Why the What I Eat In A Day #wieiad Video Trend is Harmful for Those In Eating Disorder Recovery
Written by ‘Ai Pono Hawaii Staff Writer
Every time you log onto social media, you are likely confronted with an endless feed of images, videos and messages to scroll through. While some of it may be entertaining, and connecting with family and friends is great, much of the content we see on a daily basis often leaves us feeling like we should look, dress, act and eat in a certain way. Diet culture is particularly insidious, perpetrating unhealthy ideals around body image and eating behaviors.
The latest culprit reinforcing diet culture? #wieiad videos, standing for ‘What I Eat In A Day’, where someone chronicles what they eat in a day of their lives. These can negatively affect those recovering from an eating disorder, so it is important to understand this trend, the dangers, and how to best cope with it.
Read on to learn:
What diet culture is & how it impacts people
What behaviors are considered disordered eating
What the #wieiad videos are
5 reasons ‘What I Eat In A Day’ videos are dangerous for those in recovery
What to do if you are in recovery and come across this trend
How to make your social media feed more recovery friendly
So, what is diet culture?
Diet culture is a system of beliefs that promote thinness and weight loss as the ultimate goal for individuals, regardless of their health or wellbeing. This system often reinforces the idea that a larger body is unhealthy, unattractive, and undesirable.
Diet culture can have a number of negative impacts on individuals and can lead to disordered eating, eating disorders and body dysmorphia. When someone is obsessing over their weight and body image, developing disordered eating habits can become easy.
Related: 7 Ways to Resist Diet Culture
What is the "What I Eat In A Day" social media trend and what does it have to do with diet culture?
The 'What I Eat In A Day' video trend has been found on various platforms including TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. In these videos, someone shares all that they eat throughout one day of their lives.
While these videos may seem harmless at first glance, the documentation of what one is eating and the information that they spread can be harmful to both the user sharing content and those viewing it. In these videos, you can often find dieting and disordered eating behaviors.
If you are already finding yourself struggling with an eating disorder, disordered eating or body image concerns, it is important to be aware of this type of content to avoid watching and engaging with it.
5 Reasons The #WhatIEatInADay Trend is Dangerous for those in Eating Disorder Recovery
1. Triggering Comparisons
On social media it can be easy to begin comparing yourself to what you see others wearing, eating and acting like. Oftentimes, the images and videos we see are extremely curated and not even an accurate depiction of what influencers or celebrities actually look like or eat on a 'normal' day. This type of comparison of what your life looks like vs the perfection you see on the screen is dangerous and can lead to feelings of inadequacy, insecurity and more negative thoughts about oneself. These feelings can lead to mental health struggles including but not limited to anxiety, depression, self-esteem issues, body image concerns, and disordered eating.
2. Associating Food & Physical Appearance
Many of these #wieiad videos come from influencers or celebrities that likely fit the beauty and thin ideal that a majority of people do not meet. These videos can reinforce the idea that if we eat certain food, or in a specific way, that a specific body can be obtained and maintained. The truth is, we could all eat exactly the same and our bodies would look different! Unfortunately, this perspective can leave those vulnerable with body image concerns and disordered eating tendencies to develop further problematic behaviors and an unhealthy mindset around food, body and weight.
3. Normalizing Disordered Eating
In many of these videos, those sharing this content may follow specific diets or restrictions. Some examples of these restrictions may include gluten-free, keto, carb-free, vegan, or generally overall low calorie diets. These types of dietary restrictions contribute to the normalization of disordered habits rather than reinforcing healthy messaging around letting go of food moralization and labels, listening to one's hunger and fullness, and trusting oneself around food.
4. Unrealistic Lifestyle
Some of these videos may share gourmet home-cooked breakfasts, lunches and dinners. While this may seem obtainable in a 60 second clip or a quick 5 minute video, the truth is, many of us do not have the time to prepare meals in such a fashion. Whether it be a matter of budgeting, not having enough time, or simply not loving to cook - this seemingly picture-perfect diet and lifestyle can disillusion us into thinking we should all be able to cook and eat in the same way. What some of these videos don't show is that some people get paid to make digital content like the one you are watching, or are simply able to have more time, money and resources to make such a diet and lifestyle possible. You do not have to feel guilty for choosing foods or ways of eating due to convenience, no matter what.
5. Inaccurate & False Information
Anyone has the ability to post online and that does not mean that they are qualified to be giving nutrition advice. These videos can be full of so-called facts and tips around nutrition and food that aren't true or are simply not applicable to most people. When seeking advice and support around eating and food, seeking the support of a registered dietitian is important to get advice that is tailored to you, your body and your needs.
What To Do If You Come Across These Videos While In Eating Disorder Recovery
In recovery from an eating disorder, you are making pivotal changes to your life to improve your relationship with food, your body and yourself. (Be proud!) During this process, navigating triggers can be difficult when they unexpectedly appear on your feed. If you come across a video like this do your best to step back and remind yourself:
You are doing the right thing by making the changes you are to improve your relationship with food and your body
Your eating disorder will want you to compare your eating to what you are seeing, this is just a trick to try to entice you to engage in old behaviors
If you have one, trust your treatment team knows what is best for you and is trying to support you. If you ever have concerns about your meal plan or treatment, you can always speak up and ask.
Related: Lies Your Eating Disorder Tells You
How To Make Your Social Media Feed More Recovery Friendly
If you come across triggering content on your feed, you can not only report it so that it is taken down, but you can also choose to block specific users or hashtags to keep certain types of posts off of your feed
Unfollow accounts that share triggering content or promote disordered eating behaviors or diet culture
Follow accounts that inspire you to continue on your recovery journey whether it is content around body positivity, eating disorder recovery, or intuitive eating
Set time limits on the apps you use to lessen the amount of time you end up scrolling and spending online
If these videos inspire you to do some reflecting and you feel that your eating habits may be impacting your life, please know a healthy relationship to food is possible. Treatment can provide guidance and support to recover from disordered eating or your eating disorder.
If you are ready to take the first step to learn more about recovery options, our team at 'Ai Pono would love to help you or your loved one. Please reach out to our team today or learn more about our holistic eating disorder treatment programs.