2008 Woodie Awards
True confessions of my freshman fifteen
Your health
Mary-Jo Lomax
Issue date: 2/19/08 Section: Features
I was home during the winter break of my freshman year of college. My sister, who is three years older than me, was bragging (it seemed like bragging to me, anyway) that she was on a diet and had also joined the YMCA. One afternoon she took me to the Y as her guest.
I remember how she gloated (she was definitely gloating) when she got on the scale and, with a smug smile, announced her weight. She then suggested that I weigh myself. I refused.
After her second or third attempt at getting me on the scale I growled, "I know that I weigh more than you and YOU know that I weigh more than you and I don't want to know HOW MUCH more I weigh!"
That night during dinner my sister mentioned to my mother that I wouldn't weigh myself. My mother actually told me that I "could stand to lose 5 pounds. Not that anyone else would notice, but you would feel better." And so began my crazy days of dieting and bad body image. Little did I know how 'normal' I was! Consider these facts:
- 80 percent of healthy-weight 17-year-old girls see themselves as fat.
- One study found that 75 percent of women and 54 percent of men are unhappy with their physical appearance.
- Another study found that 70 percent of the female respondents felt depressed, guilty, and shameful after looking at a fashion magazine for just 3 minutes.
- The number of teenage boys with body image problems is increasing.
While it is estimated that 5 percent of women in their twenties suffer from bulimia and anorexia, two serious eating disorders, about 7 million women of all ages have some type of disordered eating patterns due, in large part, to poor body image. Our culture's obsession with thinness has distorted what it means to have a healthy body. For too many of us, "healthy" means "thin." And thin means sexy. And as magazines and other media tell us, sexy is the only way to be!
Healthy bodies - and sexy bodies - come in all shapes and sizes. It is not our bodies but our attitude towards our bodies that need the biggest makeover. If your body image needs a boost, consider trying one or more of the following strategies:
I remember how she gloated (she was definitely gloating) when she got on the scale and, with a smug smile, announced her weight. She then suggested that I weigh myself. I refused.
After her second or third attempt at getting me on the scale I growled, "I know that I weigh more than you and YOU know that I weigh more than you and I don't want to know HOW MUCH more I weigh!"
That night during dinner my sister mentioned to my mother that I wouldn't weigh myself. My mother actually told me that I "could stand to lose 5 pounds. Not that anyone else would notice, but you would feel better." And so began my crazy days of dieting and bad body image. Little did I know how 'normal' I was! Consider these facts:
- 80 percent of healthy-weight 17-year-old girls see themselves as fat.
- One study found that 75 percent of women and 54 percent of men are unhappy with their physical appearance.
- Another study found that 70 percent of the female respondents felt depressed, guilty, and shameful after looking at a fashion magazine for just 3 minutes.
- The number of teenage boys with body image problems is increasing.
While it is estimated that 5 percent of women in their twenties suffer from bulimia and anorexia, two serious eating disorders, about 7 million women of all ages have some type of disordered eating patterns due, in large part, to poor body image. Our culture's obsession with thinness has distorted what it means to have a healthy body. For too many of us, "healthy" means "thin." And thin means sexy. And as magazines and other media tell us, sexy is the only way to be!
Healthy bodies - and sexy bodies - come in all shapes and sizes. It is not our bodies but our attitude towards our bodies that need the biggest makeover. If your body image needs a boost, consider trying one or more of the following strategies:
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