Less Is More?

Less Is More?

The phrase has been said many times, “Less is more.” In some cases this is true, but in body image that can be one of the most damaging things that can be done to a human body. Body image is so important to almost everybody; More specifically though, to young women from their teenage years to however long the mentality stays with them. Sometimes, their whole life.

There are many ways that women can become influenced to adopt the mentality that becoming super skinny is the only way to be happy, beautiful, and worth something. There is one contributing factor, however, that is the most potent and powerful tool that will get right under a girls skin.

The media.

The media when they use television shows, reality television, and movies with nothing but actresses that are incredibly and unrealistically thin. It’s not only just in visual media, but in every form there is to attract any susceptible young girl.They are constantly bombarded in our society of what it is they should look like.


Models like Kate Moss:

Keira Knightly:

Celebrities like Kiera Knightly, Kate Moss, and so much more are the young girl’s role models. When a normally and healthy sized young woman compares herself to the unbelievably thin bodies of the women in the media, there are some that will obsess over the ideal body image. There are young women who will obsess so much over this that they can develop eating disorders; mental disorders. Women that suffer from anorexia or bulimia can create dangerous health problems for them like kidney failure or heart disease’ just like the singer Karen Carpenter who died from heart failure because of her eating disorder with anorexia.

Because there are young girls and women in this world that are so desperate to have the “perfect” body image, they have come to accept their disease and glorify it in a sickening way. They have come up with slang for the anorexic life style: thinspiration, pro-ana (for anorexia), and pro-mia (for bulimia.)

In these thinspirational lifestyles, these websites dedicated to them will give anyone with an internet access all they need to know about how to become thin and beautiful just like them. They will give you  tips on how to keep with pro-ana, dieting recipies, and fitness routines.

Here are some examples of tips on how to be thin from the pro-ana thinspirational site, http://mytaintedlife.wetpaint.com/page/Tips+and+Advice

Tips and Advice

1. Drink one glass of water every hour. It will make you feel full. 

5. Eat ice or gum when hungry. This will make your body think it had food without the calories. 

6. Do aerobics until you want to faint. 

8. Take cold showers because your body will burn calories to heat you back up. 

11. Brush your teeth constantly so you won't be tempted to eat afterwards. 

12. Weat a rubberband around your wrist. Snap it when you want to eat. 

13. Clean something gross (toilet, litter box, boyfriend's closet) when you want to eat. You will not want to eat 

after cleaning a litter box.

14. Keep your hair in good condition so no one will suspect anything. 

15. Get a job so you'll have to work through meal times. 

20. Buy clothes that you can't fit into and hang them wear you can see them. This will motivate you to lose weight to fit into them. 

. 

22. If you start to feel hungry do situps or punch yourself in the stomach. You will not feel hungry anymore. 

24. Make yourself a snack, but instead of eating it throw it away. Leave the dirty dishes where your parents can find them. They will think you ate. 

25. Prepare a list of excuses as to why you can't eat - You're sick, you're a vegetarian, allergic, etc. You'd be amazed at how many good excuses there are. 

26. Get out of your house! If you're not sitting around then people can't start shit with you about not eating. 

27. Join a pro-ana group or start your own website. Anything that will keep you motivated. 

28. Make an ANA scrapbook with pics of skinny models. Right down all the reasons you want to lose weight. Keep track of everything you eat. Look at it daily for thinsperation. 

30. Instead of food, buy something else, a new shirt, flowers, jewelrey etc. 

33. Never eat anything bigger than about a cup, your stomach will expand and then you'll get hungry more. 

34. Eat in front of a mirror naked. See how much you can eat then! 

36. Wear perfectly applied lip gloss. It makes you more aware of what's going in your mouth. Also, flavored ones help with cravings. 

37. Have 6 small meals a day. Take 2 apples, and split them so you can make 6 meals out of them. That way your body will be tricked into thinking it's eating more. 

39. Take anti-heartburn pills if you're really hungry. They nuetralize the acid that builds and makes you hungry. 

40. Take a picture of yourself wearing a bathing suit or something equally revealing, look at it when you want to eat. 

42. When you get hunger pains curl into a ball, it makes them go away. 

43. If you're a smoker and hungry, light up a cigarette. It curbs your appetite. 

. 

45. Before you dig into that cake, bag of chips, candy, or whatever, take a deep breath and count to 100. Usually by the time you get to 100 you will have convinced yourself that you don't really want it. 

46. When you're hungry chug 2 glasses (or how many you need) of straight water. It'll make you so full and nauseous you will have completely lost your appetite. 

48. Weigh yourslef before and after every time you eat. Not only will it eliminate unnecessary eating, but it will make you want to eat less when you see the numbers creep up. 

53. Save the money you would have spent on that meal in a jar. Save it in a bottle instead and watch it grow. 

55. Instead of buying food, buy yourself flowers. Food is depressing, but flowers make you happy. 

56. When having cravings drink a couple glasses of water with slices of lemons and count to 100 and it should go away. 

58. An occasional binge doesn't hurt, in fact it's quite beneficial if you have reached a plateau (stopped losing weight). Your body will think you have stopped starving yourself, and you will drop at least a pound overnight! Just don't binge too regularly! 

59. Someone told me that if you take a pure cold bath for 15-30 min and lower your body temp, your body burns around 200 cals for every degree it has to raise itself to reach a normal body temperture. This person tried it, a 30 min bath lowered their temp about 3-4 degrees 

Then from the website http://pro-ana-angels.wetpaint.com/page/Super+Reduction+Oatmeal+Diet, here are some examples of diets:

Super Reduction Oatmeal Diet

Breakfast:
One packet instant oatmeal, any flavor (120-160 cals)
total: 120-160 calories, 2-4 gms fat

Lunch:
Diet soda (0 cals)
total: 0 cals, 0 gms fat

Dinner:
Tea w/ no-cal sweetener (<5 cals)
total: <5 calories, 0 gms fat

total: 120-165 calories, 2-4 gms fat 

Russian Gymnast Diet

This is the diet of Olympic silver medalist Irina Tschachina ( 5"6 and weighs only 99lbs!) it was such a success for her now many other Russian Gymnasts are following this diet. Here it is:


Breakfast:
Glass of either orange or apple juice

Lunch:
Fruit Salad (made off kiwi fruit, orange, pineapple, and peeled apples)
Glass of fruit juice (from one of the above fruits)

Dinner:
Glass of non carbonated water*
Green apple

Anyone on this diet for 5-7 days can loose between 4 lbs-11 lbs
*non carbonated means non fizzy, so like normal water.

Rainbow Diet

Monday (white):
Breakfast: ½ apple (40.5 cals)
Lunch: ½ apple (40.5 cals)
Dinner: 1 cucumber (24 cals)
Total: 105 cals

Tuesday (yellow):
Breakfast: 1 banana (108.5 cals)
Lunch: 1 banana (108.5 cals)
Dinner: ½ cup corn (66 cals)
Total: 283 cals

Wednesday (fast):

Thursday (orange):
Breakfast: ½ orange (31 cals)
Lunch: ½ orange (31 cals)
Dinner: 1 carrot (26 cals)
Total: 88 cals

Friday (red):
Breakfast: ½ cup strawberries (21.5 cals)
Lunch: ½ cup strawberries (21.5 cals)
Dinner: ½ red pepper (16 cals)
Total: 59 cals

Saturday (purple/blue):
Breakfast: 10 blueberries (8 cals)
Lunch: 10 blueberries (8 cals)
Dinner: 10 raspberries (24 cals)
Total: 40 cals

Sunday (green):
Breakfast: ½ cup grapes (57 cals)
Lunch: ½ grapes (57 cals)
Dinner: 1 cup lettuce (7 cals)
Total: 121 cals

Week total: 696 cals

It is frightening to me that there are women and young girls who see this sort of thing and don't think that there is anything wrong with that kind of mentality.

These women need to be educated and shown the dangers and ridiculousness of such ideals. Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.