Fitness Tunes to Get You Going

music
Originally uploaded by phil h

If they ever make a movie about my weightloss journey, I have to admit that Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk will be part of the soundtrack. I was first exposed to the song by Kanye West's remix, Stronger, but I like the original better. It and Technologic by the same group are staples in my workout mixes, but lately I've been looking to expand that playlist.

Today I stumbled upon SkinnySongs, an album of music written by Heidi Rozen, a successful business woman who one day decided to slim down before turning 50. She sampled the diet music that was available at the time, but didn't like what she heard since most of it focused on the dreary aspects of dieting.

Taking it upon herself and building on her creative-writing degree, she worked with two established music producers to make ten songs, including Use It to Lose It, The Incredible Shrinking Woman, and I'm a Hottie Now. Some critics of the album have pointed out that the songs focus on the vanity of losing weight instead of the health benefits. Keith Ayoob, a nutritionist in New York City made one such comment.

The tunes are catchy and short, but they are focused on superficiality and cosmetics instead of managing weight for health. From a useful standpoint, I don't know how much they are going to help anybody.

I'll have to disagree. While my main focus of losing weight is to be around a lot longer for my family, I can't help but want to look better too. Even if my only motivation for losing weight was to fit into a specific pair of jeans, that wouldn't mean that I wouldn't also achieve better health at the same time.