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Body Image Issues: Counseling can help with these problems!
Do you try lots of diets 'cause you're not satisfied with the way your body looks or you think you're fat?
Guys, do you take steroids to bulk up and look buff?
Worrying about how our bodies look is a real issue in our society. The average person sees between 400 and 600 ads per day, and one out of 10 of them relates directly to beauty and image.
Did you know that more than 500,000 teens in the US currently use steroids and body-enhancing supplements?
But what can you expect when you take that stuff?
If you're a guy, you can look for acne, accelerated baldness, aggressiveness, enlargement of breasts, shrinking testicles, cardiovascular disease or inability to have sex (impotence).
With girls, acne, baldness, facial hair, reduced breast size, lowering of voice and
masculinization are what you're looking at.
Then there are the heavy-duty eating disorders:
Anorexia nervosa is dieting gone wild. It's an emotional disorder characterized by severe weight loss (or failure to gain weight in young people). People with anorexia have an iron determination to become thin and an intense, irrational fear of becoming fat, both of which often increase as weight is lost.
They have a hard time maintaining a healthy weight. They lose weight by fasting, over-exercising, using diuretics and laxatives and over-the-counter diet aids, and in some cases, self-induced vomiting.
They say they feel fat even when they are very thin. They experience a sense of control by not eating and often turn away from food in an attempt to cope with life's stresses.
People with bulimia nervosa binge-eat, secretly consuming large amounts of food in a short period of time. They follow these binges with self-induced vomiting or purging -- fasting, over-exercising or taking laxatives, diuretics or diet pills. This binge-purge cycle is normally accompanied by self-defeating thoughts, depressed mood, and an awareness that the eating behavior is not normal and out-of-control. In most cases, the binge-purge cycle is an outlet for feelings of frustration, disappointment, anger, loneliness and boredom.
Both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa have serious health implications if untreated. A safe, healthy weight loss plan can be developed for you by your family doctor.
This year, a thousand people will die from anorexia nervosa.
How much weight is too much?
To determine the degree of a person's excess body weight accurately, many doctors use something called a Body Mass Index (BMI), which takes into account your height and weight. A person with a BMI of 30 or greater, or who is at least 30 pounds overweight would be diagnosed as obese, the condition of being considerably overweight.
Excess weight has been proven to contribute to an increased risk of developing many medical problems, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease and diabetes. Eating excess fatty food and calories and not participating in any exercise play a significant role in the development of excess weight.
People who are considerably overweight may have a problem regulating their appetite or they may have an energy metabolism problem -- they consume more calories than their bodies use. The excess calories are then stored in the body as fat.
In addition to overeating and lack of physical activity, genetics, environment and economic situation can all increase a person's risk of becoming considerably overweight.
An estimated 97 million adults in the US face the problem of excess weight.
One of the keys to successful weight loss is setting realistic, achievable goals.
Talk with your doctor about your weight (whether you are overweight or underweight). If he or she determines that you are overweight or underweight, work on the solutions with your doctor and your parents.
Do you try lots of diets 'cause you're not satisfied with the way your body looks or you think you're fat?
Guys, do you take steroids to bulk up and look buff?
Worrying about how our bodies look is a real issue in our society. The average person sees between 400 and 600 ads per day, and one out of 10 of them relates directly to beauty and image.
Did you know that more than 500,000 teens in the US currently use steroids and body-enhancing supplements?
But what can you expect when you take that stuff?
If you're a guy, you can look for acne, accelerated baldness, aggressiveness, enlargement of breasts, shrinking testicles, cardiovascular disease or inability to have sex (impotence).
With girls, acne, baldness, facial hair, reduced breast size, lowering of voice and
masculinization are what you're looking at.
Then there are the heavy-duty eating disorders:
Anorexia nervosa is dieting gone wild. It's an emotional disorder characterized by severe weight loss (or failure to gain weight in young people). People with anorexia have an iron determination to become thin and an intense, irrational fear of becoming fat, both of which often increase as weight is lost.
They have a hard time maintaining a healthy weight. They lose weight by fasting, over-exercising, using diuretics and laxatives and over-the-counter diet aids, and in some cases, self-induced vomiting.
They say they feel fat even when they are very thin. They experience a sense of control by not eating and often turn away from food in an attempt to cope with life's stresses.
People with bulimia nervosa binge-eat, secretly consuming large amounts of food in a short period of time. They follow these binges with self-induced vomiting or purging -- fasting, over-exercising or taking laxatives, diuretics or diet pills. This binge-purge cycle is normally accompanied by self-defeating thoughts, depressed mood, and an awareness that the eating behavior is not normal and out-of-control. In most cases, the binge-purge cycle is an outlet for feelings of frustration, disappointment, anger, loneliness and boredom.
Both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa have serious health implications if untreated. A safe, healthy weight loss plan can be developed for you by your family doctor.
This year, a thousand people will die from anorexia nervosa.
How much weight is too much?
To determine the degree of a person's excess body weight accurately, many doctors use something called a Body Mass Index (BMI), which takes into account your height and weight. A person with a BMI of 30 or greater, or who is at least 30 pounds overweight would be diagnosed as obese, the condition of being considerably overweight.
Excess weight has been proven to contribute to an increased risk of developing many medical problems, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease and diabetes. Eating excess fatty food and calories and not participating in any exercise play a significant role in the development of excess weight.
People who are considerably overweight may have a problem regulating their appetite or they may have an energy metabolism problem -- they consume more calories than their bodies use. The excess calories are then stored in the body as fat.
In addition to overeating and lack of physical activity, genetics, environment and economic situation can all increase a person's risk of becoming considerably overweight.
An estimated 97 million adults in the US face the problem of excess weight.
One of the keys to successful weight loss is setting realistic, achievable goals.
Talk with your doctor about your weight (whether you are overweight or underweight). If he or she determines that you are overweight or underweight, work on the solutions with your doctor and your parents.
Disclaimer: The contents of this site and all the pages herein are intended for informational purposes only and are subject to change without notice at any time. None of the information in this site is intended to be taken as medical direction or advice, therapeutic, legal, or otherwise. This is not a replacement for professional services. At no time does use of this site nor communication through this site constitute a therapeutic relationship between the user and therapist. Keri M. Zwerner, MA, LMFT and LifeHealingHeart assume no liability for the content of this site or damages that may result from use, reference to, reliance on, or decisions resulting from its use. Use of this site establishes your consent to the provisions of this disclaimer. Copyright 2006. All rights reserved