Has your perspective of your body weight been distorted by the media? It probably has, in some way.

Marilyn Monroe would be considered overweight by today's standards. She fluctuated between a size 14 and 18 dress! She was a healthy woman who didn't look fat to anyone.

It's important to stay real when setting goals and assessing your current state. Here are some facts that you should think about very seriously before getting on the diet roller coaster:

Women in America...

The average American woman is 5'4" tall and weighs 140 pounds.

The average American model is 5'11" tall and weighs 117 pounds.

Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women.

Four out of five American women say they're dissatisfied with the way they look.

On any given day, almost half of the women in the United States are on a diet.

Dieting is out of control in the United States...

Almost half of American children between first and third grades say they want to be thinner.

Four out of five ten-year-old children are afraid of being fat.

On any given day, one in four men are on a diet.

Half of our nine and ten-year-old girls say that being on a diet makes them feel better about themselves.

More than one out of three "normal dieters" progress to pathological dieting. One fourth of those will suffer from partial or full syndrome eating disorders.

Americans spend over forty billion dollars a year on dieting and diet related products.

Between five and ten million women and girls in the United States struggle with eating disorders and borderline conditions.

One million boys and men struggle with eating disorders and borderline conditions.

The number of people with eating disorders and borderline conditions is triple the number of people living with AIDS (664,921 people are living with AIDS).

Eating disorders affect at least three times as many people as schizophrenia does (2.2 million people are living with schizophrenia).