Should You Stop Watching Them?
What I eat in a day videos are blowing up all over the internet, and I’ll fully admit that curiosity gets the better of me too. I genuinely enjoy watching this type of video because I love getting a sneak peek into the lives of others.
I’m nosy like that.
These are seemingly harmless videos we use for fitness and food inspo, but can they be deceptively dangerous?
Harpers Bazaar on Youtube is one such channel that regularly posts these videos from celebrities to models, chefs and many more all looking at the habits and routines of the rich and famous.
Kylie Jenner’s what I eat in a day has over 10 million views, so it’s clearly something that so many are obsessed with
Inspiration V’s Comparison
I feel that the dangers come when there is a very fine line between inspiration and comparison.
Inspiration, makes you look internally at the areas in which you could improve eating habits for better health, energy and vibrancy. Inspiration is about being mentally stimulated and encourages you to make positive changes in your life, it makes you take action.
Versus self-comparison that leaves you feeling less than enough, less worthy, more of a failure. Comparison leads you into inaction, or worse a negative action when you then end up in a tub of Ben & Jerry’s because you now feel that you just don’t measure up.
I often find that one of the biggest challenges that many of us face when it comes to working on eating patterns and behaviours comes down to feelings of not feeling enough. So the regular self comparison can be incredibly damaging.
And this article on the ‘Why ‘What I Eat In A Day’ Videos Can Be Bad For Your Mental Health’ states that these types of videos can be detrimental. They can:
- Cause us to idolise ‘thin’ as being good, regardless of whether that’s a healthy thin or not.
- Mislead viewers into thinking that there is a one size fits all approach
- Breed comparison and dissatisfaction
The diet industry is based upon the emphasis that ‘if they can do it, then I can do it too’. You know you have bought into this any time you buy another fitness programme or diet in the hope that you will end up looking just like they do.
And how many times have you actually achieved that??
Probably not many, if at all. That’s because the reality is that health and well-being is NEVER a one size fits all approach.
When you look at anyone’s diet programme or what I eat in a day video, you have no idea what is going on behind the scenes for that person and if they are even really healthy, or most of all, if they actually are happy.
You don’t know if they have good hormone balance, how well they sleep, they have a completely different history, different genetics, differences in metabolic flexibility, how their energy levels are, if they are restricting, obsessing, constantly feeling hungry, what their time commitments are.
There are so many complex variables that make each person unique.
What To Do Instead
You can watch all the videos, or follow the next diet programme, but at the end of it all, diet and fitness is always about figuring out what works for YOU as an individual.
If watching these videos is really inspiring, it encourages you to make feel-good positive changes then go for it.
But if these trigger you and make you feel like shit about yourself, then stop doing that to yourself.
We can look for guides and clues, but it will always come back to testing and trialling things out for yourself.
Even all of the scientific studies on training and nutrition are based on averages. Even in scientific studies, there are anomalies and outliers and only the average scores will be recorded.
Meaning there is no exact science to any of it and it always comes down to individuality.
So yes work on being healthy, but most of all, be intentional about the things in your life that truly bring you joy and happiness.
Because no matter what your body looks like on the outside, how you feel in your body is way more important.
To get a feel good health and nutrition kickstart that works with putting YOU first. CLICK HERE and joint the 5 day Better Body Kickstart challenge now
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