CANTON, Mich. -- The Holiday Season is vivid in imagery from big red Santas, colorful twinkling Christmas tree lights, plates of ten different cookies, and green mistletoes.
During this time of year however, a different kind of image plays an important factor, body image. For a vast number of Americans, tis the season to look thin. One way people do this is by going on an extreme diet just to look slender at Christmas and New Years Eve parties, according to EMU dietician Mona Alaudhi R.D..
According to Eastern Michigan University woman studies professor Jessica Kilbourn, the need to look really thin has been a gradual one that has been rising within the last 40-50 years.
“It’s not just a woman’s issue, it affects all of us,” she said.
While body image is considered a women’s topic by many, a lot of men are seeking drastic measures to lose weight. GNC, a store that sells many weight loss suppliments, protein bars, and herbal remedies made $846 million in revenues last year, according to an article from allbusiness.com.
A crash diet occurs when somebody greatly reduces calorie intake and increases working out in order to achieve rapid weight loss over a period of a few weeks. An example of a crash diet would be someone cutting their calorie count from 2,500 a day to eating only 800 calories a day. Another crash diet would be the Atkins Diet where one cuts out all carbohydrates and only eats proteins like fish and beef and vegetables like broccoli and spinach.
Rigorous exercising is another activity that one may do during this image based trend. Extra cardio on a treadmill or bike while wearing heavy clothes or a rubber suit in a steam room is one method of adding a physical method to a crash diet. In 1997, a 21 year old University of Michigan wrestler named Jeff Reese died this way.
Besides death, crash dieting and other eating disorders according to Alaudhi, causes other human body dysfunctions including decreased brain functions that slows down your thinking and changes moods as well as causes changes in the skin such as dryness, paleness, and different skin pigmentations. Heart rates go through changes too as the body isn’t receiving the proper calories it needs to function properly.
Many people who seek out a crash diet do research before hand to get tips and tricks to help them along the way. A website called fading-obsession.com is a Pro-Ana-Mia (Anorexia Nervosa- Bulimia Nervosa) website that was started as a forum for people who live and support living an anorexic or bulimic lifestyle. The group is unified through this website as well as by wearing red wristbands.
The website is filled with a plethora of topics dealing with wanting to live with an eating disorder. On this website, one can learn about the damage having an eating disorder can do to the human body, as well as diet tricks that include tips on how not to eat, sample diet plans such as the 696 calorie a week “rainbow diet”, and even charts to help you graph your B.M.I. or Body Mass Index.
The website also includes a creed that includes this line,
“I believe in bathroom scales as an indicator of my daily successes and failures. I believe in hell, because I sometimes think that I am living in it.
The Pro Ana-Mia group believes that they are being demonized by members of the media and eating disorder recovery groups. In a statement about the future of the website in the “About Fading Obsession” section, the organization wrote, “We are NOT the enemy … the environment that causes eating disorders IS.”
Anti Pro Ana-Mia advocates such as Marcia Herrin and Nancy Matsumoto have said that a Stanford study discovered that 96% of kids with an eating disorder have visited pro Ana-Mia websites.
Many Woman Studies professors like Kilbourn agree that the print and TV media has played a role for both men and women alike to go through extreme measures and risk their wellness with these extreme diets.
While someone checks out from a grocery store, they are bombarded with tabloid magazines filled with pictures of beautiful skinny actresses and models. At the Kroger in Westland, no matter which direction a person plans on unloading his or her groceries at the checkout, these skinny images of Taylor Swift, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and Paris Hilton greets them as they walk into the checkout lane, stares at them once they put their canned ravioli on the conveyor belt, and eyes them to the side as the customer lays their finger on a Butterfinger from the candy rack. In 2009, magazines such as US weekly, People, and The National Enquirer have made huge issues with Jessica Simpson, all of the Kardashian sisters, and Jennifer Love Hewitt for not being as svelte as they once were. Men are not exempt as these very same magazines have poked fun at dancer/rapper Kevin Federline.
Tabloid magazines aren’t the only form of media who considers celebrity weight gain to be a major issue facing America today. Television shows such as Inside Edition and Access Hollywood this past year spent a great deal of their programming in the Spring of 2009 making sure each and everyone of their viewers understand the importance of the Jessica Simpson weight gain crisis.
Even pro wrestling is putting their hands on the concern with weight. During the Nov. 20 episode of Friday Night Smackdown. After average sized WWE Diva Mickie James defeated Layla, Diva bully Michelle McCool, dressed up like a farmer and sang her version of “Old McDonald Had a Farm.” McCool dubbed Mickie James, “Piggie James.” Mickie’s head was superimposed on a cartoon pig’s body causing her to cry. According to Lordsofpain.com and pwi.com, WWE management has allegedly been down on Mickie during this past summer with her recent weight gain.
Like someone quitting cigarettes or becoming sober from alcohol, dieters too need a support system who gives a word of encouragement when they reach a rough patch in their struggle to lose weight. People in the Red Wristband Movement have sayings to motivate extreme dieters such as;
“Nothing tastes as good as thin feels;”, and
“Being normal is over rated;”, and
“Pain is temporary, pride is forever.”
Mona Alaudhi R.D. who works at EMU’s Office of Nutrition Service believes there are very few positives for anyone to go on an extreme diet.
“The only positive is that it gives someone control,” she said.
Part of a diet involves controlling what you put inside of your body. According to Kilbourn, many people go on diets in order to fit an image.
"It's all fantasy, be critical of what you put in your brain," she said.
According to Alaudhi, an eating disorder is a common psychological problem that can negatively affect your entire body.
Her message to someone who has an eating disorder;
"You are not alone, it's very common, it's very reversable, it's just a way to get control," she said.
"Get help," she added.
Professor Kilbourn too, agrees that eating disorders must be handled professionally.
"Get support, it's a disease, a sickness, and it can't get better by itself," she said.
If you or someone you know are facing issues involving eating disorders or crash diets, one place to start is a psychologist. According to Snow Health Center secretary Cristina Gonzalez, students on campus with these issues have come in the past. Students are welcomed to come in, however according to Gonzalez, if the case is really serious, the student will be sent out to an eating disorder specialist.
If you feel that you may have an eating disorder, take the advice of Alaudhi, "Get help."
About the photos, A 29 year old male crash dieter's torso over a three week period from November 22 to December 13.
Photographed by Scott Mullin
