Super Skinny Me

In keeping with my most recent obsession, I watched another installment of the BBC Reveals series the other day. It was called "Super Skinny Me" and it was about two journalists that engage in extreme dieting and exercise with the goal of dropping to a size zero in five weeks' time. (They are doing it for the story to show first hand how it impacts their lives.)

The two women are around my age (Louise is 28 and Kate is 37) and both start off a size smaller than me. They are both a UK size 12, which, if memory serves from when I lived in London, is a US size 8. They both look slim and stylish at the beginning and you would never point them out as people who could stand to spend some quality time on the old treadmill.

But what disturbs me is that in their before and after picture, I think they both look better after the diet. Is this because I’m used to seeing emaciated models in magazines and tv shows? Probably.

Throughout the program, they show Louise and Kate working out with trainers, trying celebrity diets (the watercress soup diet, a lemon juice/syrup/water liquid diet, cleanses, colon cleanses, etc) and just plain being miserable and not being able to have drinks with friends or normal meals at home. The whole time, they are supervised by doctors and Kate even goes to see a therapist because she is beginning to exhibit obsessive habits with food, like bingeing and purging. (Keep in mind, this is only a five week time period, so that’s pretty compelling.)

At the end, Kate stops the diet because it is having such a disastrous impact on her mind and body. She stops short of the goal and only reaches a size 4. (“Only.”) Louise, on the other hand, has a party at the end, where she tries on successively smaller sized jeans, until she finally squeezes into a size 0 jeans, and all her friends cheer. (Aaron thought that was celebrating her weight-loss. I agree, but it also shows her stuffing cake into her mouth, so I think you could say they are celebrating her being finished with the insanity of the diet.)

It’s pretty amazing to think that someone could drop from a size 8 to a size 0 in five weeks. Louise is quick to point out that it’s not worth it and that she is miserable and as soon as the five weeks is over, she goes back to normal eating and has treats like cake.

At Kate’s last appointment with her doctor, she feels so upset about the whole experience that she doesn’t even want the doctor to tell her how much she weighs or what her BMI is. (It’s in the low/normal range of 20 or so, which is lower than mine, which is 21 or 22, in case you were curious.)

At the end of the show, I was left with conflicted feelings. I know that I am a healthy weight and I work out and eat fruit and have treats and all that. But at the same time, there is a part of me that wouldn’t mind being a bit smaller. It’s a slippery slope, though, and I can promise you that I would never try to attain a size 0.

It was a great show and very thought-provoking. If you get a chance to watch it, I highly recommend it.

And with that, I’m off to my water aerobics class. (But don’t worry, I am planning to have some ice cream this afternoon. It’s all about balance. Right?)