This post is similar to my post from last week about comparison. The focus of this one will be on physical health. Last week was a broad discussion on comparing yourself to others, but this post is going to talk more about social media, eating, and overall health.
Today, anyone that has an Instagram and has some muscle tone thinks they are a health guru. They will caption their overly edited, overly thought out, incredibly posed photos with things like “eat this and workout like this to get abs like me” or “Follow this plan for guaranteed 6-pack abs, and rapid weight-loss”. These ‘influencers’ and captions are detrimental. People with zero qualifications (outside of them having a “picture perfect body”) to be giving out nutritional and fitness advice in the matter-of-fact terms in which they do. The constant pushing of the message at the core of it all of ‘do all of these things so you are like me and not like you’ is a major issue when it comes to self-love and self-esteem. Everyone has a smart phone, which makes access to these kinds of messages incredibly easy, especially for teens. The main demographic that uses various forms of social media are teens, whom are already constantly thinking about fitting in and being liked, and now are followed (pardon the pun) by the never ending need to appear a certain way. In terms of body image, this is where unhealthy relationships with food and even exercise begin to develop. When your health becomes something you are concerned with so that you can look a certain way, in order to fit in, it no longer becomes your health.
Like I said last week, living to be someone you are not is not how you win at the game called life. You are merely existing when you are striving to be someone other than who you are. You should exercise because you like how you feel after you finish and because you want to, not because “Samantha got 1000 likes on her picture at the beach and has abs and I want to be like her”. Be fit for the life you want to live, eat foods you enjoy and that support a healthy life, and stop worrying about the likes and follows and comments you get on your social media accounts. With that, I will leave you with this quote I saw the other day. If my words don’t register with you and you take only one thing away from this post, let it be the image below. We are all amazingly different people and should strive to be the best version of our self that we can be. Originals are so much better than remakes or sequels, so live life as yourself and not as the attempt to be someone else.
PD's Wellness 