Weight Loss Addictions: Are You Addicted to the Idea of Being Skinny and Slim?

Are Western men and women addicted to weight loss? The University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell says that "while dieting is a common practice among college women, a study reported in the Nutrition Journal has found that 83 percent of them diet no matter how much they weigh" (source). This raises wellness and fitness questions about the dangers of unhealthy dieting and the idea of diet addictions.

In this health and wellness article, we'll discuss the possibility that people have become addicted to the idea of being skinny and slim. Thanks to media portrayals of toned, muscular bodies, people have an unattainable weight loss goal in mind.

Are You Addicted to Weight Loss and Dieting Obsessions?

Weight loss is literally the shedding of pounds from a person's body weight. This includes the removal of excess body fat, fluid, and lean mass. But when done intentionally, it logically becomes a person's self need to satisfy his standard for beauty. Is weight loss becoming a fast addiction to people - especially to women - all over the world?

Weight loss has indeed become an obsession to a lot of people. For different reasons, people go through extreme measures to remove these unwanted fats from their bodies. For some reason, beauty has been equated with having very thin bodies and very light weights. We can pay tribute to the thousands of beauty magazines and to media for this sort of mentality. Women especially, now define beauty as that of having the bodies of Jessica Alba, Angelina Jolie, and the likes. Well, the truth is, we weren't all born to be Hollywood stars.

A regular working employee doesn't necessarily need to have perfect vital statistics to succeed, right? But then again, weight loss cannot be completely regarded as a negative need for attaining beauty. Because in making sure your weight stays off the obese scale, you also reduce the risk of developing diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, and some types of cancer.

The intentional desire for weight loss doesn't have to mean going through the wrong measures. Weight loss could still be done in a healthy way. This addiction can be indulged in a healthy way. People nowadays have found new, clean, and fresh ways of achieving this goal. Most resort to exercise and proper balanced diet. It is a fact that in healthy weight loss, you should still be able to conserve muscle and fluid even if you're aiming to lose fat. That way, you'd still have energy even after months and months of trying to lose weight. For example, in exercising, you get to lose weight plus you get to increase your level of energy.

Still for young people who are brainwashed by the "Thin = sexy" mentality tend to waver towards the bad side of weight loss. Because of this, a lot of teenagers become bulimic or anorexic; this is definitely not a good way of approaching weight loss. Adults should make sure to orient their children on the proper approaches to dieting and weight loss. That way, young people could still be addicted to weight loss - but in a healthy way.

So is weight loss an addiction that is sweeping through the old and young population alike? Most probably yes. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with indulging in this addiction, as long as you do things the healthy way. After all, who wouldn't want a world filled with Jessica Albas?