Daily Columnist

When you walk past a mirror, what do you see? Do you see something you like, or are you ultimately unsatisfied? Do you scrutinize your eating habits or overeat? Have you secretly thought to yourself, “I’m too fat, too skinny, my breasts sag, my biceps aren’t big enough, she’s so thin, he’s so fat?”

Self-image conception has become so prevalent that the notion of poor body complexion can be classified as normal. It’s a parasite plaguing teens and adults, both females and males, with little or no discrimination against economic status or ethnicity.

Much emphasis has been put on the plight or girls battling anorexia or obesity in order to conform to society’s concept of perfection. The whole picture is rarely seen. The other day in McDonald’s, I overheard a conversation between three Ames High teens about a girl who walked in and ordered a meal. What caught my attention most is that one of the young ladies said, “God look at her. I’d rather be run over by a truck than be fat.”

These views have devastating impacts on those people struggling with their weight. Not only the obese but those who are perfectly fine are stigmatized by such comments. As no surprise, this New Year’s most popular resolution by Americans was to enter an exercise program and lose weight.

We, in general, tend to discriminate or shy away from people who are fat. The causes and consequences of this are only now being explained by medical researchers. Some people are so psychologically affected by such comments that many resort to disastrous measures to lose weight.

The line between healthy and obsession was surpassed long ago. Many Americans no longer exercise to remain fit, but just to fit in and feel better about how others perceive them.

Approximately 91 million Americans are considered fat, as defined as 20 percent above their ideal body weight. The unfortunate aspect of this is that all the foods we eat and love our inundated with fat calories. Americans love fat.

While bad dieting and lack of exercise are the main problems, everything from Hollywood, the fashion industry, television and print media are to blame. The implied message is that many of us become slaves to society’s notion of what is acceptable. Accordingly, in order to fit in with that stereotype, we purchase quick fix pills and late night television products.

Let me help the thousands out there: THERE’S NO IDEAL WEIGHT! A recent survey stated that 93 percent of women and 82 percent of men care about their appearance as compared to others. This causes severe emotional distress and millions unknowingly suffer from body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). BDD is the obsession that no matter how hard we diet or how much we work out, we aren’t skinny enough.

When we look in the mirror, many of us feel we are “fat.” Fat is not a feeling in and of itself but rather the feeling of being unattractive, needy of affection, vulnerable, depressed and overwhelmed. We feel that if we eliminate all “fat” substances it will also eliminate our bad feelings as well. In this sense, food is a substitute for lack of emotional support.

Women try to make themselves fit the image men want, and men in turn are stymied to approach women because they don’t think they fit the image women want. These feelings have reached epidemic proportions in our psyche, and our physical health has paid the price.

If you want to lose weight, do it for yourself. Do it so you feel more healthy. Don’t do it to conform to what someone says you should look like. You owe it not only to yourself, but to those you love. Forget about the Heidi Klum look. She has a pumpkin head with a toothpick body anyway.

The idea here is that you can’t achieve perfection. What makes us notable and special is that we come in different shapes and sizes and aren’t supposed to look alike. To adapt ourselves to fit the media’s misconception of “healthy” not only hurts us, but it hurts others who may suffer from biological or psychological eating disorders.

Socially we all want to fit in and be accepted by the “in” crowd. But the “in” crowd suffers from dietary insanity. There isn’t enough food in their bodies to develop brain cells. To substitute food for diet pills and other “revolutionary and miracle” weight loss products can seriously harm people’s metabolism and cause them to put on more weight when they finally do decide to eat.

The first step in losing weight is psychological. Find a program that fits your needs and schedule, and be happy with it. The results aren’t going to show immediately, but they will over time. Hopefully if it’s working you’ll not only feel better physically but mentally as well. Go ahead and eat that super-sized double quarter pounder with cheese meal. Just don’t do it everyday.

Andy Gonzales is a junior in political science from El Paso, Texas.