Study: 1 in 7 women use drugs like Cocaine and Speed to lose weight

UK magazine NOW surveyed 2,000 women averaging 35 years old about weight loss and discovered some of these interesting tidbits:

• 1 in 7 use Cocaine or Speed as a way to lose weight.
• 3 out of 10 admitted to making themselves sick after eating
• 1 in 10 said they would get a gastric band to control eating
• Fewer than 1 in 10 who lose weight through dieting manage to keep it off.
• 75% opted  for "fad" lose-weight-fast crash diets.
• 26% used laxatives as a slimming aid.
• 33% said they would give up sex if they could be thin forever.

There are more findings from this study. Now, granted this study was done by a celeb rag, but even if it were done by some respectable health or woman's magazine, my guess is that the findings would not be that radically different. How many of us can look at these findings and name at least 5 people we know who do these very things in a desperate attempt to skinnify? Many of us ourselves do or have done things on this list in order to get back in the skinny jeans.

Many women are so desperate to be thin that they will go to harm's way for quick fixes to drop pounds. NOW's editor Helen Johnston added:

"Women today have a shocking relationship with food and are living a binge/purge lifestyle...Sadly this survey shows once a woman starts on the path of fast faddy diets they become her companion until the day she dies."

I'd disagree and say that faddy diets would only become a part of your life until your dying days only if you let it. Will the pressure to be thin and conform to a societal look always be with a woman? Absolutely, as long as advertising is around. But whether we let the media images or peer pressure affect us or not is in our hands. At any time, you can heal and decide to let go of the obsession to be thin and accept your own unique beauty. You can also choose to lose weight in a healthy manner treating your body like a temple instead of a punching bag.

[via Daily Mail]