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Home » Lose Weight Quickly » Im 29 Years Old. I Never Expected TikTok Could Impact My Body Positivitybut It Did – Yahoo Lifestyle

TikTok? You mean that thing the youths use for dance challenges and as an excuse to throw food in each others faces? No thanks.

That was me six months ago. Today, though, I have a much more complicated relationship with the app thats taking over the (social media) world and the collective attention span of Gen Z.

But my initial rejection of TikTokI am a grown woman, dammit!was futile. My job is literally social media. Im a social media director. So yeah, eventually, according to all the trades, I was going to have to pay TikTok at least a little bit of attention.

And, plot twist, I quickly became hooked.

Withmore than800 millionmonthly active users, 1.9 billion downloads worldwide, andJ.Loand A-Rod doing stufflike thison it, its safe to say TikTok is more than just a fluke. In fact, its kind of mesmerizing. Ive spent an embarrassing amount of time scrolling the app. But at a certain point down the rabbit hole, I stumbled upon a slew of content that Ive found, in a word, triggering.

You see, one minute, Im enthralled with a boy cooking a casual hibachi dinner for his family, and the next, Im being served a video of a 16-year-old girl showing me what she eats to stay skinny. In one specific video, a girl tells us what she eats on a regular day (it mostly consists of seltzer, water and one single Whole30 salad), culminating in a meal plan totaling what must be just 600 daily calories. And this isnt one rogue, lone post. Its a disturbing trend. Young girls are endorsing metabolism drops that claim to help lose weight in a matter of days.

There are alsoreportsthat TikTok moderators were instructed to hide videos featuring overweight or conventionally less attractive people. Body-positive queen Lizzo hasclaimedthat shes had countless videos of her dancing in her bikini taken down, which is strange, because I've definitely seen thin girls in bikinis doing the same thing.

Bodydysmorphic disorder(a mental health disorder where one obsesses over negative views of ones body that likely conflict with reality)affectsonein 50 people, andstatistics showthatmore than halfof teenage girls use unhealthy weight-control behaviors (such as fasting and taking laxatives). And guess which age group is the most active on TikTok?

Although I never got an official diagnosis, I am more than able to relate to people who have struggled with body image. And, lets be honest, most women probablyare.Ivestruggled with weight my entire life, and in college, after one of my best friends passed away from cystic fibrosis, I became fixated on being healthy. In hindsight, I wasnt healthy. I was obsessive. I was restrictive. I didnt enjoy life. And while I stillwork outsix times a week and eat healthy (OK, most of the time), Im not fixated on food, exercise or my weight. Im probably 20 pounds heavier, but Im comfortable with myself, and mostimportant,my mental health is where it needs to be.

Im a 29-year-old whos done the work to be comfortable in her own skin, and yet, I find myself (heres that word again...)triggeredby these videos of teenagers telling me they eat celery for dinner andwork outtwice a day. Compiled with the sheer amount of time the average user spends (52 minutes a day) on TikTok, I cant imagine the negative effect this content is having on younger, more vulnerable minds.

Kristin Wilson, vice president of clinical outreachforNewport Academy, a mental health rehabilitation facility for teens and young adults, tells me that researchers have found that certain regions of teen brains become activated by likes on social media, which is why it can become so addictive. Now, marry that with regular consumption of videos showing a workout routine that you should repeat every day tolose ten poundsin two weeks, and any parent (or non-parent!) would be right to be concerned.

But with the bad, comes the good. There are times I have truly belly laughed so hard at TikTok videos that I can barely breathe (see: Brittany Broski). And there are also true body positivity advocates doing a lot of cool, empowering things on the platform, like Lizzo, Raeann Lagas, Brittney Vest and Kristina Zias. So, while we cant rely on tech giants to curtail the toxic content that is put into the universe, there are easy, practical things we can do to protect ourselves, our kids and the body love movement:

1. Moderate your feed

If you are scrolling and see something you find triggering, you can let the app know you no longer want to see content like that.

2. Download Offtime

This genius tool will help you limit your social media consumption by blocking distracting apps and games (that you set, of course). The app allows you to create different modes like Work, Family or Me Time toenable accessto things you need(e.g.,Google Hangouts for happy hour with your friends).

Download the app

3. Focus on the good stuff

Like, The McFarlands, PowerPoint Night, Puppy Snores, Thumping Goat, Horticulture Lesson and, of course, @PureWow.

RELATED: 6 Ways to Practice Body Positivity, Even If It Doesnt Come Naturally

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Im 29 Years Old. I Never Expected TikTok Could Impact My Body Positivitybut It Did - Yahoo Lifestyle

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Home » Lose Weight Quickly » Im 29 Years Old. I Never Expected TikTok Could Impact My Body Positivitybut It Did – Yahoo Lifestyle