Social Media and Weight Loss
Posted: Jan 26 in Weight Loss Blog by Staff
Does my Facebook Page make me look fat?
Once upon a time, the big news on social media in the weight loss sphere was concerning fixed photos that put unrealistic expectations surrounding ridiculously high beauty standards on women and men everywhere. That definitely still exists, but for the most part people are now aware of it, and when you come across a photo that doesn’t look like it could be real, most of us will cite Photoshop and move on.
But as it turns out, it isn’t the photos on your Facebook page that may be hurting your weight loss efforts, but the words. That is to say that those who spend the majority of their time on social media engaging in negative thoughts are less likely to reach their weight loss goal, regardless of the method used.
Weight loss surgery is a really big deal. When you undergo weight loss surgery, you make a renewed commitment to yourself that you are going to do whatever it takes to become healthier. In addition to making changes to your diet and exercise habits, this means making changes to your mentality. Living with a negative mentality can interfere with your ability to stay focused on your weight loss goals, and could actually cause you to re-gain weight that you’ve worked hard to keep off.
A team of researchers found that they could predict weight loss success with more than 70 percent accuracy by simply evaluating the Facebook and Twitter accounts of the individuals trying to lose weight. They looked at several factors, including the visible posts on the account and the posts that were made by the account holder. Then, they looked at the level of negativity that was present.
Social media accounts use specialized algorithms to make sure that you see the posts that matter most to you, and that you don’t see the posts that you don’t really care about. This is designed to give you a more enjoyable experience. Except that sometimes, Facebook isn’t enjoyable at all. Instead, your entire feed can fill up quite easily with small gripes and routine complaints. The more you see this negativity, the more likely you are to engage in it. Seeing complaints about not feeling well, aching joints, remarks about looking ugly in photos—these are exactly the type of posts that trigger negative thoughts. The more you see other people have them, the more you think them yourself, and the less likely you are going to be able to free yourself of them as you turn your attention from your timeline to your actual life.
You don’t need to sign off for good to remove the negativity from your life. Have an objective look at your Facebook feed and look at where the negativity is coming from. You can simply “unfollow” friends to avoid offending anyone. Then, go ahead and “like” blogs and other pages that will give you happiness and motivation. Surrounding yourself with positivity in this way can help you keep a clear and positive mind for weight loss success after weight loss surgery.