Health and wellness starts with the mind….at least it does in my opinion. Social media is one of the things I consume the most of everyday. I wish I could say it was not, but I use social media for so many different reasons throughout the day. For example, I went on pinterest this morning to get inspiration for a Halloween costume and I watched a YouTube video while eating my breakfast. These consumptions might feel like they are not harmful, but they can alter the decisions you make for the rest of the day if you are not being conscious about what you are consuming.
I want to focus on the health and wellness parts of social media, specifically Instagram and TikTok. There are so many different sides to the fitness industry on social media, it almost makes it impossible to know what is good for you and what is bad. Most of this information is being relayed to us by influencers who claim to be a certain level of fitness or health. Whether it’s pilate girls or gym bros, they all like to claim that they know what is best for you. As somebody who gets these types of videos all the time, I know when it is becoming too much for me and possibly unhealthy.
One video that is not uncommon for influencers to share is known as “what I eat in a day.” These videos are meant to show off what a certain person eats throughout the day, and it might include their workout routine or even grocery shopping for the ingredients. Even though these videos are supposed to be helpful for people who might need help coming up with new recipes or just looking for inspiration to eat better, these videos can become unhealthy very quickly.
Some of these videos are very well-done and have very important stories behind them. However there are some that are not as helpful. These kinds of videos usually start with a full-body shot. Why? Probably because they want to promote the body type they have to intrigue you to keep watching the video.
If you see somebody that had your dream body, you might be curious what they eat to look that way. That’s the trap. That is what they want you to believe. In reality, it does not matter what you eat. That is their body shape, their body type, not yours. You can eat that in a day if it sounds good, if it is healthy, if it meets all your dietary needs, if it fits with your work/life schedule, but please remember that if you are just doing it to be like that person…think if that works for you.
Think about how simple it would be for you to take a video of all the meals you ate in a day. Now, think about how simple it would be to leave out all the “unhealthy” things you ate that day. Now, I am in no way calling these influencers liars or bad people, I know that they are promoting their business and their lifestyle and I encourage that. I do not encourage the unrealistic and perfection aspect of the whole thing.
I love the concept of a balanced lifestyle, ironically I actually learned about 80/20 on social media. Basically, you live your best and most healthy life 80% of the time, but allow yourself to indulge in what you crave and really just want regardless of its benefits 20% of the time.
I enjoy this concept and I think that it is one way to keep your life well-balanced. If you are looking for an influencer who will share all the beauty of health and fitness, but also not hide the bad, then I highly recommend Linda Sun on all platforms, but mostly YouTube: Lindasunyt.
So basically what I mean by all this rambling is, you do not need to eat a certain way just to look like your favorite influencer. You need to eat, workout, sleep and LIVE in a way that makes you feel your best and actually works with your lifestyle.