| Often you see articles on obesity and the health risks | | | | a feeling of low self-worth or body image. Like Karen |
| associated with being severely overweight. Carrying | | | | Carpenter, a person who develops such a disorder |
| an extra 20, 50, or 100 pounds or more can put great | | | | may have it in mind that he/she is fat, when in fact he |
| strain on your back, your muscles, your heart, and | | | | she may be at a normal weight/frame ratio or only a |
| even your mental health. You might think it stands to | | | | few pounds over. Taking a diet to such extremes will |
| reason, therefore, that if being obese is bad, then the | | | | erase weight, yes, but will gain health problems, |
| extreme opposite - being very skinny - is good. | | | | including: |
| Not really. We have discussed on this site the dangers | | | | * decreased blood pressure |
| of being underweight, and the health risks associated | | | | * ulcers |
| with starvation. When you develop an eating disorder, | | | | * loss of menstrual cycle in women |
| however, those risks can be magnified, to say nothing | | | | * blood poisoning |
| of being fatal. One well-known case of an eating | | | | * increased mental problems like depression |
| disorder that led to an untimely demise is that of singer | | | | * serious heart problems |
| Karen Carpenter. Fueled by self-consciousness and a | | | | * decayed tooth enamel (from continuous vomiting) |
| desire to escape remarks of "chubbiness" that plagued | | | | When a person doesn't eat, the body starves for |
| her teen years, Karen literally starved herself, avoiding | | | | nutrients, and will search within for anything to keep the |
| food and binging on laxatives and other | | | | body moving. As a resul, other systems in the body |
| over-the-counter medications to lose the weight more | | | | may eventually shut down as a result, resulting in |
| quickly. | | | | death. In short, anorexia is not healthy, bulimia is not |
| As it happened, Karen did not need to lose the excess | | | | healthy. Though some people are genetically disposed |
| weight to be considered trim and healthy. Sadly, the | | | | to being thin, not every body is meant to be that way. |
| excess took a toll on the perfomer's heart, and she | | | | It would be ideal, however, for every body to be |
| died of cardiac arrest at the age of 32. If anything | | | | healthy. |
| positive had come from Karen's death, it brought the | | | | Weight loss is not about being thin, but being healthy |
| plight of anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders | | | | A sound weight loss program like the Compuslim |
| to mainstream consciousness. | | | | program should not be designed to help people |
| Now, one might think since Karen's death over twenty | | | | become super-thin, but to help people achieve their |
| years ago people may have a better understanding of | | | | ideal weight/frame ratio. If you choose to take dietary |
| such disorders and work to avoid them. Unfortunately, | | | | supplements to aid your weight loss, it is important to |
| we still find reed-thin actresses and models gracing the | | | | adapt with it a nutrition and exercise regimen that will |
| covers of fashion magazines. We still read tales of | | | | take off the weight sensibly and safely. To take |
| women and young girls who put their bodies through | | | | supplements means you must also eat, and follow |
| hell for the sake of attaining an ideal of beauty that | | | | directions on the labels. Never take more of any |
| few are able to achieve naturally. It is as if we have | | | | supplement than is prescribed or recommended, and |
| learned nothing. | | | | always pair supplements with good food. |
| Two of the more known eating disorders are anorexia | | | | Lastly, never be disheartened by the pictures you see |
| nervosa and bulimia. Where a person who is anorexic | | | | of ultra-thin models or celebrities. A positive outlook |
| strives not to eat, relying perhaps on mostly liquids and | | | | and personality is essential to make weight loss a |
| diuretics to lose weight, a bulimic engages in the very | | | | success, so remember that the ideal glamorized by |
| dangerous practice of eating, then throwing up | | | | TV and film may not be your ideal. With patience and |
| everything before the food has a chance to digest. | | | | diligence, you can achieve your weight loss goals. |
| These eating disorders are usually brought on through | | | | |