Hashtags, health & fitness (and overcoming negative body behaviors)

Social media is fantastic in connecting people all over the world. Recipes, mini-workouts, health products and fitness fashion. Everything is virtually (excuse the pun) available at the touch of a button. The problem: It offers a false sense of reality. This is not the real world people!

  Checking-in to a gym and posting gym selfies has two effects; it either leaves people feeling inspired or feeling self- conscious. Hash tags such as #cleaneating and #foodporn represent two things; restrictive eating or gorging. What on earth happened to common sense and enjoying life in moderation? All we have become is a self-absorbed society.  

#Hashtags, health & fitness

  Health and fitness has become more about punishing your body after you’ve had a #cheatmeal. Health and fitness has become more about looking aesthetically pleasing. Health and fitness has become what society exposes you to. What does a fit and healthy person look like anyway? Guaranteed we will all have a different answer.

3 T's - Tall, Tanned, Thin

  Females are striving for the 3 T’s – Tall, Tanned, Thin and then we have the complexity of our male counterparts, struggling between their #bulking and #shredding phases. It is alarming how easily manipulated young people become by this ‘fake’ world. They are drawn into the social media images and think that they are authentic and inspirational. Just like filters can illustrate a person’s “perfect” life, that person can also ‘filter’ what they want to show. We rarely see the whole picture. We only see a highlight reel of someone’s’ life. When consulting with our patients, we often ask for their goals. We hear responses such as: “I want an a*** like Kim K” or “I want to look skinny like Miranda Kerr.” Don’t get us wrong, these women are beautiful in their own right. How can the public avoid these people when they are flooding our newsfeeds and headlines? What ever happened to having the realistic ambition of being the best version of you?