Diets

Diets

The sad reality of today’s world is there is too much of an importance on being pleasing to the eye. In a typical day you are likely to hear or see the word diet in some form of media usually accompanied by a picture of a fit man or woman. This has become the american dream. Businesses want people to feel inadequate, to feel as though their dreams can’t be achieved without looking thin and flawless. The illusion that dieting is the answer to all of life’s problems seems to be stuck in the mind of the average person--Not in my mind.. The problem with this thought is that the life or death pursuit of a diet that will fix every flaw is just unrealistic and opens up the average person to sneaky people looking to sell their magic “pill” or magic “diet.” Dieters assume various disguises, but the noteworthy ones are the "band-wagoner," the "promiser" and the "lethal loser." Everyone wants to lose weight quickly and effortlessly; therefore, any fad diet promising overnight results becomes the new "call" of the "band-wagoner," who try the grapefruit diet or the watermelon diet, but after a week and little weight loss they decide it doesn’t work and eagerly begin their search for the next craze. The next day the television advertises a new wonder pill that allows the user to lose up to ten pounds in one week, and the band-wagoner act as though they have just found the dieting Holy Grail. Although the magic pill does not produce the desired weight loss, they never give up hope for a new "wagon" to hitch onto. They will probably cross over the safety line into a danger zone of unknown procedures, performed by unqualified physicians looking to latch onto any unknowing dreamer. Obesity has a large psychological effect on an individual and some people are driven to expensive surgeries such as gastric bypass, lap band surgery, and stomach stapling. Most of these surgeries should not be performed on the natural human body. The "band-wagoner" is a businessman’s dream, pumping what seems like a never ending stream of money into attempts to “purchase” the perfect body.
Everyone has a friend or family member that uses a special occasion such as a wedding, a dance, or a reunion as a motivator to lose weight. Logically, it seems like a good idea to give yourself a long-term goal like that but in reality most people just wait until a few weeks before the occasion and then search for that instant cure. This dieter only needs to lose fifteen pounds and arrogantly proclaims that “dieting is just not as easy or fun as eating what you want.” These people become the “promiser” when a large life event happens that they can’t control. A injury for examples, the person will boastfully say, “Once I recover I will clean up my diet and begin exercising.” The “promiser” comes in many forms and can be that “tomorrow promiser” or the “next Monday promiser.” Either way these people rarely follow through with their plans to change their unhealthy lifestyles. The most unfortunate and tragic form of dieter is the “lethal loser.” This one is portrayed in what seems like every Lifetime Network Movie. They are young and almost always being of the ideal weight, have no real need to shed any pounds. They may be the friend who absurdly questions them self after eating half of an apple. These people often times fall into a downward spiral of overeating and purging to relieve themselves from the guilt associated with eating food.
To the person who believes the illusion of eating whatever they want and later ridding them self from the guilt by purging seems like the perfect plan. Ultimately these habits are uncovered. Rather than admitting their problem, they will defend their lifestyle like a mother bear defends her cub. This dieter analyzes the calorie content of every morsel of food on their dinner plate and decides whether or not to eat it; usually they don’t, but quietly excuse them self from the table to return to their room. In this horrid lifestyle they have lost their connection with reality and the fact that food is a necessity in life and nourishes the body while replenishing vitamins and minerals. Bulimia and Anorexia have both been shown to usually start out as an innocent attempt to drop a few pounds to fit into something. The problem evolves and eventually consumes the victim. Often times the victim is either forced into intervention but in many cases serious life altering illness or death can affect the “lethal loser.” Every dieter has the image in their mind of the body they wish to call their own. Dieters may have very different approaches to going about achieving these lofty goals that in reality should take years to achieve. One thing each of these dieters should consider is the statement “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” So if these dieters want the body of a Roman God they should realize the time it took to sculpt such a body. The importance of the dieting game is not the goal, but how one decides to get there. It is a not a lottery, or a game of chance. A well designed diet and exercise plan is full proof. Sticking to it and being persistent shows results. If you consider yourself one of these dieter types, don’t panic, realize you have the power to change and that it’s never too late.