DVDs.

Unknown Speaker 4:05

Because I was watching late at night after work drinking bottles of wine and the infomercials would pop up and I didn't have the money just to buy even the DVDs. So I had a cousin said I've burned copies, you can have them. So that's how I started and I started posting my workouts on Facebook. And somehow I ended up in some sort of Beachbody group on Facebook and I got sucked into the coaching world. Mm hmm. Which is like you'd be amazing coach. You can make a side income, have a side hustle and make a career out of it just by sharing your journey. no training, no qualifications, no education and health, fitness. Anything needed. You just had to buy a challenge pack and that is still the case today. Wow. Beachbody was started in 1998.

Unknown Speaker 5:00

So that's ata, 190 90 894 years. Oh, really, I thought it was a little bit older than that. Like I can imagine, like, you know, people in the 90s develop 1998 was when Beachbody was founded. So it's been around for 24 years. Yeah. And so so for those who are not familiar with what Beachbody is, my knowledge of Beachbody is just you know from watching the scam shows, you know the MLM shows and also that outrageous ad that they did a number of years ago, years ago, which was a yellow adverts which had a picture of a thin white woman and it says said, Are you Beachbody ready? Or was that is that what I said? Are you Beachbody? Ready? Are you Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So tell us what what is Beachbody? We're saying lmm m&ms and all that type of stuff. So is it a fitness company, a nutritional company. It is a fitness and media company that also has nutrition plans as well. They sell supplement lines, ridiculously overpriced, unnecessary supplements. And we'll get into one of them a little bit later when we talk about how they're trying to shift and CO opt some things.

Unknown Speaker 6:16

But it started out just as like home workout DVDs.

Unknown Speaker 6:20

And then they shifted in 2017 into the online platform with Beachbody on demand. And now they're going interactive with their shifting from Beachbody on demand. Now they have body which is what they're going to be calling themselves now. But it's an acronym. It's Beachbody on demand interactive so Beachbody is still in the name.

Unknown Speaker 6:42

Beachbody is not going away it's still there. It's the be in body but they're putting it all on one platform now they're really trying to compete with peloton

Unknown Speaker 6:56

are in the garbage as well? So, yeah, it is all up. They went up during the panorama, which is what I like to call it because people were at home. But now it's the world is opening up people are going back out to gyms and at the same time, especially with Beachbody. People are waking up to realizing that we don't want that type of messaging, our marketing, the before and afters the transformations

Unknown Speaker 7:26

eating minimal amount of food. Like it's people don't want it anymore. We're waking we're waking up. It's finally let me this movement started way before I came along, you know, and

Unknown Speaker 7:41

it took me hitting my rock bottom in my IDI

Unknown Speaker 7:48

and discovering intuitive eating. And then just immersing myself in that type of content on Instagram. Like I did a detox of my feed. And just reading and listening to podcasts. I've listened to your you know, listening to yours. And

Unknown Speaker 8:06

realizing that

Unknown Speaker 8:09

we need to we don't want to shrink ourselves anymore.

Unknown Speaker 8:14

You're not sure we shouldn't have to to be valued a valued member of society. Do you valued as a person? Yeah, absolutely. So so people are waking up and we've been Beachbody has been confronted about this. Karl has been confronted about it. There's the CEO, Carl is the CEO. And Autumn Calabrese is the face she's this quote unquote Super Trainer who does not have any current certified current certifications. Yeah. I was gonna ask you that because I was in the chat profile today. And she says fit training trainer expert and nutrition expert and I was like, hold on to shift does she like a registered personal trainer?

Unknown Speaker 9:00

She She is no longer certified as a personal trainer. She let that lapse. She is certified as a holistic health coach through i n which is the certification that Dr. Mark

Unknown Speaker 9:16

Heyman Hyman ever use I don't like him. Name. That is his school, which is so that is her? That is what she considers herself as a nutrition expert. Yeah. Because she's has that certification. Yeah. Okay. So let's let's go back to Beachbody and the the structure of what what happens and so you mentioned before originally, they were selling DVDs.

Unknown Speaker 9:41

What What was the shift into being a I'm just gonna say primitive pyramid scheme from now on, they deny that they're a pyramid scheme, but what how are they a you know, M L M. M? What does that mean exactly. And when did that happen? Roughly, it started shifting around so they started in 98. They were just selling TV.

Unknown Speaker 10:00

He's, the CEO of the company was actually using his before and afters as marketing.

Unknown Speaker 10:08

Um, and then as more people were joining and doing this, they came up, they saw what other MLM multi level marketing companies are doing, how can we not pay for marketing, and get other people to do it for us, since that's what multilevel marketing is like, they don't want to pay for the advertising. Let's just get the people doing to sell for us. So in 20 2014, around 2014, is when the coach network started, maybe a Team Beachbody coach. And there were seven founding coaches, and they are still to this day part of the company. And they do not actively work the business, but they are making millions of dollars every year. And how do they make that millions of dollars? Jen, let Jim enlighten us. So you start here, you bring on people here, those people bring on more people, and it just keeps going. So every time somebody buys something, it goes all the way up to the top. And so for those who are just listening to the audio, Jen is drawing a pyramid shape.

Unknown Speaker 11:18

So they're at the top of the pyramid. And what they do is they will recruit people underneath them to become coaches, and then those coaches then recruit coaches to be coaches underneath them. And so their income is not from selling products, their main income is from their downline. The main income, and the bulk of the money comes from what's called Team cycle bonuses. So it's based on the volume of sales your downline makes, hmm. And they actually they're changing up the compensation plan a little bit, I haven't had a chance to look at look yet, but somebody sent me all the information. So to look at that again, but it's still the same scheme. And so the person on the top their income mostly comes from the person underneath them and their team underneath them and verb a bubbler from the person recruiting people. And the more people that they recruit to sell the sell more recruitment, that's how they're making their money. So say, you know,

Unknown Speaker 12:27

and, and then do you have to pay fees to get started 6095 a month, you have to pay for the monthly business fee. And you can either sign up as a coach by just paying the coach signup fee, I think it was it's either $39 or $49. But they usually get people to join as a coach by saying by this total solutions pack, then you don't have to pay the coaching fee. And what's in we actually hack there's a variety of them. They usually include the membership for the Beachbody on demand or body and then it includes supplements. And usually Shakeology Yeah, okay. And so then your your upline your boss, would you call it your what? How would you call them that your mentor? They're, they're your upline, they say upline, yeah, so they would be pressuring you to do what to get you to sell what? To get you to sign up more people as a coach.

Unknown Speaker 13:28

You don't want you don't want customers you want coaches. Yeah. Yeah. And I actually my upline didn't like me, because I refuse to sign people up as a coach if they weren't going to actively work the business or buy shakeology or supplements every month because when you're coach, you get a 25% off discount.

Unknown Speaker 13:54

So instead of paying $150 a month for 30 servings a bag of Shakeology, you were only paying 100. But then at the same time, you were still paying 6095 a month. So still $120 a month to stay active as a coach to make money. And you can go to any store and buy those things for like a fraction of the price anyway. Yeah, and it's better. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 14:22

tastes better. Yeah. Which I guess is not the goal of Beachbody is to have people they're getting the discount to buy the overpriced stuff. Anyway, their goal is to get more coaches selling more coaches to be have this lifestyle of being an entrepreneur. The coaches are the customers. Yes, yes. And I think that's the difference between like watching what in the states defines a pyramid scheme. And the idea is, where is your income coming from? Is it coming from selling products? Or is it coming from recruiting other people and if the majority of the income is from it

Unknown Speaker 15:00

Selling coaching, you know, getting more people under you, then it's a pyramid scheme. Yeah, like, and obviously Beachbody has a lot of money and a lot of power to lobby different governments to influence outcomes of, you know, investigation. So, unfortunately, at this point, they are still allowed to get away with it, which boils my pass.

Unknown Speaker 15:25

Yeah, because I think about all older people like Eugen who,

Unknown Speaker 15:30

who works so hard to try and you know, you say, work the business. And, and I don't know about you, but I know when I started in the online business world, I was like, I am gonna get shit done. I'm not like one of these other people who don't take it seriously, I'm gonna be really successful, because I am committed. And yeah, I watched an interview that you sent me with the CEO, Carl had Danica Is that his name? Daikeler Byculla. That's it.

Unknown Speaker 16:08

And he says, the level of what your level of your work determines your income. And I was just like, that is absolute bullshit. It's not your level of work, because people could be working really, really hard. But then have ethical standards, like you mentioned, of refusing to recruit people. Because, you know, it's, you know, maybe at that time, you didn't know that it was a scam. But you were you were doing right by people. And so it's almost like your, the level of your income or your success in these businesses is

Unknown Speaker 16:45

in some ways, like your level of your, your, I don't want to say morality, but you're

Unknown Speaker 16:52

desperate. This ethics. Yeah, like your level of your ethics. And, and I don't want to blame the people who were in it unless they're in like, you know, the top positions, because I think people are totally

Unknown Speaker 17:06

not giving you the information, right, like I

Unknown Speaker 17:09

was sent for, like, fulfill something like this. If it happened to me at a certain time. Like what? There's no doubt, you know, because yeah, you know, it seems simple. You be your own boss, and work hard. And you'll be successful, like, Fuck, yeah, I can do that. Because they tell you, they tell you, you can work in pockets of your time. And you only need to work an hour a day to be successful. I remember that. There really, there have been recently cook top coaches that are working from a hospital bed after they've given birth to their babies.

Unknown Speaker 17:47

It's absolutely horrifying. And that's not and they talk about time freedom. You don't have time freedom, you have location freedom.

Unknown Speaker 17:58

It's not, they're always on their phones, like my business is 95% online. And I have business hours.

Unknown Speaker 18:08

I have boundaries. I don't work before a certain time. I don't work after a certain time. Because after being in Beachbody and working a full time I was working

Unknown Speaker 18:19

in a restaurant, I was managing a restaurant and working 7080 hours a week. And then I would get my uplines and people like Why aren't you working? Or why aren't you on all our team calls? Why are you missing our calls you need? This should be our priority. I'm like, I'm sorry. I'm working a full time job that is actually paying me and paying my bills in the so I was a coach for a while and then I quit. And then I came back. I got sucked back in.

Unknown Speaker 18:51

When my

Unknown Speaker 18:53

at the time sister in law

Unknown Speaker 18:56

saw I'd had elbow surgery and I

Unknown Speaker 19:00

I stopped exercising. I was eating like I was drinking way too much. And I just was not happy. And she saw it. And she said Why don't you join and be a coach on my team. You'd be a great coach and start doing this again. And I said no for a long time because at that I had left the management job and I took like a 75% pay cut. So I did not have I knew I didn't have the money for Shakeology every month and she's like, well, I'll buy the challenge pack for you until you get three people under you and that'll pay for your Shakeology every month

Unknown Speaker 19:37

so if they got me in that way, but throughout the time that I was in it,

Unknown Speaker 19:42

I sat down and I looked at my profit and loss like we finally did the numbers in like three and a half total years I worked the business I made $200 Wow. Oh my god. I wonder what that would come out to per hour probably like a penny per hour or something.

Unknown Speaker 20:00

Less, less amount of money I worked. So when when coaches or anybody is like I'm thinking about doing this, ask your upline for their profit and loss statement, keep track of what you're spending on all of your supplements, and what you're bringing in. Because if you're not in the in the US, if you're a 1099 contract employee, the business that you're contracted with, if you make $600, they need to send you a tax form.

Unknown Speaker 20:30

If you're not getting that tax form at the end of every year, they're losing money. If you're, if you're making $550 in income from Beachbody, you're losing money within six months, because Shakeology costs in six months over $500 Yeah, yeah. And the great thing about this is great in quotation marks is these companies will have the statements available of what percentage of their coaches are profitable, and it's, it's something like, less than 1% that make a profit. And the profit can be like you say, it can be five bucks, you know, and the amount of work that you're doing and so, so, Beachbody is shady as fuck exploits their people is a pyramid scheme is a piece of shit company, because of all of that stuff. But also,

Unknown Speaker 21:27

let's before before we get to this part, I was gonna say we, um, I have I do YouTube lives with some girls, women who were in Beachbody with me, we call it sipping snark. And we listened into the quarter to earnings call with Carl Daikeler. And ups of where they're, you know, the investors are asking, he called the Beachbody coaches and unsophisticated Salesforce. Oh,

Unknown Speaker 21:59

why Ontake? Like the audio is there.

Unknown Speaker 22:03

Like he's calling them this? And at the same time, they're like, oh, my gosh, she's amazing. Like, do you understand how we actually feels about you? There's so much cognitive dissonance within not just Beachbody, but within all MLMs.

Unknown Speaker 22:20

Oh, my goodness. And that's, that's, that's Yeah, absolutely. I I speed listened to that hour long interview with him and a coach on to speed because I was like, I can't, I can't have this in my brain. And I was horrified at the way that he was talking to that coach, and also about everyone the presumption that everyone is lazy. And if only they worked and worked harder, then they would be successful. And if they just did what, what he said or, or, and the way that he was harassing

Unknown Speaker 22:59

that coach, I would just felt like second round trauma for what she was experiencing. And and you pointed out that he was like, why are you not making more money? Why haven't you reached this level? And she said that she was working 18 hours a day. And so he's like, so you're hustling for 18 in her previous business? And so if you're hustling, hustling for 18 hours a day, why are you not making whatever it is gold star spangled whatever. And I was like, What do you want her to sell a fucking kidney?

Unknown Speaker 23:32

Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 23:33

she's probably close to death from exhaustion and stress. And this fucking CEO is a rich white man is saying why you're not making more money for me. I just wanted to kick him in the face. Yeah, was that is that the one I sent you where he shamed her for being the modifier not having a bigger transformation? Yeah, that when you say what do you say modifier what is that? So when they do the workout programs, they'll have the trainer doing the moves. And they'll have a modifier who's doing a different variation like an easier variation.

Unknown Speaker 24:12

So this, this coach that you saw, is the perpetual modifier in because autumn is her best friend. So she's in a lot of her training programs,

Unknown Speaker 24:24

which is a whole nother level of hot mess when it comes to the coach business. If you're friends and close with the Super trainers, I'm using air quotes here, people super Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 24:38

That gives them a leg up. Like she's she's in the top of the company. And you see anybody any coach who is has a close relationship with one of the trainers, they do well, they try and say that's not true, but the numbers don't lie. And so modifier is seen as not as good as a trainer, right? And it's usually a

Unknown Speaker 25:00

Have someone in a fat body? Oh shit. Really? Yeah. Oh, because the fat people can't do the apparently they can't do the original stuff. And so they need to be like, here's what you can do. And so it always has to be a fat person basically to show you have to do it because clearly all fat people have a fatter person a larger person. Somebody's not as small as autumn because she is tiny. Yeah, yeah. Interesting. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 25:31

So So what is, so Beachbody is selling? Is it selling weight loss? Is that the goal? Or what is the goal like weight loss slash health?

Unknown Speaker 25:42

They're saying they sell people on improving and have living a healthy fulfilling life. Mm hmm. But it's about weight loss. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Big. Yeah, it's about weight loss. And

Unknown Speaker 25:59

they, in the beginning of this year, they launched a program called gut protocol.

Unknown Speaker 26:07

This goes into

Unknown Speaker 26:09

Ms. Calabrese is qualifications. It's an elimination diet. So my two eyes like oh, she's like, a doctor as well, like a gastroenterologist. It's, it's, it's even stricter than 30. Whole 30. Which is problematic in and of itself. But it's the point of it is to identify your food triggers. Because every because they throw it, they've thrown out a stat, that 95% was it 95% is 75% of Americans, of Americans have undiagnosed food sensitivities.

Unknown Speaker 26:49

Um, food sensitivities, isn't a ret isn't a medical term. It's not a thing.

Unknown Speaker 26:57

Food intolerances and allergies are, but how can you it was a 75% of the population is diagnosed that meat and 25% Is that means 100% of our population has food sensitivities.

Unknown Speaker 27:10

Well, I mean, like, I'm sure, like, if you ate something to extremes, you know, like apple seeds that have arsenic then maybe you'd be sensitive to arsenic. You know, like, you'd have to eat like 5000 pounds of apple seeds. So maybe then, you know, maybe an extreme or something. But yeah, that's interesting. Okay, so they're diagnosing Everyone is sick, so but they've got a solution for it with that.

Unknown Speaker 27:36

And but this program is supposed to make you is supposed to be about feeling better, and feeling good. But then as soon as they started putting out the marketing material to promote it, at the very top is weight loss and inches lost. Hmm. But it's not about weight loss. So if it's not take that out, and stop showing the transformation pictures. Mm hmm. Because they have lots of before and afters, right. Oh, they're not calling them before and afters. Now. This is part of their they're trying to flip the script. Yeah, we'll talk about that in a in a moment. Yeah, absolutely. So.

Unknown Speaker 28:11

So what are they doing? Sneaky? Yeah, they are sneaky. Motherfuckers you have to be really eagle eyed to spot this stuff.

Unknown Speaker 28:18

So what do they think about fat bodies? In their, you know, what's their messaging around fatness?

Unknown Speaker 28:26

That that bodies are not healthy.

Unknown Speaker 28:30

They can't be healthy. And as much as they try and deny that.

Unknown Speaker 28:38

It's on tape. There's words, they've said it

Unknown Speaker 28:43

in groups.

Unknown Speaker 28:45

And there are people who have been in Beachbody as a coach in fat bodies, who felt ostracized

Unknown Speaker 28:53

and not part of the community. And they leave and they speak out. And whenever,

Unknown Speaker 28:59

whenever they do, we're called haters and trolls. And we just didn't work hard enough. It wasn't it wasn't the program's fault, or the diet's fault that it didn't work. It's your fault. Yes. Yeah. And it's blatantly false. Yes. Ah 100%. And exactly that correlation with with diet companies. So you know, diets diets in general, if only you were really committed if only you really wanted this, then you would have been successful. It's your fault has nothing to do with our garbage product or garbage company. And I was I was immensely successful with the program's

Unknown Speaker 29:44

not that good. Yeah. And so by that, um, I, I was diagnosed with

Unknown Speaker 29:54

orthorexia, and binge eating disorder and pause

Unknown Speaker 30:00

Look, I wasn't diagnosed with anorexia though because I wasn't small enough. So you you had quote a typical anorexia which is anorexia in people who are not very very thin now, I was still according to that stupid scale. Yeah normal Yeah, we just fucked up and actually so funny that you mentioned that my next week's episode is going to be on atypical anorexia and how fucked up it is. It really is you know, because if someone who was not eating enough

Unknown Speaker 30:32

has any struggling with that no matter their size if they're struggling they're struggling you know but in a in a someone who's not very thin then it's gone like good for you keep going you're like yeah, but I have a mental illness doesn't matter. And if somebody is fat there say don't keep doing what you're doing keep doing what you need to lose the weight keep doing it, you're fine. Yeah. They don't like that bodies.

Unknown Speaker 31:01

In

Unknown Speaker 31:03

was it was it 2021 When Cosmo UK came out with the I am this is healthy. Yes. Right with Jessamine Stanley and

Unknown Speaker 31:13

who else was in there was test test holiday in there. I don't think it wasn't test holiday. It was athletes, right? It was other athletes? Yes. Um, well, this is how Beachbody feels about that. You can you can call them strong. But you can't call them healthy because they're in a larger body. They may be strong athletic, but their blood markers are off they're not healthy as what how do they know that? She doesn't this Autumn Calabrese.

Unknown Speaker 31:45

But hang on. Probably she does because she's she's an expert. Right? So maybe she's got like X ray vision or something said in this there is again, anything I'm saying that she said I have video of it. There's there's audio there's like this is

Unknown Speaker 32:02

it. It's out there.

Unknown Speaker 32:05

She I'm not an expert. I'm not a medical expert. I'm not a doctor. But they can't be healthy in that size body.

Unknown Speaker 32:14

Like yes, they can like she's tiny my mind. Like

Unknown Speaker 32:21

yeah, so this goes back years

Unknown Speaker 32:25

of her saying things like that. And the mindset and the mentality she has and the field she has people in fat bodies. It's deeply rooted. And once you once you think for me, once I got out, and I started learning, and listening and shutting up

Unknown Speaker 32:47

and feeling uncomfortable, it's a lot easier to see now. And so can I it's been four years. So when I first started, I was very, very resistant to listening to any of it because I was in Beachbody for so long. But now, once you get out, it's like red flag red. You see it? Yeah. Like it's it's not hard to miss anymore. Yeah. And I just want to I want to say just for the listeners, were mentioning Autumn Calabrese because like you mentioned, she's a quote, Super Trainer. And she's got like a million followers. And she's the, basically the coach of all coaches. And then above her would be the CEO and the management team and all that type of stuff. But then she technically probably still isn't even an employee of Beachbody. She's probably a consultant. Yeah, they're under Yeah, they're under. They do contracts. Yeah, yeah.

Unknown Speaker 33:43

So what about their prescription for like movement? So do they talk about movement in a holistic way in regards to say, movement can be a small part of healthful behaviors and obviously, not everyone can move and sometimes movement can be unhealthy for people and so so I'm guessing that they absolutely definitely talk about movement like that. It's no excuses. Oh, it's everyone has 20 minutes a day. No pain, no gain. It's sweat as fat crying.

Unknown Speaker 34:19

Wow. And so they want you to work out every day.

Unknown Speaker 34:23

Um, pretty much so the programs

Unknown Speaker 34:28

there's no program that is actually designed for seven days a week thinks it's like five days, five or six days a week. Some are for like going to like the newest one that came out was four because it really people don't want well one. She was putting them on a severe restrictive diet. Eliminate, you know, with the exercise program went along with it, and they still weren't eating enough it did.

Unknown Speaker 34:53

This is a disaster waiting to happen.

Unknown Speaker 34:58

But when

Unknown Speaker 35:00

You're doing the programs in this group of like in a Facebook group, because all of you always had a Facebook group, you're running challenges, they call them their boot camps, and you're all doing the program together.

Unknown Speaker 35:13

But in order to be a product of the product, you have to have a before and after transformation.

Unknown Speaker 35:20

Because you need to sell you need to show that you're changing.

Unknown Speaker 35:23

So

Unknown Speaker 35:26

this is my experience now. And I'm not the only one that did this, I would do the program that we were doing. And I would do two other workouts.

Unknown Speaker 35:36

There were some days where I was doing three hours of workouts

Unknown Speaker 35:40

and eating less than what the portion fix lowest bracket was showing publicly.

Unknown Speaker 35:49

Then not showing was the binge eating.

Unknown Speaker 35:52

And I was still dropping.

Unknown Speaker 35:55

Because it was really, really intense. And just basically what they're doing is teaching people how to

Unknown Speaker 36:05

eat in a disordered way, and move their body in a disordered way. And eventually moving into having eating disorder, symptoms and behaviors. And, you know, like you mentioned orthorexia,

Unknown Speaker 36:21

etc, etc. Like it totally fucking up your relationship with food and your body. And your actual overall health. Yeah, my, my hair was falling out. My nails were always breaking, I was always cold, my blood pressure was low. My thyroid is where my thyroid was messed up. And I was actually going through a health issue the entire year of 2016. I ended up having a hysterectomy and 2017 as an ER every month still doing these all these workouts still follow its plan, not sharing any of that on social media because that would be like that would blow up the illusion that Beachbody is perfect.

Unknown Speaker 37:03

It was I don't I am. So

Unknown Speaker 37:07

like when they they're shifting, they're trying to say their body positive now and they're there with the body positivity movement. They have no idea what it is because I am so I don't love my body all the time. I never will. But I am so thankful, grateful and accepting of. I'm still here.

Unknown Speaker 37:26

I'm still here, which is like to I'm amazed, to be honest, sometimes. Yeah, I'm thinking about this to thinking about the state that they put you in that state of starvation, over exercise. And on top of it, you've got your upline saying why haven't you done this? You need to do more of that. Why aren't you on the call? Have you made sales? Have you recruited people have you? And then you're thinking, Can I pay the rent? Can I feed my kids? Can I?

Unknown Speaker 37:55

Like that's just a recipe for disaster burnout. Major stress just be a no, not good stuff. Yeah, so that an issue in these groups is that you actually don't have access to the trainers.

Unknown Speaker 38:14

It's you because you're a coach now and your uplines still, there's people in there asking questions about nutrition, about fitness, about injuries about health about, and there's unqualified people

Unknown Speaker 38:28

telling people what to do. Yeah. It's like going into, you know, the mom groups and asking, Hey, my kid has a fever, what do I do and then all these randoms instead of going to the actual professional,

Unknown Speaker 38:41

you need an oil change in your car, you aren't going to go to your beautician

Unknown Speaker 38:46

gonna go to an oil change.

Unknown Speaker 38:48

So that's one of the things when I decided to leave because I still want to I'm like, I need to educate myself. I actually want to help people. And I want to know what the heck I'm talking about. Huh? Yeah, absolutely. And at the same time, I'm gonna be like, if someone asked me something, I don't know. I have a network of people that I will hear go talk to them. Yeah, absolutely. Or I can ask. But you have people assuming because now their title as coach, that they're, they know what they're doing. And they're qualified to be giving advice, and they're not.

Unknown Speaker 39:19

And I guess a lot of people are under such immense pressure pressure to be this knowledgeable person when they don't have the resources and they're tired and fucking hungry. So that they will do things which are maybe not aligned with their values because they're in a, in a difficult state, trying to survive this company. Yeah. So what's been beach bodies?

Unknown Speaker 39:47

stance on body positivity in the past?

Unknown Speaker 39:54

They don't like it.

Unknown Speaker 39:56

They believe well, one, they don't actually

Unknown Speaker 40:00

They understand what the body positivity movement is.

Unknown Speaker 40:05

They do you think that they think it means

Unknown Speaker 40:09

that thin white women sitting on their chair folded over to picture showing the rolls?

Unknown Speaker 40:17

That's what it is. Yes. Yeah. So sketch showing skin skin natural skin folds on a on a straight size person. Yeah. Yep. And that's one of the previous top coach, she got to top top at the company for like building underneath her. Because a post went viral, beautiful woman stood up, this is my body, then sat down showed her natural photo. This is all about body body positivity. Like that's not what it is.

Unknown Speaker 40:48

And at the time when that went viral, I believe that's what it was. Yeah, but when you know better you do better. Yeah. Yeah. Like love that quote. Yeah, like, hashtag, embrace your flaws. And it's like,

Unknown Speaker 41:02

you're a thin white person. Like, wherever you're close. I can't see them with my eyeballs. What are you talking about? Yeah, they, if you go into the groups, they think it's just no, just celebrate everybody's body. It's like, well, that's not what it is.

Unknown Speaker 41:20

Yeah. And for they don't want to and they don't want to hear it. Yeah. No. Because then if it is just that, then they can use that as a tool to sell more shit.

Unknown Speaker 41:30

Yeah. And but in the past, they weren't they were anti body positivity. Right. Tell us about that one. That one person who was went on a rant about it. Oh, it was autumn again. I was also again, oh, autumn, who was on? And it was this summer? Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 41:51

People have been pushing back. Like I said earlier against what Beachbody has stood for last year and a half. Really? It's picked up a lot, especially against her. Because a lot. Most of the other super trainers don't. Don't put themselves out there like she does. And actually, like someone, a few of them I've met and I'm like, Okay, you're really cool. But she had she promotes her idea of health is her.

Unknown Speaker 42:19

You're only healthy. If you look like her. You eat like me, you work out like me. This is healthy. And people were like, Oh, this program isn't good. This isn't healthy. This is hurting me like people like I had that experience. And she blocks and cultural. Like, there's no conversation, even though she says I'm willing to have a conversation. No, because I've been blocked for like eight months now. And I was very kind when I messaged her. I was like, Hey, can we actually talk about what body positivity movement is and what diet culture is because diet culture is not been on a diet.

Unknown Speaker 42:55

It's more than that. And I got blocked.

Unknown Speaker 42:59

Don't want to hear it. Um, but she basically said she is so sick and tired of this body positivity bullshit movement. Mm hmm.

Unknown Speaker 43:11

Because people aren't positive about her body. Yeah. Which is not about her. Yeah, yeah. And when I watched that, that video, and I'll share it on the podcast.

Unknown Speaker 43:24

That video just wreaked of privilege of not understanding the fact that as a thin white woman, she is able to move through the world. And yes, sometimes people will say, I don't like the look of your body, and that's not okay. It never, never is. That's not what body positivity is, you know, saying that thin people don't look good. But not understanding the systemic issues that people in bigger bodies face daily, the interpersonal and intrapersonal stigma that they are facing, and it is nothing

Unknown Speaker 44:04

short of someone saying your body is too small autumn is nothing compared to what fat people are saying the people in bigger fat bodies and also people who have other marginalized identities experience. And so because some people have said, I don't like your body, she thinks that it is like a lot of the a lot of the comments

Unknown Speaker 44:27

about her body. Were actually concerned. Yeah. For her health because people are watching and they're seeing a shift. And people are actually showing concern. She's not liking the concern. And there yes, there are some people being very rude, very disrespectful and totally unnecessary. But many of the people reaching out to her. Were sharing concern.

Unknown Speaker 44:55

Yeah, and she didn't want to hear it. Still doesn't want to hear it. Because she went on to

Unknown Speaker 45:00

A

Unknown Speaker 45:01

This was great timing. She did a live this morning. I sent that to you. Yeah, she's doubling down. She's She tried to backtrack. No, no, I don't hate the I don't think the body positivity movement is bullshit. I think everybody should be body positive.

Unknown Speaker 45:17

But she centered herself again, muted about her being attacked again. It's like you're being attacked. For how you look, you're being questioned and challenged in your attitudes and your belief and how you are presenting information. Yeah, and how the fact that she's what she's telling people to do is harming them. You know, like, literally teaching people to, well, you know, taking their money for what and with the pyramid bullshit, but then also telling people that they need to be thinner, or they need to work out a certain amount or eat a certain amount of food. It's just no, no, even a dietitian, even a registered dietitian won't tell you what to eat. Like no work with a dietitian, he does not tell me what to eat. No, no, unless I unless I asked him for specific ideas for food. If I'm like I need I'm like, I really want it. I need something quick or easy. Mike help. I'm blanking. Yeah, you know, I have a nutrition certification. But I don't take on nutrition clients. I use it to help the people I've worked with now, if they want help with that, and I give very general information. And it's more about dieting them to be confident and making their own choices. Mm hmm. Yeah. If they need more help than what I can give them, then I refer them to a registered dietician. Yeah, absolutely. And if you if anyone's listening, and they have a dietician telling them what to eat, and less, it's because they are definitely allergic to it allergic to it.

Unknown Speaker 46:51

They might die from eating it or whatever, then that dietician is probably teaching you some diet, culture disordered eating and know what type of Yeah, so. So the reason for us talking today is because there has been

Unknown Speaker 47:07

what was it like a yearly meeting or something? Yeah. So they have, every summer they have a big summit with all my I always say all the coaches with a lot of the, you know, coaches, it's just a big show. And I watched them over this year, and I went to one and 2017. And they said the same exact things like it's theirs. It's the same stuff every year, same thing, and it's just like, it's just a way to get people more into buying in

Unknown Speaker 47:38

to the cult mentality of and when you say the same, the same things, is it more like you need to hustle you need to be better because you're all pieces of shit. Yes, yeah. This year was this year was funny, though, because

Unknown Speaker 47:50

we I know that the company has been listening. And Carl has been listening because he got on stage in front of 10,000 coaches and called out the haters and the trolls who are speaking out against each other. Oh, is opening speech? What did he say? Like? Hi?

Unknown Speaker 48:09

MySpace? Yeah, no, I'm, we're, we need to ignore them. Oh.

Unknown Speaker 48:15

He was like, Oh, he's changing. We're gonna listen to your concern. No, no, no, we're gonna ignore them. Ignore them. They're just unhappy, miserable people? Yes.

Unknown Speaker 48:27

I'm sure. And he also tried is he's

Unknown Speaker 48:33

he said they're not a multi level marketing anymore. It's not multilevel marketing. Oh, it's it's participation marketing. Oh. And so what's the difference? There isn't one. Oh, it's just a different name. A different name to trick people eyes, as I say, yeah. So they do the big thing in the summer. And then in the fall, they have what's called the leadership retreat, which air the top, you have to earn enough points to get there, which essentially means you have to build a team and get get people under you to a certain rank, so they build teams to get there. So it's about recruiting, who's recruited the best and who is taught people to recruit the best? Because like, I think there maybe was, like 100 people there. It's small. And they take this time to tell that they're the leaders of the company.

Unknown Speaker 49:30

They say this is what's coming up next year. So that was what is what happened last weekend. 35 minutes from my house. And so they announced what's coming up next year, and you mentioned it before,

Unknown Speaker 49:45

is that they are now going to be a body positive company. Yes, they're embracing body positivity. Okay, actually, no, I'm going to back back in that up. They brought on a new vibe.

Unknown Speaker 50:00

He's president of personal development. And she got up on stage and spoke and said, Carl, is the only person in the fitness industry putting a stake in the ground and make these changes. Oh, for fucks sake. Ah, god.

Unknown Speaker 50:18

Yeah. And for anyone who's like, why, why, why, why is why is when you haven't that reaction is because that is utter bullshit. People have been working at this stuff for years for decades. And of course, it's a rich white man who is putting a stake in the ground and saying no longer we're gonna do it the right way. Thank God for CEO Carl he's saving the day. Oh, amazing. It was an it was a rich than white woman who made that statement. Yeah, of course. Of course. There's no There's no diversity in the in the executives at all.

Unknown Speaker 50:57

There are white and thin.

Unknown Speaker 51:00

Yeah, yeah. Men.

Unknown Speaker 51:03

And they're all men when I'm guessing. Most men, you know, the coaches are probably women, aren't they? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Tracks, tracks, but they're all men. And so then bolster men. And so, Carl, the CEO was putting a stake in the ground. And he's saying that the Beachbody is now going to be a body positive company. Yes. And okay. So when I hear that this is what I think of a body positive company. They're no longer going to prescribe any type of diets, any type of restrictive eating, they are not going to be teaching eating at all. In fact, they are going to be teaching intuitive eating and healing the harm that they have done through their restrictive diet. So that's the first thing a body positive company will be doing. They are overhauling their leadership team to make sure that we have lots of fat people, Infini fat people, a lot of people with other marginalized identities, queer people, trans people, etc. They are going to

Unknown Speaker 52:15

only have workouts that are presented by people in marginalized bodies, and they're never going to tell anyone to work out. Also, they are no longer going to be making money from selling shakes and stuff like that. And they're also not going to have a pyramid scheme model.

Unknown Speaker 52:39

And they're also going to make a huge donation for all of the harm that they've caused to eating disorder charities, to fat positive

Unknown Speaker 52:49

movement. Leaders. Yeah, so that's that's probably what they announced right, Jen? No, oh, none of that. Well, what is it that they announced that they're going to be doing to make themselves body positive?

Unknown Speaker 53:04

body positivity? This is their new definition, and a healthy active lifestyle can coexist.

Unknown Speaker 53:12

They're two separate things.

Unknown Speaker 53:16

And shifting from beach body to body which again is an acronym body on demand, interact, Beachbody on demand interactive the ODI VOD i It's a lowercase i This is where it is always feels good to be you.

Unknown Speaker 53:34

Huh?

Unknown Speaker 53:38

This so fucking tricky. Because if I was a layperson to this topic, I would read that this is where it would say again.

Unknown Speaker 53:49

This is where it feels good to be you. Oh, that is so fucking tricky. I would hear that and say, okay, they they support that I'm fat. They support that I am trans non binary. They think it's cool that I'm queer. Hola. Hola. Hola. Hola. There's not going to be any of that bullshit. But I was a bait and switch. Yeah, just the same old bullshit but with a pro bowl on top. So now their new platform is based on health, esteem.

Unknown Speaker 54:27

Self esteem, health esteem. You have to love yourself enough to make these changes.

Unknown Speaker 54:38

Which is they haven't been

Unknown Speaker 54:42

happiness and long term results coexist.

Unknown Speaker 54:46

Ah,

Unknown Speaker 54:48

not if your happiness does not coexist with disordered eating over exercising eating disorders. Fucking not making any money not being able to pay the rent like

Unknown Speaker 55:00

factor is not going

Unknown Speaker 55:03

oh my goodness. So build this. Here's the health routine. Yeah, yes. I mean my though there's more truly feel amazing and truly enjoy your life and the picture they have up there is all thin white

Unknown Speaker 55:20

Well, I can't say all because there's there's one woman that's not white she's a couple of people are Hispanic but they're white women and

Unknown Speaker 55:30

social the acceptable bodies.

Unknown Speaker 55:34

It none of these pictures is there anyone in a marginalized body Oh,

Unknown Speaker 55:41

my God, Mike and the whole health esteem thing.

Unknown Speaker 55:47

Not everyone can be healthy.

Unknown Speaker 55:50

Health is a deeply complicated topic. And a lot of what makes up health is social justice stuff. It's like where you live, it's the color of your skin. It's if you can access health care. It's not did you have this Shakeology shake.

Unknown Speaker 56:09

But like

Unknown Speaker 56:11

that,

Unknown Speaker 56:13

you know, the their idea of health esteem and how to build health is to exercise to eat sustainable nutrition, which their plans are not

Unknown Speaker 56:27

mindset, they're bringing that in now. So now they're bringing in mental health. So now they're going to be mental health experts.

Unknown Speaker 56:34

Which is I found interesting, because when I was in there and since the beginning one they have five pillars of what it takes to be a successful coach and one of them is read personal development every day.

Unknown Speaker 56:47

You're always reading personal development. Well, I can't say I was because I hated all the personal development books that they told me to read. I tossed

Unknown Speaker 56:56

like this is crap. Good for you.

Unknown Speaker 57:00

Like no this I saw so I was I had one foot out the door when I started.

Unknown Speaker 57:06

But that's their thing. And now they're so they're co opting body positivity and trying to turn it into something that's not and at the same time they're saying they are anti diet because you can eat more dessert hang on hang on. They're saying that anti diet

Unknown Speaker 57:25

they are anti diet. Yeah, because they're nothing is to eat more dessert. That's harder their health esteem thing he

Unknown Speaker 57:36

was about was about bats, bats bats Tiki bats, but the desert that they're saying that you're allowed to eat is like fucking and a date dipped in like unsweetened chocolate that once was a whisper of a baby's breath or something like what?

Unknown Speaker 57:52

What is Shakeology?

Unknown Speaker 57:59

Shakeology.

Unknown Speaker 58:01

Hmm,

Unknown Speaker 58:03

because

Unknown Speaker 58:06

they're going to encourage people to eat dessert every day but only but it Shakeology desserts. They got rested.

Unknown Speaker 58:16

Oh, Jen, you

Unknown Speaker 58:18

were anti diet because we want you to buy more of all fucking shit.

Unknown Speaker 58:24

And make recipes with them. Which I again, like I said earlier, none of none of this. None of this language. None of the stuff they're putting out there is new. This is the same stuff they were telling back in 2014 1516 when I was in it. Yeah. We were using Shakeology for dessert mug cakes back then, we were talking about Shakeology as being I went I scrolled through my social I scrolled through my Instagram the other night just to see how how bad I actually was. Because I was at some point. And there's posts of me with my Shakeology, and I didn't eat a cupcake at my mom's birthday, I came home and made myself this instead. This is my dessert.

Unknown Speaker 59:08

This is how like how much this this? Eating a disordered eating has taken hold in my life. I won't celebrate my mom's birthday because I'm gonna make some shitty Shakeology bullshit that's not going to satisfy my hunger. Like shakes. Like recipes for puddings and cakes and Shakeology. Like

Unknown Speaker 59:30

that's not new. It's been around but now they've gone from Shakeology was your healthiest meal of the day. It was seven salads in the glass. Why now? Yeah, that was that was what they used to call it.

Unknown Speaker 59:45

Yeah, seven salads in a glass your healthiest meal of the day. And now it's dessert. I find it's so funny because I bet you there are so many people in the company who say like, we want natural food and we don't like

Unknown Speaker 1:00:00

Do you know any man made crap or motorcycle? Shit? Tell them oh my god.

Unknown Speaker 1:00:07

So eat dessert every day and be fun and consume clean energy. Ah. But of course, Shakeology is clean even though it's like, you know, a powder process.

Unknown Speaker 1:00:21

But other process stuff that ain't clean that shit.

Unknown Speaker 1:00:25

Clean Eating and clean supplements, and the energy they're talking about is their energize supplement. Oh, because that is clean and all the other energies all the other pre workout supplements out there dirty is dirty. Oh, but they're anti diet, and they're anti diet culture. But they're there's a hierarchy of food there. Yeah, that's so clean, dirty. Yeah, can have this dirt not that desert. Yeah, they've really working hard to polish a turd with that. Really? Working hard with that. Wow. And so they so when they announced that they're definitely anti diet, they have had said that they're not going to be telling people what to eat, and they're not going to be prescribing wrong. Oh, of course, they still, with every program that comes out, you have access to their nutrition plans. And Autumn was on her Instagram today live telling people yes, you can do that protocol with my new workout program coming out. You can do time nutrition, but you have to use your containers or you can just choose ultimate portion. It's all based on containers and portions. They limit the number of fruits and vegetables you can eat.

Unknown Speaker 1:01:38

Of course, because it's not about health, it's about weight. Yeah, they're not. Not that eating just fruit vegetable is gonna make you healthy, but you know, but they limit the number. So it's like,

Unknown Speaker 1:01:52

you eat four servings of vegetables, and you're still hungry, you want to eat more bulk, no berries, all my green containers, I can't have those carrots.

Unknown Speaker 1:02:00

But maybe you can have a straight Shakeology. So when I say I wasn't eating what, what was on the plan, I rarely ever ate my fruit.

Unknown Speaker 1:02:10

And I was also afraid of carbs. So I would only eat like one of my yellow containers, which yellow was the carbs? And they're saying they're anti diet when they're literally like saying this is this. This is what you're going to eat and presumably, then you're going to have that before and after. Because you're going to be transformed. But they're not before and afters anymore. Oh tell us you tell us well, because their body positive before they're they're concentrating on you now and loving you now. So it's a then and now. Oh, so they went to the thesaurus and looked at what before and after before what's a different word for before then what's a different word for after now that's it will trick them will trick him now they know that we love that people because we say then and now. And then at the same time.

Unknown Speaker 1:03:04

They're the new the structure of their workouts programs are releasing or changing and it's called body blocks. So it'll be three weeks of a workout program one week of rest. But if you go to the frequently asked questions about the body blocks the first paragraph talks about submitting your transformation pictures after the three weeks to enter the Beachbody challenge for your chance to earn part of the $100,000 price.

Unknown Speaker 1:03:34

But they're not about before and afters. No no no, no, no but submit your before and afters because we want to see how how thin or ish Oh, you get a shirt. Oh, yeah. You got a shirt if you're fit enough. If you submit a before and after.

Unknown Speaker 1:03:49

They will use it for marketing. Yeah. Does the shirt come in five sizes? No.

Unknown Speaker 1:03:58

No, I actually one of the one of the person I've connected with is left. She shared a picture today in her stories. She wanted a shirt and it was a double XL and it didn't fit her

Unknown Speaker 1:04:13

and she called them out for being size inclusive because this was the double XL is the biggest size that they do and it's probably not a double XL either. It's probably you know it's a medium

Unknown Speaker 1:04:25

to medium like

Unknown Speaker 1:04:28

the other thing was

Unknown Speaker 1:04:30

that interview that I watched at double speed with Cava CEO and then this other this other coach that was not a coach and what she wanted to say were modifier modifier. She She is a coach, but she is a modifier in workout program. Okay, okay. So something that he said to her at the end of the session. He was like, Oh, it's so great to talk to you because, quote, oh, so he says you're not in the shape a coach should look like but you're on a journey.

Unknown Speaker 1:05:00

Knee. So that's what he said. And this person is

Unknown Speaker 1:05:06

a 50 year old woman who is very, very slightly chubby. Like you. She's straight size, right? And yeah. And so he was holding her up, have you look at this, this disgusting person, she's on this journey to try and become fit because she's not in the shape that a coach should be. After he spent an hour saying why you're not making more money and needling her and saying, but what are you going to do to get your coaches to make more money? But what are you going to do? What are you going to do? Why aren't you rich error? Why aren't you and and asking her inappropriate questions about her income and all this type of stuff, like

Unknown Speaker 1:05:50

so, so the CEO is quite happy to comment on and shame people's bodies on a public call, a live call, that people can go and watch. And it just be kind of like a tough love type thing. Because he kept saying, I know you can take it I know you can take it you can think of in your head when and I was just like, she's doing it because she's she was structured, she's got a job. What is she gonna say to you like, fuck off? You know, you're a decade. And also he said

Unknown Speaker 1:06:24

you need desperation and pressure to make it work. Like that's it. That's how he wants his people desperate, under pressure, starving, overworked, working 18 hours a day, and then he's gonna talk shit about your body and tell you you're not making enough money for him. Right and then put on the show a week ago about being body positive and wanting to erase the stigma of the of the name Beachbody so they're shifting to body so they can reach all of the people that may not have felt welcomed before. Yeah. And and their marketing team will experts, right look the same with new new is a diet is a diet is a diet numerous 100% A diet but because yes, they said we are backed by psychology. They are not this is just one guy who, who started new and was like, Okay, well, we want to make as much money as possible. Diets are great, we're going to do that. And let's stick on the label of psychology and get people in like, we have some magic formula. There is no magic formula. There's it's not backed by science, it's not evidence based. But it caught people it would have caught me if I was not I would 100% have done Noom. And when I was in diet land myself, phobia, and I think this body thing, I would have said, Ah, they've got their shit together. Now, I'm going to do it because they it's about you know, mental health, and it's about how often it's about. It's about loving yourself and self esteem and health esteem. And I'm like,

Unknown Speaker 1:08:14

oh, it's, it's, it's gonna be a bait and switch outside. So I'm like, it's all smoke and mirrors, it is all see because

Unknown Speaker 1:08:22

we're watching like,

Unknown Speaker 1:08:25

the coaches now they're not changing their messaging they did for three days.

Unknown Speaker 1:08:30

And now they're back to showing before and after pictures of programs. They're showing the pictures, they'll go, but it's not about the weight loss, even though they talk about the weight loss. Like why are you showing that you don't need to show those pictures, and you can just talk about it.

Unknown Speaker 1:08:45

Yeah, like I've been, because I don't use I don't have anybody take pictures.

Unknown Speaker 1:08:52

I don't share my own like, because it's not part of it. There's no way in and I'm like, there's no reason to because that's such a very small, insignificant part of who you are. And what your fitness is, how your health is how well being who you are as a person. It doesn't matter.

Unknown Speaker 1:09:14

We tried some shifting away from that. And but there it doesn't, it's not going to work with them there too. It won't work. Because they just don't know. They don't know that. Like they don't understand what

Unknown Speaker 1:09:27

the social jet the fact that this is a social justice movement. They don't know the history behind it. And they don't care. Because if they did it would mean that they would they would have to close the business down or make humongous changes as they actually want you to align with body positivity. That positivity. Yeah, liberation. They're just using it as a marketing tool. And I think you know, it's a very smart move, but hopefully, folks, if they listen to content like this, and a lot of people won't

Unknown Speaker 1:10:00

because they were like they're just trolls or whatever

Unknown Speaker 1:10:07

also kind of extending like big love to people who do get trapped in it and who are sucked into this stuff because it is so tricky and it's they're gaslighting, this so gaslighting you and they manipulate men. Yeah, yeah, it's literally there was there was someone the other day in her stories?

Unknown Speaker 1:10:30

It was like I had to call my therapist to schedule a session after watching them because like I still, you know, like it never goes away still deal with it.

Unknown Speaker 1:10:39

But first, she started by calling haters and trolls and basically saying those of us that have spoken out and said we have had issues with disordered eating orthorexia eating disorders, is that exacerbated by these programs, she called us liars.

Unknown Speaker 1:10:56

And then she went on to start crying talking about her own issues with an eating disorder and said that Beachbody saved her not therapy, Beachbody.

Unknown Speaker 1:11:07

And then she goes, my heart goes out to those people for what they're saying. It wasn't for what we experienced this because we're wrong and what we're speaking about. Yeah. And I'm like,

Unknown Speaker 1:11:18

Oh, my therapist, I need an appointment. Oh, my God. Yeah, I would have been like, it was hard to watch, because you could see in her face, she isn't healed, and that she's saying this saved her. But she just went from this to this and shifted or disordered behavior to something that is socially acceptable. Instead of and then she said she helped save other women. I was like, Oh, God, no, you're not a therapist. You're not an eating disorder specialists. You're not an MD? No, like I don't I, I have people that come to me and be like, I want to work with you. But I'm working through the disorder. I'm like, Okay, you need to work with that first and sit and talk to your therapist. And if your therapist says you're ready, let's work together as a team, because I'm not messing with that. Even though I had that experience at No, that's not my expertise. My expertise is movement, and training.

Unknown Speaker 1:12:14

And so they're taking on, just because they experienced it, I'm an expert in it. So I'm helping save women from the same thing I went through. And that's like, that's not how it works. It's dangerous. And also, I'm saving them by giving them more of the stuff that they're trying to be saved from. Yeah, given them more diet, culture, body checking, etc, etc.

Unknown Speaker 1:12:37

I just want to like clarify for anyone who's listening who, who don't, who doesn't already know me or isn't familiar with,

Unknown Speaker 1:12:46

what fat liberation is, what health every size is, what Intuitive Eating is just, I've done a whole podcast episode on this. Because Beachbody thinks that it's something else. So body positivity is a social justice movement movement. First records records of people talking about it is in the 1960s. But it was people have been talking about it long before that it just wasn't documented. Started by fat folks, fat women, fat trans people.

Unknown Speaker 1:13:21

Infini fat people fat, black, indigenous people of color.

Unknown Speaker 1:13:26

And the it's a social justice movement to say fat people deserve the same rights as everyone else is the same access to the world, the same opportunities, and we don't deserve discrimination. In the 1990s, the body positive

Unknown Speaker 1:13:47

language came about which was stemmed from the origins of fat liberation, and focused a little bit more on accepting your body.

Unknown Speaker 1:14:00

No matter what size it was, but also still focusing on folks in larger bodies and those who have most marginalized bodies. It's not about

Unknown Speaker 1:14:10

fineness, thinness, not should not be centered, whiteness should not be centered. Body Body, body positivity or fat liberation is not anti health. It's got nothing to do with health, apart from let's make sure that fat people have access to health care.

Unknown Speaker 1:14:27

It's not saying you shouldn't work out. Moving your body can be wonderful for many people, but also many people can't do that because they might be living with a disability, because they just don't want to because they have other priorities in their life. And those who do move their body knows or don't, there's no morality difference in them.

Unknown Speaker 1:14:49

There's nothing like you should eat, quote, unhealthy food and if you eat, quote, healthy food that you're bad, there's no you shouldn't be thin

Unknown Speaker 1:15:00

Fat people are better. All of these ideas about what body positivity or fat liberation is that are not. Let's look for liberation for the most marginalized bodies in our society, specifically fat folks, is just

Unknown Speaker 1:15:17

false. It's just false. Like, I did this, on this, and

Unknown Speaker 1:15:23

they said, there was this video that I watched called body positivity gone too far. And I watched it being like, Oh, let's see what the criticism is. And the guy said, here's a new story. A, some parents says that they sleep in a bed with their children. And the children are not wearing clothes, body positivity gone too far. And I was like, What?

Unknown Speaker 1:15:50

What?

Unknown Speaker 1:15:52

What the Wow. He's saying that Oh, because they were European. Because, you know, a lot of Europeans have a lot more open minded. On on nudity. So So he's saying he was thinking nudity, okay, that means that they have a body, and we shouldn't feel ashamed of our body. Therefore, we should sleep with children naked. Therefore, people who are people who speak with children,

Unknown Speaker 1:16:21

their parents, they are body positive, and they are predators. Like it was like, wow, how are you? But that's just what people do. They are willfully, willfully, willfully misunderstanding and saying, because really, how can you criticize the idea that fat folks should have equal access to to the world? I mean, like,

Unknown Speaker 1:16:49

because there's nothing to criticize, you know, like, instead of, like, make it up, if to make it up. And like with,

Unknown Speaker 1:16:58

with autumn, specifically, and today, you need she talks about people body shaming her. And it's like, no, we're not talking about your body. We're talking about your behavior and your attitude. And the messaging that you put out there, it's not about that, but she makes herself the victim

Unknown Speaker 1:17:20

and centers herself 100% of the time. And I know for me, when I wasn't blocked, noticing I was in the comments. I'm like, This is what diet culture is. Here's some, here's the facts. Here's education. Here are some resources, if anybody wants to go, see I never talked about her. I was just sharing information. I got blocked for that. Yeah, of course, because they want this echo chamber. They don't want people to hear something other than what will keep them rolling in the money. Yeah, exactly. And, and one thing we didn't mention, we'll just say this, this thing before wrap up is what do you think was the reason for them to shift to body positivity?

Unknown Speaker 1:18:07

Money.

Unknown Speaker 1:18:09

They're not they're their money is it's

Unknown Speaker 1:18:13

their stock is doing horrible. They went public last last summer. And I think it was it was around $12 a share. As of this morning, it was down to $1.06.

Unknown Speaker 1:18:28

And Carl is the major shareholder.

Unknown Speaker 1:18:32

He holds the majority. Yeah, this year alone, it has not gone over $2.70 and their stocks have gone down 53% year to date. So he had to do something pretty radical. And stepping closer to the fatties is probably incredibly radical for him but in a way that is very dishonest and I I think it's gonna backfire. Do you think time yeah, oh, well, there's so much more and

Unknown Speaker 1:19:06

people should go on and follow you because you talk about this stuff. Where can people find you?

Unknown Speaker 1:19:13

Best place to find me is Jen be Jen with one end dot coaching on Instagram. Awesome. And so what do you do in your business? And what's the name of your business? Anchor Fit Club? And so an anchor Fit Club. How can people work with you?

Unknown Speaker 1:19:30

Find me through Instagram. I do a group. It's a group coaching program. So it's it's our the program is already written out. But it's I like to say it's a combination of one on one coaching and group coaching. Because there's a lot of access to me one on one calls. I bring in guest speakers every month which Vinny will be coming to speak with my group in February.

Unknown Speaker 1:19:56

But I created it to introduce

Unknown Speaker 1:20:00

swimmin to strength training in a way that is actually building them up and not saying you need to make yourself smaller. Yeah, I'm open to conversations. So the best way just to chat Yeah, if you've got some Beachbody gasps I'm sure that I'm sure that you would like love, love to talk about it. Yes, and I do have a YouTube channel. I can't remember the I think it's just Jen baru so. Um, but I do live videos on there. We do sipping Starks on Beachbody so

Unknown Speaker 1:20:32

yeah.

Unknown Speaker 1:20:34

Good stuff. I've had so much fun talking to you about this bullshit, even though my radiometer is through the roof.

Unknown Speaker 1:20:42

This is why I need a therapy. I'm

Unknown Speaker 1:20:46

gonna go to a snack. I'm gonna go to a smash room this weekend. Oh my goodness. And just like have a picture of Carl's face while you're smashing some vases or something? Yes. It just needed in my head. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So if you're if you're, if anyone's thinking about falling for body, don't do it. Don't do what you're what you want. But you know, like, message me first? Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 1:21:11

And she'll tell you all the shit. So thank you, Jen for being here. You would thank you for having me. Yeah, it was so fun talking to you. And thank you everyone for being here on this episode of the face value podcast. Okay, bye. Bye. Okay.

Unknown Speaker 1:21:31

Thank you, Jen. Oh my goodness, this could be a Swiss way it can be like a 30 partner.

Unknown Speaker 1:21:38

I'm telling you, you've got so much.

Unknown Speaker 1:21:41

There's so much stuff. Yeah, I bet people would be really really interested in there. Maybe you should have like, what are you what are you doing your videos? So? Yeah, I think the more that we have.

Unknown Speaker 1:21:53

It's interesting. We had somebody I had somebody send me a call from one of the top coaches.

Unknown Speaker 1:22:02

She's like, I'm still am on her tee. I think I'm on our team. But I don't know, but I haven't cancelled yet. But I'm canceling before I get charged again. This month. She's like, here's all this stuff. So we have people sending this stuff constantly.

Unknown Speaker 1:22:18

So that's where we like we don't I don't follow any Beachbody people. I people send me there in this screenshot, send me the videos, hey, you need to go watch this. I'm blocked by a lot of them. But I do have an extra backup account. So if I really need to go watch.

Unknown Speaker 1:22:37

But it works. Having a team of people that are like, okay, we're all on the same page. Let's shed light and put out the information out there that the Beachbody Coaches won't. Yeah, like you need to be an informant. That's our big thing. Like just be informed if you hear all what we have to say. You listen to it, and you still want to join that church choice.

Unknown Speaker 1:22:58

Right, but just being formed. Yeah, yeah. They don't want people informed. Yeah. And that's it. You know, it was only when I especially this, this moves into also the like online business. Well, the online business world is filled with all of this type of shit to like, have, you know, manipulating people like by my really expensive program, and you'll become a millionaire in 10 minutes and all that type of stuff. And a lot of a lot of Beachbody coaches, the older ones that have been around forever. Well, they're starting to recruit more now, because they changed how you can make money. So they need to recruit, they actually need to recruit people now.

Unknown Speaker 1:23:33

But they've started their own offshoot businesses, teaching people how to work the Beachbody business, ah, creating their own planner. So they're doing that and they're running their beachbody business, which isn't their business. Their employees hate it when they call themselves CEOs. But everybody on their team, they say you need to sign up for my course too. So they're making money off these people with commissions and volume money and they're the downline is paying them $600 For a two month course. Yeah, yeah, so just raking that money in from people and it's just not gonna and that's like another lost lost money for people because no matter how hard they work, there's only a small percentage of people there's going to work for and it's probably people who already got connections. Yep. People who've already sell businesses, people who've got you know, money already, that can pay for the the low earnings last year for a beachbody coach of all ranks was $10.

Unknown Speaker 1:24:38

The high earnings and this person doesn't even work the business was 2,864,000. Wow. But the average earning the average is only $3,000.

Unknown Speaker 1:24:56

That's the average and that's over a year. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 1:25:00

It

Unknown Speaker 1:25:03

is horrifying, isn't it? It's, I just I hate it so much. I hate it so much. Take it back. I don't want it.

Unknown Speaker 1:25:11

I don't like it. And I'm glad you got out. I'm glad you got out. I am too. Yeah. And I think this is a really interesting and important topic. I think you should talk even more about it all the time. I am I'm trying. I'm trying to find the balance between talking about this and at the same time sharing fitness. Yeah, it's, it's a hard it's, it's, it's a balance. It's definitely like, am I talking about too much? I do need to promote my business too. So it's, it's interesting. Yeah, but I have it I'm working on.

Unknown Speaker 1:25:45

Because I didn't say the price because people can just message me and I tell them, it's I put it out there. It's once 157 a month for my for the group program.

Unknown Speaker 1:25:56

It first three months or commitment and then it's month to month after if they want so.

Unknown Speaker 1:26:01

But that's the price of the Shakeology back, oh, when I talk about it, just so you know, the price of my group coaching, which is a full on training program, one on one coaching calls with an actual expert group calls with experts, a community where we're not focused on shrinking ourselves, this 157 per month, but I have people that are leaving each body are like I can't afford that. But I want to work with you. I was like, Okay, well I can do I'm working on doing like just a group, like a membership without the training. Where it's just like 10 bucks a month for like a founders thing and then increase it and then they'll they'll get the calls but there won't be like a training program. And they won't have messaging access to me, it would just be me in the group chatting. Yeah, no direct messaging or anything like that. But it would be in there sharing so that's a thought process I'm coming up with right now is like I was on a call this morning with my business group mentorship thing, and we're actually talking about social justice and anti racism work. And things like that this morning and the whole time I'm like, oh, beachbody coaches with hate this call. What do you think they would? They would hate it we you know, we talked about the four levels of power internal transactional, organizational, cultural, institutional, like all over that stuff. And like, yeah, they would hate this. Who's your business coach? Um, right now I'm working with Allison Tony. And I don't know. I look him up how Alison Tani elephant ne te n n e. Y.

Unknown Speaker 1:27:35

And I've worked with Christina Montalvo to know

Unknown Speaker 1:27:41

Alison tennety. I'm looking at Instagram. She's probably not on Instagram or under pitch. Nope. She's under Allison.

Unknown Speaker 1:27:49

Allison 20 Fitness. Yep.

Unknown Speaker 1:27:56

Yeah, and I just I did the size inclusive trainer certification with the Leeds green at the beginning of the year. Yeah, she's my friend. And then I've done I did Coach's Corner with tamale Fraser this year, too.

Unknown Speaker 1:28:16

And then fitness for all bodies. Oh, just as I've done though, I've done his his courses. They have a

Unknown Speaker 1:28:25

message to him. Like you're in panic, like didn't answer me. You're in Paris.

Unknown Speaker 1:28:30

They're doing another calling all white women. They're doing a what? Sorry.

Unknown Speaker 1:28:35

They do a talk or workshop every once awhile called calling all white women. Oh, that's happening. December 5 again. And like I mentioned like, I want to come to one you always should to share it too late. The next one, like December 5, I said I've marked up my calendar. Oh, I never was is teaching about racism and stuff. Yeah, very good. Yeah. So done that one. And then next year, I'm looking into doing more social justice stuff, because the the training

Unknown Speaker 1:29:10

I have I have a certification. I have my personal trainer, but it's the same thing. Like once you have programming and training down and you know, people move. That's fine. It's the other stuff. Like yeah, the hard stuff. Yeah, there's so much to learn. Like, yeah, lifelong process of learning all of that bullshit that we internalized.

Unknown Speaker 1:29:34

But yeah,

Unknown Speaker 1:29:36

well, thank you. Thank you for being here. And I really appreciate it and I was fun. Yeah, really interested in this topic. And so the podcast will be out next week and I'll tag you.

Unknown Speaker 1:29:49

Hmm. I'm wondering because I normally do a an audiogram which is a snippet from the podcast and because I do it at the end and I say dead edited a

Unknown Speaker 1:30:00

All

Unknown Speaker 1:30:01

right now if you've got time, which is like spend two to three minutes just

Unknown Speaker 1:30:05

talking about this year, okay, so let me what do I, what do we want to say in it?

Unknown Speaker 1:30:11

Okay, so watch out

Unknown Speaker 1:30:15

for Beachbody is

Unknown Speaker 1:30:18

new.

Unknown Speaker 1:30:21

Okay, so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna say, watch out for beach bodies, new body positive

Unknown Speaker 1:30:27

grift. And then I'm gonna say, Jen, tell us about it. And so in like two minutes,

Unknown Speaker 1:30:35

or one minute, 30 seconds, the shorter the better. Say, last week,

Unknown Speaker 1:30:42

they had a meeting and they announced that Beachbody is now body positive, and they're changing their name to body.

Unknown Speaker 1:30:49

And

Unknown Speaker 1:30:53

and,

Unknown Speaker 1:30:56

and then maybe then I'll say,

Unknown Speaker 1:30:59

oh, so Jen, are they?

Unknown Speaker 1:31:02

Are they no longer teaching diets? Are they no longer teaching disordered exercise routines?

Unknown Speaker 1:31:09

And then you'll say no. And then I'll say, Oh, it's just us. It's just a big old gap.

Unknown Speaker 1:31:17

And I'll go yes, yeah.

Unknown Speaker 1:31:21

Okay, lab a lab. labeler. Well, all right. Okay. I gotta, I gotta, I gotta get a wiggle on. I gotta get on with the locker chat all day to your gym.

Unknown Speaker 1:31:32

Again, we'll do it again soon. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yes. I have to start getting ready for

Unknown Speaker 1:31:38

I have to get the kids to karate. That's what do you have to get them to cry? Karate. Oh,

Unknown Speaker 1:31:45

karate. Oh, how to get them to cry. Oh, oh.

Unknown Speaker 1:31:50

I have a My oldest is almost 16 And my youngest just turned 12.

Unknown Speaker 1:31:55

Yeah, lots of stuff. Lots of stuff. Well enjoy the karate. You're getting them there. Yeah, I'll tag you and I'll let you know when it's coming out next Tuesday. Oh, okay. Yeah. So hey,

Unknown Speaker 1:32:09

buy I'll talk to you later.

Unknown Speaker 1:32:21

Perfect.