Fitness and Nutrition on social media

Image via @lumedecor

Fitness Inspiration has learnt its own hashtag – #fitspo and Nutrition comes in a million different packages. 

I wanted to share this really quickly because social media and the trending #fitspo hashtag feed the illusion that the answers to what you should eat to feel and be well are ‘out there’.  Let me remind you, they’re not.

My Nutrition Philosophy

Eat anything you want.
Eat as much as you want, as long as you make it yourself.

I love good food and am grateful to have grown up picking produce from our yard and making things by hand.
Food and cooking is about fostering connections, not only with each other but with our heritage, animals, plants and the earth.
I learned more about nutrition and the incredible symbiotic relationship between food and nature from my own passion, self led study and the work of Michael Pollan than I did studying Nutrition & Food Science at University.

If you want to truly understand something, immerse yourself in it wholly.

Don’t buy into the idea that people with mainstream tertiary education or some vague certification know best.
They’re taught what industries want them to be taught.

Follow your curiosity.
Learn from nature.
Connect.
Put your hands in the dirt.
Nobody cares if you’re vegetarian, vegan, fruitarian, a carnivore, paleo or if you hate gluten.
Get back into your kitchen and make real food.
Eat well. Be well.

Fitness on social media

Social media is MEDIA.
Which means it has motive to put in front of you what it wants you to see. The result the media has in mind when putting together your newsfeed has nothing to do with your greater good. Take Facebook’s constant algorithm changes and Instagram’s announcement for changes to it’s newsfeed for example.

Brands who are prepared to spend money to get their product in front of you pay their way into your newsfeed. Or they round up a few ‘influencers’ to sip from coconuts and convince you that you’d be thinner, have a clearer complexion and probably have the confidence to ditch your shitty boyfriend if you chugged the same magic potions they do.

There is nothing organic about it. No pun intended.

This article on the rise of #fitspo – that’s fitspiration or ‘fitness inspiration’ – bloggers and ‘social media influencers’ is a brilliant read.
[Tweet “Not everybody is who they post to be.”]

Especially when they’re swinging from hammocks, MacBooks perched on their laps and a trusty bottle of Bali Body nestled into the sand.

I wrote about the effects of social media and body shaming after my own run in with a disgruntled woman online. I also surveyed over 60 women on how social media influences their food choices and body confidence.

[Tweet “You make the rules with what you nourish your body with.”]

Does your social media newsfeed have you feeling more outcast than inspired?
I’d love to hear your stories and thoughts on social media in the realm of wellness.