Is this normal? A guide to spotting toxic wellness culture
Ozempic, photoshop, filters. It is nearly impossible to decipher what is real and what is not in today’s world. The rise of diet culture and a push to be thin is surfacing once again, leaving many individuals, primarily adolescents and children, left confused by what is considered “normal.” This line has become blurred as influencers and other people in the media hide restriction and disordered eating behind other terms, largely part of “wellness” culture. However, their actions serve as the opposite of what wellness truly is.
Unfortunately, it has become increasingly “normal” to place a large emphasis on one’s appearance and physical body, often leading to disordered eating habits. The race to who can eat the least and workout the most, and take up the least amount of space is extremely toxic. Additionally, many fail to take into account the reality behind social media. A 15 second video captures one thing, but what happens behind the scenes may be very different.
One thing in particular that has been used to cover up disordered eating is hiding behind the facade of being “free” or saying “I can’t have that.” For example, people state that they are gluten and/or sugar free, but in reality, they are restricting themselves from certain food groups, nutrients. It is important to note that if someone has celiac disease or a certain intolerance, that is different; however, being “free” of something without medical reason is often a fancy way of saying that one restricts themself of that food.
Eating low-calorie, low-fat, low-sugar, or entirely free of these things has also become extremely normalized. While not inherently disordered, a consistent pattern of eating only these labels can exacerbate someone with a diagnosed eating disorder or trigger one. According to the National Library of Medicine, 1800-2000 calories is the minimum for adolescents and adults. (NIH). This does not take into account sports, activity, medical conditions, gender, and other factors. The amount of people eating below this with the belief that it is healthy is not normal. Counting calories, cutting out food groups, using exercise for compensation, avoiding certain foods, purging, missing menstrual cycles, bingeing, among many other behaviors are not healthy and should not be deemed as normal or something everyone goes through.
While it may be difficult to spot on social media, knowing the possibilities of false information being covered behind the screen is important to understand. On the other hand, for individuals in eating disorder recovery who choose to post their journey, may also not be sharing the full story. “What I Eat in a Day” videos are typically triggering; when individuals in “recovery” post them, some of those videos fail to share the true consumption of those meals.
It is important to be mindful of the media you are consuming and being aware that not everything is accurate or honest. While many people have fallen victim to disordered behaviors, it does not mean that it is what the standard should be, nor is it healthy.
