Types of Dieters, Essay Example

There are many different types of individuals that all seek to diet at one point or another.  However, there is a very large problem wherein categorizing individuals based on their dieting habits and dieting motivation can be difficult.  The question remains what process should be most appropriate.  Perhaps a color or symbol should be associated with individuals that receive a particular dieting score for their health habits.  On the other hand, harsh phrases such as “Must Diet Now” or “In Denial” may better be used to describe the different types of dieters.  Still, the fact remains that obesity is a major cause of advanced heart and coronary disease in the United States and must be addressed through dieting.  Therefore, the types of dieters should be categorized as they are associated with the amount of physical activity they engage in throughout their daily lives.

First of all, the most obvious group of dieters is the extremely obese individuals that have very little if any physical activity and also have poor dieting habits.  These individuals tend to push the scales into the “please step off me now” range and cause people to point and stare at the presence of a nearly impossible fourth chin.  Without a doubt, many of these dieters have been told that they need to improve their diet and increase physical activity; yet they still lack the ability, knowledge, or will power to do so.  Typically, the most physical and mental energy that these individuals spend during a 24-hour time frame is on eating food, thinking about food, or traveling to get food.  Perhaps this group should actually be called the non-dieters because their daily food intake contains very little nutritional value and lacks the typical characteristics of what medical professionals would consider being a health diet.

A middle group exists where the scales are less likely to scream when stepped on and occasional efforts are made to adjust the types of food that are consumed.  Most of population around the United States lives in this third group.  The importance of the diet still exists to reduce the potential for health concerns, development of diabetes and other health defects.  As these people watch “The Biggest Loser,” they say to themselves “that’s not me” or “boy I’m glad I’ll never get like that.”  The diets typically contain problematic foods from eating out, although these individuals live much more physically active lives than the first group.  They can tend to exercise from time to time, or they just receive a lot of physical activity from being at work most of the day sitting behind a desk and using the legs to roll to and from the desk several times each hour.  A healthy day often consists of a trip to the local Subway or even removing the word “Supersized” from in front of the #1 value meal at McDonalds.

Finally, the third group of dieters is what many people would consider to be the hardcore health enthusiasts.  The body types of these individuals often vary from extremely physically fit and athletic to borderline anorexic.  Obesity is not an imminent problem for these people and they are often blessed with a wonderful genetic metabolic rate for breaking down food.  These individuals often go to the local buffet to eat out, and spend most of their time at the fruit and salad bar.  Splurging to them means adding an extra crouton or perhaps even pouring the regular dressing on the salad instead of the fat free brand they have conditioned themselves to enjoy.  Usually, these individuals are very well disciplined and work hard to maintain their excellent physical looks and body composition.