Collegiate Times

Bikini season is in clear sight, and you know what that means: you better find a good diet plan quick.

Or at least that is the impression you get if you turn on your TV at any given time of the day. The weight-loss industry has made $30 billion a year, and it shows.

We are bombarded with commercials selling diet pills that supposedly work without any effort on your part, weight-loss programs with celebrities encouraging you to join and personal gym equipment that apparently makes normal people turn into overconfident narcissists.

There are even expensive food programs that mail complete meals but fail to teach customers how to choose healthy foods on their own. With popular culture's skinny body mentality, any season is weight-loss season. Because of this, weight-loss commercials appear to have increased exponentially recently.

It seems to me that in years past, early spring was prime advertising time for weight-loss programs and diet pills. Their commercials would showcase beautiful women in string bikinis as they promise results in "just three weeks!"

However, many of these companies urge us to get a head start to shed those "holiday pounds" throughout heavy parka season. Will we ever get a break from the pressure of losing weight?This constant pressure is enough to make anyone anxious about their weight.

But you must remember that while obesity has its own health risks, such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure, there are also health risks linked with losing weight quickly or unnaturally.

These include depression, malnutrition, seizures and muscle atrophy. Also, the anxiety about weight leads to psychological problems such as anorexia and bulimia. Recently, the European modeling industry has cracked down on overly skinny models. For Madrid Fashion Week, models were given a physical by a doctor, and if their body mass index was under 18, they could not be hired.

Whether this is a movement to help prevent the glorification of anorexic-looking bodies or just to protect the models does not matter: At least the industry is beginning to recognize both the psychological and physical dangers of being underweight.

Additional risks from rapid weight loss stem from misinformation or misleading products. Do not trust any program that claims to help you lose weight effortlessly. People lose weight when their calorie intake is lessened or there is an increase of calorie burning through exercise.

There are no scientifically known substances that "magically" melt away fat. Also, results can never be guaranteed. The FTC and FDA have been shutting down companies that make false claims of weight-loss "breakthroughs."

If you choose to lose weight by following a program, just make sure the process is legit and healthy.I have always been someone who thought people should lose weight solely for health reasons, not superficiality.

Queen Latifah, a celebrity spokeswoman for a nationally recognized weight-loss center, shares this idea, and while I have come to despise weight-loss commercials, hers has impressed me. She states she joined millions of women across the country with this program to prevent future health complications, claiming, "I am now a size healthier." This is the ideology that we should all embrace.

As long as you are comfortable and you take care of yourself, you should be happy with your weight. Who cares what other people think?While society's pressures may bear down on you this spring season, pass through the aisles of bikinis with confidence.

You do not need to be a size 0 to be healthy or to be comfortable with yourself.