COMMENTARY | As a soon-to-be new husband, I have watched my gorgeous fiance strive to make herself physically perfect before our summer wedding. Like many women, she often complains about the state of her body, no matter how many times I assure her that it is amazing. She cooks healthy meals for us, exercises regularly and plans to become a certified fitness instructor. Her concerns over looking wedding-perfect have coincided with news about the controversial K-E diet, which is catching on in the U.S., according to ABC News.
The diet involves snaking a feeding tube down the nose for up to 10 days, giving the recipient 800 calories per day of a carbohydrate-free mixture of water, protein and fats and allowing them to lose around 20 pounds. The method is supposedly a hunger-free way to diet and costs around $1,500. Though new on this side of the Atlantic, it has apparently been popular in Europe for years.
Despite claims the diet is medically sound, I disagree with its use. Crash diets and rapid weight loss are not likely to carry many psychological benefits, with any insecurities related to body image not likely to be corrected by such a quick change. This could lead to thin brides still perceiving themselves as fat, leading to further, and eventually unhealthy, attempts to shed more pounds.
Also, K-E subscriber Jessica Schnaider described her dieting period as full of fatigue, perhaps caused by the shock of going from a normal diet to a liquid diet. That does not sound healthy or wholesome to me.
The desire to go on any sort of extreme diet in the weeks before one's wedding signifies some issues and insecurities that should be addressed. A bride must ask herself why she feels compelled to go to such great lengths to achieve a slimmer look.
Does she feel her husband-to-be truly accepts her natural size? Does she feel that her husband-to-be is comfortable with her? If she loses weight, will that be the end of her insecurities? Any bride considering a radical diet should ask herself if she is willing to go back to normal afterwards or if a successful (or seemingly successful) weight loss will only leave her wanting more.
