Premium Essay

Dieting

In: English and Literature

Submitted By saddie88
Words 1263
Pages 6
Dieting Dieting and food are as much of our pop culture as music and entertainment. According to Google, dieting is to “restrict oneself to small amount of special kinds of food in order to lose weight.” I believe dieting should receive more attention since I hear a lot of people going on the outrageous fad diets and then later hear them complaining about how they gained all the weight back and then some. Then there are those ‘fad diets’ which scare me, as do the dieting pills. I mean they can be helpful for some, but losing weight really quickly cannot be healthy for anyone. I believe that healthy eating and exercising are the best way to stay healthy. There are endless amounts of diets that we may choose from. Some of the most popular diets are the Atkins Diet, Mediterranean, Vegan, Weight Watchers, Raw Food, and the list goes on. The food choices people make isn’t only about filling up, it can also be an expression of who we are, when we are, and sometimes what we value in a sense. The expression, “You are what you eat” now takes on another meaning in this world of carnivores, herbivores, fat free fanatics, raw food, and junk food junkies. In today’s world, we are fascinated with the latest diets celebrities are following and with what other people are eating. Commercial advertisements and reality TV often showcase people with these crazy food cravings and uncontrollable obsessions. It is like our new entertainment. Meanwhile, there’s diet propaganda that encourages young women to ‘starve’ themselves while others promote endless amount of pizza and beer. As a species, the human race is getting fatter. Obesity rates have increased by 214% since between 1950 and 2000. Yet there are daily dieting ads, diet books in every bookstore, dieting tips in magazines. How did our society reach this point if there are so many options to choose from that are readily

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Teens and Dieting

...Draft Megan Vandermark English 135 Professor Skeen 23 February, 2012 Teens and Dieting As a model, Nina was dying to be thin. She lived off of her looks: “That was a lifestyle for me. Just like an athlete trains for a goal, it’s the same thing with my weight.” Her goal was to be the thinnest African-American model at 5’10’ and 100 pounds. As her weight dropped, she began to book more jobs. To make the weight drop faster, Nina turned to diet pills to help her lose the last 15 pounds. Nina said “When I took the pills, it was a euphoric feeling. Your body is in constant motion. There’s no slowing down, no desire to eat. It’s like being intoxicated and you can get used to that feeling if you’re taking the pills on a daily basis.” The euphoric feeling masked the problems that were going on in Nina’s body. At the age of 29, Nina had a heart attack, “It felt like an arm was punching through my chest.” But even a heart attack wasn’t enough to bring her destructive behavior to a complete stop. “It still took some time for the full wake-up to come,” Nina said (Ray, 2007). Stories such as this one should not happen, and we have the power to stop it from happening, so that no one should have to go through such a life changing experience. If Nina and other teens had known the risks of extreme dieting practices prior to using them, maybe there would not be so many incidents today. Teens have easy access to dieting methods and don't understand the risks of abusing them; two solutions to these...

Words: 2356 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

The Risks of Dieting

...When it comes to dieting, most people fail. When it comes to dieting, rather it’s a reasonable or radical, some would say they have tried them all. People spend hundreds of dollars every day trying to lose weight as quick as possible. It marks people's minds as meal replacements used to loose a quick couple of pounds when it is far from that for most people. Dieting is most likely to have serious consequences with a person and their body. Dieting is risky and unhealthy because it destroys the metabolisms ability to function, it mentally confuses people, it throws off the balance of nutrients, proteins and other natural substances your body needs, and it also makes people fat. Many people diet because they want to quickly lose weight. According to a new U.K. survey, “nearly a third of women have seen a spike on the scale after going on a diet, gaining an average of nearly four pounds” (sass 1). Nearly one of three women that were on the diet gained four pounds between between the ages of fifteen and twenty. Many women ages fifteen and twenty tend to diet about three times a year, and of those women, over ten percent of them diet five times a year. Nearly 50% of all American adults try to lose or maintain their weight. Many diets are strict on calories with what can and can not be eaten. Restricted calorie diets cause the body's metabolism to stop at an instant. Continuous dieting leads in an imbalance of calories your body will not be able to burn. Diet plans favoring low-fat...

Words: 936 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Eating Disorder and Dieting

...point where the teenager has little decisions to make for themselves. As a result, the teenager restricts the food the consume as it is the only thing they can control themselves Discuss explanations for the success and or failure of dieting (4+16) Dieting is the practice of eating food in a regulated and supervised fashion to decrease, maintain, or increase body weight. Herman and Mack came up with the concept of restraint theory, which looked at the cognitive restriction of food intake. However, they found that attempting not to eat may increase the probability of overeating. Wardle and Beale randomly assigned 27 obese women to three groups. These were the diet group, the exercise group, and the non-treatment group. The study assessed each group at both weeks 4 and 6, with the food intake and appetite at 4 weeks being assessed before and after a small snack, and at week 6, it was measured under stressful conditions, in order to show how each group would fare under various settings. The study found that women in the diet group actually ate more in both assessments than the other two groups. This study backs up the ideas of restraint theory. Research support for restraint theory comes from Ogden (2003), who tested the failure of dieting by giving a group of dieters and non dieters a high or low calorie snack such as chocolate or crackers, then followed by a taste preference test of other foods.Ogden found that the...

Words: 714 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Dieting and Exercise vs. Cosmetic Surgery

...Dieting and Exercise vs. Cosmetic Surgery COM/155 June 09, 2013 Dieting and Exercise vs. Cosmetic Surgery It has been said that the generation we live in, is becoming known as the “popcorn generation.” Many have expressed that we are in the: “I need it now, I want it now era.” The advancement of technology is to blame some say, and others blame the advancement of science. Either way, a significant amount of people in this day and age have the desire to lose weight. Some people prefer the old fashion method of dieting and exercising and others, cosmetic surgery. Weight loss trends have transcended time from diet and exercise to cosmetic surgery. Despite any method of losing weight, diet and exercise remains most effective. Dieting Dieting according to (Encyclopedia Britannica 2013) is, “regulating one’s food intake for the purpose of improving one’s physical condition, especially for the purpose of reducing obesity, or what is conceived to be excess body fat. Time has revealed that image and other health factors are important. Dieting is now commonly promoted as a healthier way of losing weight. Personally, I am astonished that dieting has a lucrative selling market. For years, diets have been displayed as ineffective, unappealing, and unappetizing and torture. Dieting is not all about starving yourself to lose weight. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia defines dieting as: the practice of eating food in a regulated fashion to decrease, maintain or increase body weight. ...

Words: 1257 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Dieting vs. Exercise: the Journey to Weight Loss

...University of Phoenix Evelyn Holcombe August 8, 2013 COM 155 Dieting vs. Exercise: The trip to weight loss success While losing weight from dieting and exercise have distinct differences, the similarities make using both more effective in the weight loss process. Many people take the easier route, which they believe is dieting. The statistics for the long term success of dieting alone is poor so you need to consider dieting and exercise. Statistics say only about 5% of dieters are successful in keeping weight off, and re-gain is very common. Usually one-third of weight lost is regained within one year. In three to five years all the weight has been regained along with some additional weight. If you start exercising to lose weight, you won’t succeed with the mentality of “I can eat anything because I’ll burn it off later.” You will have better results if you choose a healthy diet of whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and healthy fats while exercising. Healthy dieting can be effective for losing weight and keeping it off. One beneficial way to achieve this is through a diet that minimizes starches, sugars and animal fats from meat and dairy. The fact is, losing weight is time consuming. If you want to lose weight quickly, the approach is simple. Minimizing your sugar intake as well as starches is the first step. Sugar is addictive, highly fattening and is a leading cause of obesity and cardiovascular disease. While most of us on a weight loss mission concentrate...

Words: 1069 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Dieting

...Diet Scores and Comparing Food Records My second diet score went up and ended up being 10 points higher than my first diet score. I noticed that the individual scored that improved were me eating healthier, eating more fruit and vegetable servings, eating more calcium, and avoiding a lot of fast food meals. I think what helped me improve in these areas was for Lent, which is where I have to give up something for 40 days. So for Lent, I decided to give up meat, fast food, sweets, and anything but water. I think the only way my diet didn’t change or improve was me still not eating 3 meals a day. I still tend to eat big meals twice a day instead of eating 5-6 small meals a day or spreading out my eating times. I think what helped contributed to that was me not preparing my own meals, not eating at the right times or me just not being hungry. One similarity that I noticed from these two records was that I still eat only 2-3 big meals a day and don’t really know how to eat smaller portions. But I did notice that in my second records, I ate a healthy breakfast (yogurt and berries) all three days while in my first record, I would only eat a special K bar. Another difference that I noticed was that I didn’t have any fast food at all and ate more homemade meals, like tilapia with vegetables. I also noticed in the second records that I started to eat more servings of fruits and vegetables in my breakfast and dinners compared to my first records where I barely ate any servings of...

Words: 1924 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Dieting and Exercising

...Dieting and Exercising Obesity in America is growing larger than in the early eighties. With today’s statistics obesity has reached approximately 60 million Americans in the United States. Obesity is a growing trend according to the Center for Disease Control. The reason that the trend is so high, is that Americans are eating more than they are burning off. They either don’t have enough information on what it takes to lose weight, or just don’t understand why they are considered to be obese. Dieting and exercising is the best key to keep weight off and live a healthier quality lifestyle. Americans seem to be struggling whether they should diet or exercise, they don’t have enough information on how dieting and exercising together will help them lose weight. Exercising and dieting together a person can expect results losing those unwanted pounds. We just have to be patient and don’t give up, the weight did not come overnight. Losing weight can be tough without the proper knowledge of how dieting, exercising and combining both of these together can help you lose weight. There are all kinds of ways a person may choose to diet, they make take diet pills to get instant results. There are all kinds of diet pills a person can take to lose weight, they have appetite suppressants which are pills that make you eat less and then you have those that burn fat. The dangers with taking diet pills is that the majority of them have not been regulated by the FDA, which means that there are side...

Words: 1121 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Why Fad Diets Do Not Work

...uneducated people out there that see these fad diets on television and are convinced that they will work wonders to improve their weight. These people are so focused on losing the weight that they do not care if it jeopardizes their health. Yes, you read it correctly-fad diets can be harmful to your health! I hope to help take a stand against fad dieting and hopefully open the eyes of many people who choose to look the other way when it comes to this type of dieting. Who is your primary audience or reader? Why? Be detailed in your answer about your audience. My primary audience is those who want to be educated and stop wasting money on things that do not work. My secondary audience is my Professor and classmates, some whom may have experienced failure with a fad diet. Finally, my last audience would be one that shares my opinions and values and will likely be on my side. In a sentence or short paragraph, what is your thesis statement, including your angle? Write what will appear in your essay. My point is that Fad diets do not work because of the dynamic that they teach, not everyone is metabolically the same and they react differently to dieting. The public needs to be properly educated on the topic to make an informed decision. What topic sentences will you use as the foundation of your communication? (If necessary, add more points.) * Why fad diets do not work. * There are a ton of uneducated people out there that see these fad diets...

Words: 2152 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Rebuttal Argument

...Maddie Schaffer Mrs. Thacker English 101-004 3 March 2015 Keeping a Cleaner Life Thesis: Laura Fraser claims that dieting is unhealthier than being overweight because many individuals go on a diet are affected from social acceptance, and dieting creates eating disorders; However, Fraser should reconsider her mindset because dieting helps an individual maintain their body and have control, it keeps a person away from many health issues, and can create different outlooks on the body and life. I. Laura Fraser who has doubts and misconceptions of dieting should reconsider her mindset because an individual has control over their own body and can maintain it. A. An individual who has control of their own body can maintain what is put into their body and what is kept out as well. B. Having a controlled diet helps an individual either maintain, gain, or lose weight. 1. A maintaining diet means that an individual will consistently watch what they eat, however they will never increase or decrease their calorie intake, or do any physical or medical activity that will affect their current weight. 2. A gaining or losing weight diet simply means that a person is trying to build weight up in a healthy manner, or increases their physical activity or chooses to eat healthier to lose the weight. II. Fraser fails in proving that a diet in a person’s life is healthier because it prevents a person from many health risks and emotional side effects. A. If an individual...

Words: 1633 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Body Project

...about body sculpting, but allow a better understanding on the literature and provide additional evidence that will either support or reject themes and theories in this chosen topic. My choice to choose the topic of dieting for this body project was an easy one to make. From the age of about fifteen I have been conscious of my weight despite being told ‘you aren’t fat,’ and ‘you don’t need to diet.’ These comments were not enough to deter me not to take up different dieting techniques and phases of exercising however more times than not I would fail at reaching my targets. I therefore saw this opportunity as a way to try again as the pressure of keeping a diary and writing up on it may encourage me to maintain it for longer than my previous attempts. I find the topic of dieting very interesting not just in terms of myself but also in terms of society as a whole. After researching this topic of interest and not realising it myself but dieting has a significant association with the increased risk of not only binge eating but also purging behaviours (Jones, Bennett, Olmsted, Lawson and Rodin, 2001). This made me realise as well that my need to diet is partly been due to when I do fail, it is down to food purges and binges and I fall back into a viscous cycle of dieting and purges. My body project will use my diary I have kept throughout this process and using this data alongside academic work and...

Words: 6754 - Pages: 28

Premium Essay

How to Loose Weight Without Loosing Your Mind

...Name: Tutor: Course: Institution: Date: How to Lose Weight without Losing your Mind Introduction Over the years, people have spent a lot of time debating, discussing and sometimes battling over the pros and cons of virtually all diets products and programs available in our society. One of the critical issues has been to understand a diet with short term weight loss results without any serious health consequences. Research shows that virtually in a fort night, there is a new diet that comes up. Yet with all these debates people are not loosing weight. Not only are friends, relatives, and individuals driving themselves crazy, but they are exposing themselves into mind and body damages by consumption of these diets and pills. This paper gives the process and an analysis of how one can lose weight without losing their mind. Discover your Calorie Target The first step is to know the amount of calorie that one should be eating everyday in order to loose, gain, or maintain your weight. Research show that in order to loose one pound of fat then one have to deduct 3,5000 calories in the body. It is also true when one wishes to gain weight where an addition of 3500 calories gains one pound of fat. There are available online resources which can help one to know the amount of calories one should be eating everyday. Example is freedieting.com. After one has identified the amount of calories oe should consume, it is important then to commit. This where people lose their mind as...

Words: 1243 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Diet and What Its Related to

...The purpose of the article “Friendship, Body Image and Dieting in Teenage Girls: A Research Report” is to show how a teenaged girls friends, body image, and dieting patterns are all closely linked. These things are linked because each one directly influences the other. In this article, the author is trying to prove that whether or not a teenage girl diets, and what she thinks of her body image is closely related to her friends’ dieting behaviors, attitudes toward dieting, and her friends’ views toward whether, how you look, is important or not. The article “Friendship, Body Image and Dieting in Teenage Girls: A Research Report” talks about how teenage girls are influenced by their friendship cliques, by sharing attitudes and behavior towards dieting, In this article, the author focused in on answering a few major questions that he was asking, one of these questions being, “how do our peers influence the choices we make?” after doing studies and research, the author found that a teenage girls peers are one of the biggest influences on them when it comes to body image and dieting. Teenage girls views and opinions on body satisfaction, are almost always the same of that of their friends. In addition, it was also found that many girls will keep binge-eat to themselves, and was an individual behavior, apposed to a group behavior. Although binge eating is an individual behavior, it was shown to be linked to the teenaged girl’s friendship clique’s dissatisfaction with their...

Words: 251 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Argumentative

...Argumentative Essay 9/4/13 Now days, thin bodies are the standards of beauty. Not only females but also males pursue to be thin and to lose weight. A lot of motivations and volitions are required to lose weight. It is a game that you fight yourself as Karl Lagerfield (2009) quoted, “Dieting is the only game where you win when you lose”. Countless ways to lose weight have been discovered such as eating no foods or one food daily, but the scientists proved that exercising is the only and best way to lose weight. Having a few, irregular, and unbalanced meals will quickly help you to lose weight; however, this will affect human’s life negatively. Having few, irregular, and unbalanced meals will quickly help you to lose weight. If human eat few and unbalanced meals, we will be provided few nutrition. This will allow our body not to produce fats. If the body produces no fats, the stored ones in our body will be quickly burned. Then, it will result to fast way of losing weight. This is the most used methods when the ladies want to lose their weight. The author also lost her weight about 5 kg in 7 days through just eating some snacks or small sandwiches. “I want to lose weight by eating nothing but moon pies, which have significantly less gravity than earthier foods such as fruits and vegetables.” (Kints, 2010) However, this will affect human negatively. First, people’s body will be easily exhausted due to few meals. One of the sources of energy for human is fats. As it is mentioned...

Words: 689 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Is Fasting the Best Way of Diet?

...» April 22, 2011 — Ritual fasting has been part of religious traditions for thousands of years, from Muslims who fast during daylight hours in the month of Ramadan to Mormons who take a regular break from food the first Sunday of each month. But a recent growing body of research shows that abstaining from food intermittently may have physical as well as spiritual benefits — the latest, a study from Utah researchers that found that occasional fasts (defined as extended periods of time in which people generally abstain from all food and drink except for water) may reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Google “fasting for health” and you’ll get more than 7 million hits, ranging from doctors who recommend it in their practices to treat a range of diseases, spas that promise detoxifying food-free vacations, and message board postings from devotees who say that fasting makes them feel clearer mentally and more fit. “I fast whenever my body feels like it needs a reboot,” says Yoli Ouiya, 31, a New York City blogger who writes about eco-friendly living. She fasts once every few months. But is fasting a good idea for your health? Possibly, says David Katz, MD, MPH, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University. Every day, organs such as the liver, kidney, and spleen work to remove and neutralize toxins from the body to keep our cells healthy. “When you fast, you eliminate input of additional toxins from food,” says Dr. Katz, “and there is a potential biological...

Words: 3269 - Pages: 14

Free Essay

Body Image

...physical sensations towards your body. One should feel happy in their skin, but that is not what we portray to the outside world. Most of the time this issue is rather generational, meaning it is related to the age of a young girl (teenage years). During that period some girls are prone to extreme dieting. This is the time when the influence of the media is the most obvious through celebrity trends (models, actors/actresses, sings, reality show people etc.). As a young teenager you amongst many other girls are so caught up in this challenging period that we often tend to forget our self-worth and about all of the values that we all the values we are composed of. Even though I happen to agree with the articles point about skinny white girls and slightly overweight black girls the whole issue is not exclusively racial but it is about social class. The best example is that among the youth who are financially deprived (regardless of race) are the ones who reflect the image that was described in the earlier paragraph and that indicates the large social problem. In that sense our educational system should be modified. For example they should put an emphasis on nutrition (health class), dieting and regular exercise that will get children motivated while they are young and to also provide them with the knowledge in order to continue being active in later years of their life. Regarding this issue I would have undeveloped answers and...

Words: 554 - Pages: 3