NutriNews Issue 7 2017 NutriNews Issue 7 2017 | Page 19

W ith constant advancements in technology comes increased exposure to social media, and with increased exposure to social media comes the normalization of certain lifestyles. Whether it be via Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, or Instagram, our brains are constantly being bombarded with images of society’s representation of the word “perfect”. Beauty is no longer within the ‘eye of the beholder’, but rather is defined by what the media makes it out to be. The perfect nose, the perfect hair, the perfect face, the perfect body… all being conditioned in our minds as primary goals in life. People are now being characterized (judged) by appearance and image instead of personality and virtue. One particular ‘fad’ that our society is adopting, or has already adopted, is losing weight. Of course the benefits of losing weight are well established in a physical sense, but the positive mental aspect is progressively becoming more and more blurred. What once was used to help strengthen a healthier physical and mental life, is now becoming an indicator of self-worth and mental fragility. Each day, more people are finding their identities through popular trends in social media, which ultimately creates a never-ending cycle between losing one more pound and gaining one more ‘like’ on their most recent selfie. Taken from the abundant list of chic weight loss trends, counting calories is becoming an increasingly prevalent technique for losing weight. This term unintentionally creates a negative stigma with the word, ‘calorie’. Hence, people tend to associate calories with unhealthiness. Indirectly, counting calories is responsible for a number of problems that ultimately prove to be detrimental to the body and mind. Of which, two major issues of extreme compulsion and nutritious compromise simply scrape the surface of the consequential effects flowing of calorie-counting. Issue 3 | Nutrition of Everything | 13