You Can't Look Like a Pin-Up and Eat Like a Linebacker

The ultra-thin Heidi Montag pretends to gobble up tacos in an ad campaign for Taco Bell. Svelte Cameron Diaz professes to love nothing more than a good cheeseburger -- but have you ever seen her eat one? And skeletal Keira Knightley says she adores curries and eggs benedict, actually having an "eating contest" with fellow-skinny Sienna Miller, to see which starlet could consume the most. No comment on a purging contest afterwards.

Even in Paris Hilton's controversial Carl's Jr. ad, she is shown in a skimpy swimsuit pretending to fellate a hamburger so perhaps we won't notice she isn't actually eating it (spit bucket anyone?). It's the new fantasy of every male from pimply adolescents up to distinguished gentlemen -- a woman who looks like a super model but eats like a linebacker.

Women have long known this. I was recently interviewed on Fox News' morning show as to how I "caught" anorexia as a teen. (Note to Fox -- I didn't "catch" it. I learned it. Just like everyone else does.) One of the first tips I got from my friends was how to "save calories" for a big date. We'd starve -- literally -- during the week so that when we went out on the weekends we could eat like the men and not blimp out. Our dates would think we were one of the rare lucky (and uber-cool) girls who could eat her cake and keep her figure.

Hear this, men: It's not true. Whether you're drooling over a celebrity or the petite waitress at your favorite club -- we have to work hard to get there and stay there. Perhaps the only females, save a very small percentage who are sick or genetically blessed (estimated at 2-5% of the population), that don't have to work hard to stay slim are the prepubescent girls. And sadly we're already seeing the sexualization of that crowd.

A new survey from Shape magazine and The University of North Carolina backs this up. While it is true that participants were self-selected, their responses are eye-popping. Fully 75% of respondents have a full-blown eating disorder or disordered eating behaviors. The study finds that eating disorders cut across racial, socioeconomic and geographic lines -- extending to every group of women in our society.

The highlights:
* 75 percent of women report disordered eating behaviors or symptoms consistent with eating disorders; so three out of four have an unhealthy relationship with food or their bodies
* 67 percent of women (excluding those with actual eating disorders) are trying to lose weight
* 53 percent of dieters are already at a healthy weight and are still trying to lose weight
* 39 percent of women say concerns about what they eat or weigh interfere with their happiness
* 37 percent regularly skip meals to try to lose weight
* 27 percent would be "extremely upset" if they gained just five pounds
* 26 percent cut out entire food groups
* 16 percent have dieted on 1,000 calories a day or fewer
* 13 percent smoke to lose weight
* 12 percent often eat when they're not hungry; 49 percent sometimes do

So, what is it America -- will we continue to sacrifice our sisters, daughters, wives, girlfriends and mothers in the pursuit of an airbrushed ideal? But look on the bright side -- maybe scientists will finally figure out asexual reproduction!

Comments

[avicenna]

"75% have a full blow eating disorder" - I think that statement needs a re-evaluation and that scientists need to communicate the true definition of diseases before using terms like "anorexic" or "eating disorder" around - these can only be diagnosed after completing the DSM questionnaire and fullfilling the physical attributes. Disorder eating behaviour is not a disease - it could be a coping mechanism - and it is different from having "an eating disorder". The most prevalent eating disorder is binge eating syndrome - but we don't tend to hear too much about it.
I do think healthy attitudes are environment based. Being a West Coast Canadian - nobody is going to hold a candle to you if you eat steak "like a linebacker" - there is a lot more "pressure" to consume ethically - not be gluttonous, avoiding the chemicals, trans fats, refined products and red meat. This may be why we have the leanest and long-lived population in North America - nobody is encouraged to eat like a linebacker.

[CharlotteHilton]

Love your comment - you make a great point about being the leanest and longest-living North Americans - but you have got to finish reading the whole sentence before you get up in arms. The statistic is "75% of American women have a full-blown eating disorder OR exhibit disordered eating behaviors." You are correct in that an official diagnosis of an eating disorder takes meeting a set of DSM-IV criteria. "Disordered eating" however requires no diagnosis and is a much broader term.

Amen to not being gluttonous!

[PandeiroMan]

Oh no, you´re not putting this one on us. The percentage of men who like ultra-skinny girls is almost as small as your random ¨2- 5%¨ of naturally skinny girls. The vast majority of men like women with curves. All those silly, skinny models who look like pre-teen boys appear in women´s fashion magazine. Just compare Playboy with some random girly magazine (of which I know none). Men like women who are in shape and healthy looking. Emaciated doesn´t do it for men, I don´t know why it sells in women´s fashion. And as far as being in shape goes- you can eat pretty much whatever you want within reason and do some sort of physical activity and stay in shape. In Brazil women go to the gym, in Australia running and beach sports are normal, and in France the women smoke. Bottom line, this ultra-thin, bony look is not out there because of its appeal to men. I can´t even think of any man who would rather have a bony ass waif across the dinner table from him than a healthy, normal girl who can match him steak for steak.

[CharlotteHilton]

Thank you! I was so hoping one of you gents would make this comment. A brief interlude of sanity. I'm glad that men like you exist. I sincerely hope that you are right in saying that most men feel like you do. I guess I'm just skeptical because, barring Playboy, most of the women we see in movies, ads and print are ultra-thin. If they aren't desirable, why are they selling so much copy? Perhaps another article for another day;)

And "French women smoke" - funny, you are.

[tao53nyc]

"Puking for success" is a double edged. Men marry you thinking you're going to maintain that figure for years to come, not realizing they're being deceived. Then once the wedding is done, you figure "I starved myself to get a man, now that I've got one, I'm gonna eat." So you put on 5-7 pounds a year, nothing hubby notices at first...until a few years go by and you begin to resemble your mom. Then the man begins to think: "Hey, this isn't what I signed up for."

This is, of course, assuming the man has maintained himself. If not, then all bets are off.

[Schaz]

I have to take exception to "A new study...backs this up with hard data." It was a survey, not a study. Participants were women who read Self magazine, who self-selected to take the online survey (not a random or representative group). It has no more "hard data" than an AOL poll on who you think is the sexiest Survivor.

[recless]

Thank you! Damn, the stuff people pass off as real science these days.

Please note, this is not to say there isn't a problem with body image in this country, there certainly is. However, using gut reactions and pseudo-science to try and solve this issue is at best counter productive.

[CharlotteHilton]

You are exactly right. I corrected the text in the article. Thanks for calling me on this one!

[letstakeawalk]

I'd like to make an example of myself - not to dispute your article, but to say that it is possible for a small person to eat like a linebacker.
I'm 32, and weigh 130lbs. Since I was 14 years old, I haven't gone up or down more than 15 pounds. I eat constantly, in fact, I'm constantly hungry. Fried eggs, bacon, toast and jam with homefries is a great breakfast (though on Sundays I'll make eggs benedict). Lunch can be anything. Double cheesburgers from McD's (actually very low calorie, high protein) or a cheese and pate du jour plate at the local French bistro. Dinners are high protein, steaks, sushi, usually with several helpings of beer or wine. Then, late night, I snack. Bowls of cereal, chocolate bars, ice cream. I eat pretty much whenever and whatever I want. Does it amaze my friends? Yes. Am I surprised, No.
My mother was a Phys Ed. instructor, and taught me that you can eat whatever, just as long as you exercise. My routine, one hour on a bike, everyday, and I walk whenever possible. People are blown away when I tell them my real age, they all assume that I'm ten years younger.
My point is, when an article like this is written, people make skinny little me feel like I'm the one with a disorder. But I'm the one with the healthy lifestyle, active and well-fed.

[Philippa]

I agree that one can eat as much as one wants as long as one exercises. I am a nursing student and one of my courses is Nutrition and Diet Therapy. My professor, who is a registered dietitian, emphasized to us that to maintain a healthy weight "energy in" should be equal to "energy out". "Energy in" refers to the calories our food intake gives us and "energy out" is the amount of calories used as fuel for physical activity. So, if I eat a 2,000 kcal Whopper, I should make sure to engage in activities that will burn the same amount of kcal so that no excess "energy" will be stored as fat in my body. If I can't be physically active, then I have to limit my food intake to stay within the recommended kcal/day for my age.

[CharlotteHilton]

I must disagree with your assertion that "one can eat as much as one wants as long as one exercises." It may be a matter of simple physics on paper but you are missing two things: 1) more exercise makes you more hungry. If you don't actively try to cut calories, then you won't have a deficit and you won't lose weight. You'll maintain (which is what it sounds like you do) which is great if you are happy where you are at. Not great if you are trying to lose weight. REALLY not great if you are trying to get down to very low weight. 2)People's metabolisms are different. I'm not saying it's an excuse to be obese. I'm saying it changes the playing field. What works for some doesn't work for others.

Thanks for sharing your example though! I'm glad you've found what works for you. And hey, exercise is fantastic for so many reasons beyond weight loss.

[shep1900]

Your cholesterol must be through the roof.

[CharlotteHilton]

Oh, I certainly do believe people like you exist and I do not mean to disparage you in any way. I am so glad that you are a woman who seems to have found her happy medium. But my point was that most women are not like you and I think the Self survey shows this as well. Most of us have to work a lot harder at it than you do. But thank you for sharing your example!