Ear Stapling? Weight Loss Fads Turn Bad

Putting a staple in your ear to lose weight is yet another silly gimmick

We've got diet pills, weight loss coffee, a pill that will block carbs, a cookie diet, weight loss vacations, an even a stomach pacemaker being pitched as legitimate ways to shed the pounds.

Add to that list the newest fad to come along in that same genre of weight loss gimmicks: EAR STAPLING!

You heard me right. According to this Jackson, Mississippi-based WLBT-TV story, people are all excited about having their ear stapled in a 10-minute procedure with the hopes of finding a way to curb their appetite and lose the weight.

I'M NOT JOKING! This is a real story featuring a company called Staple Trim, which serves 150 customers eager to have a staple put in their ear every single day in the hopes the fat will melt away.

Apparently, the staple releases endorphins into your body which, in turn, keeps you so content you don't feel like you have to eat and stress is relieved. Other benefits include improvements in sleep, constipation and even headaches.

Well, I can tell you why all of this is happening. BECAUSE YOU'VE GOT A FREAKIN' STAPLE IN YOUR EAR AND IT HURTS LIKE THE DICKENS!!! You know the best way to cure any pain in your body? Make a BIGGER pain in another part of your body! My brother used to stomp on my toe when I would complain about my head hurting as a kid. When I asked him why he did that, his reply was, "I bet your head doesn't hurt anymore!"

LOL! He was right! That is something that probably applies to the ear staple, too. It's just another way to psychologically trick yourself into believing you are doing something positive for yourself. But what a crock of you know what.

These Dr. Feelgood ear stapling clinicians don't even have to have a license to shoot a staple through your ear. Yikes! Who can you complain to if something goes wrong? Double yikes!

At $55 a pop every three months, many people will conclude that this is something worth trying to help them lose weight.

As I have said many times before, when you are overweight or obese and think you have tried anything and everything to lose the weight, then you become hopelessly desperate to find ANYTHING that will work. How else can you explain something like ear stapling to reach the mainstream if people weren't gullible enough to think it could actually work for them?

I don't know if shooting a staple in your ear helps you lose weight or not, but I do know that it won't teach you anything about eating better or improving the bad habits that got you fat to begin with. The sure sign of a weight loss fad is when it expects you to do something strange (pop this pill, drink this coffee, eat this cookie, take this vacation, install this device in your stomach) to yourself and then leave you hanging about what other important changes you need to make to keep the weight loss permanent.

That is what is so great about livin' la vida low-carb. Sure it goes against everything you've ever been taught about what is "healthy" by encouraging the consumption of fat and protein. But most low-carb programs are well-rooted in sound scientific research with step-by-step instructions about how to make it work as a lifetime commitment for you to control your weight.

While the media likes to focus on weight loss gimmicks like ear stapling, the fact is that the low-carb lifestyle may be just what most people are looking for if they would educate themselves a little more about what it actually is. If you think being on low-carb is eating a pound of bacon for breakfast, bunless cheeseburgers for lunch, and a 16-ounce ribeye steak for supper, then it is obvious you are getting your information from the media.

But if you want to find out more about what this amazing way of eating is all about, pick up any of the outstanding low-carb books available on the market and see how nutritionally-balanced livin' la vida low-carb is and has always been. And you can keep that hole out of your ears and head, too!