'What I Eat in a Day' videos show a curated, disordered eating view, says Minnesota nutritionist
In this photo illustration, the TikTok app is displayed on an Apple iPhone.
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“What I Eat in a Day” videos have millions of views on TikTok and Instagram. They can be a window into another person’s fridge and their life. But at times, the videos promote extreme calorie deficits and prolonged fasting.
This isn’t a completely new trend. Before TikTok, people posted their meals on Instagram and celebrities talk about their meals in magazines. There is a public fascination with what other people are eating.
Nutritionist Jillian Lampert thinks about that fascination a lot. Lampert is the chief strategy officer of Accanto Health, the parent company of the Emily Program, the Minnesota-based, nationally recognized eating disorder program.
She spoke with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about what messages these videos send to viewers, the harm that can be caused by the videos, advice for people who come across the videos and how people can use social media to promote a healthy relationship with food.
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Lampert says the most worrying thing about the videos may be the the impact they have a viewers who already have eating disorders.
“The risk is people will look at those videos and think oh I need to keep myself on that path … the vast majority of people with eating disorders have weights that most people would say are sort of normal … so they’re already under this huge social pressure as they’re going through their recovery and trying to take care of themselves, but also in a world where we have a lot of stigma around weight.”
For parents, Lampert says to have conversations with kids about what they’re seeing on TikTok. Ask them what message the content may be sending and what they can learn from it.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.
Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: OK. So if you're into the social media app TikTok, this next bit of audio might sound kind of familiar to you.
SUBJECT 1: I'm down 35 pounds, and I'm going to show you guys of what I've been eating.
SUBJECT 2: Hi, guys. Welcome back to another "What I Eat in a Day" as an injured athlete.
SUBJECT 3: Here's another "What I eat in a Day" as a holistic health coach. I started my day with some bone broth, and then I made my cacao latte that I have every morning.
SUBJECT 4: For lunch, I had this big super simple green salad with some boiled eggs. And on the side, I had some blackberries and strawberries that I found from this super cute little market. For an afternoon snack, I had this chocolate Gut Stuff bar, and for dinner, I made a roasted red pepper soup topped with broccoli, nutritional yeast--
SUBJECT 5: In the morning, I had a banana, two decaf coffees with two sugars each, and that's 149 calories. And this is a really easy simple breakfast. Next, we're going to be having lunch, which is going to be four scrambled eggs, one piece of toast, half an avocado, three cherry tomatoes, some seasoning, and 15 grams of butter. And this is pretty much a staple every single day for me, and this is about 12:00 PM.
CATHY WURZER: OK. "What I Eat in a Day" videos have millions of views on TikTok and Instagram. They can be a window into another person's fridge and their life. But at times, the videos promote extreme calorie deficits and prolonged fasting. So how harmful are these videos and what should parents be aware of?
To get a view on this subject, we have turned to Jillian Lampert. She's the Chief Strategy Officer at Oconto Health, the parent company of the Emily Program. That's a Minnesota-based nationally recognized eating disorder program. Jillian, welcome to the program. Thanks for your time.
JILLIAN LAMPERT: Absolutely. Thanks for having me.
CATHY WURZER: I know you've seen these videos. What's the message to you? What are these videos trying to say to viewers?
JILLIAN LAMPERT: Oh, they're trying to say so many things. What they say to me is, I am nervous and afraid for the impact they have on people. What they're trying to say to viewers is, look at me. Here's what I'd can eat. Here's how it can work. Here's what you could do, too. This can lead you to feel successful in life. Follow what I'm doing, without actually letting anybody know that it's a highly curated view of their life.
CATHY WURZER: Right. Good point. But that can be positive in a sense, too. Like here's how I'm successful. Here's how I'm looking. But if you have existing body issues, you might look at that and go, I don't look like that, right?
JILLIAN LAMPERT: Right. You certainly might. I would argue that I think there's a lot of fun in these videos and a lot of sharing, and we're really a social creature, right? We like to share. We like to see what other people are doing. We like to know what else is happening in people's lives. And when it comes to food and our weight and in our bodies, we are really susceptible to hearing somebody say something that then we turn into a message that we ourselves are not OK. And that's the problem.
CATHY WURZER: This isn't new, obviously. Before TikTok, people were posting their meals on Instagram. What was it called? Food porn or something like that?
JILLIAN LAMPERT: Right.
CATHY WURZER: Celebrities would talk about their meals in magazines. We seem to be fascinated by what we're eating, what other people are eating, food in general. So you're a nutritionist. You have a doctorate in nutrition and a master's degree in public health. What about this fascination, and how do we break free of it?
JILLIAN LAMPERT: Yeah, absolutely. I think people are fascinated because they want to know what's good for them to eat. We have a very strong focus on what the right things to eat are and what the wrong things to eat are. And I really encourage all of the clients that I've worked with-- and in the teaching that I do-- to think about instead of comparing yourself to what's right for someone else or what a message says, what's right for you?
And really, what do you need to meet your nutritional needs? How are you connecting to your experience with your body when it comes to eating? And that's where I get concerned about watching a quick little video about somebody else's calorie intake. Their meals or their food composition may not have anything to do with what you need, and that's where we really focus from a nutritional perspective on, what does our own body need? Not so much what does somebody else's body need?
But you're right. If it wasn't TikTok, it was a lot of fads before that for years and years and decades before. This one is so highly viral in terms of getting shared so quickly, and it's so brief. That's also an interesting aspect of it.
CATHY WURZER: Been noticing on some of these TikTok videos some of the younger women look healthy. I mean, they're thin, right? They're showing their abs and they-- I don't know what to say about this. You could say they look healthy, but they might be probably too thin, really, if you look at it closely. What advice do you give people who might be recovering from an eating disorder when it comes to what they may see here on social media? Can you block these videos? Because it might be pretty tough for them.
JILLIAN LAMPERT: Right. It definitely could be. A couple of thoughts. One, I think there's certainly the appearance of people when they look sort of healthy or thin or maybe normal weighted-- part of what happens is there's so much weight bias and fat bias in our society that we forget that people can be healthy at all weights, that people can be healthy at a range of weights, and that being thin isn't necessarily equated with being healthy.
And so particularly with somebody with an eating disorder-- and of course, we know eating disorders impact people of all sizes and shapes, and most people we don't have an eating disorder based on looking at them because most people with an eating disorder are not actually what we think of as underweight. And so the risk is people will look at those videos and think, oh, even though my treatment team or my clinical goals say that I need to do keep myself on this path, look at that.
Is that really what I have to do? And how much does sort of society endorse the idea that in order to be healthy and in order to be accepted and popular and belong that we have to be thin?
And that's part of the issue, I think, that people wrestle with in eating disorder recovery because the vast majority of people with eating disorders have weights that most people would say are sort of normal or maybe described by people as not looking like they have an eating disorder. So they're already under this huge social pressure as they're going through their recovery to try to take care of themselves, but also in a world where we have a lot of stigma around weight.
CATHY WURZER: We do. When I think about parents-- boy, that's also so difficult for them to help their son or daughter with an eating disorder. How can they protect their kids from some of this social media, the onslaught of social media, if at all?
JILLIAN LAMPERT: Absolutely. Two things. One, the obvious-- talk to your kids and ask them. What part of TikTok are they on? What are they doing on Snapchat? Ask them about their social media use and sort of learn the lingo. We have three adolescents in our house ranging from 17 to 21. I guess they're older adolescents now. And I've learned way more about TikTok lingo than I ever thought I would.
But really ask so you can understand. What is this part of TikTok? Because there are so many things that become popular very quickly, and then the next thing becomes popular very quickly. So you really have to keep up. It's a great time to use a little corner of any family meal or car ride you have to ask, like, hey, what's cool on TikTok? And let your kids tell you.
And if these sorts of things come up, ask your kids about that. Like, what do you think about that? What kind of messages is that sending? How does that impact how you think about eating? Really don't be afraid to ask your kids. Particularly in those times when you're doing something else-- as parents, that's one of our secrets to opportunities is to ask them when we're doing something else. When you're riding in the car, when you're at a meal, what else can we learn from that? Ask.
CATHY WURZER: All right. Jillian, it's been a pleasure having you. Thank you so much. Good advice.
JILLIAN LAMPERT: Thanks for having me.
CATHY WURZER: Jillian Lampert is Chief Strategy Officer of Oconto Health, the parent company of the Emily Program that's based in Minnesota, a nationally recognized eating disorder program. If you or someone is struggling with an eating disorder, you can call or text the National Eating Disorders Association helpline that's 1-800-931-2237. 1-800-931-2237.
SUBJECT 1: I'm down 35 pounds, and I'm going to show you guys of what I've been eating.
SUBJECT 2: Hi, guys. Welcome back to another "What I Eat in a Day" as an injured athlete.
SUBJECT 3: Here's another "What I eat in a Day" as a holistic health coach. I started my day with some bone broth, and then I made my cacao latte that I have every morning.
SUBJECT 4: For lunch, I had this big super simple green salad with some boiled eggs. And on the side, I had some blackberries and strawberries that I found from this super cute little market. For an afternoon snack, I had this chocolate Gut Stuff bar, and for dinner, I made a roasted red pepper soup topped with broccoli, nutritional yeast--
SUBJECT 5: In the morning, I had a banana, two decaf coffees with two sugars each, and that's 149 calories. And this is a really easy simple breakfast. Next, we're going to be having lunch, which is going to be four scrambled eggs, one piece of toast, half an avocado, three cherry tomatoes, some seasoning, and 15 grams of butter. And this is pretty much a staple every single day for me, and this is about 12:00 PM.
CATHY WURZER: OK. "What I Eat in a Day" videos have millions of views on TikTok and Instagram. They can be a window into another person's fridge and their life. But at times, the videos promote extreme calorie deficits and prolonged fasting. So how harmful are these videos and what should parents be aware of?
To get a view on this subject, we have turned to Jillian Lampert. She's the Chief Strategy Officer at Oconto Health, the parent company of the Emily Program. That's a Minnesota-based nationally recognized eating disorder program. Jillian, welcome to the program. Thanks for your time.
JILLIAN LAMPERT: Absolutely. Thanks for having me.
CATHY WURZER: I know you've seen these videos. What's the message to you? What are these videos trying to say to viewers?
JILLIAN LAMPERT: Oh, they're trying to say so many things. What they say to me is, I am nervous and afraid for the impact they have on people. What they're trying to say to viewers is, look at me. Here's what I'd can eat. Here's how it can work. Here's what you could do, too. This can lead you to feel successful in life. Follow what I'm doing, without actually letting anybody know that it's a highly curated view of their life.
CATHY WURZER: Right. Good point. But that can be positive in a sense, too. Like here's how I'm successful. Here's how I'm looking. But if you have existing body issues, you might look at that and go, I don't look like that, right?
JILLIAN LAMPERT: Right. You certainly might. I would argue that I think there's a lot of fun in these videos and a lot of sharing, and we're really a social creature, right? We like to share. We like to see what other people are doing. We like to know what else is happening in people's lives. And when it comes to food and our weight and in our bodies, we are really susceptible to hearing somebody say something that then we turn into a message that we ourselves are not OK. And that's the problem.
CATHY WURZER: This isn't new, obviously. Before TikTok, people were posting their meals on Instagram. What was it called? Food porn or something like that?
JILLIAN LAMPERT: Right.
CATHY WURZER: Celebrities would talk about their meals in magazines. We seem to be fascinated by what we're eating, what other people are eating, food in general. So you're a nutritionist. You have a doctorate in nutrition and a master's degree in public health. What about this fascination, and how do we break free of it?
JILLIAN LAMPERT: Yeah, absolutely. I think people are fascinated because they want to know what's good for them to eat. We have a very strong focus on what the right things to eat are and what the wrong things to eat are. And I really encourage all of the clients that I've worked with-- and in the teaching that I do-- to think about instead of comparing yourself to what's right for someone else or what a message says, what's right for you?
And really, what do you need to meet your nutritional needs? How are you connecting to your experience with your body when it comes to eating? And that's where I get concerned about watching a quick little video about somebody else's calorie intake. Their meals or their food composition may not have anything to do with what you need, and that's where we really focus from a nutritional perspective on, what does our own body need? Not so much what does somebody else's body need?
But you're right. If it wasn't TikTok, it was a lot of fads before that for years and years and decades before. This one is so highly viral in terms of getting shared so quickly, and it's so brief. That's also an interesting aspect of it.
CATHY WURZER: Been noticing on some of these TikTok videos some of the younger women look healthy. I mean, they're thin, right? They're showing their abs and they-- I don't know what to say about this. You could say they look healthy, but they might be probably too thin, really, if you look at it closely. What advice do you give people who might be recovering from an eating disorder when it comes to what they may see here on social media? Can you block these videos? Because it might be pretty tough for them.
JILLIAN LAMPERT: Right. It definitely could be. A couple of thoughts. One, I think there's certainly the appearance of people when they look sort of healthy or thin or maybe normal weighted-- part of what happens is there's so much weight bias and fat bias in our society that we forget that people can be healthy at all weights, that people can be healthy at a range of weights, and that being thin isn't necessarily equated with being healthy.
And so particularly with somebody with an eating disorder-- and of course, we know eating disorders impact people of all sizes and shapes, and most people we don't have an eating disorder based on looking at them because most people with an eating disorder are not actually what we think of as underweight. And so the risk is people will look at those videos and think, oh, even though my treatment team or my clinical goals say that I need to do keep myself on this path, look at that.
Is that really what I have to do? And how much does sort of society endorse the idea that in order to be healthy and in order to be accepted and popular and belong that we have to be thin?
And that's part of the issue, I think, that people wrestle with in eating disorder recovery because the vast majority of people with eating disorders have weights that most people would say are sort of normal or maybe described by people as not looking like they have an eating disorder. So they're already under this huge social pressure as they're going through their recovery to try to take care of themselves, but also in a world where we have a lot of stigma around weight.
CATHY WURZER: We do. When I think about parents-- boy, that's also so difficult for them to help their son or daughter with an eating disorder. How can they protect their kids from some of this social media, the onslaught of social media, if at all?
JILLIAN LAMPERT: Absolutely. Two things. One, the obvious-- talk to your kids and ask them. What part of TikTok are they on? What are they doing on Snapchat? Ask them about their social media use and sort of learn the lingo. We have three adolescents in our house ranging from 17 to 21. I guess they're older adolescents now. And I've learned way more about TikTok lingo than I ever thought I would.
But really ask so you can understand. What is this part of TikTok? Because there are so many things that become popular very quickly, and then the next thing becomes popular very quickly. So you really have to keep up. It's a great time to use a little corner of any family meal or car ride you have to ask, like, hey, what's cool on TikTok? And let your kids tell you.
And if these sorts of things come up, ask your kids about that. Like, what do you think about that? What kind of messages is that sending? How does that impact how you think about eating? Really don't be afraid to ask your kids. Particularly in those times when you're doing something else-- as parents, that's one of our secrets to opportunities is to ask them when we're doing something else. When you're riding in the car, when you're at a meal, what else can we learn from that? Ask.
CATHY WURZER: All right. Jillian, it's been a pleasure having you. Thank you so much. Good advice.
JILLIAN LAMPERT: Thanks for having me.
CATHY WURZER: Jillian Lampert is Chief Strategy Officer of Oconto Health, the parent company of the Emily Program that's based in Minnesota, a nationally recognized eating disorder program. If you or someone is struggling with an eating disorder, you can call or text the National Eating Disorders Association helpline that's 1-800-931-2237. 1-800-931-2237.
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