Hey, want to lose weight? Do you mind getting called a "flabby meatbag?" You can lose weight the sadistic way - for free! CARROT Hunger is an app that claims to be a "hilarious talking weight tracking that will inspire, bribe, ridicule, threaten and insult you into losing weight" that promises to "make getting in shape suck so much less."
If you overeat, the app will insult you, send out bribe requests (you can pay to overeat, according to TUAW) and post shameful Tweets for all your friends to see, according to News Corp Australia. The app even includes iBeacon, an Apple brand transmitter that can set off an alarm whenever you (via your smartphone's location) are too close to the refrigerator.
"When I was using Carrot, I got an advertisement for 'free fries' and when I clicked, was mocked for caving in," wrote Owen Williams at The Next Web.
Brian Mueller, the app developer, has created a useful tool in some ways. The app tells you what you'd have to do in order to burn off the food you just logged in, but some people think that this app is MyFitnessPal with an attitude - and the attitude isn't helpful.
Jonthon Freeston, an exercise expert at Sydney University, told News Corp Australia that fat shaming isn't an effective weight loss tool.
"To be honest, no one likes getting yelled at," Freeston told News Corp Australia. "Although this may work for a small subsection of the population, there are real problems associated with the assumption that punishing people works."
According to Freeston, exercise depends on the individual plus social and environmental factors. "Environmental factors can include issues such as: do we have somewhere we can do exercise that is affordable, safe and accessible," he told News Corp Australia. "The social is also really important, in that it considers whether ... we have people who encourage us, who will exercise with us, who will give us practical support."
Solid self-esteem is important in an individual's weight loss journey, according to Freeston. "Most of us have enough trouble with self-esteem and self-confidence, we don't actually need another negative voice in our heads," he told News Corp Australia.
Being told to "get your flabby body moving, meatbag," is also not OK for Laura Hart, who according to LinkedIn is a former research assistant at the Centre for Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne and a current postdoctoral research fellow at LaTrobe University in Melbourne, specializing in Eating Disorders Prevention.
Hart told News Corp Australia that the app is intended to be "lighthearted," but it does use fat shaming as a motivator.
"Research clearly shows that this approach is ineffective and often counterproductive, because body or fat shaming, acts to increase body dissatisfaction," she told News Corp Australia. "And we know that body dissatisfaction leads to more dieting, less physical exercise, less fruit and vegetable intake, and ultimately, more weight gain."
According to News Corps Australia, app users are thrilled with the reality TV-type barbs thrown at them, with rave reviews like: "This app is wonderful! I've only just started using it, but I find myself motivated simply to hear what cynic hilarity will be coming up next!"
Another user who was pleased with how well the app finds the nutritional value of food recognized that the app is not for those with a thick waist and thin skin. "If you're sensitive and don't like an app poking fun at you, I probably wouldn't buy this," he wrote. "The Carrot insults are means to be funny and motivating, but I guess not everyone sees it that way. Personally, I think it's great."
