Fitness excellence does not mean being excessively skinny, or starving yourself or exercising to the point where you are compromising your health in an effort to lose weight. These are not ways to achieve fitness excellence, rather they are signs of serious conditions such as body dysmorphia or eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia, among others.
In our society, the perceived perfect image of women, especially,falls right in line with the slenderness of girls 10 to 12 years old. This unrealistic perception spawned by the supermodels seen today in ads for popular clothing and undergarment makers has caused many women to become obsessed with their own images. In our society, women are ten times more likely to develop eating disorders and compulsive exercise habits that can be life threatening and often do prove to be fatal, than men.
"Anorexia nervosa", for example, is a life threatening disorder that occurs when a person eats very little food and become obsessed about your weight even when you are already underweight. An anorexic person will often see themselves as being fat when they look at themselves in the mirror even though they appear very skinny to everyone else. People with this disorder often turn to laxatives and various diet aids such as fat burning pills to bring their weight down to dangerous levels.
"Bulimia" is another eating disorder that occurs when a person goes on an "eating binge", and then immediately forces themselves to purge (vomit/ excrete) the food eaten so as not to store any calories from the food eaten. People suffering from bulimia will eat a large amount of food, even junk food, and then get it all back out by self-induced vomiting and laxative use. This practice can severely throw off your body's nutrient and mineral balance in the blood and put a person's health and life at risk.
"Compulsive overeating" followed by "compulsive over exercising" is a pattern that is not as dangerous as anorexia and bulimia but still can lead to both physical and psychological problems. This is a pattern in which you will eat a large amount of food followed up immediately by exercising excessively hard and for a long period of time. It is estimated that more than one out of three college female athletes may, at one time or another, develop an eating disorder. If you suffer from an eating disorder, seek medical help as soon as possible because if left untreated, these disorders can cause permanent health problems and even death.
Remember, part of "fitness excellence" is a balance between body and mind. By starving ourselves or over-exercising, we are doing both our minds and bodies more harm than good. Moderation, balance, and persistence are the key qualities of achieving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
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