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Ann wanted to look like a model. At
5 feet 8 inches tall and 143 pounds, she knew she was a healthy
weight, but she still couldn't help comparing herself to the
ultra-thin models filling the pages of fashion magazines. She'd
begun dating a guy who seemed too good to be true-he'd traveled the
world and spoke several languages-and she wanted him to be crazy
about her. When she asked him what he thought of her figure, he said
it was "all right."
But Ann wanted more than "all right."
She decided to lose weight fast, exercising compulsively, obsessed
with burning calories. The exhausting workouts left her famished, so
she ate massive amounts of food to stop the hunger. She would then
go to the bathroom and throw up everything she'd consumed.
When Ann first started losing weight, her boyfriend gave her the
reaction she had hoped for. He told her he was smitten with her new
body and that he loved her more than he ever had before. His words
echoed in Ann's head-they made her feel so much better than "all
right."
Encouraged by her boyfriend's praise, Ann began exercising, bingeing
and vomiting with a vengeance. It wasn't long before her ribs
started to show and her hipbones jutted out from her sides. She
began to pass out from lack of energy. The blackouts would come
without warning-she would collapse at home, on the street, even once
in a swimming pool where she nearly drowned. It became physically
difficult for her to get out of bed. Ann's friends began confronting
her about her stick-thin appearance, and even her boyfriend seemed
worried. But Ann couldn't seem to eat a single meal without thinking
about how she would rid herself of the calories she was consuming.
When Ann's weight plummeted to 108 pounds she was put in a hospital
and remained there for two months. She continued to seek
psychological treatment for more than a year. Slowly she began to
see the torment she had put on herself. By this time she had lost
all her friends and the boyfriend she had so desperately wanted to
impress left her.
Today Ann has returned to a healthy weight and hasn't purged in two
years. Yet the tormenting thoughts like "you just ate a big meal,
what if you got rid of it?" stay with her. But Ann remembers the
pain she endured and knows that losing weight the "easy" way is
often the hardest thing to survive.
Ann isn't alone in her experience with trying to lose weight fast.
As spring break approaches, many beach-bound students feel pressured
to look like models in a short amount of time. Alice Bender, a
nutrition coordinator at the University of Georgia, talks to many
students in the weeks before spring break who say they want a
"miracle cure" that will help them lose weight rapidly. Bender says
women often tell her they want to lose weight in their hips and
thighs, while men say they want to lose overall weight and gain more
muscle.
Ann's story shows that crash diets can lead to life-threatening
consequences. Some people try to drastically cut the amount of
calories they consume, which can lead to blackouts and nausea.
Others turn to diet pills, which in some cases cause heart attacks,
blood pressure, liver damage and can even result in death. Others,
like Ann, become trapped in a vicious cycle of over-exercising,
over-eating, and vomiting. This can lead to extreme fatigue and
blackouts, and the acid from frequent vomiting can tear at the
lining of the esophagus. Jenn Burnell, registered dietician at
Athens-based Wellness Your Way, says it's important for students to
understand that crash dieting can have long-term negative effects on
their metabolism. Burnell says that when people lose weight rapidly,
they also lose muscle mass. Deprived of energy, the body's
metabolism begins to slow down, and in some cases never resumes its
original pace. This can actually make crash dieters more susceptible
to weight gain than they otherwise would have been. "I talk to many
students who think any fad diet promising 'guaranteed results' will
work," Burnell said. "But most of these diets are simply not
effective, and some are even counter-effective in the long term."
Students hoping to shed pounds in time for spring break may turn to
crash diets for fast results. But those who experiment with
so-called "miracle cures" may find a quick fix can lead to
long-term, life-altering problems.
This article was published on the 2004 spring issue of The
Informer and March 2004 issue of For Safety's Sake.
MIRACLE PILLS?
A list of the risks associated with some of the most popular diet
pills on the market:
Hot Rox - may cause dizziness, headache, nausea or heart
palpitations
Hydroxycut - may cause rapid or irregular heartbeat,
dizziness, headache, shortness of breath, sleeplessness, tremors,
nausea, nervousness, tingling sensations, chest pain, noticeable
changes in behavior or loss of consciousness
ThermoDynamX - may cause nervousness, insomnia, rapid
heartbeat, elevated blood pressure, dizziness, severe headache or
shortness of breath
Xenadrine - may cause nervousness, irritability,
sleeplessness, rapid heartbeat or sensitivity to bright lights.
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