As women, we spend a lot of our time focusing on our flaws. Whether it’s standing in front of a mirror and staring at the cellulite on our thighs, talking about said cellulite with our girls over salads (dressing on the side!), or Googling creams that promise to erase cellulite, we tend to only notice the negatives.

Not the beautiful, strong legs underneath.
Or the killer ass on top of those legs.
Or the perfectly shaped lips that form a beautiful smile in pictures.

This week, National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, we’ve all seen the scary effects this sort of negative thinking can have on people, especially college women like us. It’s really easy to get caught up in it – compare yourself to others, find serious flaws within yourself – but it’s just as easy to think positively. There is no ideal woman. There is no perfect body. Everybody’s got something to be proud of.

So today I asked the CollegeCandy writers to stop thinking about what they hate about their bodies and focus on what they love. What’s your favorite part? Read More »

The average woman sees 400-600 advertisements per day. By the time she is 17 years old, she has seen over 250,000 commercials. With the constant message of beauty and perfection reminding women every day of their flaws, many girls are self-conscious about their appearance, especially their weight. Unfortunately for some, that concern can grow into an obsession, and turn into an eating disorder.

In the U.S. one or two out of every 100 students will have an eating disorder. The most common of these are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Sadly, we usually aren’t aware that someone we know has one until it is too late. My friend Tina (not her real name, obviously) suffered alternatively from anorexia and bulimia for years and she agreed to share her story.

Her anorexia began when she was around eleven years old, and continued on and off. When she began to suffer from bulimia, she was fifteen. She used to throw up after every meal, no matter how small it was. On average, that was about three to five times a day. All of this was so that she would reach her ideal weight of eighty to eighty-five pounds, which is the weight she was in 7^th and 8^th grade.

Tina said that before eating a meal, regardless of how hungry she was, she would feel guilty for eating. She would tell herself to go ahead and consume the food, as long as she threw it up afterward. While eating she would feel “disgusted and bloated,” and regret eating at all as soon as she finished. Because of this Tina says, “sometimes I had to force myself to eat.” Read More »

Eating disorders are seemingly easy to talk about…when they’re not affecting you or someone that you love. Tabloids may make speculation about one’s eating and exercise habits seem commonplace, and chide while simultaneously glorifying scary-skinny celebrities, but when it comes to reality, it’s important to know what’s healthy and what’s not. It’s easy to judge others. But for a minute, for our health, let’s turn the judgmental eye inward.

Ladies, in honor of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, it’s time to ask ourselves, “Do I?” and “Am I?” It’s about looking at our own lives, and figuring out what’s healthy and what’s not.

So, ask yourselves “Do I…”

“Weigh myself every day?”

You are not a number! Letting numbers on a scale determine how you feel about yourself is dumb, but also lets your weight control you. The scale doesn’t know you. It doesn’t see what an amazing athlete you are, what great hair you have, how cute your butt looks in booty shorts, or how much your boyfriend drools over your smile (and boobs). The scale is a number. Which means it’s akin to math and science (EWWW). The scale doesn’t say anything about who you are on the inside. They weigh you when you’re at the doctor’s office anyway, so let your doctor tell you if you’re at a healthy weight or not. Read More »

It’s the hushed whispers in the floor bathroom after a girl walks out. It’s skipping meals and doubling up on gym time. It’s body-bashing other people’s and your own body with your friends. It’s losing friends and alienating people. It’s taking a risk with your health. It’s keeping quiet. It’s keeping you from living your life in college and beyond to the fullest. It’s time to talk about it!

But about what exactly? Eating disorders. Yep, it’s time to talk about them, girls. That’s the slogan for the National Eating Disorders Association’s (NEDA’s) National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (NEDAW), February 21-27th 2010.

The goal of NEDAW is “to ultimately prevent eating disorders and body image issues while reducing the stigma surrounding eating disorders and improving access to treatment,” says the NEDAW website. “Eating disorders are serious, life-threatening illnesses — not choices — and it’s important to recognize the pressures, attitudes and behaviors that shape the disorder.”

And that’s what we’ll be doing on CollegeCandy all week long. We’ll be covering the basics: what eating disorders look like, how to help a friend in need, disordered eating and losing weight the healthy way. We want to bring this difficult and serious issue to the forefront and help our friends in need.

So what do eating disorders look like? Well, just like people, they come in all shapes and sizes. Signs of eating disorders are far more varied than most people think. Sure, looking emaciated might be a tip-off that something is wrong, but there are so many more things to be aware of.

Each eating disorder, (there are four main types – Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder and Eating Disorders not otherwise specified), has it’s own set of signs and symptoms. Of course, many of these overlap. Read More »