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I agree. That creeps me out. There's a huge difference between saying, "My doctor says that I should lose 20 pounds so that I will be healthier," and "Well, my weight is supposedly ideal for my height, but I would like to lose 20 pounds anyway." It's like there are the two extremes that we always hear about in America, the obese people and the people with eating disorders. The weird thing is that we often make the eating disorders sound glamorous.

The media puts out what will sell, and weight is definitely a concern for most people. The sad part is that being concerned about your weight actually makes you more likely to be overweight.

I would say that blaming all the diet articles is only looking at half of the problem though. The other half of the time, food is being pushed towards us. You'll see an add for McDonald's right after you see on for Slim Fast. The media telling us to eat first and then worry. It's just not healthy.

Personally I think it would be easier to change the way food is presented. If people didn't feel so strongly towards their food, there wouldn't be a need for diet articles.

I once asked my mom, "How much more than normal do you need to eat to become fat? Why do fat people eat more than normal?" She said that for overweight people, having more food than "normal" was normal to them. They had most likely been raised to expect a certain portion size, and anything less than that makes them feel deprived.

For me, when I go to a restaurant, the portions always seem so huge. I can never finish them and I feel guilty about wasting money on the food that I didn't eat. It's hard for me to imagine seeing a restaurant portion as normal, but I'm sure some people do.

My vote goes for smaller portions and less media emphasis on the joys of food. The disappearance of diet articles will follow.