College Women and the Culture of Dieting

I knew quite a few girls in college that smoked because they claimed it helped them stay thin. I even knew someone who STARTED smoking just because she wanted to lose weight. And I knew SO many girls that used diet pills and/or amphetamines to both "focus" AND lose weight. Very unhealthy!

Yeah. I'm a college girl. 20 years old. When I first got to school - it was a nightmare emotionally. I didn't feel skinny enough, didn't have self confidence in myself, and got caught in the webb of dangerous dieting. By my second semester I was going through a vicious cycle of restricting, taking 9 diet pills a day, and occationally binging...only to take laxatives right after to rid myself of my mistake. Thankfully, I am no longer ingaging in any of those activities...thank GOD!! It was a horrible life style. Sadly, most girls don't learn the right and healthy ways of eating, exercise and losing/maintaining weight. Most of my friends here at college all feel horrible about themselves one way or the other and at some point try to restrict what they eat or lose weight.
Oh how I wish our society did promote more spiritual, physical, emotional and mental wholeness!!

Thanks for the posts.

I am also a 20 year old college student and I have to say that, at least in my experience, those figures are probably very accurate. All of my female friends who smoke smoke for weight control, including myself. There is constant commenting on "I shouldn't eat that" or "I really need to go to the gym more often, I am so fat and lazy!" etc etc.
Though I have not been able to accept my body yet, I can see that there is a definate problem in college-aged women. After all, isn't it something like one in four college-aged women is eating disordered or displays disordered eating? (I'll double check that stat)

It is so sad to read through a list of unhealthy behaviors and put little check marks next to all of them in your mind. I'm a 19 year old girl attending college, and the 25 pounds that I have gained in the last two years have made me more miserable than anything. I think about my weight and my body CONSTANTLY, and I would do anything to have my life and my confidence back. I've ended up restricting my calories to under 1000 per day, which trust me does not help AT ALL. All it did was make me too tired to function throughout the day, and after losing about 5 pounds my body/metabolism just adjusted to the new energy intake. When I try to return to a normal dietary intake of 1600 calories a day (I had to laugh when the nutritionist suggested this past summer that I *reduce* my calories to 1600 in order to lose weight; I was like--that's more than I eat now) I gain even more weight back and then I just cry because I feel so trapped. What should I do? Anyone?

I'm not saying that this is to be condoned, but maybe there are reasons why they don't appear to be thinner?Perhaps as time goes by people have to work harder to stay leaner or here's another thing: maybe there isn't much of a difference in body weights because the research does not take into account each individuals difference in weight over a certain period of time rather than their general weight on the whole measured in an instantaneous quality.
Stress also pplays a huge role in college life, and it does interfere with weight loss, so it could be yet another reason.
I'm only saying that whatever unhealthy things they do should technically work at reducing some weight. Granted they lead to things like dehydration, slower metabolisms, cancers and heart attacks amongst a plethora of other things, but still. Ah yes: to be young, live in the moment and feel invinsible (feel the sarcasm).

I have to respond to Jen - I too cut my calories to about 1000 a day in an attempt to lose weight and it sure did work, I lost the weight, as well as my energy, self-esteem, patience and sanity! I felt like I would pass out all the time and hated anyone I saw eating a normal meal. After a year of this ridiculousness I stopped starving myself and now eat about 1800 calories a day. I did put on some extra weight at FIRST, but my body adjusted after 3 months and now I am at a normal, healthy weight and am much happier! Who cares what other people think when you can't even stand up and are miserable. I have been there, and I will take a few extra pounds over chronic exhaustion any day!

Those are seriously disturbing stats and no bloke can ever understand the pressures that women go through in order to feel good about themselves. There has to be more a proactive attitude in tackling a problem of this nature from early on.

A diet may be defined as "a regulated selection of foods, as for medical reasons or cosmetic weight loss."

These categories are really not so much diets as they are unhealthy behaviors (skipped breakfast, smoking) and symptoms of psychiatric disorders (self induced vomiting and laxative abuse).

http://www.antiagingatlanta.com

Please, PLEASE, stop the Insanity! As a former "fat girl", who at 5'2 used to weight 190 pounds, and for the last 3 years weighs a healthy 125 pounds, I have to tell you - the "secret" just isn't that complicated. Eat three meals and 2-3 snacks every day, include protein EVERY time you eat, eat higher fiber grains, fruits and veggies, and a little "good fat" like olive oil, nuts, fish, peanut butter, "Take Control" margarine, and STOP eating all fried food, high fat meat and dairy, and refined carbs (no fruit juice, no bread with less than 2 grams of FIBER per slice, no cereal with less than 4 grams of fiber per serving). Have skim milk, low fat cheese, and skinless poultry. Honest to God, it will work. Walk/jog briskly for 30 minutes 6 days per week, and do a little weight training/strength two or three times per week, and you'll be HEALTHY, HAPPY, and SLIM. I promise. By the way, cigarette smokers eventually get fatter than nonsmokers - so if you're smoking to keep your weight down now, be prepared to be a porky 40 year old (or a dead one from lung disease). And don't forget those fabulous wrinkles - I've seen 28 year old smokers who look 50...

I'm a 20 yr old college student too and I have been struggling with bulimia and anorexia since highschool. My problem has only escalated in college and I definitely have had those exact same thoughts about having to loose weight for spring break or summer. The first time that I went on a diet (at age 12) was to loose weight for the summer to look skinny compared to my classmates and to be able to wear cute belly baring tank tops. I was so influenced by the skinny models in magazines and the sterotypical hot girls from MTV's spring break. I didnt know at the time what kind of hell and demons I'd be unleashing on myself. I'm 5'2 and with a naturally atheltic build. No matter what I do i'll never be model skinny and i'll never have a tiny waist and long legs. All these years i've litteraly been killing myself to achieve some unrealistic image. My eating disorder now completely runs my life and its everything i think about. My self-esteem is zero. I even didnt go to my prom b/c I didn't want to show up looking so fat and ugly. And like me there are so many girls and this is definitlely a huge epidemic. Something has to be done to promote a healthy image to girls because there is now a nation of girls with shattered self-esteems who are dying and making themselves sick in order to be something they're not. The media (especially magazines and high fashion designers) needs to seriously and sincerely promote beauty in all its forms.

I'm 24 years old. I started to diet since I was 16 years old. I am 5'2 all. I was 115 pounds weighed. It was my highest record. When I was in university, I tried to control my weight around 99 pounds. I don't smoke and I get fat easily. I think the key point to keep fit and skinny is having meal regularly and not to eat too much. If you eat too many chocolates or something else, don't feel bad. We are human-beings, not robots~~~ But try to eat less on the second day. Sometimes I only have some fruits, if I eat too much the day before. Dieting is a long-term project. Don't lose yourself. ^_^

hey i was wondering how many days does it take without eating for someone to become anorexic?

Kirlin: becoming anorexic does not take a certain amount of days. Many people fast and are NOT eating disordered. An eating disorder -be it starvation, purging or overeating- is a state of mind more so than body and amount of starvation.
Chances are, if you have to ask... you'll never know (ok, maybe never is too strong; just asking that question is saying something).
By the way, most anorexics do eat, just much smaller quantities.

I'm a 19 yr old college student, and I'm starting to scare myself. I'm 5'3" with curves, which means that I'll never be stick skinny, but right now, I'm averaging about 1000-1200 calories per day, usually on the lower side. Every time I eat, I feel extremely guilty, and although I've lost ten pounds (in a month - not good), I'm afraid to stop dieting, as I could gain the weight back. I'm dizzy and forgetful and tired during the day, and I know it's from the dieting, but I can't stop, I know I'll gain that weight back. Is there any way to keep it off and still maintain a healthy eating style without becoming the fat load I feel like I was before?

I think I know how you feel Maggie... I am very close to you in stature...5'4" with curves, and 18 yrs old. When I start to diet I get scared to stop b/c of the fear od gaining it back. The help I got was from my mom...She is a health freak, but she knows what she's talkin about... The best way to keep off weight is to EXERCISE. Yeah...it was hard for me, and I am still workin at it, but I go 30 minutes of jogging, biking, or hiking at least 5 days a week, and I do Pilates every other day. It seems to be working!... Also, concerning your caloric intake, you should try going for 5 to 6 small meals a day, about 3 hrs apart each. It keeps you full and energized without eating much, I think it would help your dizziness and fatigue. I feel so much better even after only doing it for about a week. Not only will it help you lose more and keep it off, but you'll feel great on the inside too!