Just Be Healthy

Just Be Healthy

In America's society today, it seems that people believe the most important thing in life is their physical appearance and not the more important thing, their health. Both men and women do not accept their physical appearance as it is and wish to change it one way or another. Some people believe men are more confident about the way they look and are satisfied with their body and their face, but this is untrue. A woman's worst nightmare is her weight, and she will constantly strive to reach the lowest weight possible. The reason people feel this way and develop such an inferiority complex is because of the media. People need to realize that looks are not that important and being healthy is what really matters. These generalizations don't necessarily apply to every person, but to the majority of the population.

In some ways, caring about the way you look and trying to make a good impression on people is important, but when it goes too far, it is detrimental. For example, if you were to go on an important job interview, would you wear sweatpants and an old stained t-shirt? I don't think so. Also, is not the purpose of life to live long and healthily? Yes, taking care of your body and working out is extremely important. If you are taking certain drugs or supplements to try and get skinny or "jacked", working out has no benefits. These are reasons for caring about one's appearance.

On the other hand, when you are so upset with how much you weigh that you stop eating or throw up everything you do eat, their image is your own worst enemy. Bulimia and anorexia are diseases that affect so many people, mostly women, in America today.

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The sad thing is that when a person gets so obsessed about the way they look at a young age, they very rarely can change their lifestyle and it haunts them forever. Disease is an extreme result of what happens when a person lets them self let the media and society influence the way he or she should look. So many people do not realize that being skinny does not always go hand in hand with being healthy. A lot of people are not overweight but have cholesterol much higher than they should have for their size. I have even witnessed this firsthand with many of my friends. Instead of eating a sandwich, which is healthier, they will eat a bag of greasy potato chips. The bag of potato chips is a smaller portion than the sandwich; therefore they believe it is a better way to "watch your weight." The truth of the matter is that the bag of potato chips is completely unhealthy and the sandwich, even though a larger portion, is the better choice, for health reasons. The sad thing is that many Americans, especially women, think and act this way.

Even though both men and women are influenced by the media to look a certain way, studies show women are more susceptible to the media's power. Almost every woman in America today is guilty of wishing to have either a slimmer waist or a prettier face. Why are more and more women doing this everyday? Just look around, the answer is everywhere. From television shows to magazine covers, petite women are portrayed with captions that read, "Get rid of that extra flab, get the Ab-Sculptor!" These kinds of advertisements are always affiliated with the successful, independent business woman. What every American woman wants.

Studies have shown that many women are displeased with their physical appearance and would undergo some kind of surgery to change it in some way. In the

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article, "Still Not Good Enough-From Barbie to Botox," it discusses the extremes women will go through just to fit the model-like standards. Ninety percent of women will undergo plastic surgery a minimum of ten times. You can witness this