In late September of last year, I decided to take my diet more seriously. I went to a couple’s wedding, and my suits were…let’s say, a little snug.
I’ve always loved to exercise, but I’ve always loved to eat. Last year, I trained for a grueling marathon, and after finishing it, no one ever had the last. Obviously, I had sailed past an age Eat whatever you want as long as you go for a jog.
Simply put: I didn’t care about myself, it showed, and I felt it.
So I vowed to think more about my eating habits. Right away, I knew the TikTok algorithm. Because your five-year plan seems to know what you’re up to before you do it. That’s when I stumbled into the vast wormhole of what I’ll call DietTok, a subset of TikTok dedicated to nutrition, eating habits, exercise, and weight loss. It’s a combination of all the worst parts of diet culture in the US – the fad diets, the body shaming – Using an algorithm that feeds you this content recursively.
With its programming, TikTok will always lead you towards content that you find interesting, good or bad. When I adopted a dog, I wrote about how my online life changed overnight – it was the same with committing to a healthier lifestyleAnd Except much more harmful. The world of crash diets and influencers spreading pseudoscientific acronyms is dangerous. But over the past seven months or so, I’ve also seen the helpful bits of DietTok, the people trying to give practical, realistic advice and encouragement.
Every other creator on TikTok seems to be running on a scale weight loss journey Or promote how they get a six pack. Analyzing your way through this morass is essential for anyone interested in what may be going on In reality Be healthy.
Browse diet tips on TikTok
Before we go too far into the murky depths of DietTalk, it’s important to understand how to get there good Nutrition advice. So I called Kristi Harrison, a registered dietitian and author of the books The wellness trap(Opens in a new tab) And Anti-diet(Opens in a new tab). Her first tip? maybe no Rely on social media for nutrition facts.
Studies have shown, and my own experience IRL, that harmless research on health and wellness can lead to misinformation and even dangerous eating disorder content.
“That’s a risk and it’s a big problem with these platforms,” Harrison told Mashable. “(Consider) not putting yourself in the crossfire of this hose of misinformation when you’re vulnerable. (Consider) allowing yourself to take some time, step away from social media, and see what you can look for elsewhere. But also be mindful The fact that our desire to lose weight, get healthier, change our diet, or exercise is itself often driven by diet culture.”
There is good cause for concern with social media and TikTok in particular when it comes to your health. released a study(Opens in a new tab) The past year has shown that several popular nutrition TikToks are pushing diet and weight loss culture. University of Vermont researchers found that only three percent of posts were weight-inclusive. Another study showed that adolescents(Opens in a new tab) Content about disordered eating was shown within 30 minutes of joining TikTok. Ozempic, the diabetes drug people use to lose weight, has even become a trend(Opens in a new tab) on the platform.
That’s scary, especially since young adults are practically using TikTok as their search engine. Search TikTok now for terms like “weight loss journey” or “weight loss,” and pull warnings off the platform. Poor or harmful weight-related content on the Internet is no new. Tumblr has had serious problems(Opens in a new tab) With the pro-anorexia communities, YouTube influencers have long been making unrealistic “what I eat in a day” videos. But with TikTok, you can’t always escape this type of content due to the unique For You Page experience. Also, if people are using TikTok as a search engine, they are using it for what it is the answers. Think of the many tricks and tricks you’ve learned from TikTok—some helpful, some not—and now apply that to your body and health. This is a risky proposition.
Credit: Screenshot: TikTok
Credit: Screenshot: TikTok
It’s not like people are going to give up on social media or TikTok completely. How do you identify bad information? Harrison recommends using the SIFT method(Opens in a new tab) From digital literacy expert Mike Caulfield telling people to stop and investigate sources, find better coverage, and trace claims back to their origin. Basically: slow down. It’s one thing for TikTok to be considered fact if it’s harmless animal fact; It’s another thing when it comes to your body. Harrison noted that he understands that the most outrageous people with fashionable pretenses may rise to the top. Ignore them and find out what He works You and not claiming to hack the system. And if you have a doctor you trust, talk to him or her first.
weight loss journey
At first, I found being on DietTalk a little intimidating. There are a lot of people promoting bad things. I’ve been sucked down a rabbit hole of a man who claimed to have lost weight via extreme fasting and thought the calories weren’t real. (They are) Indeed Believes him, but his content was attractive. So guess who appeared on my feed? (Note: I will not associate with people who promote unhealthy or incorrect things. Just trust that they exist.) I’ve seen people claim that He is Much healthier to get off the diet and lose a lot of weight very fast. I saw a kid imitating the liver king(Opens in a new tab). And I’ve seen many people replace delicious foods with bad, unsustainable alternatives.
Diet culture is deeply entwined in American culture, so she teases that it will have a huge imprint on TikTok. We’ve been reinventing ways to starve our bodies or lose weight quickly for decades. What is keto if not Atkins? Neither is the same as a supported carnivore diet(Opens in a new tab) By “manly” right-wing men? We’re always finding ways to bring back the old diets, so why should TikTok be any different? According to Harrison, a man named William Banting(Opens in a new tab) He was pushing a low-carb, meat-heavy diet in the 19th century. Diet culture never goes away; It just shifts according to the platform and times. For example: Harrison’s latest book explores the surrounding culture healthwhich (my words, not hers) can often mean diet but, you know, green juice.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t real useful content out there. I’ve found Adam Sullivan, the Australian coach who affectionately refers to his audience by the c word (again, Australian) while giving sound advice that’s real-world. Shockingly, wild things are like no single bad food(Opens in a new tab) And calories are real (but not to be feared) — and you can’t gain or lose them(Opens in a new tab) tons of fat in a short period of time. It was a breath of fresh air and, honestly, a reminder to myself that I was trying to improve my lifestyle, not hack my way into what a society deems acceptable. (Also, I could hear an Australian read the phone book because accent rules, so that helped.)
With time — eight months now — I’ve been able to settle into a healthy routine that works for me. It’s something like intuitive eating. Just look at the meals I’ve been preparing to celebrate Successionfinal season. They are only diet food, yet I have lost weight.
What weight did you lose? It’s none of your damn business. Because I know putting an exact number out there, on a public platform for the world to see, might not be a healthy idea.
If chatting with Harrison and being on TikTok during *~weight loss journey~* has taught me anything, it’s that a weight loss journey is a fool’s errand. I feel like it’s something that people post on TikTok for leverage and, more often than not, to sell the idea of it they You have the solutions. The truth is, there is no universal truth to losing weight. It will be different for everyone.
My weight has been fluctuating since high school, the scale has fluctuated as I’ve gotten older, and it took me ages to realize there is no secret to losing weight. A journey means that there is an end point, a future destination, and a number to focus on. But being more aware of what you’re putting into your body allows you to enjoy the present.
My FYP is pretty much back to normal — cooking lessons, dog videos, and niche comedy. Maybe I get less diet content because I’ve never been on a diet.