Facebook diet: social media users lose weight after seeing their bad photos

Users of the popular social network are faced with an unexpected, but useful effect of “freezing” in the virtual space. As the New York Daily News writes, nutritionists and psychologists are talking about the “Facebook diet”: a new phenomenon that makes people who see themselves in a photo in an unpresentable angle, first clutch their heads in horror, and then quickly make changes to their eating habits. and lifestyle.

Sometimes the photos in which we are marked in social networks can discourage the desire not only to eat in front of the computer, but to eat in general.
As it turns out, sometimes a snapshot from the Internet can do what a mirror could not do for many years. Active users of social networks upload gigabytes of selfies showing their appearance from the best side. Self-portraits adjusted from the point of view of the angle and edited deform the person’s ideas about himself; however, this castle in the air can collapse in a moment – it is enough for one of your friends or relatives to mark you in an amateur photo from real life.

Social networks have been captured by a wave of “Facebook diet” – it turned out that an ordinary photo showing how you really look, without a carefully rehearsed pose and filters that improve pictures, can become a powerful motivation for losing weight.

According to experts, a photo in social networks turns out to be more eloquent and intelligible than any words: if a loved one hints aloud that someone could lose a couple of kilos, this can become a reason for resentment, but will not save you from an extra sandwich. Another thing is an ordinary snapshot from family gatherings or a weekend with friends, in which an extra chin or a “roller” hanging over the belt of jeans become visible in all its glory.
Jody Shau from New York is a prime example of how the Facebook diet works. “When I saw a photo posted by my sister on Facebook of me holding my nephew, smiling happily, and my huge plump arms do not show the slightest hint of muscle, I immediately ran to the simulator,” says the 34-year-old resident of the West Village area. Now Jodie has something to brag about: she seriously took up her figure, monitors nutrition, and finally heeded the persuasion of her husband, the coach, to work out regularly in the gym. The American has already lost 5 kg and continues to improve her physical shape, never tired of thanking that very photo. True, she did not mark herself on it.
Healthy lifestyle consultant Kevin Audley, commenting on the Facebook diet phenomenon, notes that, undoubtedly, different people react differently to the unpleasant truth of life: Do my friends just tolerate me? and immediately start making positive changes in your life. And someone will just once again feel sorry for himself and buy another ice cream as a consolation.

Experts in nutrition and eating behavior are pleased that more and more people are drawing the right conclusions and going the first way, thanks in part to the fact that social network users are happy to take part in all kinds of relay races and flash mobs, inspired by a positive example. In the case of the Facebook Diet, the reward is far more visible and tangible than the ephemeral “likes” from online friends.

Stephanie Fiore, 22, is a Facebook Diet veteran. A year ago, she was a typical victim of a student lifestyle: fun feasts and nightly eating fast food turned a miniature Italian into a shapeless creature with three chins and weighing under 80 kg. “Mom constantly told me that I had to go to the gym, but I didn’t want to listen to her or look in the mirror,” Stephanie recalls. However, you can’t hide from the photos in the feed: the girl was tired of admiring her blurry figure in the online photo albums of her friends. She set herself a strict ban on libations and significantly limited the composition and volume of food servings. This gave a wonderful result: thanks to the “Facebook diet”, a medical school student lost 18 kg in a year, became an activist of Weight Watchers and today poses on her social network page not with a burger and beer, but with a glass of water.
You can treat social networks differently: for some, this is a way to spend a lot of time on who knows what, for others, it is the only mechanism possible in the modern world to effectively maintain stormy and interesting relationships with the world and people. It is probably true that networks respond to both representations. And they play a huge role in our life, because they influence its completely unexpected spheres. Fortunately, often in a positive way – and the “Facebook Diet” serves as confirmation of this.