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Fitspiration: doing more harm than good?

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Social media has made everything synthetic to me. Everything seems so superficial – from selfies to belfies to velfies to nailfies (this is the trend where people take pictures of their nails, because they think we are somehow really interested in that).

Trends tend to be over-rated, and the latest one is no exception. I’m talking about #fitspo. To be fair, this has been around for some time but I can only tolerate so much on my timeline.

According to Urban Dictionary, fitness inspiration aka fitspo (horrible name by the way, reminds one of poo) is when women post strong images of themselves or of their new healthy lifestyle, whether it’s food, drinks or just working out at a gym.

In my experience it’s mostly people taking selfies of themselves in gym clothes which is really weird and kind of lame.

Yes, I get it, you’re working out and you’re becoming a better person. But don’t make me feel bad about lying around, sitting and eating this delicious burger…  I’ll like the picture, if that’s what you want, but don’t try to be that fool who hashtags every single thing that you see #Imwearingshoes #withsecretsocks #nocoldfeetforme.

According to The Guardian, psychotherapist Susie Orbach says that social media has become a place where we determine and develop our insecurities on how many likes and followers we get – especially on Instagram. Our entire Instagram profile becomes a PR campaign for ourselves, where we continuously promote our life.

I sometimes find myself not posting for weeks, because I want to find that perfect picture to impress others and to find a picture better than the previous one I’ve posted to show people I’m ‘going somewhere’.

It’s sad, but true.

I know we shouldn’t analyse a simple selfie, but think about the consequences… There might be an insecure little girl looking at your picture. We are unintentionally influencing many. Some people take it personally by comparing their lives to others and that’s what social media is doing inadvertently.

Being a woman is complicated, you have days where you feel like your entire world is going to fall apart or that you’ll never be good enough, then you get days where you feel invincible and not even MC Hammer can touch this.

Some women constantly compare themselves to others and set goals that might seem unrealistic and this is where many women obsess over getting that hourglass figure or getting Kim Kardashian’s butt. Not all diets or fitness regimes are the same and will apply to every single person who tries it.

I get frustrated when some women talk about their body image and obsess over the way they look. I find woman with curves just as beautiful as those who don’t have any.

What do you think about the fitspo trend?

More on fitness:

10 top tips to building muscle and strengthening your bones

Are you using the treadmill properly?

Don't let the cold stop you from getting fit

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