Someone paid $150,000 for Picasso's paint palette. Three pieces of cardboard with dried paint. They woke up the next morning still unable to paint like Picasso. Sound familiar?
The fitness industry profits from making you feel like the right product is what stands between you and your goal. The sauna, the cold plunge, the glucose monitor, the Peloton, the supplement, the protein powder. What they are actually selling you is not the result. It is the feeling of having solved the problem.
And until you understand the difference, you will keep buying and keep staying stuck.
In this episode, we talk about:
- Why buying fitness products creates a feeling of progress without creating any
- What Tangibility Bias is and how the wellness industry exploits it
- Why Peloton grew 113% during the pandemic while 40% of people still gained weight
- Why a physical product is actually a riskier investment than coaching
- Why no gadget or supplement can make you consistent
- How a member built her best physique ever with two dumbbells and resistance bands
- What actually closes the gap between knowing what to do and doing it
- The one question to ask yourself before you spend another dollar on anything
The fitness industry is selling you the dopamine hit of the purchase. Not the result. This episode is the honest conversation that comes after that realization. Do you want stuff or do you want results? That is the only question that matters.
Ever wish you had a fit and straightforward BFF with over 15 years of experience to help you filter through all the information regarding fitness, nutrition, and life? That's exactly what you'll get when you listen to the Unfiltered Fit Life Podcast.
Join Former Bikini Olympia Champion, mom of 2, and fitness coach Nathalia Melo each week as she shares fitness, nutrition, and life tips to help busy working moms simplify their fitness journey so they can learn easy and simple strategies on how to lose weight and feel sexy AF.
After helping over 5000 busy working moms, Nathalia has found the blueprint to fitness, nutrition, and life success, which she will be sharing in this podcast: actionable tips that will help busy working moms be more present at work and at home.
This show is for you if you realize that nothing good comes from your comfort zone and are ready to challenge yourself to achieve great things. Follow Unfiltered Fit Life wherever you are listening to join us each week for a splash of sass, humor, and a whole lotta truth.
Podcast Transcript
The Fitness Industry Is Selling You a Feeling Not a Result
INTRODUCTION
I open with three pieces of celebrity memorabilia. Kurt Cobain's MTV Unplugged guitar sold for $6 million. His smashed unplayable guitar sold for $595,000. Three of Picasso's actual painting palettes sold at auction in London for a combined equivalent of approximately $150,000. None of the buyers became the artist. The palette is not the thing. The decades of practice, the eye, the obsession, the hours - that is what creates the masterpiece.
THE WELLNESS INDUSTRY PARALLEL
The fitness and wellness industry profits from making people feel like the right product is what stands between them and their goal. The sauna, the cold plunge, the glucose monitor, the equipment, the supplements. What the industry is actually selling is not the result - it is the dopamine hit of the purchase. Buying creates the feeling of having solved the problem without actually solving it. I call this mental masturbation - the feeling of doing something without doing anything at all.
TANGIBILITY BIAS
There is a psychological concept called Tangibility Bias where we systematically overvalue things we can see and touch over things we cannot. When you buy a physical product your brain processes it as a done deal - transaction closed. When you buy coaching you are buying a process that leads to an outcome that has not happened yet and your brain cannot hold onto it the same way. This makes products feel safer and more valuable even when they deliver far less.
WHY PRODUCTS ARE ACTUALLY RISKIER
The only guaranteed outcome of buying a product is that you have it. Everything that happens after the purchase depends on variables the product has no ability to influence. When your kids get sick, when work gets busy, when you travel, when life happens - the bike, the sauna, the supplement cannot adapt to you. A good coach is actively working to make sure you get results. Peloton does not care whether you get results or not.
THE PELOTON DATA
During the pandemic Peloton had 1.1 million subscribers - up 113% from the previous year. Their market cap hit nearly $50 billion in January 2021. Since then Peloton has lost 97% of its stock value from its all-time high and fitness subscribers have dropped nearly 70% since 2023. Meanwhile researchers examining 15 million health records found that nearly 40% of people gained weight during the pandemic. People bought Pelotons and still gained weight simultaneously. The bike was in the living room. The weight piled on anyway.
THE REVERSE SUNK COST TRAP
People tell themselves that buying something will force them to commit. The reality is it almost never does. A gym membership card does not make someone show up. A supplement does not fix a broken relationship with food. A glucose monitor does not teach you what to do with the data. The purchase gives the feeling of commitment without requiring any actual behavior change.
WHAT ACTUALLY MOVES THE NEEDLE
The magic is never in the tool. A member built her best physique ever - better than when she was competing - using only resistance bands and two sets of dumbbells while living in an RV for three to four months. The magic is in the practice, the coaching, the failure, the refinement, the adjustment, the accountability, the mindset work, and having someone help you navigate the life you actually have. No sauna, Peloton, protein powder, or oura ring gives you that.
THE REAL QUESTION
Before spending anything else, ask yourself: do I want stuff or do I want results? The biggest status symbol in fitness is not the equipment you own. It is being fit. Any person can buy a sauna. Not every person can put in the consistent work to build a body that reflects discipline, commitment, and follow-through. That is the real flex. And no amount of money spent on products is going to create that feeling - only the actual work will.
CLOSING
I bring it back to Picasso. Why would you buy the palette when you could buy a lesson with Picasso? Why would you buy the guitar when you could buy a lesson with Kurt Cobain? The lesson is what builds the skill. The palette and the guitar are just objects. So is your Peloton, your sauna, and your protein powder if there is no one helping you use them to actually get somewhere.
