Perceiving what's real: How to live in a nation of extremes

This column is part of a summer series that will focus on college-aged men and women’s perceptions of beauty and body image issues.

Eating disorder? Not me. I loved food. I loved my body. No way.

I’ve battled compulsive exercise disorder — also known as exercise bulimia or overexercise disorder — for the last four years. I used to run ten miles a day, restrict my daily diet to 900 calories, and shed 2 or 3 pounds every week. Why? I still can’t answer that question.

It took its toll. I was too exhausted to go out with my friends. My hair fell out. And my doctor told me there was a chance I might never have kids.

I’m not alone. Many male and female students at UNC overexercise to control their weight. Colleen Daly, a fitness instructor at UNC, said she suffered from the disorder herself. It wasn’t the image she wanted to promote.

“I have at least one person with an eating disorder in every class I teach,” Daly said. “Fitness is so much more than body image — it’s about finding an equilibrium. It’s about having a healthy body and a healthy mind.”

We live in a country of extremes. Some people eat themselves to death while others starve themselves for beauty. And for most of us, one or the other starts in college.

Commercials depict thin, glamorous women talking to men with biceps the size of cantaloupes and ab muscles that mimic the artistry of Michelangelo. TV shows have 20 year olds playing the part of 17 year olds with curves and muscles that couldn’t possibly exist in high school.

Meanwhile, the national news incessantly talks about the “fattening of America.” Stir that all together, and you get a youth population obsessed with body image.

People have talked about the negative effects the media has on conceptions of body image for decades, and nothing’s changed. So we must fix how we perceive what’s presented to us.

It’s taken me years to realize that what’s in front of me isn’t real. Not that my own problems were sparked by a need to look like the girls on TV — they came from older insecurities. But the media helped to enhance them.

I had to learn that movie stars and the people in ads were paid to look like that. Eat celery, exercise until you crash and make a ton of money.

Then, I asked myself: is this really healthy? Running 10 miles every day after eating half a cup of cereal was starvation, not health. This wasn’t the life I wanted. I still struggle against the disorder, but it doesn’t control my life anymore.

Some people have a hard time believing that men and women feel this way about their bodies. But these stories exist, right here at this University. We can change that. This summer, I challenge you; wake up to what’s real.