Truth Behind “What I Eat in a Day” Videos
Written by Vanessa Huynh (dietetic intern)
Social media has become a platform for connecting with people, sharing knowledge, and solely for entertainment. Health and wellness has always been a popular search in social media as it is an easy way for people to get advice from influencers who are pro-claimed “nutrition experts”. A nutrition content that people seem to be invested in is what people eat in a day. The harm in this is that people start comparing themselves to influencers, almost mimicking their lifestyles in an obsessive, unhealthy way. There are many reasons why we should not follow these “What I Eat in a Day ” videos.
These videos and images may not be true.
The main job of an influencer is to post images and/or videos that would attract their audience. They can post what they want and leave out parts that they feel like their followers may not agree with. So, do these influencers actually eat what they post? Do they believe the nutrition advice they are putting out to their followers? We will never know.
False nutrition information from influencers with no nutrition background.
Nutrition is one of those topics that is constantly changing with new studies and claims of a variety of things. You do not need a degree to give nutrition advice on social media as the evidence is based on a Google search, but that does not mean you should believe it. These “health coaches” and fitness experts with no nutrition credentials are providing nutrition advice to their clients that may not be catered to the client’s biological health, lifestyle, and beliefs.
Unknown privilege and toxic mindsets about food and eating.
Most “What I Eat in a Day” videos are advertised as clean-eating or healthy-eating, when in reality, “clean” and “healthy” can be perceived differently. If an influencer is making a different healthy or clean meal every day that utilizes all fresh, organic ingredients and takes over an hour to make, then I assume the rest of us are “unhealthy” eaters. Most people do not have the time to prepare meals from scratch or eat three meals a day. Sometimes convenient foods are consumed more than home-cooked meals. For most people who work a nine-to-five job, have kids, or are just trying to make it through the day, these videos are not realistic. These videos exclude people of different cultures, lifestyles and socioeconomic backgrounds who are not familiar or do not have access to these so-called “clean” and “healthy” foods.
All foods are nutritious in their own way. It is important to have a variety of different foods, as well as balanced meals and snacks to get in different vitamins and minerals. Instead of obsessing on how we should look or what we should eat based on social media, we need to focus on nourishing our bodies the best we can to get through the day. You have more important things to worry about than following a “What I Eat in a Day” video.
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The Truth Behind “What I Eat in a Day” Videos - Dallas Nutritional Counseling
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