STRIP. Look in the mirror. Do you like what you see? The shape of your arms and legs, how your stomach curves in (or out) and the way your hips outline your lower body. You might pinch some extra “flab” and wished that you could slice it off or flex your arms, imagining that solid biceps will pop up.

Many people have issues with their bodies. You hear them in everyday complaints like “I feel fat... (or) I need to bulk up”. But there are others who face internal battles due to their unhappiness and insecurities which soon become an unhealthy obsession that could lead to various health risks.

For women, especially younger women, they are plagued with the immense fear of becoming fat and they may suffer from eating disorders like anorexia (where the person is usually underweight due to eating very little and ignoring hunger pangs), bulimia (a case of binge eating, followed by vomiting and purging) or abusing laxatives (to help with bulimia) and also binge eating (when large amounts of food are desperately consumed followed by depression and/or guilt). Sufferers can range from athletes to regular people who do/don't exercise.

If you go to the gym, you may have felt some sort of “pressure” in keeping up with the fit bods around you or admire someone who has it so well together. All this may appear perfect externally but the reality may go beyond skin deep.

Lim used to be a professional body builder. She's quite familiar with this process as she admits to have been “obsessed” about the appearance of her body and muscle bulk but has learnt to acquit herself from it and is now taking a more realistic approach in life.

As women, we want to be “accepted” and can't help but to compare and be inspired by celebrities and models such as Charlize Theron, Anna Kournikova, Kate Moss, Lindsay Lohan and Gisele Bundchen.

Issues like this precipitated a revolution last September where new industry standards by organisers of major fashion events banned underweight models in Spain, Italy, Brazil and India. Still, the average girl or woman perceives these models as having the perfect and ideal body type, but according to the National Eating Disorders Association in the US, the average model weighs 23 per cent less than the average woman!

Even men suffer from body image problems as they attempt to achieve the desired firm and wide torso with strong six-pack abs. Like women, younger guys' dirigible thoughts are driven by the depiction of male fitness models as well as actors like Gerard Butler in 300, Brad Pitt (especially when he bares flesh in Troy), Arnold Schwarzenegger who's on posters in many hardcore weight training gyms.

Fitness trainer and former body building competitor Wong Wai Hoong has been in the fitness industry for more than 10 years and seen far too many of such cases.

“I noticed that some body builders are probably the ones who have more severe cases of body image disorders. While there are lots of confidence on stage, some go through extremes and spend large sums of money for their diet, training supplements and drugs like steroids.

Anthony Tan gives his side of the story: “There are so many big guys in the gym who pump heavy weights and every time you see them, they get more buff. It motivates me to push myself too. Reading magazines and getting ideas for challenging workouts help but I feel that more pressure is put on guys to look our best, especially when we know that women will like it.

After seeing men compare each other's muscles at the weight area, it is enough to assume that there is as much vanity as testosterone saturating the place. “I think the pressure comes more from within, where guys socialise with others who want to be big and it snowballs from there. With women, it comes from society due to beauty pageants, the exposition of more female bodies in the whole sexy culture,” says Tan.

While it is always easier said than done to “accept yourself for who you are”, we should make it a priority to exercise for healthy reasons. “Take care of your body and do everything in moderation. It is hard to ignore pictures of beautiful celebrities but it's their job to look good. Concentrate on the positive aspects like knowing how your body works for you instead,” explains Lim.

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