social media is confusing 😴

a note on misinformation & how to know what is right for your wellbeing

Everywhere we look, we are bombarded with conflicting information on what to eat and what not eat. What to do in the morning and what not do do. How to live and how not to live in order to be our “healthiest” selves. This leaves a lot of us feeling quite the opposite of healthy and well, and instead anxious, drained, and confused. 

I spent many of my young years taking to heart nearly every piece of information I learned online in a means to heal myself, and it only left me feeling restricted and empty. Emotionally and physically. Now, a couple years later, although I am studying Nutrition, my relationship with food and my life in general has opened up in many ways and is feeling so much more exciting than it did when I was controlling everything, mostly because I have learned how important the mind is when it comes to healing.

The thing with social media is that 2 health professionals (or influencers) can share completely opposite viewpoints based on “research.” One will say that animal-based eating is the best thing for your hormones, the other will say veganism is. Which one is true? I wish the answer were simple, just like a lot of other health topics out there. What I do know for certain is that our bodies communicate with us when something is working, as do our minds. Wellness means something completely different to me now than it did a few years ago, and such a large portion of wellness has to do with our enjoyment for both our food and our daily routines. There is not much of a point of eating the “cleanest” diet if it makes you miserable.

The same thing goes with lifestyle practices. It is absolutely wonderful to find those grounding practices that make us feel centered, but it becomes an issue when those practices stress us out or restrict us from fluidity in going outside of our norm from time to time.

Social media’s upside is that we can receive free information that has the ability to improve our life and our health. Social media’s downside is that that information also has the ability to make us question and doubt every aspect of our life and diet. And that is because when it comes to our health and well-being, there is no one-size-fits-all, so generic information that we see online should be taken with a grain of salt.

Believe me, I am a firm believer that how we fuel our bodies and what we spend our time doing absolutely impacts our mental and physical health, because I experience those shifts personally. But I have been on the end of the spectrum where I absorbed and took in misinformation online and experienced the way my body reacted to the rigidity.

So, how do we know what to believe? First things first, is this information you are reading coming from a professional? This does not always mean it will work for you or that it is valid, but it is most definitely important. Second, is the information shared in a way that insinuates it is a deal breaker in terms of your health and well-being? This is fear-mongering and should be taken lightly.

At the end of the day, like I said, food and lifestyle shifts can be life-changing when they work for us, but when fear is involved, this is when we should take a step back and possibly unfollow intense social media accounts or simply pay attention to whether or not our bodies are asking us to get back to the basics.

You do not need to have a 10-step morning routine every single day to be well, nor do you need to lift weights and do pilates 4 x a week without fail. What you should do instead is implement small things that make you feel grounded, calm, joyful, and nourished, without the fear or the guilt. Oftentimes, this is where our bodies and minds thrive. For me, this means slow mornings, protein and fiber-rich meals, and gentle movement that connects me to my body every day. This may look similar or completely different for you.

My homework for you:

Evaluate your beliefs, diet, and daily practices and ask yourself what actually feels nourishing and what is zapping you of your life force… Chances are you’ll have to leave a couple of things behind.

Sending you so much love,

Bella <3