Women have always been very conscious about their looks and appearance and have always looked forward to receiving admiration from others – both men and women. This desire was induced in them by Nature so that they could attract the male attention and unite with them in order to procreate and continue the existence of their species. So it has an evolutionary significance.
But in these days of media’s bombardment about the ideal figure that a lady should have in order to be admired by all, the craze for hour-glass-figure has reached obsessive levels. Young girls are starving themselves to death in order to make that unrealistic figure theirs. Girls are going on crash diets to lose those, not extra, but very necessary pounds. In order not to be left behind even women are joining gym, aerobic classes and even dance classes. Fine, they are exercising themselves to burn all those extra pounds, burgers and pizzas that they are tempted to eat. They can be healthy exercises as long as they are supplemented with nutritious food. But many, in their enthusiasm to acquire “Aishwaryarai” figure, go on indulging in unhealthy dietary practices that make them lose vital nutrients from the body, exposing themselves to various disorders like migraine, irritable bowel syndrome and even hormonal imbalances. Many get into psychological depression as they fail to fit into those jeans or own those glamorous vital statistics!
I would like to mention here two psychological disorders called “anorexia nervosa” and “bulimia” that can afflict young women and middle aged women. In “anorexia nervosa”, people starve themselves to lose weight and become pencil thin that can be disastrous to their physical and mental health. In “bulimia”, people go on an eating binge, unable to hold back temptation to eat and then they purge themselves of all the eaten food by either vomiting or through loose stools as a result of taking laxatives. Both the conditions have very serious repercussions on the body organs and they can become fatal.
I agree that all of us desire to look ‘prim and propah’ with ideal figures. But let our dreams be realistic according to our height n weight, age and our health conditions. Meet a dietitians and find out how much you are overweight or underweight and make suitable dietary changes and life style changes to bring about the look that you desire. Also let us remember that it is our inner beauty and strength that adds sheen to our looks and not our figures and fineries. Let not our obsessions kill us - physically, emotionally or spiritually.
But in these days of media’s bombardment about the ideal figure that a lady should have in order to be admired by all, the craze for hour-glass-figure has reached obsessive levels. Young girls are starving themselves to death in order to make that unrealistic figure theirs. Girls are going on crash diets to lose those, not extra, but very necessary pounds. In order not to be left behind even women are joining gym, aerobic classes and even dance classes. Fine, they are exercising themselves to burn all those extra pounds, burgers and pizzas that they are tempted to eat. They can be healthy exercises as long as they are supplemented with nutritious food. But many, in their enthusiasm to acquire “Aishwaryarai” figure, go on indulging in unhealthy dietary practices that make them lose vital nutrients from the body, exposing themselves to various disorders like migraine, irritable bowel syndrome and even hormonal imbalances. Many get into psychological depression as they fail to fit into those jeans or own those glamorous vital statistics!
I would like to mention here two psychological disorders called “anorexia nervosa” and “bulimia” that can afflict young women and middle aged women. In “anorexia nervosa”, people starve themselves to lose weight and become pencil thin that can be disastrous to their physical and mental health. In “bulimia”, people go on an eating binge, unable to hold back temptation to eat and then they purge themselves of all the eaten food by either vomiting or through loose stools as a result of taking laxatives. Both the conditions have very serious repercussions on the body organs and they can become fatal.
I agree that all of us desire to look ‘prim and propah’ with ideal figures. But let our dreams be realistic according to our height n weight, age and our health conditions. Meet a dietitians and find out how much you are overweight or underweight and make suitable dietary changes and life style changes to bring about the look that you desire. Also let us remember that it is our inner beauty and strength that adds sheen to our looks and not our figures and fineries. Let not our obsessions kill us - physically, emotionally or spiritually.
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I was inspired to write this after I read a post in Ruhi's:
9 comments:
Living in the West, I am aware how even some primary school-going young girls want to be skinny and go without lunch to trim their shape.
Diet plays an important part in determining one's body mass index (BMI). In my younger days in Mysore,it was difficult to see 'big women'as the daily diet had generous component of fresh vegetables and fruits. Fast foods were unknown and although butter and ghee were used to some extent, they were more than compensated by
the presence of generous portions of vegetable dishes. The kind of diet and the healthy baths women and girls took those days kept them looking trim and healthy. There was no necessity to go to a gym as people took to bicycles and more walked to work, colleges and schools. Western diseases like type 2 diabetes and coronary heart diseases were not common. Whenever I visit India, I am surprised by the fat content in the food which is geared towards a
quick preparation. There is talk of gym subscription and home gyms as 'status' indicators while my friends busily much their fast food. In these conversations I often struggle to make a point about bicycling and walking!!
Very necessary to say to those' dieting girls' that controlled fat on bones is indeed necessary, and the best way to achieve this is to concentrate on food ( not lack of it) and simple exercises.
i completely agree with u, mr ram.
all those diseases like diabetes, coronory artery diseas, obesity, alcoholism etc are all "life style diseases". since the life style of people in urban india has changed so much, all these diseases have crept in. life has become very sedentary and people lack exercise. added to it is the fast food culture and instant mixes that contain more artificial colourings and preservatives than nutrition. all this with the excuse of "no-time". but where are we all running? where do we intend to reach? what are we going to achieve? peace?? happiness??? belongingness???
people are getting disillusioned faster these days; young children are facing "burn outs". more depression cases and more number of suicides..........
we all need to rethink and redefine our lifestyles......
"BUT WHAT IF I GET LEFT BEHIND IN THIS (RAT)RACE???" this is the phobia everybody is struck with!
Hi Latha,
//Also let us remember that it is our inner beauty and strength that adds sheen to our looks and not our figures and fineries.
I kind of disagree with this statement. The inner beauty and strength is extremely important, but this doesn't mean that being over weight is fine. Both need to be taken care of.
PS- I would have appreciated it if you could have provided a link to my post.
thaks, ruhi, for visiting my blog and placing a comment. i am honoured by this visit by a celebrity in 'bloggywood'!
i agree that inner beauty n strength alone may not be sufficient to look good, but for those who constantly grumble about not gifted with good looks, this statement helps to boost the self esteem. they sure need to put in hard work to gain those dreamy figures.
about adding the link to your article, i am sorry i could not add it in my post as i am new to blogging and need to still learn how to embed links inbetween. it is lil cumbersome for me as i have to switch between two blogs, copy-paste and all that. i am yet to learn the technicalities. however, i have already addded a link to your blog and it can be seen under the list of my fav blogs on the left hand side column of my blogspace.
"Also let us remember that it is our inner beauty and strength that adds sheen to our looks and not our figures and fineries." I loved this sentence. I completely and fully agree with this. I am naturally thin, I do not diet, and some people think this is a blessing, others snigger. You know, among us teenagers, everyone wants to look good. I keep noticing how deissastisfied they all seem. A girl by name of Gayathri asked, "Hey, what do you do to maintain your complextion?" I said I did nothing. She said I was lying. I then told her that if I was good in one thing, I always had some sort of defect. I have scanty hair. Thin, useless hair. Yours is thick and firm. I think you need to be grateful for that!" I said. She was like "Yeah...but still..." I was told that it takes courage to admit things like that. Normally what teenagers do is hide our defects. I think that's stupid. I don;t do it. I sometimes feel sorry for those frustrated lot out there, caught by the thought that beauty is only about lipstick and looking beautiful.
While I believe that character is always the ultimate worth of a person, study upon study has found that the hip to waist ratio of .7 is valued across all cultures here .
lakshmi, as a young PU student u display such high levels of maturity in ur thinking! congrats!
yes, it requires maturity to admit our weaknesses or shortcomings. more so when we are constantly worried about how others may evaluate us. all the more bothersome to a teenager as this is the age they become obsessed with their appearance, go all out to look their best and dip into a depression if they fail to look good. it can reach even extreme levels of developing "body dysmorphic disorder" - a psychological disorder that requires counselling.
more abou this disorder in another post. thanks.
ruhi, i was able to add ur link in my post with the help of RK of "Rambling with Bellur".
thanks, RK
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