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What’s it doing to you: Dieting
Sticking to a balanced diet and exercising regularly is great for your health, but girls are particularly bad at taking dieting too far. And when it’s not done right, dieting can damage our bodies as well as our minds.
A habit.
A lot of girls get caught up in a cycle of dieting, and stay stuck in it for the rest of their lives. Some will develop an eating disorder like bulimia or anorexia, and many more struggle constantly with feelings of insecurity about how they look.
What’s it doing to you?
Our bodies actually change they way they work when we eat less than we should. When we diet, our body learns to survive on less energy… basically, they think they’re starving and fight like crazy to conserve as much energy as they can.
Undereating for a long period of time weakens your immune system and strains vital organs like your heart and liver. In a study done last year in America, people whose weight ‘yo-yo’d’ a lot were at a much higher risk of heart disease and death. Constantly restricting your eating also robs your body of nutrients it needs to work properly and keep you healthy.
For example: They have a bad rep, but calories are essential for energy to help keep our bodies in balance. Not eating enough will cause your body to suffer as it struggles to find the energy it needs to work properly.
‘Carbs’ is another dirty word for a lot of people, but they’re not all bad! “Bad carbs” are found in foods filled with sugar, like soft drinks and lollies. But carbohydrates like those found in grains, cereals and rice are invaluable sources of energy.
Unhealthy dieting can also rob your body of vital nutrients like protein and fibre. And too little iron can lead to anaemia and a lack of energy… so if you’re vegetarian make sure you replace meat with iron rich foods like tempeh and lentils!
Another negative affect of dieting happens when a dieter goes overboard and their attempt to lose weight becomes obsessive and dangerous. This can lead to eating disorders like bulimia nervosa, anorexia, and binge eating.
What’s the alternative?
Before you begin a diet, find out if you actually need to! Studies show that 2/3 of people diet, and only 1/3 are overweight… if you can, consult a nutritionist for advice on how to lose weight in a healthy way.
There are also plenty of resources available online and in the bookstore to help you live a balanced and healthy lifestyle.
After all, food is meant to be fun, not something that scares us!
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oh my sister in law and brother are the same. its such a shame as their daughter is also much the same too Posted by tkennard "on" 08/11 "at"09:19 PM |
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Not to mention - their body image! Posted by Sugaax! "on" 08/08 "at"02:15 AM |
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My mum was a yo-yo dieter and that sort of had an effect on the way i thought about food. One week she would be on a soup diet, the next a low carb. It made me question if I should be looking at dieting when I was about age 11! It was totally crazy and I think mothers that think they have a weight problem themselves - may give their daughters complex’s and make a substantial impact on the way their child percieves food. Posted by Sugaax! "on" 08/08 "at"02:14 AM |
Best of the rest
