Is obesity contagious? What about smoking and drug use? Is it possible to unconsciously pick up the bad habits and health problems of your friends? First introduced in 2007, this idea has sparked a debate among researchers and doctors that is still heating up.

A controversial study led by researchers from Harvard and the University of California, San Diego, concluded that behaviors such as overeating and cigarette smoking could be contagious within close social networks. The researchers came to this conclusion by analyzing data from the Framingham Heart Study, a long-running, detailed survey that examined over 12,000 participants. The Framingham Study included information about body weight and drug use habits, and also indicated which subjects were friends or family members. Thanks to this unique feature, researchers were able to take a look at rates of obesity and other health risks among friend groups.

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Snooki’s battle with anorexia

Can we agree to stop over-analyzing J. Simp’s weight

How can I stop men from ogling me?

Finally! A Michael Jackson video game.

Stylish coats for the cool weather

Happy B-day Mr. Jonas

We hear all of these ads and campaigns telling us to “Be fit! Stay healthy!” But, what does that really mean? Eat 5 servings of fruit and vegetables every day? Exercise 5 times a week? Do you have to be a certain weight? A certain size?

Maybe not. There’s no doubt eating healthy and living a healthy lifestyle are good life choices, but maybe it’s time we rethink things. Maybe it’s time to stop focusing on what we should be doing and define healthiness as how we  feel.

I am sure that somewhere in the mix, your weight, stomach size, or Body Mass Index matter. Yet, when it comes down to it, who needs doctors and health experts to tell us whether or not we’re fit? Your body knows better than anyone else how it is feeling. For example, bloating is the body’s natural response to an overfill of sugar or salt. On the other hand, a good workout will release endorphins, giving you a post-workout glow and leave you feeling pumped. You don’t need some health expert to explain those things to you. Nature knows best – you feel good when you do good. Read More »

Whatever your pleasure, I think all of us ladies can agree on how great it feels when you realize you need to go down a pants size when you are trying to lose weight. Over the past two years, I got to experience this phenomenon a whopping 5 times as I descended from a size 12 to a size 2. I’ve also thrown it in reverse and bumped back up to a 4. For some that might be the worst feeling, but for me, putting weight back on was necessary. And it made me feel even better.

Through my long and trying journey, I’ve come to learn that both losing weight and gaining weight can be fantastic feelings, so long as you are changing your body for yourself.

For me, it started my senior year of high school. As a graduation requirement, we were forced to watch videos released by the USDA that talked about balanced eating. It was here that I realized just how bad all of the junk food I ate was and what I had to do to fix it. A great, eye-opening experience, right? Except that I’m a perfectionist. I took my eating and exercising to the extreme.

By the summer after I graduated high school, I had become completely obsessed with losing weight. The girl who never ate a vegetable in her life was existing on romaine lettuce and fat-free yogurt. The girl who never exercised was spending 2 hours every day on the elliptical machine. By July, I had lost 80 pounds, but that wasn’t it. My hair was falling out. Despite the summer heat, I needed to wear sweaters as soon as the sun set. I lost my period month after month. Read More »

[It's pretty obvious that the average CollegeCandy reader has some very strong opinions. Opinions that she likes to share with everyone on the site. We love a strong woman (unless she happens to be charging at us with her fists raised), so we thought we'd give her a real forum to discuss her thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. Every Friday I'll be featuring a hot topic (like the three date rule! ) and leaving it up to you, the readers, to duke it out. So, read it and get your debate on in the comments section below!]

In the last year or so there’s been a big upswing in “awareness” about plus-size models. They’ve always been around, but they suddenly started getting a lot more attention for being their bold, beautiful selves. Of course, there’s always a backlash, like a study that showed that ads featuring plus size women actually make women feel worse about themselves – so much so that some networks have declined to air commercials by Lane Bryant featuring a plus size model in the company’s lingerie. So here it is ladies, are we really pro plus size or not?

On the one hand, pretty much everything in my brain screams “all shapes and sizes are beautiful, embrace who you are!” Even the idea of saying that we could be against having gorgeous full-figured gals in our media seems ludicrous (damn you, Ludacris, for ruining my ability to spell) especially when you consider that the average size for women in America is plus size. Having larger ladies on TV and in fashion magazines can only be a good thing, right? I mean, ultimately won’t it just encourage us as a society to accept different kinds of beauty and stop making such a big deal out of it? Read More »

Here at CollegeCandy, we’ve discussed and confronted body issues many-a-times. Whether its about the downfall of too-skinny models, or the recent obsession of using plus-sized models for “contrast”, these articles always incite heated debate. Even posts unrelated to the subject get pulled into the fire!

While we all might not see eye-to-eye in the quest to define the un-definable “perfect body,” we can all agree that college women have some very strong opinions on the subject. Girls our age are the most affected, and most targeted, by a society that thinks Jessica Simpson is fat, so it’s not surprising that the number of girls with eating disorders has been on the rise. New studies have shown that up to 19% of female college students are bulimic and up to 15% of those without eating disorders display patterns of disordered eating.

I’ve had my own battles with anorexia for four years, and have confronted a few friends with their own eating habits (or lack thereof). I’ve been on both sides of the situation and can tell you than it’s not easy confronting a friend from either point of view. So here are a few do’s and don’ts that will help you when you suspect a friend might be in need. Read More »

Mmm. Only 480 calories of fast food goodness.

I can’t lie: I love fast food. So much so that I have mapped out all the fast-food restaurants near my campus and committed all of their locations to memory, as well as the fastest routes to get there. And I may have instructed a cab driver to swing by and grab me a large order of fries and honey for dipping them on the way home from the bar. Twice. Yeah, that’s a bit excessive, but don’t judge; we have all experienced that moment when the dining hall slop is simply too underwhelming and all we want is a Big Mac. And fries. And a milkshake to wash it all down.

It is my firmest belief that fast-food restaurants should be listed as one of America’s deadliest sins. But because I can’t say no to a good drive-thru (Editor’s Note: Don’t try the drunken walk-through-the-drive-thru…they don’t like that), I decided to figure out the healthiest options to order in hopes of keeping obesity at bay. And it’s surprisingly not that hard to find healthy options at grease pits these days.

If you’ve got a hankering for some good ol’ fast food but don’t want to undo that 90-minute Vinyasa class, these are the best options for you:

Wendy’s: I truly believe Wendy’s to be the 4-star restaurant of the fast-food nation. I wish they could all be a little more like Wendy. I would recommend the Mandarin Chicken Salad with Oriental Sesame Dressing and Roasted Almonds. It’s 480 calories and delectable to the last bite. If salad isn’t your bag, try the Ultimate Chicken Grill Sandwich. Only 320 calories and yet still a hearty sandwich. As the name states, it’s the ultimate.

Taco Bell: Taco Bell’s Fresco menu is basically the same items, minus the sour cream. You can get a crunchy taco for only 150 calories. That’s like a 100-calorie pack taco meal. I like the sound of that. But just a warning: You may be saving on calories, but it won’t save you any more time in the bathroom. It’s the curse of Taco Bell. Learn to live with it. Read More »

Ugh...

This summer is my last summer at home. While most of you can relate when I say that I’m ecstatic (believe me, I am), it may not be for the reason everyone expects. Read: living with the parents breathing down my neck.

You see, when I go home, I gain weight. Not just 3 or 4 pounds, but this summer I put on 10. freakin. pounds. Yes, I know this is my own fault, so don’t get on my case for knowing better, but I know I’m not alone. There is something about the summer that just means extra poundage. So how about we take a closer look at what goes on during the summer months so we can stop the madness?!?!

1) The campus gym is no longer 5 min away - Ok, this one hit me pretty hard. I love having a free gym at my disposal! No way am I going to pay buckets of money to use an elliptical in my hometown.

2) When it’s fifty million degrees outside, you want to stay in – I’m one of those people that no matter how far away my class is, I’d rather walk than take the campus shuttle. Well, with no class to go to, I have nowhere to walk. Also, I live in west Texas where it’s been over 100 degrees every day for the past month. Going on a walk for exercise is out of the question; I don’t want to burst into flames! Read More »

My mom does a lot of really annoying things.

She calls me really early in the morning, or really late at night. To talk about reality TV shows.
Whenever I’m on the phone with her, she hangs up abruptly to get another call…without saying goodbye.
She pees with the door open in the powder room on the main floor of our house.
She backed into my car when it was parked on her driveway…

But no matter how much I want to shake her and scream, “MOM IT’S 8AM ON A SUNDAY AND I DO NOT CARE WHAT YOU THINK OF RAMONA!” the woman has given me so much and I can’t forget that.

My mom is one of the most generous people I know, always giving her time and services to other people. She will do anything for me, including moving me and all my stuff from dorm to sorority house to house to apartment to apartment. She’s always in the mood for a trip to the mall and sometimes even throws her credit card down at the register. She’s an awesome cook, she’s pretty good at Scrabble and she did apologize when she backed into my car…

But the thing I’m most grateful for when it comes to my mom is the confidence and self esteem she has instilled in me.

I was a fat kid growing up. And not just baby fat. Fat fat. I was tall and big and had a perm – needless to say, I stuck out. But I never knew it. In fact, I didn’t realize quite how big I was until I looked at pictures from my childhood long after those years were over. At the time, thanks to my mom, I thought I was just like everyone else. You see, she was a plus sized woman, but I never realized there was anything wrong with that. I don’t remember my mom ever talking about her weight. I don’t remember her ever hiding herself or her body out of shame. Read More »

While my own 36-B boobs don’t quite fit the trend, recent research suggests that women’s boobs are getting bigger.

A study out of New Zealand found that “Sales of D to J cup sizes have increased by 53 percent over the past three years, compared to a 2 percent increase in the sales figures of AA to C-cupped bras.”

Whoa mama. That’s a lot of breast in just three years!

Many stores in England have already started responding to the increase in size demand for larger cup sizes, some even stocking up to a K-cup!

Why the sudden increase? Many claim it has to do with diet and lifestyle; the increase in obesity worldwide would naturally mean an increase in breast size. Others argue that the hormones pumped into our food (specifically milk products) could also be to blame.

Whatever the reason, though, it seems that at the rate we are going, small breasts will soon be a thing of the past, much like bell bottoms, a booming US economy, and Full House.

Except for mine, of course. I’ve been waiting for these girls to grow since the 4th grade and they just won’t budge. I’ll just take comfort in knowing that Victoria’s Secret will never run out of my bra size again.