Trainer » body goals

‘Are You Beach Ready’ – Is The Media Inspirational or Dangerous?

Christina Helen Brown — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 15:01:38 +0000

In a day and age where media is a major part of our life, we can’t help but Google everything we need more information about, even if that is the ‘ideal’ body. More often than not what we find isn’t necessarily a healthy inspiration.

It’s all too easy to ‘#hashtag’ a craze of ‘body goals’, you’ll find images of women with skinny waists, thick thighs, big breasts and long legs. If this isn’t the look for you, then the other option is extremely skinny, thigh gaps and muscular toned abs.

Ladies there is nothing wrong wanting the ideal body, after all it’s your body but each of us should consider to stay as healthy as possible along the way. There are excellent images swarming the net of powerful women who have exercised the right way and have great bodies, their purpose on the net is to inspire all women, especially young ones that think being extremely thin is healthy, they are present to support women with all eating disorder problems.

IMPORTANT : Young girls get mislead easily into a world of unhealthy body goals. What they forget is that being thin means losing muscle mass along with bone mass. Once this occurs the body puts itself into survival mode, shutting down what it believes as less important body functions such as reproduction and digestion.

Another thing to remember is that many of these images have been retouched.

‘It’s not always as it seems’. Although many fitness obsessed individuals have extremely fit bodies, they still might not be deemed internet worthy. They will be airbrushed and edited in such a way that is ‘acceptable’. Keep in mind that not all of us are created to be stick thin or have veins bulging out with a statement that says Hey everyone! I am gym obsessed.

Love yourself.

It shouldn’t matter what you look like, your size or skin colour, big boobs or no boobs, who cares? Unless you feel unhappy then make a change to a healthier lifestyle but don’t seek to look like anyone else but yourself. You don’t need a six pack, you just need to help reduce the fat you’ve longed to get rid of. If it’s trouble with cellulite or extra skin after child birth, make sure you target these areas and not just put on a waist trainer because everyone else is doing it too.

So ask yourself what you’re unhappy about, write it down if you must and beside it a strategy of how you will achieve this.

You must exercise!

Many women who are fascinated by these body goal images are often women who already feel very insecure in their own skin, their intimidated and powerless, or so they believe. But the key is to stop feeling sorry for yourself, to stop admiring someone else in their body and start loving your own. The only way to do so is by simply exercising and eating healthier. Join a gym, start a exercise class and most importantly, throw away all your kitchen temptations.

Who comes up with these?

‘Couples who train together, stay together’ , ‘ Real women have muscles’ , ‘Thigh gap goals’ ???

The only thing that is being said here is women should be skinny, they can’t possibly make a relationship work if they can’t fit into size 0 jeans. I can only say this is all complete garbage, a horrible and nasty way to lure in young girls and women into an industry filled with pills and potions. The only one benefiting is the slimming companies that girls will throw money at to be the perfect girl with the perfect body.

Voluptuous Goals

I don’t know about you, but as a young woman it frightens me. Young girls love to follow their celebrity crushes, a prime example was the waist trainer. The second celebrities started to post images of them ‘ training ‘ in these tight corsets the market for them boomed! Every girl wanted one, different colors, more sizes ( smaller sizes ) but did anyone sit down and ask for more information about them? I ordered one myself and you’d be surprised to hear that it didn’t come with a set if instructions or to my surprise information of risks and even benefits for that matter. It was like simply receiving a new item of clothing from a local store. It is important that no one should be forced to look a certain way in order to love their own body.

What can I do?

Start to love your body
Buy clothing that complements the body we have
Pamper and appreciate yourself
Drink plenty of water, everyday!
Take care of your skin and body
Exercise
Complement yourself now and again.
AND TURN OF THE COMPUTER!

Effects of Social Media on Eating Disorders

Christina Helen Brown — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 10:19:27 +0000

Social-media sites have come under fire in recent years for hosting content promoting eating disorders. Commonly known as “thinspiration,” “thinspo,” “pro-ana” and “pro-mia,” searches on these terms return images of emaciated bodies and suggestions from users about how to develop or sustain an eating disorder. And we all know the craze of the ‘#’. It’s very simple to #bodygoals and be be swarmed down under with thousands of photos of the ‘ideal body’.

Several key characteristics of social media make it an ideal place to promote the pro-eating-disorder mentality, including:

1. Increased exposure to information related to dieting and weight loss.

Dieting mentality has become normative in our culture, in part because people flock to social media to publicize their diet, weight-loss strategies and results.

For example, “thigh gap” is a popular unhealthy body ideal discussed widely in pro-eating-disorder social-media sites.

2. A medium for social comparison.

The literature tells us that social comparison affects deficits in self-esteem.In reality, this content results in feelings of inferiority, inadequacy and body dissatisfaction in otherwise normal women and can compel an urgent need to take action through restriction, purging or over-exercising to achieve greater thinness among those struggling with negative body image or an eating disorder.

3. The social-media paradox.

Social media seeks to promote connection with others, but for many at risk for or suffering from eating disorders, it supports isolation and withdrawal from real-world relationships. For those already dealing with interpersonal difficulties and issues around self-esteem and confidence, spending too much time online in their social networks is a means of avoidance, passivity and minimizing direct communication with people.

4. Anonymity.

Eating disorders thrive in secrecy. The high-achieving, perfectionistic, people-pleasing individuals who tend to suffer from these complex illnesses often go to great lengths to hide their intense body dissatisfaction and eating-disorder behaviors.

Start Using Social Media Productively

1. Avoid pro-eating-disorder content altogether, no matter your stage of recovery.

Despite administrative efforts by various social-media sites to eliminate “thinspiration” content, there will always be unhealthy content and opinions somewhere online. Simply put, avoid this content because engaging with pro-eating-disorder mentality reinforces body dissatisfaction and challenges recovery.

2. Engage with recovery-focused eating-disorder content and communities.

Seek out communities and resources to help you and your loved ones understand these complex illnesses and garner support from those at similar stages of the recovery journey. Personal narratives of recovery are particularly common and powerful in social media.

3. Consider blogging or sharing your story.

Writing, along with most other forms of creative expression, can be healing for those struggling with eating disorders. Commit to sharing your story in recovery-focused communities in a way that feels comfortable to you. Start a blog that is visible and inspiring to anyone, or just share updates related to your recovery progress with friends and followers.

4. Limit your time on social media.

While social media can provide a supportive community, establishing real-world connections and nurturing relationships with friends, loved ones and colleagues are equally important in the recovery journey.

5. Report pro-eating-disorder content to site administrators.

It’s important that social-media administrators continue to receive feedback about dangerous pro-eating-disorder content in their communities and the potential impact it has on users. While previous efforts to remove, contain or limit access to unhealthy content have been largely ineffective in stunting the reach of this dangerous mentality, unified voices calling for action can only compel sites to do more to protect their users.