Americans are unarguably obsessed with three (at the very least) things: Social networking, body image and celebrities. So when you create a cauldron comprised of this trio of addictions, you have a potion that is as lethal as a malevolent sorcerer’s concoction.
And that is exactly what an article by a Global Shift writer is suggesting when non-famous Americans start following celebrities and their diet chronicles via Twitter. From Megan Fox’s apple cider vinegar shots to Demi Moore’s bikini photos, celebrities have taken to documenting their diet rituals and their effects in 140 characters or less and, unfortunately, many young and impressionable Americans are reading.
Many follow reading these tweets with a trip to the store to pick up the ingredients for a fad-diet juice blend that likely will not cure their weight issues.
What makes one Twitter follower copy the dieting practices of a famous Tweeter is a question for psychologists. And we can’t blame Twitter, since it’s rather what we do with Twitter and other social networking devices that is exacerbating an already bleeding wound. Add this to the near God-like status we have relegated to celebs as well as our ever expanding waistlines and it leaves few to wonder why sales of detox diets and colon cleanses are through the roof, or why the diet industry is generating record-level revenue numbers, despite the hard-hit economy.
Our infatuation with what celebrities do to make themselves Tweet (and Tweet beautifully within a size 0) has become a national pastime. All we can really hope for is that as quickly as those 140 characters can be read, just as quickly can a five-second reality check be practiced to restore us to balance, sanity and most of all, reality.
There are celebrities, though, who are extolling the benefits of a healthy lifestyle 140 characters at a time. Alison Sweeney (@Ali_Sweeney), Rocco DiSpirito (@RoccoDispirito), a legion of Biggest Loser alumni (follow our list), and Devin Alexander (@ChefDevin), just to name a few, are worth space in your Twitter time line if you’re looking for inspirational, real-life honesty about eating, living and breathing the healthiest life possible.