Getting to the gym

About two months ago I joined Bally Total Fittness, which has definatly changed my perception on dieting and weightloss.
I recently read the book The Obesity Myth (or The Diet Myth in softcover), which basically says that the fear that all americans are overweight is actually a manufactured socal problem. There is a lot more to this book which goes behind the science and politics of Obesity as a social problem, and I highly recomend it, however one of the most interesting things about the book was that it said that we like to use dieting as a way of control.
I started the summer with a goal to lose weight, and I have used the gym to accomplish that goal, but the minute I set foot in the gym on onto the gym's website I was bombarded with advertisements that told me the same thing : I am fat and thus unhappy, the only way I can be happy is if become skinny and the gym is the way to do this. Sure working out and dieting is a great way to lose weight, it is actually the best and only plan, however is guilt the best way to get people to the gym.
In the begining I fealt like Ballys was my abusive boyfriend. It told me I was fat, that I needed to lose weight and that only they could help me. It gave me recepies and told me what to eat when to eat and how much. Told me when to work out and that the only way for me to be beautiful was if I worked out.
I beleive in working out and healthy living, however I think that guilt triping people that they will be miserable if they do not work out is not the way to go. Nonetheless I kept goign to the gym, and have lost a rediculous amount of weight this summer. Is scarring peopel to the gym the best way to get them there?