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.

Dr. Nicholas Christakis and Dr. James Fowler, the leaders of the study, found that if one spouse became obese, the other was 37 percent more likely to become obese as well. If a man became obese, his brother’s risk rose by 40 percent. And the risk was even higher among friends  – the doctors found that someone with an obese friend was between 51 and 171 percent more likely to become obese.

Dr. Christakis and Dr. Fowler provided three possible explanations for their findings. The first explanation was a natural human tendency to choose friends who are similar to ourselves. The second was the fact that friends may be similarly affected by the environments they share. The third explanation, which attracted the most attention, was called contagion – the possibility that a person’s ideas of acceptable weight and portion size might be influenced by how much their friends weigh or eat. This was the explanation that doctors Christakis and Fowler focused on as the cause of obesity.

But not all scientists agree with this theory. A recent paper attacked the findings of doctors Christakis and Fowler, saying that their study contained serious statistical errors. Other doctors don’t doubt the integrity of the study, but say that it is impossible to prove that contagion was the cause of high rates of obesity among friends and families. A more recent study that focused specifically on women did find that social relationships had an influence on bodyweight, but the influence was very small. The researchers were also unable to pinpoint one specific explanation for their findings.

So, the verdict is mixed: problems like obesity may or may not spread among friends. But even if behaviors like overeating and smoking aren’t contagious, the question of friends and behavior is an interesting one for college students. When we go away to college and have to make new friends, do they influence our behavior? Do we change and become more like our new friends? Or do we choose friends who are more like us to begin with? What do you think?

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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.

So this goes to answer the question, am I healthy? I eat high-fiber oatmeal or cereal for breakfast, mangoes or an apple as a snack, a variable lunch (depending on what last night’s leftovers were), and for dinner I go for brown rice, a meat creation, and a vegetable side. As for my fitness routine, I work out 5-7 times a week, depending on my schedule. Most of my workouts are spent teaching hour-long classes as  a Turbo Kickboxing Instructor, but on my off days, I take it outside for a 4-5 mile run or focus on strength training.

To some, this may sound like a walk in the park, while others may think I am a health freak. Either way, this routine makes me happy. I don’t weigh myself that often because, frankly, I don’t care how much I weigh. As long as I can look in the mirror and create body peace with myself, I am content. To me, being happy with how I look and feel is true health. Of course, I’ll get my blood pressure and cholesterol checked every so often because it’s good to have that background information, but it’s not those numbers that I live by.

I used to think that being healthy depended on a person’s size and weight. Boy, was I wrong! Everyone has a different need and capacity when it comes to eating and working out and this one happens to be mine.

So, am I healthy? I would like to say so. How did I get to this point? By listening to my body’s needs and wants. So I encourage you to do the same. Do what feels right and remember that your body knows best.

Stay gorgeous, CC Readers!

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.

“You should eat something,” everyone was telling me. “You look sick.”
I felt sick, too.

But I didn’t believe that I actually had to gain weight. In my mind, I still had to lose! I was still 118 pounds, after all. I never achieved supermodel thinness. I looked in the mirror and my tummy still wasn’t flat enough, my arms not skinny enough. I still didn’t look like I had walked right out of a magazine, so I didn’t think anyone would consider me beautiful, not even myself. I went away to college still paranoid about how I looked and every little bit I ate.

My first weekend in Boston, I walked 10 blocks to a mall. I jogged up the front steps, sat on a bench, and promptly passed out. That was my wake-up call. Though I had adopted my new diet in an attempt to become healthy, it morphed into something that was quite the opposite. I wasn’t doing it for myself anymore; I was doing it for everyone else. The sad part, as I learned from my friends’ reaction to my weight loss, is that no one else cared about my weight as much as I thought they did. It was understanding that, having that moment of clarity, that woke me up and got me to stop killing myself. I traded in my intense cardio for yoga. I started eating things my body needed and stopped eating things that really weren’t as healthy as I thought. I proudly put 15 pounds back on, for me and for no one else.

I have so many tips and tricks I’ll eventually share, but I wanted to give you my story first, and also 2 pieces of advice. First, there is no such thing as a “diet.” The only way to truly make a difference is to make lifestyle changes. Secondly, and as I’ve already discussed at length, you will never be able to maintain these changes if you aren’t doing this for you. Lose weight because you want to eat healthier, lower your risk for diseases, or finally be able touch your toes. Don’t do it so that someone will pay attention to you, or to one-up your sisters/friends/co-workers. You will never be able to healthily sustain choices you make if you are making them for someone else.

If only they had told me that in those healthy-eating videos . . .

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.

DO: Educate yourself as much as possible beforehand. Talk to a professional, someone at student health services at your university, or a doctor. There are hundreds of helpful resources on the Internet, as well. Just make sure you know what you’re confronting and you’ll be much more comfortable when it comes time to talk.

DON’T: Make accusations. She’ll feel personally attacked and won’t want to listen to what you have to say. Instead of saying things like, “You never eat!”, focus more on how her behavior is affecting your relationship: “You never go out with us anymore, we miss you.” When my friend first tried to talk to me about it, she simply said “Why won’t you eat? You’re being stupid.” It was not pretty after that.

DO: Prepare to be rejected. Girls with eating disorders will not acknowledge that they have one or admit to anyone else that they do. I denied it for two years, and it was only until I passed out at work while ringing up customers that I realized something was wrong. It’s totally normal for her to be very private and guarded about her habits, so try not to pry. If she rejects your help at first…

DON’T: Give up on her. Patience is number one in this situation. Let her know that you genuinely care about her and her well-being and she will eventually start to open up.

DO: Remember that an eating disorder is not a choice. It is a mental disease that goes much deeper than just wanting to be thin. Those affect by an ED will have low self-confidence, self-worth, and a severely distorted body image that “just starting to eat” will not fix. When I started therapy for mine, my psychiatrist diagnosed me with adult ADHD; it only fueled my quest for perfection.

DON’T: Forget to look at your own habits. Think about how often you talk about other girls’ or celebrities’ bodies, or if you complain about gaining a pound or two and “being fat.” A good friend of mine was bulimic her freshman and sophomore year of college because her best friend and roommate would always judge her own body, which made her feel inferior. Once she transferred schools, my friend was able to live without the fear of being judged and made an amazing recovery.

Having an eating disorder is a scary, dangerous thing. It can lead to depression and even suicide. If you know someone who you suspect might have one (you notice drastic changes in eating habits, she starts to become more private, etc) do not assume that it’s just a phase and she’ll get over it. If caught early, eating disorders are easier to treat, so don’t wait until she reaches the 87lb mark to say something.

Recovery is 100% possible if she is willing and if you are supportive. Even after four years, I was able to turn my life around. While I still have some lingering tendencies (it’s hard for me to eat when I’m stressed out, and a slight weight gain irks me), I wouldn’t have made any sort of improvement without the support of my friends and family.

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.

Burger King: We all remember the Whopper Freakout. We don’t need that happening again. It seems the Whopper is undeniable, so I won’t tell you not to eat it. But I will advise you against the Angry Triple Whopper as it clocks in at 1,360 calories. You’ll get the same bang for you buck with the Whopper Jr (370 calories), and you won’t have to do a Target run for larger pants on your way home.

Dominos: The late night Domino’s delivery is inevitable. Accept it. So when you’re craving a slice of pizza to soak up all the alcohol in your system and, face it, you’re going to order a large, here are the lightest options: Cheese, Veggie, Philly Steak, Ham and Pineapple and Grilled Chicken and Veggies. These pizzas all weigh in at about 250 calories per slice. Try not to eat the whole pie by yourself, though. Disaster.

KFC: Resisting their Famous Bowls is like turning down a date with Jude Law for me. But KFC has so many low-fat choices that I simply can’t chow down on biscuits and mashed potatoes in good faith. Now that they are offering Kentucky Grilled Chicken, there is no excuse. Also, may I present for your enjoyment the Honey Barbecue Sandwich—300 calories. Delish.

McDonalds: If Super Size Me has taught you anything, DON’T SUPERSIZE YOUR MEAL! If you ever wondered why the arches are golden, it’s because they’re deep-fried in grease, so back away from the fries, people! Try a Premium Asian Salad with Grilled Chicken (300 calories and 10 grams of fat) or a Grilled Chicken Snack Wrap (260 calories and 9 grams of fat) instead.

Chipotle: If you want to be healthy, just don’t go to Chipotle. It may be buffet style giving you complete control of what you will be eating, but if you’re like me, you’re not going to be able to deny all the toppings they have to offer. In fact, you’re probably going to demand extra guacamole. Right there you’re talking about 1,437 calories and 57 grams of fat. I’m currently hanging my head in shame.

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!

3) Parent’s kitchen = food anytime - When I’m at school, I’m on a strict budget, so I only eat when I need to. At home, I eat all the time because I’m no longer the one footing the food bill. I now eat when I’m bored (which is all the time since I couldn’t find a job this summer), when I’m sad (which is always since I am away from my friends), and when I’m awake (which is a lot since my parents wake up early and scream to each other across the house). Let’s leave the grazing for livestock, OK?

4) No friends to keep me in check – My friends on campus and I have sort of a check and balance system going on. We go to the gym together, we eat together, etc. If we see one of our friends doing something unhealthy, one of us will chime in and say something. We’re also motivation for each other; we constantly push each other for 5 more minutes on the stair stepper, or we have a salad night for dinner. With them gone, I’m on my own, and my own wants cupcakes. And it just so happens that my mom just baked 3 dozen of ‘em.

5) Outdoor BBQs: Everyone has them in the summer and, being that I will take any opportunity to hang out with people under the age of 45, I go to them. A lot. And I eat lots of delicious dips and chips and margaritas. And none of those things are low in calories.

With all of these changes from campus life, there’s only so much weight I can keep off with my mom’s Wii Fit. I’m honestly surprised I didn’t gain more, but I’m sure there is some more coming in the next 3 weeks before I head back to campus. I just hope I can still squeeze into my jeans for Welcome Week.

So tell me, how is home life different for your body?

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.

What I do remember is her putting on a bathing suit every day in the summer and enjoying our backyard pool with the many guests she’d invite over. Women who were half her size refused to take off their cover-ups because they had “fat thighs.” But not my mom. She wouldn’t even wear a cover-up. She didn’t care what people thought of her – she was going to enjoy that hot, summer day.

So that is how I grew up.

I never knew there was anything “wrong” with my body, so I never tried to hide or change it. My mother taught me that my body was my body and it was never something to be ashamed of. She never forced me to eat fruit instead of a brownie, or put me on a diet before I was ready. She didn’t want me to grow up thinking she didn’t like me the way that I was. She always just told me I was beautiful.

My mom let me make all my life decisions – from what I was going to eat that day to how I was going to feel about my body – on my own. And then, no matter what they were, she supported me. When I wanted to go on a diet, my mom went with me. When I started working out, she went with me. And when I had a bad day at school and wanted a giant ice cream sundae from the restaurant down the street, she went with me. And ate more than half.

She never focused on weight or size or numbers. She just focused on being happy, however that happened to look for me. So I grew up loving myself – even when there was a lot more to love.

I sometimes make jokes around my mom about how good looking and perfect I am now.

“How do you fit your head through the door?” she’ll ask me, shaking her head.  She can hate all she wants, but she created this self confident monster. And I love me her for it.

My mom is the bomb and deserves the world on this lovely Mother’s Day. My dream is to take her to a spa for a week to relax (it’s 10% off!), get pampered and reward her for everything she does. My reality is a Hallmark card and a giant hug. And this article. I love you, mom!

How has your mom shaped the woman you are today? Honor her in the comments section below!

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.

[Life isn’t black and white. As much as we wish we simply loved or hated things, there is often that whole annoying gray area in the middle. Like, we hate how Walmart treats its employees…but we love the low prices! Or, we love how that boy makes us laugh….but we hate that he has no motivation in life. Damn you, gray area; you make decision-making that much more complicated!

There are so many difficult choices in life (do we love or hate high heels??), so we thought we’d sort through ‘em right here. Every week we will discuss another issue we are torn up about. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!]

Whether you call it the caf, the d-hall or the sh*t hole, you definitely have one. The dining hall is a place to meet with friends, grab a bite to eat or flirt with the sandwich guy. As college students, we spend endless amounts of time there, whether by choice or because our schools force us to pay for meal plans. And, just like every other serious relationship in our lives, this one has a lot of highs and a lot of lows.

Love it:

The lack of washing dishes – When you’re done eating, you can put your dishes on the conveyor belt and watch them disappear into the kitchen.

Stocking up on kitchen utensils…for free – Currently, I am the proud owner of a stolen spoon and fork. While my collection is particularly small, some of my friends have enough place settings to host a small dinner party. I recently heard that a certain “goody two shoes” friend of mine, gets a rush from stealing cutlery (knives in particular), from our dining hall.

The fact that you don’t actually have to cook anything - Yeah, I’m a big fan of not having to chop vegetables or boil water to make pasta. I have better things to do…like nap!

That one amazing food you can’t reproduce – My favorite is the raspberry bar. It never fails to brighten an otherwise bleak day. Everyone has that one (or two, or three) favorite food(s) that only the school chef can make.

The social aspect - Mealtime isn’t just for eating; it’s a social event. Whether you’re catching up with your girls, meeting with a study group or grabbing dinner with a new guy, there’s no better place than the dining hall.

Loathe it:

The effect on your weight- And it’s not just the “Freshman 15.” If you’re a picky eater like me, you lose weight. If your mom is a bad cook, you probably over-eat at school. Either way, you come home for vacation and everyone looks at you….worried.

The gross-factor – Just because there are antibacterial dispensers by the door, doesn’t mean you can’t get sick from eating in the dining hall. Today, I saw a girl break off a piece of an onion ring. With her hands. From a plate she didn’t even take. She also put back her hot dog when she realized she could get a fresher one. Eww – clearly her parents never taught her anything about cleanliness or respecting other people. And clearly I will be the one affected by that.

The awkward run ins - If you had a bad one-night-stand with him, you’ll probably see him in the dining hall. Sorry, but running into people you’d prefer never to see again is inevitable.

The lines – The best food always has the longest lines. And I have better things to do (lay around) than wait in line for some chicken teriyaki. Some weeks I even end up eating pizza or Lucky Charms 3 meals in a row because there is no wait.

The expense - Why does my lunch cost the same as that of a 250 lb basketball player? Every time I go into the dining hall, I pay a fixed meal price. Whether I’m grabbing a muffin before class, munching on a salad or scarfing down 15 plates of spaghetti, I still pay $9. Or maybe it’s $11. The point is, no muffin is worth that.

Well, you’ve heard what I have to say. Now it’s your turn: how do you feel about the dining hall?

[Photo courtesy of Gettysburg College.]