So I was listening to the radio on my way to work this morning and they had “celebrity trainer” Jim Karas on the show plugging his new book The Petite Advantage, which purports to offer groundbreaking weight loss tips for women 5’4″ and under.

When I first tuned in, he was talking about the benefits of eating a big breakfast. Nothing wrong with that. I love breakfast. But then he went on to offer his calorie recommendations for men and women. According to him, women should eat… wait for it… 1100-1200 calories a day to lose weight and 1400-1500 calories to maintain.

WHAAAT?

Having now read the synopsis of his book, I think these are his recommendations for petite women but the interview did not make that clear. Either way, any online calorie calculator will tell you that those recommendations are too low for most women. At 5’4″, I easily lost weight eating 1500 calories a day, yet that’s the upper range of his maintenance recommendation? And weight-wise, I was never very big to begin with; imagine a larger woman following those guidelines?

I mean, seriously, 1100 calories? Maybe if I were in a coma. Otherwise, eating so little would turn me into a homicidal maniac.

He also says that he – an active, 5’7″ male who weighs 170 pounds – only eats about 2000 calories a day. That’s almost how much I eat to maintain my weight and I’m a small female.

A month’s worth of food on the Petite Advantage Diet.

It just bothers me that people like this are given a public platform where they can confuse the public into buying their program or book or whatever. Because, naturally, this guy is selling something (in addition to his book, you can also purchase a 21-day “metabolic cleanse” from his website for the perfectly reasonable price of $779. Almost a grand for three weeks’ worth of juice? Who’s blending this shit, a team of Michelin ranked chefs?).

His blog and Twitter accounts also make for an infuriating read – lots of very judgmental, fat shaming posts and Tweets (maybe being in a permanent caloric deficit is making him cranky?). Like this gem from his Twitter feed:

Morbidly obese (200+ pounds overweight) man eating 12 chocolate chip cookies across from me in the lounge. Is it his genes? Thyroid? Hunger?

Really? You actually sat there and counted how many cookies the guy ate? That’s messed up.

Then there’s a blog post about actress Melissa McCarthy, where he says it’s “all but inevitable” she will get diabetes, cancer and heart disease and die young as a result of her “enormous weight.” And obviously, he has every right to be outraged about this:

If I were her, I would make [her weight] a priority or all the fame and the money will be spent on healthcare. OOPS, sorry, that’s not true, you and I will be paying for her healthcare under the new plan. I wonder if she will pay for something for you since you are paying for something for her.

Cute little swipe at Obamacare there, Jim.

God, I hate this guy.

That is all.

I’m off to the gym now, lest I should become morbidly obese and become a financial burden to my fellow Canadians.