This week I provided an expert comment for Grazia exploring why “We Need To Talk About How Damaging TikTok’s ‘What I Eat In A Day’ Videos Can Be”

Read the full article here: https://graziadaily.co.uk/beauty-hair/wellness/tiktok-what-i-eat-in-a-day-disordered-eating-anorexia-eating-disorders/

Comparing what you eat to others on the internet is unhelpful, especially if it is making you feel bad around food or stopping you from meeting your nutritional needs. It’s important to remember that we have different energy requirements, eating patterns and food preferences, which means that a way of eating that works for one person is unlikely to be a good fit for another. For example, a smoothie bowl with lots of fresh fruit might look healthy but isn’t likely to be an appealing breakfast for someone living in a very cold climate.

Comparing what you eat to others on the internet is unhelpful, especially if it is making you feel bad around food or stopping you from meeting your nutritional needs. It’s important to remember that we have different energy requirements, eating patterns and food preferences, which means that a way of eating that works for one person is unlikely to be a good fit for another. For example, a smoothie bowl with lots of fresh fruit might look healthy but isn’t likely to be an appealing breakfast for someone living in a very cold climate.

These videos are just a snap-shot of what someone eats, and we don’t know what they eat over the course of a week and we don’t even know if they actually ate more or less than the food that they’re showing.

‘What I eat in a day’ videos can lead to disordered eating when the viewer creates external food rules based on the content they are watching and becomes out of touch with their own hunger and fullness signals. There’s nothing wrong with taking inspiration from food videos, however it’s important to take a step back and see how a certain way of eating is making you feel.

A red flag is if you start to feel guilty and anxious about eating anything not shown in the videos or you begin binge eating ‘forbidden’ foods.

You might also like to read How to STOP comparing food on instagram.