By NATALIA HAWK
Healthies are the latest thing pissing people off in the social media world.
In case you’re not familiar with the term “healthie”: think “selfie“, but with a uber-healthy twist. Pictures of smoothies, pictures of sunsets over beaches during early morning workouts, pictures of Nike frees on pavements and Lorna Jane fluro bras. Hashtags: #fitness #run #crossfit #goals #gym #bodypump #bodybalance #zumba #cleaneating #yoga #health #sweat #motivate #inspire #protein #superfoods #paleo #healthyeating #treadmill … want me to go on? I totally can, because I’ve seen enough of them.
You can’t stumble far into social media these days without seeing someone post a healthie. Instagram is the biggest culprit – a celebrity’s favourite place for posting evidence of their morning yoga routine, a friend’s preferred means of sharing the recipe for #paleobrownies – but Twitter and Facebook aren’t safe either.
And the haters are emerging. I’ve seen more and more people complaining about what they see to be narcissistic, self-obsessed, unnecessary photos. The Daily Mail wrote an article slamming various celebrities such as Miranda Kerr and Gisele Bündchen and their tendancy to take “oh-so-sickening” healthies:
Either taken by the celebrity themselves in a mirror or snapped by a willing friend, the main purpose of the ‘healthie’ seems to be to showcase the unfeasibly fine physique of the poster, or to let the world know what healthy food they are about to consume.
…However benevolent the motive, the healthie has the knock-on effect of making anyone not currently in a gym, hiking up a mountain or able to bust out a perfect Wheel asana feel slothenly.
To the Daily Mail – and all other haters – I’d like to say… haters gonna hate.
I like a healthie. And I’m not just saying that because I’m partial to an Instagram healthie myself. This is why: