Everyone has seen at least one health influencer on TikTok or any social media app. You may have gone to social media for some healthy meal inspiration or to lose weight. But, have you realized how some habits these health influencers are promoting include counting calories consistently, promoting undereating, “clean eating,” and shaming people for eating junk food or anything they have suddenly deemed unhealthy?
Meals:
There is a fine line between disordered eating and discipline that these influencers talk about. The focus is on young people, such as teens and young adults. Influencers are reshaping how these young people think about themselves and food. In this video, the influencer explains what she eats in a day. To start, she drinks a matcha and coconut water with cinnamon, and in her words, she “puts cinnamon in her drink to suppress her appetite,” which is very unhealthy. That is everything she eats before 12:00 am. That is not enough to have energy to do anything productive. She continues the videos at 2:00 pm, eating two figs and three Brazil nuts. At 5:00 pm, she has a very small portioned salad with purple yams. At the end of her video, she says, “Whenever you feel like overeating, put that fork down.” Now, I’m no dietician, but that isn’t enough food in a day to keep anyone thriving and focused. What she deems “overeating” is any normal person’s appetite throughout the day. She is not well enough to be telling anyone how to eat to lose weight.
There is no reason anyone should feel bad about eating properly from a toxic, malnourished influencer. I’ve seen a lot of teens fall victim to these influencers’ lies on TikTok. Specifically, TikTok lets all of these videos of people praising eating disorders, when people glorify them and call them disciplined and clean.
Workout Routines:
Have you ever seen those TikToks of those “gym rats” that go to the gym 5 days a week for hours on end while holding a full-time job and still having endless motivation? Well, that is not a realistic workout schedule, especially for teens. Teenagers have jobs, hobbies, and sports, so going to the gym for almost an entire week without getting burnt out is very rare. Teens also need social time with friends and schoolwork. Some examples of these unhealthy posts are this specific quote people use, “be uncomfortable going to the gym or be uncomfortable in your body all summer,” which is not a healthy way of thinking and promoting to people starting to lose weight. It advertises that you have to go to the gym to feel comfortable in your body, which isn’t true at all. You can eat whatever you want and barely go to the gym, or not at all, and still feel great about yourself because nothing was wrong with your body in the first place.
Another huge example is those almost clickbait videos of the title being, “workouts to lose __ pounds under __ days/month.” Losing an excessive amount of pounds in one month is so toxic to your body and can damage you for years on end. It can lead to significant muscle loss, leading to dizziness, fainting, fatigue, hair loss, severe nutrient deficiency, and dehydration. This can cause conditions like gallstones in your body. This is very serious and should not be taken lightly.
So many people fall victim to these influencer schemes. If you want to lose weight healthily or to get some good, healthy tips on workouts or healthier diets, an account to check out is @gymnutritionfitness. He reviews healthy eating videos and critiques, and gives healthy diet tips without shaming others. Another person who breaks stereotypes and “food rules” is @no.food.rules. She helps with the bad thoughts that you can get when going to the gym or eating certain foods. You are never alone, and you are loved.
