Ah the perfect female body: so often dangled in front of regular women like a leggy, supermodel-shaped, uber-airbrushed, completely-and-utterly-unattainable carrot.
And while we'd hope that we'd have all got wise to the endless advertising, fashion magazines and sample sizes (there's no way my plentiful derrière will ever look like Cara Delevingne's and I'm fine with that), it seems many women still are adopting desperate - and not to mention dangerous - weight loss measures.
According to a recent study, 71% of women regularly turn to weird weight loss techniques - and by weird we mean deviating by the old fail safe of regular exercise and eating sensibly, or weight-loss tablets.
Taking laxatives was top of the list, with almost half of respondents admitting to using them in a bid to lose weight.
Of those who claimed to take laxatives to lose weight, 56% admitted that they thought the measure was ‘bad for their health’ yet employed the measure anyway. While three quarters (77%) admitted that the move had ‘never produced lasting weight loss results’ for them.
Weirdest Weight Loss Techniques
- Laxatives (taking laxative tablets to lose weight)- 47%
- Fasting (skipping meals altogether) - 45%
- Cabbage soup diet (substituting usual meals for cabbage soup) - 39%
- Liquid diet (substituting all solid food for liquid) - 35%
- Body wraps (beauty treatments using body wraps, designed to aid weight loss)- 29%
- Cereal diet (substituting usual meals for cereal)- 26%
- Baby food diet (substituting usual meals for baby food jars) - 26%
- Raw food diet (substituting usual meals for raw fruit/ veg)- 24%
- Small crockery (eating meals using smaller dinnerware/ plates)- 18%
- Eating foods known to disagree with you/ make you ill- 14%
Just over half, 52%, of the women taking part admitted that they would try a weight loss technique that piqued their interest, ‘even if it was outlined that it may negatively impact their health.’ Of these, three quarters, 76%, explained that they ‘prioritised weight loss results’ over the potential of a negative impact on health.
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When asked if they believed that ‘fad diets’ really worked as a lasting weight loss measure, just a third, 34%, of respondents said ‘yes’. Despite this, 81% claimed to have tried a ‘fad diet’ in the past. Furthermore, the study also revealed that 45% of women would try a diet if they’d read that a celebrity had done so.
The study was conducted by www.UKMedix.com as part of research into the attitudes of women across the UK towards diet and weight loss, given that the site specialises in weight loss remedies. 1,911 women aged 18 and over subsequently took part.