Entering my final year here at Madison, there are some
things that just don't shock me like they did freshman year.
Three-story beer bongs, crying freshmen, Evangelicals, Harvest
Fest; it was all crazy for a year or two, but somewhere toward the
end of junior year I became habituated to seeing a guy play guitar
while standing on his head.
But I will never get used to the sight of a student
struggling with anorexia. Watching a person get sent to detox never
produces the same pain as when I pass a starving student on the way
to class. My stomach flips and my heart races, my jaw clenches to
keep me from gasping––it usually takes me 30 seconds or so to
battle back the fight-or-flight reaction my body produces. I can't
say for sure why I react this way but I think it has something to
do with a more basic human instinct that is activated by the sight
of someone who is failing to survive.
Clearly Madison has a significant portion of its
student body that actively struggles with, or is at risk for, an eating disorder such as anorexia.
Having worked at an in-patient eating disorder center and seen
close friends struggle with this disease, I have learned that
prevention is what we need on campus. Even if a person can
temporarily defeat the obsessions and compulsions of anorexia, he
or she will struggle with body image issues
for the rest of their lives. The good news, especially for women,
is that a little knowledge about body image and weight lifting
could prevent a significant portion of the at-risk population from
developing anorexia.
For women, the two biggest improvements we could make
toward preventing eating disorders are simply informational. Women
need a different physical model to shoot for as well as a different
method for getting there. Both can be found in the weight room at
the SERF (South Eastern Recreational Facility). The hottest women
on campus, and also the most physically fit, are found there and
they know the best way to cut fat without resorting to eating
disorders: lifting weights.
You can read the research studies or you can look at
the dozen or so girls who seriously lift weights in our campus gyms
and both will agree, cardio and low-calorie, low-fat diets are not
the answer. People, and women in particular, get trapped into
eating less and spending more time on elliptical machines. When
they don't get results they go with the only thing they think will
work––eating less.
It is clear where this can lead. Instead, women should
be lifting weights, and I'm not talking about using 2.5 pounds to
do 400 bicep curls.
Serious weight lifting, dead lifts, lunges, squats,
pull ups, will burn more fat off your body than anything else.
Sprints make a nice addition, and will help anyone stay cut, but
the more muscle your body has the more energy it takes to sustain
itself. Muscles are calorically expensive–– you have to feed them.
So when women start lifting, they not only get stronger, they can
eat more without getting fat. No starving, no ten-mile jogs before
class. Shooting for the glamour model ideal with no muscle and no
fat is not only unrealistic, it's unattractive. Men can tell the
difference between a women who got skinny by dieting and a women
who stays fit by lifting weights.
Men and women need to stop looking at magazines. The
perfect looking models, male and female, don't walk around every
day looking like they do in photo shoots. They lift weights and
then cut weight, especially water weight, before the pictures are
taken. At the SERF, the best-looking girls and guys are not
spending their time on a treadmill. They are lifting, and then they
are eating diets higher in protein and fat than their less-fit
classmates.
I'm hoping to see more women in the weight room this
year, not only because it makes the gym more fun, but because it
will give women an alternative to extreme diets and eating
disorders. Don't be scared that you will get too big or become
unattractive. Most women simply don't have the testosterone to
""get jacked."" Instead you will be able to eat and enjoy a healthy
diet, have the energy and strength to lead the life you want, and
you will look great. No eating disorder required.
Andrew Carpenter is a senior majoring in psychology and
communication arts. Please send responses to
opinion@dailycardinal.com.
