Teens at risk with ‘Thinspo’ dieting

Google ‘thinspo’ and you’ll come across thousands of tumblrs, forums and other dedicated websites to the idea of “Thin Inspiration”. Thinspo is usually used  by young teenage girls (and boys) who are desperately trying to be thin.

Eating disorders affect many young girls and boys in America and recently Anorexia and Bulimia have been the center of current news when Lady Gaga fought back after being chastised for gaining 25 lbs.

Thinspo, the new teenage weight loss trend is not a healthy diet in the least bit and mainly consists of cutting calories to the point of starvation.

Thinspo alternates the amount of calories you can eat per 5 days and then has a day of complete fasting, where you eat nothing. Here is an example of a thinspo diet:

Thinspo Diet Example: (Do not try this, this is for informational purposes only)

You can only eat non-processed foods

Drink 1 liter of water a day

Break up meals by eating every 2-3 hours

The first few days of thinspo look kind of like this:

Day 1: only eat 600 calories

Day 2: only eat 500 calories

Day 3: only eat 100 calories

Day 4:only eat 600 calories

And Day 7: eat nothing at all. Day 7 of thinspo is a fasting day where you eat nothing whatsoever. The scientific proof about how healthy thinspo is or if it even works doesn’t exist.

Thinspo diets have become the new teenage weight loss trend because of our culture that is totally obsessed with being thin. The majority of teenage girls who are posting about thinspo are also posting photos of extremely thin underweight girls who they are achieving to look like. These are known as their thinspirations. These women usually consist of victorias secret models or runway models. There are also tons of pictures on thinspo blogs that quote things such as eat less, you can choose to be this bigger girl or this really skinny girl. A thinspo blog will also have pictures of girls who have lost weight by following the diet, even though thinspo is not a real diet.

Most of the girls who are in on thinspo have some kind of eating disorder and/or body dysmorphic disoder. This means that they do not see themselves correctly and actually believe themselves to be bigger than they really are. This creates an obsession of always wanting to be tinier, skinnier, or thinner than they already are. They are never thin enough even if they are just as skinny if not skinnier than the girls they have picked out in their pictures for their thinspiration.

Thinspo, the new teenage weight loss trend is dangerous and sending the wrong message. In a sense, thinspo is trying to come off as a new diet to disguise that its’ truth; another way to develop an eating disorder. Thinspo can lead to nothing but dysfunctional body image, Anorexia or Bulimia. True health and beauty do not equate to skinnyness. It seems this message has gotten lost somewhere among thinspo blogs that these hurting and struggling girls have written.

True health and beauty do not equate to skinnyness.

Thinspo is not healthy and it does nothing but promote eating disorders so if you hear your children talking about thinspo or thin inspiration have a serious talk with them and seek help if you suspect they have an eating disorder.

If you or a loved one is in need of drug, alcohol addiction and/or eating disorder treatment please give us a call at 800-951-6135.