The Impact of Social Media

I am just finishing up day 3 of my Whole30 (1/10th of the way there!) and so far I’m doing okay.  The first day was rough: I had a pretty bad headache all day and it is very likely it was just from life as I know it, but I do think I’ve had a bit of a carb/sugar hangover as well.  Yesterday (day 2) was okay, until about 4 pm when I really crashed.  Today started out with a migraine and now I feel great!  It’s not often that happens.  I’m still finding my footing with what I like to eat, when to eat, and how much food I’ll need to buy and prep, and that’s okay - this is a learning process.  But one thing I learned very quickly was the power of Instagram.  I love Instagram.  I would say it’s my favorite of all the social medias, and I can honestly waste hours scrolling through pics.  There are two topics that always get me: cute dogs and food.  But here’s the thing.  Nothing sucks more than looking at all the delicious foods when you can’t eat them.  I realized this pretty immediately after starting the Whole30 on Sunday.  I’d be scrolling through my feed and then BAM, donut, BAM, cookies, BAM, tacos, basically all the foods I love and cannot eat.  So for me, step 1 in my Whole30 was to unfollow all of the delicious food accounts I usually drool over (sorry Five Daughters Bakery, I’ll be back in a month!! But actually.)  I love seeing all that delicious food, but it’s too tempting for me to look at right now while I’m focusing on myself and resetting my eating habits.  On the flip side, Instagram is also amazingly helpful when it comes to inspiration and motivation.  From recipe ideas (especially @whole30recipes) to general inspiration and support from countless others who have done a Whole30 or are about to do one, it’s amazing to see what kind of motivation you can find on social media.  So for now, I’m focusing on what will be a positive influence for me in the next 27 days.  I’ll follow all my favorite food accounts again some day, but for now I need to see more veggies and fewer desserts.  This doesn’t mean I’m going to unfollow everyone who posts a picture of a donut.  It just means that I’m not going to invite temptation into my life.  I can still live vicariously through others and take pleasure in the fact that they’re enjoying whatever they’re eating, but I need to control it for my own sake.