Liking, following,
and scrolling may not measure up to a HIIT session, but don’t sell social media short as a weight-loss tool: Sharing
before-and-after photos on Instagram, and posting on Facebook and Twitter might be the extra
oomph you need to lose weight.
How Can
Social Media Tip the Scale in Your Favor?
An estimated seven
out of every 10 Americans use social media regularly, according to 2017 Pew Research Center data.
As the line
between of virtual and the real world increasingly blurs, studies show that
social media can have a huge impact on your daily life — in good and bad ways.
While social media
can be a time-suck and portray unrealistic body ideals, there are
benefits when tech time is used strategically and in a positive way.
For example, one
study shows that people in online weight-loss communities who shared their scale progress and actively engaged with their social
network dropped 8.3 percent of their body weight, compared to a 4.1 percent
loss of those who kept their numbers to themselves.
“Social media can
be a powerful tool in getting to know others who are on similar journeys, we
can feel extremely motivated seeing others take steps toward and reach success,
and it holds us accountable to our mindset and actions, thus facilitating behavior
change,” says Ariane Machin, PhD., clinical psychologist and co-founder of
the Conscious
Coaching Collective.
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