In a world where the ‘Gram is the metric used to measure a person’s credibility, where going “public” means exposing yourself to trolls, teasing and untoward DMs, and dealing with hate is done on the daily, putting oneself out there has made even flex-itarians second guess themselves. Two bloggers, Neha Agarwalla, Co-Owner and Coach at 303 Crossfit and Kripa Jalan, Sports Nutritionist and Nutrition Consultant, describe what their journey has been like living within people’s feeds and what feeds them to keep going. In a world where hate is commonplace, their self-love is unfettered, and nothing short of compelling.
Read on to know how to learn to love yourself and your body, in a world of social media scrutiny:
Neha Agarwalla
“Block out the hate”
“If you have a public profile on Instagram, you must be prepared to face an entire spectrum of reactions ranging from admiration, appreciation, and constructive criticism to downright hatred. The admiration, whether appropriately directed or otherwise, usually has us flattered. However, the hatred can really get to you. Personally, I have found that the way I deal with these reactions has changed and I have finally found the formula that works for me."
“You need to know why you have a public profile and what you’re trying to achieve through it. I'm a fitness influencer, mainly posting about my own Crossfit workouts and my life as a coach- which is not tutorial-based, but more to do with inspiring and motivating folks. I even put up fail videos of myself, because I want my followers to know I am just human like everyone else and I don’t always have the perfect workout."
“If you’re someone selling a service or product through Instagram you have to be open to feedback and especially when it’s constructive. You never know what you may learn from a stranger on the internet. I have often improved my form on certain movements by just reading what some other coach wrote. Sometimes, however, the comments may only be negative and rude. A typical reaction in such situations is to jump in and defend oneself, which mutates into a battle of sharp verbal statements being thrown into the comments section. If you have a hard time taking in such negativity and not reacting then you could do what I do, simply block the user. It’s hard to do sometimes, but it is the only way to focus on the things that are important. Not everyone out there will be respectful of you sharing important experiences and thoughts from your life, but there are many who do care.”
Kripa Jalan
“Longevity is key”
“This idea of a perfect body has been engraved so deeply in our minds, that thinking beyond it seems almost absurd. Some days skinny is in, then strong becomes the new skinny. We’ve always been told how to look and feel and over time, there’s a common message out there saying we need to love ourselves, which is often misconstrued to mean, it’s okay to be unhealthy. Truth be told, healthy is and has always been the new sexy. Our health and longevity should always be at the forefront of our mind."
“Longevity being the key. It’s the reason low-calorie quick fixes don’t work. We deprive ourselves, give in because of the unsustainable nature, beat ourselves up and land up right back where we started – usually in worse shape than before. We need to eat enough real food to sustain ourselves, feed our hormones and feel amazing. To be honest we’re better off changing two or three things that we can commit to daily, rather than incorporating a hundred drastic changes that we’d only be able to follow for a few days."
“We often think health is limited to training and nutrition, but our mental well-being comes into play as well. If we’re not happy at 20% body fat, there’s no guarantee we’d be happy at 10%. There will be loads of hate and people telling you what you’re doing wrong. I remember initially, when I started lifting and streamlining my eating habits, I didn’t have much support. Extended to Instagram, there was always someone spouting their take on how my body looked. But for every person that had something negative to say, there were a hundred being supportive. It’s amazing to see what my body can do today. It’s the most rewarding feeling to know that in some way you’ve helped someone get healthier – even if it means avoiding adding sugar to their tea or motivating someone to move off the couch and hit the gym.”
