Exemplification essay on informing through writer-selected topics

Eating and Clothing Preferences

Clothing Preferences and Diet as Reflections of Personalities

"You are what you eat." "You are what you wear." These are two simple yet powerful sayings that ring so true. More often than not, people's personalities are reflected in the clothes that they wear or food that they eat. Eating has a direct effect on a person's physical health, indirectly affects his/her body size, and to some extent, influences the person's perception of his/her body image. Clothing, meanwhile, are almost always directly linked with people's moods and personalities. The level of comfort and even color choice in clothes determine if a person is fun or serious, conscientious or carefree, or conscious about comfort or appearance. Oftentimes, both clothing and diet have a direct influence or link with individual personality.

Eating is more than just satisfying one's hunger; it is also a reflection of one's lifestyle. Lifestyle could be influenced by any of the following reasons: health requirements or needs, for personal or medical reasons; financial capability to buy food that satisfies one's food indulgence or food that provides complete dietary requirements; or dependency on other people to prepare food for the person to eat, either because of lack of time or lack of skill to cook or make his/her own food. Any of these lifestyles are already "clues" that will reflect the person's life or personality. For example, a woman could be eating only salads everyday, and one might think that either the woman is staying healthy and slim by eating only vegetables. It could also be that the woman is staying healthy for health reasons, and she could only prevent a health problem by eating salads. Or, it is very possible that the woman would like to follow her doctor's advice and maintain her slim figure by eating only salads.

Another example of how eating could be a reflection of one's life or personality is when a person who loves to eat (indiscriminately) could be looked at as lacking discipline to eat moderately and healthily. Another way to look at this kind of eating habit is if the individual is capable of buying healthy food that has complete dietary requirements. It is possible that the person eats unhealthy, junk or fast food is because they are cheaper and has more servings. If the person does not have enough allowance or money to satisfy his hunger in a healthy way, then it is inevitable that he would resort to another alternative, which is to buy cheap, unhealthy, yet abundant junk or fast food.