By Angelica Kalogeridis ’15| Staff Writer

With prom and spring break around the corner, everyone is striving to look their best. However, taking dieting to the extreme to lose that extra five pounds can lead to unhealthy repercussions.

Pharmacist Kristy Schuelke, from Park Pharmacy, said losing weight too fast can cause an electrolyte imbalance. Electrolytes regulate neurological function, fluid balance, oxygen delivery, acid-base balance and much more, according to www.medicalnewstoday.com. Rapid weight loss can cause extreme drop in blood sugar, and cardiac abnormalities among many other serious conditions.

 “Your heart isn’t meant to handle extremes like that,” said Schuelke. “Your heart pumps to support the body that you have, if the body that you have changed drastically by gaining lots of weight or losing lots of weight, your heart needs time to adapt to that change.”

To preserve one’s health, it is best to only lose about one to two pounds a week if not already at an appropriate Body Mass Index (BMI), Schuelke said. An equal balance of diet and exercise is the key to losing weight without damaging a body’s strength.

BMI can help doctors identify people who are overweight and at risk of developing medical problems like high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes, the www.kidshealth.org said. Doctors can monitor that person’s weight and make recommendations about healthy eating and exercise.

 “There is a lot of pressure from society that might support unhealthy eating habits to achieve extreme measures for weight loss,” said Schuelke.  “But these are unsafe and I think that is a big concern when it comes to teenage girls.”

Because girls often want to lose weight in a short amount of the time, they choose the quick and easy diets that force them to avoid crucial nutrients and lose weight too quickly, Schuelke said. An example of an extreme diet that concerns many nutritionists is the seven-day diet.

According to www.my7daydiet.com, this program promises a five to 11 pound weight loss in just seven days. This strongly contradicts nutritionists’ advice by losing almost five times the amount that a healthy human should lose in a week.

This diet consists of seven days of eating only a designated fruit, vegetable or protein source for that day.  The participant is allowed to eat as many fruits, beans and vegetables as they want on the respective day, but there is an advisable amount for best results.

Each day of the diet is supplied with suggested recipes and food plans. For example, one day the diet suggests a person eats eight bananas and drinks five glasses of milk. On another day a person is required to consume at least five tomatoes and one potato.

This diet is concerning because it can really throw off a body’s balance, Schuelke said. Each day is something different because it has to make up for what nutrition one may have lost  by not eating it the previous day.

Jennifer Vermet ’14 admits to following the Atkins diet  so she can feel more confident for spring break and look better on the beach. The Atkins diet consists of eating meat, dairy and vegetables, Vermet said.  The majority of the carbs in the diet come from the recommended vegetables.

“I have actually noticed results,” said Vermet. “Since my usual meals had many carbs, the cut back has really made a difference.”

Atkins is known to help lose weight drastically in the first phase, and then slow down in the next phases, Vermet said.

“I haven’t noticed any dangerous repercussions,” said Vermet. “In the beginning it was a little hard, but as I adjusted, the Atkins diet has a lot of proteins and fibers that keep me full.”

It’s just a matter of eating healthier and cutting down on junk food, Vermet said.

Besides nutrition, a fun way to stay fit is attending classes at the local gym, Meagan Beach ’14 said. Zumba is her favorite; it is a mix of exercise and dance, but it doesn’t come with the boredom of running.

“I go to the gym a couple times a week and do classes like Zumba,” said Beach. “I also cut out foods like red meats and unhealthy snacks.”

But girls often feel the pressure to skip meals to achieve quicker weight loss results, Beach said.

“I definitely feel the pressure as spring break gets closer,” said Beach. “But I think it just pushes me to spend more time working out instead of going on an extreme diet.”

Sometimes girls think they can just skip lunch or breakfast in a day, Beach said. She admits to often feeling it is necessary, but she said she would never go as far as not eating a meal.

However, most girls participating in these extreme diets already have healthy BMIs, a calculation that estimates how much body fat a person has based on his or her weight and height, according to www.kidshealth.org. Therefore they do not need to be losing weight and going on extreme diets.

A doctor can help someone figure out whether weight gain is a normal part of development or whether it’s something to be concerned about.

Weight gain or loss is something that should be done over a reasonable amount of time, and seeing peers obsess over their body image is cause for concern, Brendan Cauvel ’16 said.

“Not saying all girls, but many feel that going on one run and not eating for a day will fix things immediately,” said Cauvel. “Making choices like that won’t move you forward and it may even set things back.”

If one is trying to lose or gain weight for personal reasons, they should do it in a healthy and safe way, Cauvel said.

“But seeing people making these changes because of how they’re seen in the eyes of others is horrible,” said Cauvel.

Dan Griesbaum, health education teacher, said he sometimes notices girls in his classes who are below their healthy weight. When a girl is 20% below their weight for their height and is attempting to lose more weight, they are bordering anorexia.

“If you don’t lose weight the right way, it can cause a lot of health problems,” said Griesbaum. “It can affect your mood, athletic ability, and just your ability to get through your day. You’ll get too tired and not  have enough fuel to meet your day’s schedule.”

Women need on average about 2,000 calories in their day; men 2,500, Griesbaum said. But someone cannot be properly nourished going below a bare minimum for women of 1,400 and 1,800 for men.

“To lose weight healthy it must be gradual,” said Griesbaum. “To recognize a diet as a fad diet, ask yourself: does it eliminate food groups or is it too low in calories? A proper diet should advocate exercise.”

If a diet sounds too good to be true, it probably is, Griesbaum said. Someone who wants to lose weight needs to gradually lower their calorie intake and gradually increase exercise.

“Atkins and South Beach diets are based on losing a lot of weight at one time,” said Griesbaum. “They believe if you eliminate carbs, you are going to lose weight quicker.”

Low-carb diets do help to lose weight, Griesbaum said, but the only problem with them is that once someone is done with the diet, they go back to eating normally and gain it all back.

“The best thing for girls who are trying to lose weight to look good over spring break should plan ahead,” said Griesbaum. “Then they can lose the weight they want over a longer period of time, rather than crash diet, because crash diets don’t work.”