Fitspo *trigger warning*
I have noticed many Fitblrs aim for ‘healthy’ weightloss. Fine. No problem with that whatsoever as long as you understand what healthy weightloss actually is. This means - eating well, a mild workout, drinking lots of water and gradually intensifying a workout with the help of a professional.
I feel like those with disordered eating are as at risk using ‘fitspiration’ as they are ‘thinspiration’ because both work on the same basis- they shame you into changing you’re body. Thinspo is more or less ‘Not good enough until I’m X amount of pounds’ and Fitspiration is ‘Get off you’re sofa you lazy shit and sweat it all out!’ It triggers that ED mentality of being worthless and no good.
Another thing I dislike about fitspiration is that it can inhibit recovery. Sure, you want to take care of your body but in terms of recovery you need to stop thinking about calories and excersise. It’s by no means easy, in fact the easier option is to go from thinspo to fitspo and say you are recovered.
There arepeople recovered who use fitblrs but I generally think that it is replacing one obssession with another. Trading starvation for excessive excersise. This also makes people vulnerable to other EDs like Orthorexia.
Recovery is about accepting your body at any weight and learning to combat unhealthy behaviours. It is also accepting your limits, we’re not superhuman, your body needs nourishment, care and above all it doesn’t need to be pushed around. Don’t shame yourself because you think you ate too much or you didn’t go for a run one day. Love who you are and what is inside you. Use the knowledge you have to challenge ED thoughts.
You don’t need thinspo, fitspo, healthspo- any kind of ‘spo! You are fine. Just the way you are.
(Before anyone hate messages me, I want to say I understand Fitspo is ‘different’ from Thinspo in that it is about ‘healthy weightloss’ but this happens to be my opinion and I am entitled to it.)
Thank you so much for this. I think that sometimes the whole ‘exercise is good for you’ thing completely overshadows the fact that, mentally as well as physically, exercise is generally not the best idea when you’re struggling with bad body image etc. due to an eating disorder. For me, at least, the kind of ‘anxiety relief’ I felt whenever I exercised due to feeling fat was identical to the kind of ‘anxiety relief’ I felt whenever I restricted due to feeling fat (except with endorphins on the side). I even had fitspo blogs ‘on the side’ as some point, just for myself, with lots of workouts/fitspo pictures, to calm my disordered anxiety with “it’s fine, later after I’ve recovered I can eat lots of vegan food and do lots of workouts and live this perfect fit healthy lifestyle and get fit and thin just like those girls”. Needless to say, this only made me worse at the time. Anyway, I just wanted to say that exercise is a pretty complex, serious thing and you should only do it if both your mind and body are fully healthy, I think, and only with genuinely normal intentions (and not ‘calorie burning/fat losing/compensating for dessert’ ones).
(via fyoured)
