I’ve noticed something interesting since being on campus, and I realize that it’s not just a BU thing, or even a college thing. Universally, girls are constantly claiming that they’re on a new diet… but don’t worry, this one “is really good… you barely eat.” But honestly, I have yet to hear about any of these diets actually working. The problem is, when girls go on diets they restrict themselves so much that many times they eventually end up binge eating.
We’ve all hear this one before: “You shouldn’t diet… you should just make a lifestyle change!” And, as cliché as it is, it may be right. We shouldn’t tell ourselves that we can have one leaf of lettuce, a $7 juice, and a small pine nut a day because the probability of us sticking with that for more than five minutes is small. What we ought to do is casually limit ourselves on what were eating. If we think that we have been eating too much pizza, next time we get it, we should make ourselves get one slice instead of two.
Although it doesn’t sound like a big change, the amount we intake actually does really make a difference. If we cut down on the excess but still allow it in our diet, we are less likely to binge eat and go off the deep end. Refusing to eat anything good will only put us in a bad mood until we binge eat back into happiness.
So, if you are considering going on an all-out, extreme diet, you may want to think again. There’s no need to be so extreme. Just watch how much you’re eating, what you’re eating, and make sure to hit FitRec at least a few times a week. Don’t stress about it— there are too many other things in college to stress about.