Is Fit the New Thin?

Since writing this blog I have noticed one thing, thinspiration is going out of fashion! We women have been so obsessed with our body image and wanting to be 'thin' so much so that many took it to extremes with ProAna and seeking motivation to develop an eating disorder. 

Thinspo sites are very popular with young girls and also older generations and they became so easy to come across with the utilization of social networking sites such as Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram etc. sites of this nature promote and advertise diets and dieting techniques which forces result in making men and women go on drastic diets just to try to loose weight when the people on the advertisements have a very low body fat percentage to begin with or  are in "contest preparation" for either bodybuilding shows or photo shoots. It is false advertising and ad companies use a certain super-human figure to sell products to a desperate people who want to lose weight. This kind of advertising tricks people into thinking a diet works. 

 
Over the past few years organizations, celebrities and other elitists have attempted to change this way of thinking by creating documentaries on the dangers of anorexia, the importance of a healthy life style and trying to boost body confidence , but although helping the minority, they didn't beat the power of thinspo.

At long last the power of thinspiration is slowly dying! There will always be people suffering from eating disorders and wanting to be stick thin but this new 'fitspiration' is changing the way many people improve their image. It's no longer about starvation or fad diets but its about being fit! 

Over the past few months the amount of people who have been inspired to become fit and healthy, with a healthy diet and exercise is outstanding! I have been bombarded by this new lifestyle on facebook, twitter, tumblr, blogs and other sites and its now all the rage! 

I remember when I started going to the gym three years ago, none of my friends went, not many people I knew had any desire to get particularly fit and weight training rarely crossed peoples minds. Obviously, experts were still harping on about the importance of a healthy diet but this new phenomenon has had much more impact. I dont think I know anyone who hasn't been to a gym in the month! 








This a huge movement in the world of health and fitness and you never know, we may just see thinspo die out altogether! fingers crossed!

Under Pressure!

As much as I would love to say as a media student I don't give in to representations of models etc. in the media, but it is very difficult when you flick through a magazine, go on websites, twitter, facebook, tumblr, Instagram and see so many images of skinny or fit women.

For example, take a look at these:


tumblr - thinspiration

drop-dead-thin.tumblr

or these...

Basically, it’s a lot of pictures of some very beautiful but very thin women. The two pictures above are what many of us want to be - gorgeous and very slim. I myself find it difficult not to want to be like them, so much so that I feel I should be dieting or at the gym 24/7. Who wouldn't want to be sexy??

But the reality is, is that it’s not always what we think it is.


This is the reality:

 

IS THIS ATTRACTIVE??

It’s amazing what you can do with Photoshop! But the reality of what anorexia causes is much less glamorous.

There may be nothing wrong with wanting to be thin but what these thinspiration sites do is force people to become anorexic. The amount of rules and tips and images that promote an unhealthy lifestyle is growing!


So, next time you look at the first kind of photo and then remind yourself of the second kind. Anorexia is not pretty!

40 Reasons to... worry?

So after doing a bit of research and scrolling through umpteen pro thinspo sites this one definitely caught my eye... and my conscience!

check out this Prothinspo site
 

As you can see it starts with '40 reasons to starve yourself'' and if your anything like me after reading just a few you couldn’t help but let your jaw drop!

This is why such sites are so concerning and can be fatal to the younger generations. Are people becoming so desperate and so stupid to believe such crap? I would like to think not but the fact that such nonsense is published online is rather worrying.

I know how it feels to be the fat kid and I can see how young girls especially will believe such rubbish. If you’re that desperate you will try anything to become thin but this just makes me feel slightly nauseous. There is a reason you become hungry, your body needs food to survive and as it stands your body needs food to lose weight to raise your metabolism - so these tips are obviously not fact!

As someone who has struggled with their weight since the age of 7, being on and off diets since I was in primary school and being bullied for about 6 years due to my weight, yea, I can see myself taking some of these on board, which is why it’s such a worry. Young women need help with their self esteem and body confidence and this method is down right unacceptable!

Just by reading these I myself, a 21 year old of a healthy weight, feels put off from eating today. If it has this effect on someone like me who knows the dangers of starvation and malnourishment imagine what this could do to someone 10 years younger.

For those of you who are struggling with your weight and are tempted to try such tips, I urge you not to. I know everyone is banging on about how healthy eating and exercise is the best method of weight loss and it seems much more difficult than cutting out food altogether, but it’s because it’s true. I know because I had to realize it to. I have to say I'm slightly hypocritical in the way I'm trying to stop thinspiration and pro Ana sites. When I started University 3 years ago I got into bad habits, cut down my calories to a minimal amount and went to the gym most days to burn off any calories I ate. Yes, I lost weight, yes I dropped about 4 dress sizes but instead I gained problems with anxiety, bad digestion, depression and my immune system hit an all time low and I was lucky if I had a week in which I wasn't ill with a cold, flu, tonsillitis etc. Starvation is definitely not the way forward and this is why I'm raising this awareness. From someone who's been there - it’s NOT worth it!


Ok, enough with the ranting, but this site is also hurt me a little inside because after reading number 13 apparently I'm harbouring a parasite! Looking back over them and the pure nonsense is actually rather amusing.

'Have you ever seen a person NOT notice a walking skeleton?' - I wonder if they know people aren't noticing them in awe but rather in slight concern and possibly cringing at the sight - because in all fairness, that skinny just ain't pretty!

What's Thinspo?

Thinspo is an abbreviation of Thinspiration, the inspiration to become thin. This is also known as ProAna (Pro anorexia). This is more common within teenage girls but it is taking over social networking sites such as Twitter and Tumblr.

Its obvious that such sites cause concern as anorexia and other extreme methods of weight loss such as bulimia are classed as eating disorder and categorized as a mental illness, therefore these sites are effectively promoting mental illness as some sort of weight loss method.

There are numerous amounts of websites, blogs, forums, books, phone applications etc. that aid people in weight loss but these sites take weight loss to an extreme.

If you have ever come across a thinspo site, you will have noticed there is a general theme. They are completely made up of fiction. Nowhere on these sites is there any 'science' as such and there are definitely no tips or information on how to lose weight in a healthily way.

These site are purely aimed at teenagers between the age of 13 to about 21, and cater for a majority of females. Although the sites don't mention who the site is actually for other than 'people who want to be thin' it is apparent that these sites are made by young women who aspire to be thin and who suffer from an eating disorder. This is suggested through the lack of facts and common sense and the vast amount of pictures of very young thin women.

This blog is to raise awareness of some of these sites and what they include but it will also bring to attention the facts of what these 'thinspo' tips will really do to your body. This blog will also give you an insight to the many ways in which you can lose weight healthily and will inform you of how to build a healthy metabolism and the importance of BMI.