Friday, October 29, 2010
Blog 9 The dieting roller coaster
“Jane” is a 41 year old woman who struggles with her weight and her body image. As a young child, she was quite thin, being very physically active and having a normal appetite; however, as she entered puberty, she grew rapidly and became overweight. She was never obese but was uncomfortable with her size and shape, which soon became her major focus in life. Food was never a control issue or point of conflict as a young child, but her mother was thin and Jane always wanted to look like her. Jane’s mother was very supportive (she had been chubby as a young teen also) but she too was obsessed with weight, size and conforming to media-hyped body images. Together they were quite a pair. As a senior in high school, Jane went on a strict diet, lost about 50 pounds and exercised strenuously (she was an athlete in high school) – Jane feels she may have bordered on becoming anorexic. She said she had a lot of thoughts about making herself vomit after she ate because she had a friend who was bulimic, but she never did that. Her parents were divorced and her stepmother made constant comments about Jane’s size while her father never commented or supported her – so she thought he felt the same way her stepmother did. This just fueled her extreme dieting and exercise but no matter what she did her stepmother never had a positive comment. As she matured, she had a number of extreme weight fluctuations – she would diet until very thin, then gain all the weight back plus more. The weight gains seemed to correspond with her being content with relationships with men and the extreme dieting corresponded with periods when she was not involved with a man. After she married, the same pattern continued – happy equaled a heavier weight and times of marital struggle equaled extreme dieting and exercising. Jane has a high stress job which requires a lot of hours and she has children involved in lots of sports and activities as well, so she does not spend much time cooking or planning meals. She is always trying the next new “miracle” diet to lose weight rapidly. She knows her diet and uneven physical activity are not healthy but she feels trapped in the cycle. I asked about her goals for a healthy future and she responded that she knows that her future depends on better habits but she still searches for the “magic bullet” of weight loss.
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I am sincerely concerned about Jane and her choices. Her parents did not set good examples nor did she receive positive support. I must say, her exercise routines appear to be the result of fear and not fun. Perhaps had she been encouraged to enjoy her life and her self-image, she may have never started dieting. It appears she may need counseling to go beyond her vicious cycle. Perhaps a support group may assist her as well. And perhaps for fun, she may find taking cooking classes as a relaxing way to learn better eating habits and cooking techniques as well.
ReplyDeleteJane seems to be experiencing what a lot of men and women go through. The is no miracle drug. Drugs in any case should never be the answer and if she wants to have a happy healthy life she needs to find an activity she enjoys. Having a support group or a friend to join her would probably make the experience more positive and long lasting. At any rate, her decisions will reflect on her and her family forever and she should look into seeking some kind of therapy or some outlet in which she can get some negative energy out without looking to food.
ReplyDeleteSara Abbasi
Hi Jeri,
ReplyDeleteIt seems as if Jane is struggling with a very common truth for many women in our society. She is aware of the consequences of her actions, yet she is having a hard time changing. I would suggest a womans support group for Jane so that she can figure out how to stop associating increased eating habits with the loss of a relationship. I know it is very hard to manage a healthy weight when it is something that you have struggled with for so long, but with the help of a good support group she can become a different person.
Martinetta
Dear Jeri
ReplyDeleteJane's story is a classic example how individuals struggle to be fit in in society. Jane's action to lose weight or to stay thin forced her to be anorexic. then she be come starting to eat more and gain weight.Jane is strangling about, what to do with her body. i believe she need counseling to get her self in control about her eating habit.