Here's some food (no pun intended) for thought. Studies have shown that:
* Only around 10% of young adults are actually overweight, and that is according to current BMI indexes which state figures far LOWER than they have ever been in the past for healthy bodyweights. So, in reality, it is likely less than even that 10% who actually are overweight.
* Twenty years ago, the average model weighed 8% less than the average woman; today, models weigh 23% less.
* About 1/3 of young women who begin dieting in their teens are more likely to gain weight than lost it and are more likely in later years to become obese due to that dieting in their growing years. And right now, young women are beginning diets for weight loss of their own accord as early as the fourth grade.
* A national survey of over ten thousand high school students conducted by the CDC found that more than a third of the girls considered themselves overweight when they were not, compared with fewer than 15 percent of the boys. More than 43 percent of the girls reported that they were on a diet Ñ and a quarter of these dieters didn't think they were overweight. The most common dieting methods used were skipping meals, taking diet pills, and inducing vomiting after eating.
* Dieting in the teen years can often be the first door to eating disordered behaviour. In other words, if fad diets or other dieting doesn't work, many young dieters will step up the ppace, using laxatives or appetite supressants, or taking on anorexic or bulemic behaviors. Two-thirds teen girls have abnormal eating behavior and about one million teenage boys have eating disorders.
* The weight loss "industry" is just that. It is an industry which is making BILLIONS of dollars every year. if no one used for-pay weight loss programs -- and wasn't convinced they needed such programs -- those programs would go out of business and stop making money. Just think about it.
* The majority of American women wear a size 12 or larger.,For Asian women,its a size 6 r larger
In a word, dieting -- unless supervised and suggested by your doctor -- is just a bad idea, period. Taking care of your body -- by simply eating healthful foods in a balanced diet, with enough calories and nutrients to keep you healthy and energetic, and getting enough physical activity and exercsie to use those calories well and keep all of your body in sound working order -- is, as any sound doctor or person who cares for your health will tell you (and a gfood way to weed out those who don't is by ditching comapnies who stand to profit from your weight loss), the only way to have a healthy body that is the right weight and shape for *you* for now and for the rest of your life.
I'm saying this because the number of dieting posts here at Malaysian Babe and on other teen boards is truly terrifying, especially since most teens looking to diet are NOT obese, and many are not even slightly overweight. Plenty are even underweight already. We care about you -- but the most important person to care about you really is you, and a really good way to start getting there is by taking care of your body and your self for who you are, not for what you think you should look like, especially at the expense of your health.
For some extra food for thought, check out sites like this one: http://www.about-face.org/
Use all the energy you use worrying about food and your body for accepting and caring for your body. Really, I promise it'll do you a lot more good, and you won't have to look back ten years from now and realize how much of your energy you wasted on making yourself feel bad for no good reason.
********************Good nutritious recipe *******************
Jook Porridge
3/4 cup cooked white rice
water
soy sauce
pepper
chopped silken tofu
those crispy chow mein noodles in the cans
a little bit of chopped celery
chopped parsely and cilantro
an egg if you are lacto-ovo veggie, omit if you are vegan
boil up some water. add rice. simmer for a LONG time. mash with a potato masher until it's like Cream of Wheat. add chopped veggies and tofu. simmer some more. then crack one egg in and stir. sprinkle noodles on top.
serve warm. curl up in favorite blanket. drink some chinese herb tea.
yum.
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Gummy's Mom's Mushroom Soup
half pound (quarter kilo) of sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms
diced tofu
chopped cilantro
bean thread noodles
soy sauce
simmer the mushrooms in a pot of water for a half hour or so. you should end up with a very pungent, brown broth. then add tofu cubes, bean thread noodles, sprinkle in cilantro, dash of soy sauce to taste.
the longest part of the cooking is the brother, the rest of it is about 5 minutes.
bean thread noodles, in case you don't know what they are, are made of mung beans. They turn clear when you cook them. Sometimes they're called jelly noodles, silver noodles or glass noodles. you can buy them at any asian supermarket.
you can sub. parsley for cilantro.
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