We’ve all had nights where we’ve decided to just order in and binge-watch whatever new series was available on Netflix and, for the most part, we have a good time doing it. That is until you scroll past your news feed and notice that the gym rat you follow just finished their leg-day workout and is on their way to get a protein smoothie that is probably sprinkled with kale and ego.

It used to be easy to avoid getting trapped into the fitness craze, but these days it seems that body goals and gains have taken over social media. Some of the most notable fitness gurus accounts, like MankoFit and Bella Falconi, have over a million followers each and there are several other accounts with large followings. Their influence has garnered widespread popularity. Yet, although taking strides toward one’s health is great and important, these accounts and environments also feed into a lot of negative body image and criticism.

Millennials should recognize that there is more than one way to be healthy and our bodies should not solely be the main indicator of what ideal health represents.

Last week, fitness blogger Cassie Ho uploaded a video on her YouTube channel about “the perfect body,” in order to get across a message about cyber bullying and body image. The video itself reveals many of the comments Ho has received about her body, and so she alters her body with CGI effects proving that comments made about “the perfect body” are problematic.

Ho’s video addresses an important issue among millennials, which is that health concerns can only be healthy to a certain extent. At the point where critiques are made about the size of a bust or waist rather than the measures being taken to become healthier, the lifestyle becomes problematic.

The truth is, our generation has become more concerned about external appearance rather than internal health. The critiques that Ho received have usually been about how her body looks or how it is not up to “trainer” standards. Ho herself has been a certified trainer for over five years and graduated with an honors degree in Biology — needless to say, she knows what she’s doing.

One reason she is being critiqued is because millennials have been influenced to believe that there is only one model of health, and that it is having a “skinny” or “ripped” frame. However, we need to change the way we see and measure health and beauty.

Body types that don’t fall into a certain archetype are often shamed and deemed unhealthy. Yet people are fixated on having a six-pack or a thigh gap, and not focusing on other pressing concerns relating to health.

Overweight people receive criticism because they are not healthy, but the real criticism rests more in fat-shaming and phobia than it does for real health concerns. This is not to say that people who are overweight are always healthy, but that most people are not as concerned with their health as they are with being uncomfortable about someone else’s appearance.

Ultimately, millennials need to change the way we see health. Fitness blogs and accounts can be great places for inspiration and support, and they should be. While recently social media sites have tried to remove pro-eating disorder accounts, remaining thinspiration Instagram accounts still have over 10,000 followers and include hashtags like #proana.

We should not risk our mental health and happiness to fit into a false ideal of health. True health begins within; the way we see ourselves projects the way we behave and our behavior is the ultimate indicator of health.

Laritza Salazar is a sophomore newspaper and online journalism major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at lcsalaza@syr.edu.

Published on April 28, 2015 at 12:47 am