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"Fitspiration"

Today in class, we discussed "fitspiration" and how it has become a large, recent trend in today's social media sites. Instead of focusing on becoming thin, this movement seeks to make women desire to be "strong--not skinny." Earlier this year, I began working out 4-5x per week and have continued and loved this habit, even today. I've come to enjoy what my body is capable of and love to see new lines of muscles where I had never seen them before. As I developed this habit, I began to follow more and more social media influencers who were strong, beautiful women whose feeds were inspiring to reach new physical heights and abilities. I wanted to be like them--I still want to be like them. But after talking about the effect that this kind of feed has on women (it has the same effect as women encouraging thinness), I took a step back and thought about how I have really viewed my body in the last year because of this influence. I wouldn't say I am obsessed with how my body looks by any means, but I am always seeking to improve it and am never satisfied. It's as if the new body composition of strength that I've worked so hard to develop isn't enough because I still don't look like those women on my feed. All this time I've thoughts they were inspiring me; however, as I fasted from social media, I've felt more comfortable in my body and haven't worried about getting more toned muscles or stronger legs, etc. Since my fast and our class, I've unfollowed many of the women that I thought had a good impact on me--and since then, I have felt relieve, comfort, and joy with the body I have.
Sometimes, we think the media we're viewing is having a certain affect on us, and in my case, I exposed myself to it more and more to increase the "positive" effect it was having on me. But in reality, no amount of picture-perfect women will have a good effect on how you view yourself and your worth. So I've decided to focus on who I am more than how I look this next year. I don't want my children to think it's important that they look a certain way; rather, I want them to know it's more important to be beautiful on the inside than on the outside. So here's to getting rid of "fitspiration" to be truly inspired by sources of truth and media that will actually have a positive affect on me!

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