Not a shameless sales plug (hypocrisy-ometer reading level 1), but as part of our continuing professional development, Make Me A Plan’s nutrition and wellbeing planners regularly audit the content of other companies and individuals in the market who purport to be nutritionists, dietitians, food planners, wellness professionals, and those who are customers or interested in such services. And, dear reader and member of Plankind, (hypocrisy-ometer reading level 2), how often we find hypocrisy is on the menu.

And so, we’ve compiled a handy Hypocrisy Identification Tool for you, so that you can helpfully self-identify as free from or rife with hypocrisy and be more likely to understand where the stuff claimed by product and people marketeers in the nutrition domain lies on the hypocrisy-ometer.

What is hypocrisy (all these come from real-life examples, the identities of the offending companies/brands/individuals have been kept anonymous)

• Claiming that a key reason why you have a so-called healthy weight is because you don’t eat bananas after 4pm
• Buying social media templates where you insert your own name/a few contextualising words to make it look to would-be customers that you are sharing your own nutrition/body image journey on social media
• Charging people for nutrition advice that recommends a healthy, natural diet and lifestyle whilst injecting steroids and overtraining yourself (help is available)
• Swearing an oath to do no harm when qualifying as a doctor and then taking advantage of someone’s low self-esteem and/or poor mental health in order to get them to pay money for your services

What isn’t hypocrisy

• Having one thing off-plan when you’re following a nutrition plan
• Having rest days
• Practicing self-care
• Being kind to others
• Taking walk breaks when you’re out on a run
• Pressing pause if you’re feeling overwhelmed
• Saying you’re ok some days and not being ok in the same situation on other days
• Anything Make Me A Plan ever says or does ?

We’ll end this blog here at defcon level 10 on the hypocrisy-ometer. We hope you find this handy reference guide and spectrum helpful – let us know in the comments or message us what you think.

Next fortnight, I’ll be writing On Independence, since, for the first time, this Philosopher-in-Residence blog falls on the 4^th of July. I’ll be wanting you to join the herd though and read along. Please get in touch with any particular aspects of this subject you’d like me to write about.

In the meantime,

Happy Planning

PS If you want some other free tips for your business life, check out the Working Well blog – out fortnightly on Wednesdays, courtesy of Make Me A Plan’s Productivity Expert, Penny Le Kelly. Browse the latest edition here:

https://www.makemeaplan.com/news/the-ripple-effect-of-volunteering/