• Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK CULTURE, COMMUNITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS MEET

Sign up for ESSENCE Newsletters the keep the Black women at the forefront of conversation.

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
Select the newsletters you'd like to receive:
Please select at least one option.
By clicking Subscribe Now, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
      • Paint The Polls Black
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · News

Ladies, Stop Going to Extremes to Lose Weight

An Iowa woman eats a tapeworm to lose weight, but she's not alone in her extreme efforts to drop a few pounds.
Ladies, Stop Going to Extremes to Lose Weight
By Briana McCarthy · Updated October 27, 2020

I recently read an article about an Iowa woman who intentionally ate a tapeworm in an effort to lose weight. Yes, you read it right. Homegirl swallowed a living tapeworm whole all because she wanted to drop a few pounds.

I have to admit when I first read about it I judged her. I mean, I judged her entire life. I figured that only someone desperate and pitiful would ever do such a thing.

But then, something hit me which caused my judgment to turn to empathy. I started to look beyond the surface, beyond her crazy act, and began to wonder why she did what she did. At that moment I realized that the tapeworm lady and I had something in common—I, too, have done some pretty extreme things to lose weight. I know what it’s like to want to lose weight so bad that I’d do anything to make it happen. While I‘ve never eaten a tapeworm, but I definitely have done some odd and not-too-healthy things to lose weight—and I suspect that some of you have, too. Maybe your “tapeworm” was a diet pill or some ridiculous fad diet that promised you’d lose 10 pounds in two days.

You ate the soup.
You swallowed the fatburner.
You, like the woman from Iowa, were desperate.
And so was I.
Like the lady in Iowa, we wanted something, anything to do for us what our willpower could not.
We were desperate.

In college I experimented with diet pills. Those things had me acting like a straight crack head. I jittered uncontrollably. My heart seemed to beat out of my chest. I couldn’t think straight and I had to resist the urge to randomly bite people. It was bad, my friends. Still, I kept taking the pills because I wanted to be thin and I wanted to be thin with the quickness.

Eventually, the pills started irritating my tummy to the point that I felt like there was a hole in the lining of my stomach. I just knew that some grapes that I had eaten slipped through said “hole.” I could have sworn I felt the grapes as they bounced freely throughout my body.  Now, if that’s not crackhead-ish, I don’t know what is. Needless to say, I gave up the pills. As I threw the pills in the trash I remember feeling this overwhelming sense of hopelessness. I felt as if I’d never, ever lose the weight. And for a long time, I didn’t.  Looking back, I was never going to drop a single pound as long as I opted to take the easy way out and these extreme measures.

That was the issue with the lady in Iowa. And maybe, just maybe, that’s the issue with you.

Here’s the skinny: diet pills and fad diets are no substitute for healthy eating and exercise. Even if you do lose weight, you’re not likely to maintain it in the long run. If you want to lose weight, ladies, you must do the work. Put down the cookies and pick up a carrot. Take that desperation and harness it into the power of discipline. Start to focus on your health and not on your size. It took me years to figure this out for myself. But today, a full 10 years after my dreadful diet pill debacle, I’m so glad I decided to make a permanent lifestyle change. I’m 30 pounds down since January and not because of diet pills or that ridiculous cookie diet. I did the work. I changed my lifestyle. I ate well and got off my butt. I saw results and you can too. It was hard—really hard— but so worth it. Put down your “tapeworm,” ladies, set realistic goals and let’s do the work.

Have you ever gone to extremes to drop a few pounds? Share your thoughts below in the comments section.

 

Briana McCarthy is a writer, blogger and editor of The Mane Source. When she’s not blogging about hair and beauty, she’s enjoying her Chicago hometown with her hubby and two children. Chat her up on Facebook and Instagram.

COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now