A Healthy Competition?Having the ‘perfect body’ has turned into a mind game

By Avalon SawerOpinions Writer Something is happening with girls and the gym. Being that I am an avid gym member, I’ve noticed a trend with you women at the gym – it seems they come in and scotch-tape their hands to the Stairmaster and compare their eating disorder like a badge of honor. Losing weight is no longer an issue of health; it is a competition among young women. It never really passed my mind it was a secret contest until one day at my gym. There were two girls going over their calorie count for the day and comparing how much they’ve worked out so far trying to decipher who ate the least, (their food consisted of rice cakes and gum) and who worked off more calories. Then they began comparing their bodies in the large gym mirror. One of the girls pinched some skin together while her friend wrinkled her surgically enhanced nose and said, “Ewww gross, if I were you I’d do more cardio,” (this supposed ‘fat girl’ was so skinny she had noodles for arms). The look on her face was such despair – she was still on the treadmill when I left an hour and a half later.My friend Alex (whom I love to death if you’re reading this) is another prime example – she takes weight loss competition to the extreme. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said to her, “I’m starving, I barely had time to eat anything today” and she’ll one up me by saying, “Well, I haven’t eaten anything in almost two days.” Or I’ll say I just finished a 10-mile jog before class and she’ll say she’s been at the gym for 4 hours. If we go out to eat and I order a burger, she’ll get a salad and go over how many calories I’m ingesting with every bite.It goes deeper then friendly competition, how many times do we mentally compare our bodies to a girl we see at school, the mall or at the gym and think, “Am I skinner/more toned then her?” I admit I can be guilty of slight competitiveness at the gym when someone is on a machine next to me, especially the treadmill. I’ll look her/him over and up my speed or purposely run until they stop, even if I’ve been on for a while. If someone starts lifting weights next to me, I’ll do longer sets or higher weights. I make it a competition in my head that I must win, that I am tougher or have more stamina. I never even realized why!There is a difference between friendly competition and a plain out war, sure Nicole lost the weight and became even skinner then Paris (and therefore more popular) and Mary Kate made Ashley Olsen look like the fat ‘twin” (and grabbed national headlines). Yet if it’s one thing I know, being the skinniest or the prettiest doesn’t do anyone much good. These girls become obsessed with the idea of keeping the title of the “est” and the attention only lasts for so long before someone else takes their place. It’s not worth it, you’ll drive yourself crazy. Besides it’s the over worked, underfed girls that are the moodiest and crabbiest. Who wants to hang out with someone like that? So, I say I’ll take fries with my burger.