There are always two sides to a picture. For those of you who do not know what I am talking about can bring their activities to a halt and see the fact that either there are blubbers or weight freaks. However things have changed in the past few years. We could hardly come across gym goers but now it is like everyone is in a race of outdoing each other in the number of packs they have.
On the contrary there are still those who are satisfied with the way they look and get chills even at the sight of a gym, regardless of how fat they are. I guess for them real people are those who eat doughnuts and sit on the couch.
Speaking of the two sides, they are anorexia and bulimia, the two commonly known eating disorders. Anorexia is an eating disorder where people starve themselves. Anorexics are very skinny but they are convinced they are overweight. Weight loss is obtained by many ways; some of the common techniques are vigorous exercise, intake of laxatives and abstinence of food. People with anorexia continue to think they are overweight even if they become very skinny, are very ill or near death. They often develop a habit of not eating in front of others.
On the other hand people with bulimia binge on food and then vomit so that they do not gain weight, thus the process of binging and purging goes on. They also depend on laxative use, excessive exercise in order to retain their weight.
Now-a-days the over-weight unmarried lot has also become weight conscious. In desperation to get married they would go to any length to lose weight to get hitched. Hence they count on herbal water, weight loss pills, starvation etc; consequently women are more likely to get affected as these things pave way for long-term problems like miscarriages, premature births, osteoporosis, anorexia etc. Thus men and women both have developed a routine of hitting the gyms, indulging in excessive exercises to achieve a certain weight. Another common thing among women is the fact that in order to maintain their weight they refuse to conceive babies and even if they have one, they avoid feeding them so that they do not ruin their figure.
Working men and women also keep a check on their weight; they are one of those who are passionate enough to take time even out of their busy schedules. They speak for those who could be labelled as 'Weight Freaks' in true sense of the word. They would never skip a single day of their workout!
Another bunch of people that truly defines the word 'Weight Freaks' be the teenagers who are always in dire need of attracting the opposite sex. They are the assets of our country who would always take the easiest and the shortest way out to reach their goals. Especially the girls, who would skip meals, starve themselves, indulge in so-called liquid diets, (and get more prone to acne, which they don't know of!!) to get a mini doll waist.... This is their prerogative! However teenage boys are no less, they have developed an obsession of beefing up their bodies even at the expense of their lives. The most commonly used thing that has emerged now a days, to build up muscles is the protein shake. Another easy way out is to get a shot of steroids.
Weight lifting is another common exercise to increase body mass. The main concept behind such work out regimes is to look manly and mature but they are unaware of the hazards weight lifting. Reported weight lifting injuries in children range from fractures, spondylolysis, and herniated disks to dislocations and cardiac rupture. The vast majority of these injuries occur in kids working out by themselves, without supervision.
Moreover, media also plays an important role in influencing its masses, especially the youth who gets inspired by the beauty and fashion magazines that promote low self esteem while also making them work harder. Another important factor is the peer pressure that is quite common among both, girls and boys who hang out with people who are weight conscious or under weight, thus they eventually come under influence. Also, the advertisements are one of the most common things that youngsters look up to; eg adds promoting unnatural and unhealthy ways of losing weight such as pills, herbal water, herbal tea etc. One of the most bizarre things we have in the media is the fact that these fatal short cuts are promoted by our own celebrities which instantly affect the minds of the youngsters.
Eating healthy and exercise go hand in hand and that there is no short cut to a healthy physique. Miss Nausheen, a sports teacher of Kinnaird College said that fitness is the key to healthy life and only 15 to 20 minutes are enough to maintain a healthy body without over exerting yourself.