A college student stands in front of the mirror and runs her hands up and down her body. She struggles with her looks and is constantly concerned about what others are thinking of her. She is so worried about her body that she practices drastic weight loss measures to feel satisfied with her looks. For many college students this is the life they lead. Many spend their whole lives thinking about their weight.
For those obsessing about their weight, a sudden change in eating habits can lead to short-term weight loss. However, such radical changes are neither healthy nor a good idea, and won’t be successful in the long run, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For some, losing weight is not just a physical occurrence, said Crystal Stidham, a senior biology major at ETSU.
“It’s a very emotional experience where you always beat yourself up and you are never quite where you want to be,” said Stidham, 28. “I definitely have [had] some unhealthy practices such as skipping meals, diet pills, and taking in a lot of caffeine which diminishes your appetite.”
Stidman believes that she is constantly seeking some kind of approval, she said.
In this society the smaller you are the more attractive you are, said Stidman.
An individual can measure their weight by calculating their body mass index based on their height and weight, according to http:www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/. If a person’s BMI is less than 18.5 percent then that person is classified as underweight, according to the CDC.
Stidham said she is not concerned with her body mass index but is mostly worried about her physical appearance.
“It’s a very personal experience even though so many people go through it,” said Stidham. “It takes a really heavy influence to make someone stop.”
Stidham does not seek self esteem from the inside. It is the external influences that she lets determine whether she looks good or not, she said.
“Looking attractive made me feel attractive even if it was a feeling that would pass,” she said. “I fed into that and still sometimes do.”
The key to maintaining and achieving a healthy body weight isn’t about short-term dietary changes, according to the CDC. It is about a lifestyle that includes healthy eating, regular physical activity and balancing the number of calories you consume with the number of calories lost.
Losing calories the right way can always be a struggle, said Stidham.
“I think it’s a lot of work to lose weight the right way,” said Nani Wilemon, fitness coordinator at the Center For Physical Activity. “To lose one pound of body fat you have to cut 3,500 calories out of your diet and that’s a lot.”
To lose one pound a week it is recommended that an individual cut 500 calories a day from what they would normally eat. Because it can be so hard for individuals to cut calories, they often turn to weight-loss products. In 2007 alone, Americans spent $58 billion on weight-loss products, according to the American Dietetic Association.
Even in grocery stores aisles are filled with diet pills such as QuickTrim, which is being marketed by celebrity sisters Khloe, Kourtney and Kim Kardashian.
“The diet pill industry should die a horrible death, it’s awful,” said Wilemon. “It is artificial stimulants going into your body to suppress your appetite.”
Those who are taking diet pills are looking for trouble, she said.
“Most of those stimulants affect your heart, your respiratory, nerve function and brain function. The only good diet pill you should be taking is no diet pill.”
Body image issues are even a problem among those who are losing weight the right way.
“You can sit there and critique something about your body that you want to change,” said ETSU senior Stephanie Moore, 21. “But thinking the thought ‘I want to work on this’ or ‘I want to work on that’ is bad. It’s good to be motivated but if you let it consume you it is not healthy.”
Having suffered from body image issues herself, Wilemon believes she is a mentor to many at the CPA. Wilemon, who has been teaching group aerobics for 17 years, spent a year and a half of her life anorexic, she said.
“Mine came from an emotional place,” said Wilemon. “My parents were divorcing. In an out-of-control family situation the only thing that I could control was my food.”
For some, losing weight the healthy way has created some unhealthy behaviors.
Once weighing 190 pounds, Brittany Shope lost 65 pounds the healthy way with proper diet and exercise, she said. But she was still not happy.
What was once a healthy way to lose weight slowly became an unhealthy experience.
According to Shope, she was smaller than she had ever been before. But, at the same time she felt like she was bigger than she had ever been before.
“When I was on the scale every day it got to a point where it became obsessive,” Shope said.
The summer after her junior year of college, she was at her goal weight of 125 pounds and ready to go on a study abroad course in Scotland.
Shope was riding to the airport with Jacob, her boyfriend of two years. “As he drove me to the airport, I began to cry,” said 22-year-old Shope. “I told him that I felt like I was hopelessly drowning in my body image issues. I knew that my anxieties and issues were affecting us as a couple.”
Two weeks into her Scotland trip she began to feel nauseous. She had food poisoning and for six days she was bedridden. “By the sixth day I was smaller than I had ever been before,” said Shope, who is sports editor of the East Tennessean.
While standing there, looking up and down at her own reflection in a mirror in Scotland, she was almost unrecognizable, Shope said. Her healthy frame no longer looked healthy. She looked weak to the point where she got the shakes and almost fainted.
The very thought of finding the nearest scale in Scotland excited her because she knew she was smaller than she ever had been and was curious to see what number a scale would show, said Shope.
Weight loss became an obsession for her.
Experts say that starving the body can result in bone loss, muscle loss and electrolyte loss.
“There is only so small you can go before you have to just stop,” said Shope. “I became addicted to seeing the next smallest number on the scale.”
“I would love to say that I never look at my body and hate what I see,” said Shope. “I would still be searching for a lower number on the scale if it hadn’t been for my food poisoning experience. Lying there for six days, feeling like I was going to die, it really changed my perspective.”
It took an illness and six days of emptiness to fulfill me, said Shope. “I am full of love and compassion for myself and for every woman out there who looks in the mirror and feels she has to change herself,” she said.
For Stidham, Wilemon and Shope, body image issues have been more than just a physical experience, but an emotional one as well.
“I just encourage anybody with a body image problem if you struggle with feelings of guilt it might be a warning that you are on a path to unhealthy behavior,” said Wilemon. “Definitely see a friend, a parent or a mentor because it is a terrible way to live where your entire life is consumed by food and exercise. It should complement your life, not rule your life.”
For those who are wanting to lose weight, consult with a dietary specialist, nutritionist or a medical professional to begin a weight loss plan that works best.
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