thinspo accounts

When I was a wee one, a young girl that is. I didn’t have the best relationship with food, I guess you could say our facebook relationship status would be, “It’s complicated,” if we were establishing it in the social media world. Which, is everything right? Totally real life. 

I used to look up “thinspo” accounts and look for tips on how to lose weight fast. Which in turn did nothing but make me feel worse about myself, no good.

[image home - NOT a thinspo account]

Thinspo accounts offer tips on how to loose weight, and the majority of them referring to the most unhealthy ways. They strengthen negative relationships with food and your body. Giving people the idea that it’s totally okay to hate yourself, compare, and wish you were like this or that person.

I look out into the world we are living in where a large part of our life is online. There are so many ways young people use, 'online-land.' Whether that be their smart phone, and personal laptop, ipad, mini iPad, you name it! It scares me because someone with an “It’s complicated” status with food could easily get sucked into the mess of negativity and hate that is out there.

[image home]

This is where I turn on a giant flash light and put it straight to your eye balls 

– time to wake up – 

smell the coffee, pick the roses whatever the hell that saying is.

Here are five thinspo tips I would see on the regular, & my take on them:

1. When you’re feeling hungry – Go to sleep & drink a large glass of water – this will help distract you from food and save on some calories.

MY TAKE: This is absolute shit, you should be drinking water on the regular throughout the day. Water is not a device for poning off nutrition. Makes no sense. 

Go to sleep? Okay then what, your stomach is hurting with pain so then you can’t even sleep in the first place. And guess what? When you wake up you’ll be twice as hungry and probably be so fed up you want to go to the nearest drive through and order a double double.

2. Sit in front of the mirror naked and watch yourself as you’re eating.

MY TAKE: What weirdo eats in their room? Okay I do sometimes, on my bed…you know you do too sometimes! Okay so I’m in my room eating….and you want me to take off my clothes and what? Sit on the floor and eat my dinner? Just to see where the food is being placed throughout my body? 

News flash: if you could actually SEE where the food was going to end up after eating it’d be to your stomach. And unless your drinking a gallon of water your stomach is not going to change drastically from what it is normally. 

And what if you don’t have a mirror in your room, do they suggest you eating in the bathroom? See how ridiculous this is sounding? Exactly. When you try and make something logical that is so far off like this it’s impossible.

3. Keep beautiful photos of people you want to look like in the cubboard and on the fridge – this will help you double think about eating snacks and munching when you don’t really need it.

MY TAKE: When you’re hosting people over what do you tell them? These are your cooking inspirations? No. “What others think” should not be the main worry about this tip. The main worry should be on the psychological torture you are giving yourself everytime you just want something to eat. 

ITS OKAY TO EAT – when people say oh it’s not gonna kill you if you eat a _____ (fill in the blank). But actually it IS going to kill you if you DON’T EAT. So do it, listen to your body and do what’s best for you…you are worth all the respect in the world, so be good to yourself.

4. Track all your food – when you’re putting in the amounts put a larger quanity of what you actually ate to motivate you to constrict more.

MY TAKE: Annnnd when do I have time to LIVE? Sorry, but if there’s a frozen yogurt shop near by, I’m getting it. 

1. Because NZ doesn’t have many around so when I do see one…it’s been a while

AND

2. I freaking love ice cream, deal with it. Don’t even get me started if they have sprinkles, I may buy the whole place out. (Isn't sarcasm great? Or, am I being sarcastic?)

Constricting yourself is only going to make you want the things you “can’t have” more….and when you do have a treat or something on the “no no list” you’re going to go ballistic and eat 100 times more than you wanted in the first place. 

You are human, treat yourself every once in a while, please, it’s all about balance. Coming from a gal who’s family had a treat bucket (yes, a bucket) treats are part of my after-dinner experience. I’m not saying go all out every night but everything in moderation peeps. Shit, now I’m really sounding like my mother…but she’s cool so just go with it.

5. Laxatives, green tea, and coffee – these will be your tools for a better you – invest now.

MY TAKE: Oh that is SO SICK. 

Laxatives – gross, they might want to add vasaline to this list as you will def need some if stuff is coming out your you know what all damn day/night. What control do you have when your body decides to put those pills in motion (like literally)? What if you’r at work? On a date? 

Green tea – big fan…..but not as my breakfast lunch and dinner. Coffee…..green tea and coffee? Seems like a lot of caffeine, and as mentioned earlier it’s all about moderation people. Too much of anything is never a good thing. 

Your body needs to be nourished, you deserve the best and that comes to you treating yourself good. If you had a friend who never showed up for hangouts, always was lying and tricking you into doing stuff you didn’t want to do, called you fat all the time, reminded you you’re ugly every time you texted…would you be their friend? No, so why should YOU treat YOURSELF that way? 

This whole group of thinspo accounts should be banned online. It grosses me out to think people make accounts (especially on tumblr) where they disguise themselves and write all of their most inner mean thoughts – putting all their negative energy into the world for others to comment on, relate to and inspire to be mean to themselves. It’s not healthy, it literally makes no sense and this is the message we need to get out to young people. Just because these messages are out there does not make them the right ones.  

These kinds of accounts put fear into people. Where there is fear there is a lack of love and love is just the thing we need. 

To love ourselves. 

One way to truly give love to others is to start with yourself.  

What are your thoughts on thinspo accounts?