Nothing Tastes as Good as Skinny Feels

I’ve seen an overwhelming amount of content come across my page promoting weight loss to an extreme amount. Women posting videos on the internet saying abhorrent things like, “If you weigh more than 160lbs, you shouldn’t be wearing shorts.” Every ad on my For You Page and Hulu account is for a GLP1 or some new fad diet. I’m sick of it.

I was born in 1999, during the age of heroine chic, Kate Moss, and popular girls on TV shows glorifying bulimia as a punch line. In middle school, my friends and I made Tumblr accounts and got sucked into a pro-ana (pro anorexia) dimension where people would share “What I [They] Eat in a Day” recipes that consisted of black coffee, a hard-boiled egg, and sleep for dinner. I can still remember the day my best friend told me what a thigh gap was and pointed out that I had this random desirable quality and she didn’t — we were eleven. There is rarely a day that goes by where I don’t think about how my body looks. I know many people out there feel the same way to varying degrees.

I’m now twenty-six, nearly twenty-seven years old, and I’m seeing the same way of thinking creep back into our media. People putting others down, shaming themselves, and shrinking until there’s nothing left of them — shouting, “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” There is nothing glamorous about starving yourself. When you deprive your body of nutrition you do not have the energy to perform basic functions. Malnutrition can lead to dizziness, chest pain, or an irregular heartbeat. Your gastrointestinal system can shut down, causing abdominal pain, difficulty digesting, constipation, bloating, or acid reflux. Your bones can weaken over time, leading to osteoporosis, which will not only cause immense pain and discomfort, but will also have you missing out on life events for the rest of your life. You can also grow hair all over your body as a response to under-eating, called lanugo hair. Your skin will become dry and scaly and this long, fuzzy hair will cover your body to keep you warm. Perhaps “feeling skinny” doesn’t feel good at all.

Your favorite influencer does not know your body. They don’t know what you need to do to live a healthy life. Their job is to promote products and showcase their “lifestyle.” Unless they have met you, in real life, have had in-depth conversations about your goals, AND a degree in medicine/nutrition — they are not qualified to give you weight loss advice. Information spreads like wildfire on the internet, with little to no fact checking and they keep moving the goal post. Back in 2016, if you didn’t have big boobs and a BBL (Brazilian Butt Lift), you weren’t seen as sexy or desirable. More people were hitting the gym to build their glutes and change their physiques to fit the beauty standard of the moment. Now the pendulum has swung back to a malnourished, prepubescent body. If you haven’t achieved temporal wasting — you’re not skinny enough. They aren’t even being subtle about it with subliminal messaging. I saw a woman on my For You Page state, “If you weigh more than 160lbs, shorts aren’t something you should wear.” This statement is INSANE and dangerous to promote.

Your body is not a constant project for you to mold into shapes that society deems beautiful or acceptable. It’s actually exhausting to treat it as one. Do you feel tired? I do. I don’t want to watch women disappear anymore. If you’re struggling with food noise, body image issues, or an eating disorder, please reach out for help. Discuss how you feel with a trusted friend, make an appointment with your doctor, or seek a therapist to navigate these feelings. You deserve to live a life where your body and brain are nourished enough to enjoy your day. Life is a lot better when you stop fighting your body and start fueling it.