Many people today confuse being thin with being healthy / beautiful / sexy / fit. It is hard to accept that your body will probably never resemble Elle’s and women continue to fight this truth with unhealthy endeavours to lose weight, no matter what the cost. Most teenagers, girls in particular, are especially aware of their bodies and the fashions set by models and celebrities. During adolescence, however, the body experiences many changes in hormones, structure and fat distribution. Teens continue to fight these changes. As a result, many resort to unhealthy means of weight loss.

ANOREXIA

People suffering from anorexia are unable to see their bodies as being thin. No matter where they look, they will see obesity in themselves. These sufferers are calculating about their meals to the extreme, usually planning every meal days in advance and carrying it out to the T. Meals will be minuscule, as the sufferer tries to survive on eating as little as is humanly possible. Even on this starvation diet, they usually exercise excessively. If the anorexic feels that they have exceeded their calorie quota, they are prone to using multiple laxatives a day, as well as purging (vomiting) the food that they do consume.

Most anorexic people are successful in their quest to lose weight. However, along with the weight loss come loss of hair, dry skin, exhaustion, loss of bone density, and irregular menstrual periods (or complete lack thereof). Eventually, the sufferer may experience organ failure, and 10% of anorexic cases die from this or other malnutrition side effects.

BULIMIA

While anorexics avoid eating altogether, bulimia sufferers eat much more food than what is necessary or healthy, and then purge it straight afterwards. The sufferer may induce a gag reflex, or purge by means of diuretics or laxatives. Notably, bulimics do not feel comfortable eating too much in front of other people and binging is almost always done in private. If the sufferer does eat in front of others, it will likely be an average amount of food (they may even leave some one their plates as an indication that they do not eat too much), and will be followed by a purge. Bulimics can consume up to 15 000 calories per day in this way.

Because they are still consuming food, much of it does get absorbed and digested. This means that the bulimic does not lose that much weight, unless it is accompanied by anorexia. In fact, many bulimia sufferers remain overweight. Bulimia is often more about the sense of control than about the weight.

The dangers are manifold, though. Laxatives weaken the lining of the intestines, which may lead to infection. The vomiting rots the teeth, leads to dehydration, damage to the oesophagus and can even lead to heart failure.

Some people suffer only from the binging urge, and not the need to purge the food afterwards. Food becomes their sole purpose and friend. This leads to diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and emotional disorders.

To determine whether you may have certain tendencies towards an unhealthy approach to weight loss, ask yourself:

•    Do I find myself hiding eating habits or food and eating in secret?
•    Am I ashamed to tell those that are close to me what I have really eaten during the day?
•    Has food become the biggest part of my life?
•    Am I willing to take health risks in order to lose weight?
•    Have I or am I willing to experiment with vomiting, laxatives and / or diuretics?
•    Have my eating habits affected my social life?
•    Do I weigh myself more than once a day?