HOLLYWOOD - It used to be about 'the look'. Razor-thin models with cheekbones jutting out unnaturally from unhealthy-looking faces used to gaze disinterestedly at us from the magazine racks and apathetically observe us from billboards. "The 'Heroin Chic' era has ended," announced Glamour Magazine's fashion editor Wanda Ferree, "It is no longer fashionable to look down your nose -- however slender -- at those who eat three entire meals a day. Derisive looks should now be proffered only to those who barbarically eat yogurt, hamburgers with buns, and other carb-heavy foods."

"I feel better about myself. But more importantly, I feel like I'm better than you." -- Atkin's Low-Carb Dieter

'Heroin Chic' took a hit, perhaps its fatal blow, with the death of American Idol Star William Hung of what authorities called an intentional heroin overdose. "He was so young, and so lacking in talent. He made us laugh, and now's he's made us cry," one fan's blog read, only hours after the incident. But the concept of beauty derived from an unhealthy abuse of the body had already begun to wane.

With the low-carb diet craze has come a wave of elitism. "I feel better about myself," said one man, having lost 20 pounds on an Atkins-derived low-carb diet, "But more importantly, I feel like I'm better than you. As much as I enjoy the health benefits, it's the feelings of superiority that I really enjoy."

"The dieter cries out to others, 'I'm trying! Believe in me, I want to better myself!'" explained psychologist Andre Amorette, "But that cry is ignored. The dieter thinks he is doing so well, but others don't climb on the scales each morning with him, they don't see his progress. So his desire for their faith in him is replaced by his disdain for them. He is working, and they aren't. They are lazy, fools, etc. It's a known phenomenon."

Diet experts offer some helpful advice on not losing friends while losing weight. "Realize that while you may be losing weight, your friends are accomplishing things, too. They are gardening, building ships in bottles, competing for the X-Prize," explained Maureen Laury, author of 'Diet? Try It!', "These endeavors may not be as valuable as dieting, but they are still laudable. So take time to let them babble about these things, and avoid comments like, 'Really? Who cares?' and 'I've lost five pounds this week and that's all you've done?' Sincere personal interest, when mimicked properly, can be a dieter's strongest tool."
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