Is it just me or have you noticed more and more celebrities and influencers promoting slimming aids online?

I can’t browse Facebook or Instagram without scrolling past someone from the cast of TOWIE or Geordie Shore, or even an ex Love Island contestant popping up on my feed telling me to try their magic Tea or Fruity Gummies, and for the most part nobody sees any issues with this!

It still astounds me that the nation goes on and on about how our country has an obesity crisis and also how people are so quick to fat shame anyone over a size 10, yet on the other hand, there are so many men and women with eating disorders and worrying about their body, but apparently it’s ok for role models to promote appetite suppressants and teas and coffees which glue you to a toilet for hours on end.

One of my favourite bloggers I follow on Instagram Lauren (Lollyxm), highlighted this issue in a post this week. Her post had a very positive response, however it was a totally different story when she commented on the advertised post. The influencer who has over 800,000 followers, told Lauren to get a life, along with a barrage of various other insults, and a few of her followers also were very rude and insulted Lauren. The comments were then disabled on the post so that nobody else could see the abuse that Lauren had to suffer for pointing out that this was not promoting a healthy way of life and was wrong and setting a bad example.

Slimming aids are NOT healthy!! Nothing about making someone’s appetite disappear is healthy. People are literally promoting products which enable us to starve ourselves easier and make anorexia an obtainable goal, or teas and coffees which are full of laxatives which make us go to the toilet and get rid of any foods we have eaten, in other words another form of bulimia.

My question is why is it ok for these products to be promoted by ANYONE for a quick payday? There is already so much pressure on us to have a perfect body, no cellulite or stretch marks, or blemishes because of celebrities that can afford to pay for treatments and daily personal trainers that the average female cannot afford, or images in magazines being heavily photoshopped which make us strive to look like someone who doesn’t even look like that themselves!

Now role models and influencers that young girls and women look up to are telling us it’s ok to starve ourselves just so that they can get paid for advertising these products. You may have seen articles recently involving Jameela Jamil who has been using her platform the right way by replying to these posts and highlighting the awful side effects of these products publicly and explaining the effects that these adverts are having on young women! She has started a petition to stop these adverts which you can sign here: https://www.change.org/p/instagram-facebook-twitter-and-snapchat-stop-celebrities-promoting-toxic-diet-products-on-social-media

Ladies, please always remember that there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with anyone’s body, NOTHING wrong with stretch marks, or droopy boobs, or jiggly thighs.

Those are bodies of REAL women and we are all beautiful no matter what size we are. If you are not happy with your body, by all means make changes, but can we all please encourage one another to make healthy changes and do it the right way.

Kerry.

Beware of Slimming Aids