I commend you. I really do.
I believe it is so important to live a healthy lifestyle, make positive eating choices, and form habits that will benefit our bodies. And I do think that you had the best of intentions when starting your channel. You just wanted to share with others the importance of eating healthy and exercising, and how living a vegan lifestyle can help you do that.
But you are out of control.
With one look at your video titles -- not even the actual content -- I am a little disgusted. Between body-shaming, cyberbullying, and a complete disregard for the feelings and beliefs of others, I don't think you're portraying a cruelty-free lifestyle at all. And when I actually clicked onto one of your videos, I was dumbfounded. I couldn't even get through it without shaking my head and wondering why you chose this way to get your opinions across.
Because your demographic is mostly 16- to 24-year-old young people, you have a lot of impressionable eyes watching your videos. And the majority of these viewers are probably young girls who are struggling with body image, their weight, and the media's infatuation with skinny. Instead of using your platform to teach girls positive ways to feel better about themselves and to love their bodies enough to want to improve their health, you're teaching them that unless they are vegan, eating a plant-based diet, and living "cruelty-free" all the time, they're worthless. This is not productive.
Most of your videos are aimed towards other Youtubers, celebrities, or prominent people who you feel the need to shame for their lifestyle choices. These videos include hurtful comments that are not necessary and are not helpful in any way, shape, or form. You may think that you're doing good "exposing" these people, but the reality is, you're only making the situation worse. And the few videos of yours that are actually examples of healthy eating and exercise, your focus is instead on being skinny, having a thigh gap, or diets. That should not be the end goal for anyone who is eating healthy; you should want your viewers to be the healthiest, happiest versions of themselves, not a parade of drones who follow your every tip and trick just so they can have a flat stomach.
There are much more important things than being skinny. Being kind, tolerant, and understanding of others are qualities that will trump skinny any day. With the rise of Internet popularity and how easy it is for young people to get access to your videos, I would hope that you would think twice before you resort to fat-shaming people you don't even know. You're contributing to the problem, and I'm not sure if you realize that.
Your story of weight loss is admirable and I know that you worked extremely hard to get where you are today. But I think your videos would be much more beneficial if you focused on what really matters -- a balanced, healthy, lifestyle where it is okay to have a cheat day and it is OK to make mistakes because we are humans. I hope that one day you'll realize just how toxic some of your content is and work to educate others on how to be healthy instead of how to be skinny.
The truth is, skinny will never be good enough. If all you chase is a flat stomach, you'll be left unsatisfied every single time.
