The Drive to be Thin

In today's world there is a push to be thin. There are commercials and other media sources saying that to be successful you must look a certain way. The drive to be thin in today's society is causing young women and men to enter into very unhealthy relationships with food. Many times these negative images that are portrayed to us can even lead to eating disorders. Let's look at some of the eating disorder statistics and see how we can begin to change our thoughts on dieting.

One eating disorder statistic by Nuemark-Sztainer states that “girls that diet frequently are 12 times as likely to binge as girls who don't”. The first thing that comes to my mind when thinking about having an unhealthy relationship with food is the cycle many people develop when dieting. This cycle consists of dieting using the current fad diet. When this diets fails just like others in the past, we become upset with ourselves and feel that we will not be able to lose the weight. Our negative thoughts lead us to binge eat in order to have a moment of release. The cycle continues as we feel guilty and jump onto the next diet in hopes of losing weight.

Many times people start out dieting simply to lose weight. They may want to become thin like the supermodels they see, catch the eye of someone at work or show off a beach body. However, simply dieting can lead to an unhealthy relationship with food and even an eating disorder. Let's look at our next disorder statistic. “35% of 'normal dieters' progress to pathological dieter. Of those, 20-25% progress to partial or full-syndrome eating disorders”, Shisslak & Crago 1995. My using the non-diet approach to losing weight you can begin to develop a healthy relationship with food and lose weight a healthy way through listening to your bodies needs.

Another eating disorder statistic states “95% of dieters will regain their lost weight in 1-5 years” (Grodstien et al, 1996). The media often displays fad diets in a way that gives the appearance that they work. Yes, many people lose weight on these diets. However, only 5% are able to keep off the weight. This is due to the fact that many popular diets are based on limiting calories and food intake. Many people can only limit food for a short amount of time.

By using a non-diet approach to weight loss you can see results that last a lifetime. This approach to weight loss does not restrict the amount of food that you can consume. It is more about knowing what your body needs and knowing when you are full. This approach reduces the obsession with looks and places it on loving yourself.

The push to be thin in today's society has caused a lot of struggles within many people. The great news is that you can help yourself out of the struggle of yo-yo dieting and begin a healthy relationship with food.