My darling friend and former editor, Ellen of Fired N Fabulous, is a faithful reader of a healthy living blog. That blog was featured in Marie Claire along with five others collectively known as the "Big 6" of healthy living blogs. They hosted a Healthy Living Summit and out of it came an article focusing on the negative aspects of these blogs.
In it, the writer claimed the blogs were full of pictures of emaciated women who ran miles upon miles to end their days claiming to be "so hungry".
As you can imagine there was quite an uproar when their loyal followers heard about this (because they featured the article on their blogs with rebuttals).
I bring this up because the article implies (sometimes flat out states) that because these women detail their workouts, food intake and other "healthy" aspects of their lives on a public forum like a blog that they have eating disorders. That food sabotaging is a problem (hell, I should do it more often in my humble opinion) and these sites are breeding grounds for eating disorders.
I don't personally read the sites though I have added them to my google reader so I can check them out but it got me to thinking about my own blog. Am I both narcissistic and suffering from a low self-esteem because I let you in on my own trials and tribulations while on my weight loss quest? Do I promote unhealthy habits? Am I creating little women with eating disorders because after indulging I think to myself, I'm going to regret that when I get on the scale tomorrow?
My personal opinion is no. I struggle daily with my weight. But I want to get healthy for the right reasons- 1. I want to be healthy for a long time 2. I want to feel great about myself. Do I think I will have a better life if I am skinnier? No. I believe that by getting healthy I will be more focused, have a more positive outlook, be able to do more things and generally just enjoy life more. 3. Yes, I want to feel good about myself. Yes, I think if I lost some weight I would enjoy wearing my clothing (or not) a little more. No, I don't think this is bad.I think overall my goals combine into just being a better version of myself.
And, if when you read my blog you take the wrong thing from it...well, I think that's on you. If something I say triggers a negative reaction in you than it is up to you to remove the temptation (well, I'll miss you as a reader if the case is that you can't read this anymore) and cope with it in a healthy way. Your actions after you read my blog are not my (or any other bloggers) responsibility. However, this article really got my thinking so I want to clear a few things up:
1. My BMI is overweight. My weight is "above average" (not in a good way).You might not think it is fat, but my doctor and I agree it is. Deal with it.
2. I'm not a doctor. A trainer. A dietician. A nutritionist. I can only share with you what is working or not working for me. I can only share with you things I read that spoke to me (or didn't). It's up to you what you make of it.
3. I condone loving yourself and being the best YOU. I hope that I help you in some way.I do not condone eating disorders. I do not condone over exercising. I do not condone feeling badly about yourself because you are too fat, too thin, too whatever for the rest of the world. If I don't then I hope you have a good laugh at me (with me since I'm laughing at myself 90% of the time).
What is your opinion of blogs out there? Have you ever read someone's blog and thought they've gone overboard? How have you reacted to that? Do you ever read something that you wrote and think, gosh I sound like I have a problem (my daily weigh-in to some people leads them to think I am obsessed with my weight more so than is healthy). This article and rebuttal really got me thinking and I would love to know all your thoughts. I think its an important conversation to have!
*The blog in question is Healthy Tipping Point. The rebuttal in question can be found here along with the article it responds to. Check them out and let me know what you think!
3 comments:
Maybe I am just oblivious, but I read tons of blogs and haven't read any that I would think are encouraging bad behaviors. If anything I come away with it realizing that I really should eat better. Not because the reader is anorexic or trying to make me be that way ... but because I live off of pizza and French fries! Really I just come out of blogs with a desire to be healthier!
I checked out the blog in question. I'm baffled that someone could complain about it!
~RR
I too was blown away. I am reading blogs nearly every day and to react like this person I think is crazy. I agree with your post. If you do not have a lot of people around you with healthy lifestyles why cannot we use the technology available to us and network that way? I look at it as an opportunity to meet and interact with people who have similar goals to me. I choose to make it a positive experience and not look for a negative one.
Thanks for the comments guys! I know so many people commented on their blogs and many of them read it daily. I've never read a blog that I've thought "oh my god, they have a problem" and I checked these out and none of them gave me that vibe either!
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