Weighing In: The Adam Richman Instafight

I am a member of an amazing Facebook group specifically for women. It's called the "Curvy Girl Guide", but all women are welcome because, let's be honest, we ALL have issues with our bodies!  Yesterday, our fearless leader, Brittany, posted this XO Jane Article.  Now I'm a HUGE XO Jane fan, though I don't ALWAYS agree with what she has to say, I believe that as a whole, this site gives women a helping hand and a form of support.

Essentially, Adam Richman posted about his weight loss on Instagram with the hashtag #thinspiration. Now I didn't know this, but this is a hashtag that essentially promotes eating disorders. Now, since I didn't know this, it's probable he didn't either. I mean, let's be honest, it sounds like an AWESOME word for people trying to lose weight. But it's not! It's this terrible thing which encourages bulimia and anorexia.

Now, when a few women tried to point out to Adam that this wasn't the best hashtag to use, he brushed them off, saying that he didn't give a f***.  OK, this is where I have a problem.  Here's the deal, I don't know how Adam is losing weight, but I think it's great that he is. I mean, he needs to do what he needs to do  to make him happy, though I pray that he isn't resorting to eating disorders for this. After all, he is a TV personality and probably a bit of a hero to quite a few overweight people.

Adam is best known for his Travel Channel series "Man Vs. Food" where he ate ridiculous amounts of food and showcased all the restaurants where you could gain 40 pounds in one sitting.  Often it made me sick, but the food always looked DELICIOUS, so really, I was conflicted while watching the show. However, let's be honest, he PROMOTED OVEREATING on his show.  The fact that he was as thin as he was on the show was mind boggling to me. 

So his weight loss is great, but remember, people looked up to him for his ability to eat mass amounts of food. So his fans are probably overweight.  Therefore, as he loses weight, it is IMPERATIVE for him to be careful about how he presents his weight loss, this includes avoiding eating disorder supported hashtags that may give his viewers the wrong idea as to how to lose weight.

I'm not even going to get involved on the fight he had, though I hate when ANYONE suggests another person commit SUICIDE. That is terrible - suicide effects everyone, and that crossed the line.  However, he has since apologized. I just hope that, with this apology, he also attempts to avoid thinspiration in his posts