Although methods used to stay physically fit are usually safe, dieting college students might be in danger if proper guidelines are not followed.

“Being thin has become synonymous with excellence in our society,” said Patricia Santucci, medical director of Mercy’s Eating Disorders Center in Aurora.

Santucci said the “euphoria they (dieters) feel as they watch the numbers on the scale decrease” can lead to eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa.

Anne Goekel, an NIU senior majoring in corporate fitness, said that regimented diets without any exercise lead to the loss of muscle as well as fat. The human body cannot lose more than two pounds of fat per week, she said.

An overly regimented diet will be unsuccessful because once the diet ends and the dieter goes back to old eating habits, the weight will return, said Goekel.

Annie Chen, university health services nutritionist, said that to make a diet successful, there has to be a “behavior change,” and people “shouldn’t diet without excercise.”

Fabian De Rozario, coordinator of club sports and fitness programs, said that the “most important component of physical fitness is cardiovascular endurance.” The aerobics program at the Recreation Center promotes efficient use of the heart, De Rozario said.

Aerobics is the most popular fitness program at the Recreation Center. Other fitness programs at the Recreation Center are Yoga and Tai Chi. The Center also provides facilities such as weight lifting, stationary bicycles and racquetball courts for individuals to pursue their own fitness regiments.

Beside cardiovascular fitness, there are other important components of physical fitness, said Anne Stocker of the Center. These include strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, body composition (the amounts of fat and lean body tissues such as muscle and bone), and to a lesser degree, motor skills.

Fitness profiling is done twice each semester at the Center to determine each individual’s body fat, girth measurements, weight, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, and flexibility.

Nutritionists are available at the University Health Service for help with proper diets geared to individuals.