That's Fit

Are you on a diet right now? If so, you're not alone; a recent poll in the UK found that the average British women spends a lifetime total of 31 years on a diet. And before you start feeling left out, gentlemen, the average British man spends 28 years slimming down.

I really think this finding says a lot -- and not necessarily about weight loss. It makes me wonder about two different things: 1) How many of us say we are on a diet, when we really aren't? Have we created a "diet culture" where we're perennially claiming we're on a diet, even if we're going home at night and quietly eating Ben and Jerry's in front of the TV? and 2) Are we having trouble with the distinction between dieting and a healthy diet?

I ask these questions, because WOW that seems like a lot of years to spend on dieting. And if those numbers aren't artificially inflated by the things I mention above, then those findings just make me really sad. Are we really spending over 1/3 of our lives fighting the battle of the bulge?

One fact that brightened my day -- most British women reported that they dieted to improve their appearances. No, that's not what made me smile, it was the fact that when asked what they thought was the ideal body type, they didn't pick supermodel svelte. Instead, they chose curvaceous women like Marilyn Monroe. So even if we're spending far more time "dieting" than we really should be, at least we're choosing realistic role models.