The dangerous pursuit of normal

As human beings, we are constantly seeking pleasure, whether that pleasure is food, love, music, clothes, drugs or whatever else. Many of these pleasures can escalate into addictions, and wanting those pleasures over and over again can oftentimes stay with us for many years.

Of course another part of addiction is denial—denial that you have a problem, denial of a reliance and the eventual struggle once you admit having a problem and must give up that particular pleasure.

On Jan. 6, an article posted in the health section of www.cnn.com titled “Is the fat acceptance movement bad for our health?” certainly grabs your attention. Maybe because you are one of the millions of people whose New Year’s resolution this year is to lose a few pounds—or a lot—but stop going to the gym after a week of huffs and puffs on the treadmill.

Perhaps you are a person considered overweight, or someone who doesn’t see it when people tell you you’re beautiful. Like many people struggling with their weight, the article portrays an accurate description of what some people have to deal with in life.

Deb Lemire, featured in the article, referred to her figure as “short and square,” a family trait that was passed on to her. She recalled a tear-jerking moment during a doctor visit for her daughter. The doctor pulled Lemire aside with concerns for her daughter’s weight. The 47-year-old Lemire began to cry, as if she “was the 10-year-old being told I was overweight.”

Lemire is now the president of the Association for Size Diversity and Health, a group among the growing number called the fat acceptance movement that advocate that people can be healthy at any size. The CNN article questions whether accepting obesity or being overweight is as unhealthy as promoting super-skinny models as the feminine ideal.

Being overweight is bad and proven to be unhealthy for your heart. But being underweight is just as bad—most people already know this as common sense. The inherent issue that should be discussed is not whether the fat acceptance movement is good or bad, or about obese people who can’t control their genes.

What it should talk about is why some people can’t control their eating habits.

The destruction an eating disorder causes is not just to physical appearance, but also emotional and mental health. It ruins everything in its path. It leaves nothing but this question: How does the desire to lose a few pounds become something so powerful that is takes control of your entire life?

Eating disorder statistics provided by the National Eating Disorder Association indicate that 10 million American women suffer from eating disorders. One in 200 American women suffer from anorexia, and three in 100 American women suffer from bulimia. An estimated 10 to 15 percent of anorexics and bulimics are male. And if you think that is a lot, a number of cases go unreported as girls struggle in silence.

I was one of them.

My goal of losing a few pounds for prom in high school progressed into an overwhelming addiction where my coping mechanism to deal with the pain of living in this world was to count my calories. I was once so consumed by it, that being happy with myself and the world around me was defined by a number equivalent to the amount of calories I consumed every day.

Although I have overcome my problem of accepting the way I look, I have a much bigger consequence to pay than I could have ever imagined when I was addicted to being skinny. Today, my immune system is worse than that of a baby, and my metabolism and digestive system are even worse.

I know there are people out there that just want a way out. Many, like me, have found it. Eating disorders are found in people attending universities, working for corporations, on a mission field or at home raising families.
The same CNN article stated, “Obesity is the single greatest public health problem we face in the U.S. today and is now spreading beyond the developed world into developing countries.”

Whether the obesity level is due to unhealthy eating habits or genetics, there is no one solution for losing weight besides making a change in your lifestyle. Whether that is by eating healthy or working out more, there is a significant difference between what is considered “normal” and what will create an addiction, when you begin to define yourself by your weight. Choose the one that won’t ruin your organs, like it did mine.