When talking to girlfriends about weight, food, diets, figures etc. its clear that most (but not all) are very conscious with what they eat and how they look. It seems that out of somewhere a pressure to look a 'certain way' has developed, leaving many girls aspiring to figures which are neither healthy nor achievable.
Food affects everyone in different ways. Some people don't even give food a second thought, knowing really it is there because you need it to be healthy, but there are others who see food as an enemy or even as an addiction they need to satisfy. Where has this negative and demoralising relationship with food come from?
Britain is on the brink of an obesity epidemic, with almost a third of the public being over-weight. 
But on the other hand they are over 1.1million people suffering with an eating disorder (Figures from EDA website. This number only represents the number of people who have been diagnosed- many more are suffering without help). How can there be these two extremes with so many people having an unhealthy relationship with food?
Nearly one in twenty women has unusual or dangerous eating habits. In a group of ten of us from school, three suffered from bulimia. Out of the three only one of them could put into words how it developed into such a problem, "It was just a normal diet at first, but when you start losing weight it almost becomes addictive. I felt disgusting next to my friends, always comparing myself to them. I wanted to look like they did."
It's strange to think how a relationship with food can develop an obsession that too many girls get carried away with, not even realising the long term effects it may have on them. Infertility, bad teeth, ripped stomach lining, osteoporosis etc. It’s also hard to understand why someone would want to do this to themselves, cause themselves so much pain just so they can be thin.
But it’s not just people with eating disorders that have a problem with food. Now
adays, due to misleading publicity many people have the wrong perceptions of food. One of my friends claiming the other day that, “Carbs are bad for you.” Yes carbs are going to be bad for you if you’re going to sit and live solely off potatoes and pasta for the rest of your life. But, as I tried to explain to her, most foods have carbs in them, you need carbs to be healthy. Where has this misrepresentation of food come from? Bad press? Unreliable diets like the Atkins? Wherever it is something needs to be done in order for girls and boys alike, to have a healthy, normal relationship with their food and stop over obsessing about the way they look.
Friday, 14 December 2007
Food, Glorious Food....?
Arhg!! I don't want him to see me like this....
Iv'e had many an encounter with a guy I like when, well let's say...I havn't been looking my best. It's so typical that when you pop to the shops in your skanky jogging bottoms or without taking your makeup off from the previous night, you will see the guy you like.
It's the same the other way around as well....when you consciously make an effort to look nice, just in case that on the off chance, you'll both be in exactly the same place at the same time and will bump into each other. This never happens...ever. You casually glance around you checking out whos about just in case they are there, and then are secretly disapointed when he's not.
Believe me, it won't happen, or at least that's what we began to tell ourselves. So when we started arriving at college with pyjamas and Ugg boots, why was it that I saw him every single day. Is it karma? Have I done something in a previous life that means I am doomed to be caught without our slap on forever?
Of course, its not all about how you look, if a guy doesn't like you just because he's seen you hungover and dreary-eyed than that's his problem right?
Yep it's his loss not yours, but getting caught with snakebite round your mouth still isn't very helpful. Hence why to this day I spend at least 30minutes every morning and at least an hour before I go out obsessing over what to wear....which is pathetic really as it'sv always the same thing.
It's the same the other way around as well....when you consciously make an effort to look nice, just in case that on the off chance, you'll both be in exactly the same place at the same time and will bump into each other. This never happens...ever. You casually glance around you checking out whos about just in case they are there, and then are secretly disapointed when he's not.
Believe me, it won't happen, or at least that's what we began to tell ourselves. So when we started arriving at college with pyjamas and Ugg boots, why was it that I saw him every single day. Is it karma? Have I done something in a previous life that means I am doomed to be caught without our slap on forever?
Of course, its not all about how you look, if a guy doesn't like you just because he's seen you hungover and dreary-eyed than that's his problem right?
Yep it's his loss not yours, but getting caught with snakebite round your mouth still isn't very helpful. Hence why to this day I spend at least 30minutes every morning and at least an hour before I go out obsessing over what to wear....which is pathetic really as it'sv always the same thing.
Monday, 10 December 2007
Copy-cat
Obsession for following celebrity styles hit new levels earlier today when I was browsing for a new pair of shoes on asos.com.....I came across an amazing pair (they are actually stunning!) and just carried on browsing through the site when I noticed, the captions describing the style of the clothes.
Things like "Satin Bow Shift Dress in the style of Victoria Beckham" or "Black Skinny jean in the style of Ashley Olsen" are written below, then when looked at closer the site produces three close up pictures and a picture of the celebrity wearing the original. Here's an example: "Sexy black slingbacks in the style of Christina Aguilera and Nelly Furtado"
Personally, I think it's a bit strange that people are buying clothes that are specifically designed after a celebrity has worn them. Obviously fashion is all about developing your own style from seeing others and we constantly, subconsciously copy styles from catwalks, magazines, freinds,the high street, but this just seems a bit too wierd.
It could be me just being over the top, but I do think this is a little bit odd.....but of course there are people who just simply like their style.
Things like "Satin Bow Shift Dress in the style of Victoria Beckham" or "Black Skinny jean in the style of Ashley Olsen" are written below, then when looked at closer the site produces three close up pictures and a picture of the celebrity wearing the original. Here's an example: "Sexy black slingbacks in the style of Christina Aguilera and Nelly Furtado"
Personally, I think it's a bit strange that people are buying clothes that are specifically designed after a celebrity has worn them. Obviously fashion is all about developing your own style from seeing others and we constantly, subconsciously copy styles from catwalks, magazines, freinds,the high street, but this just seems a bit too wierd.
I get the image that people will buy this dress with the hope that if they wear this they'll look like Mischa Barton does in it originally
which is not only very sad, but also quiet impossible.
It gives the impression that girls will look as their idols did in them originally. 
which is not only very sad, but also quiet impossible.It could be me just being over the top, but I do think this is a little bit odd.....but of course there are people who just simply like their style.
The fame and the fortune
It seems to me that our society is becoming obsessed. I don't know why this is or how it has developed from a healthy interest that it used to be.
You see, we as journalists, have documented the activities of celebrities for decades, yet recently it seems that this way of reporting has gone to the extreme. We are told about the minutest of things that happen in a celebrites life: hair cuts, where they go out at night, who they're dating etc.
Yes, i agree with the fact that sometimes these stories that are published are of interest to us, for example Britney Spears going a bit a-wol and shaving all of her hair o
ff , or Kiefer Sutherland being sentanced to 48 days in prison for drink driving. But recently websites and blogs have been popping up all over the internet showing every single thing that happens to a celebrity.
theskinnywebsite- documents celebrities (male and female) who have lost weight, who have gained weight, how they lost weight etc, etc. It is updated daily with many comments added within seconds of the posts being published.
The thing that surprises me about this site is how obsessed, picky and hurtful these comments can be. The people commenting never seem to be satisfied.
Take this recent post as an example, here is Reese Witherspoon- absolutely stunning yet the first comment reads, "Dumpy at best"- most women would kill for half a figure like that! These girls (and some lads) commenting are so fixated on becoming perfect and people having a 'perfect body'. When in reality there is no such thing!!
The reaction of a site like this is that girls see these beautiful women being constantly put down and penalised for gaining weight, they then see gaining weight as a bad thing....when we really know that this is a natural thing.
The main proportion of visitors to this website are teenage girls, who idolise many of the women posted on this site. As most of you know adolescents are (most of the time) very easily influenced. Sites like these give the impression that there is always something wrong, that no-one ever looks good enough, this has a negative effect on people. If they feel that even someone as beautiful as these women arn't good enough, how can they ever feel good enough too?? (This is another way an obsession with the way people look, what size they are, how much they weigh etc c
an develop.)
Another website obsessed with the actions of celebrites is perezhilton.com. This site updates daily aswell posting 'stories' of what celebrities have been up to.
This site is very successful, (in fact it has gained Perez so much publicity he now has a gossip slot on Radio 1) yet when visiting the page today the first story I was greeted by was how Madonna went to dinner with Gwyneth Paltrow- does this really interest people? Or does this just show how people have become so obssessed with what celebs are doing they actually want to know this sort of information. It all seems a bit bizarre if you ask me.
These don't really appeal to me as real headlines. They're not breaking stories and quiet a lot of the time they're not even interesting stories, yet for some very odd reason people visit these sites everyday....looking, keeping up-to-date with the actions of their idols. Why is this? Surely knowing every single detail of someone's life who you don't even personally know is umm....a bit sad? Also it seems a bit ignorant to know every detail of Lindsay Lohan's antics in rehab, yet not know or care about the fact that thousands of people are dying from aids in Africa.
It seems a bit of an extreme thing to say but it's true, society has less interest in things like this...real things that effect a lot of people; instead they are more wrapped up in striving for a life they'll never acheive.
You see, we as journalists, have documented the activities of celebrities for decades, yet recently it seems that this way of reporting has gone to the extreme. We are told about the minutest of things that happen in a celebrites life: hair cuts, where they go out at night, who they're dating etc.
Yes, i agree with the fact that sometimes these stories that are published are of interest to us, for example Britney Spears going a bit a-wol and shaving all of her hair o
ff , or Kiefer Sutherland being sentanced to 48 days in prison for drink driving. But recently websites and blogs have been popping up all over the internet showing every single thing that happens to a celebrity.theskinnywebsite- documents celebrities (male and female) who have lost weight, who have gained weight, how they lost weight etc, etc. It is updated daily with many comments added within seconds of the posts being published.
The thing that surprises me about this site is how obsessed, picky and hurtful these comments can be. The people commenting never seem to be satisfied.
Take this recent post as an example, here is Reese Witherspoon- absolutely stunning yet the first comment reads, "Dumpy at best"- most women would kill for half a figure like that! These girls (and some lads) commenting are so fixated on becoming perfect and people having a 'perfect body'. When in reality there is no such thing!!
The reaction of a site like this is that girls see these beautiful women being constantly put down and penalised for gaining weight, they then see gaining weight as a bad thing....when we really know that this is a natural thing.
The main proportion of visitors to this website are teenage girls, who idolise many of the women posted on this site. As most of you know adolescents are (most of the time) very easily influenced. Sites like these give the impression that there is always something wrong, that no-one ever looks good enough, this has a negative effect on people. If they feel that even someone as beautiful as these women arn't good enough, how can they ever feel good enough too?? (This is another way an obsession with the way people look, what size they are, how much they weigh etc c
an develop.)Another website obsessed with the actions of celebrites is perezhilton.com. This site updates daily aswell posting 'stories' of what celebrities have been up to.
This site is very successful, (in fact it has gained Perez so much publicity he now has a gossip slot on Radio 1) yet when visiting the page today the first story I was greeted by was how Madonna went to dinner with Gwyneth Paltrow- does this really interest people? Or does this just show how people have become so obssessed with what celebs are doing they actually want to know this sort of information. It all seems a bit bizarre if you ask me.
These don't really appeal to me as real headlines. They're not breaking stories and quiet a lot of the time they're not even interesting stories, yet for some very odd reason people visit these sites everyday....looking, keeping up-to-date with the actions of their idols. Why is this? Surely knowing every single detail of someone's life who you don't even personally know is umm....a bit sad? Also it seems a bit ignorant to know every detail of Lindsay Lohan's antics in rehab, yet not know or care about the fact that thousands of people are dying from aids in Africa.
It seems a bit of an extreme thing to say but it's true, society has less interest in things like this...real things that effect a lot of people; instead they are more wrapped up in striving for a life they'll never acheive.
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