It’s the trend that’s taken over “For You” pages everywhere. #WhatIEatInADay has 16 billion views on TikTok. You could spend days – maybe even weeks – scrolling through these videos and never run out of content to consume. But at what point do social media trends start to consume us? At what point does it become impossible to keep our own lives separate from the lives we observe on our phones – and can we ever like our own more?
I see “What I Eat in a Day” videos every time I open TikTok. I don’t find them particularly interesting; as you’ll soon learn, I actually hate them. But still, I can’t remember a time when I ever scrolled past one without watching. It’s easy to tell ourselves not to compare our lives to others, but it’s much harder in practice when we’re constantly bombarded by people and habits to compare with.
If you aren’t familiar with the trend, it’s exactly what the title suggests: TikTok users make short videos documenting the food they eat over the course of a day. The trend, as well as particular videos, has received pushback from other TikTok users, many of whom argue for “better” ways of approaching it. Many have called attention to “body checking” that often opens these videos, particularly those made by thin, conventionally attractive people. In these cases, the creator poses with their full body in the frame before showing the content of the video, as if to say, “Eat like me to look like me.” These videos often promote undereating, or simply send the message that there is one proper diet that everyone should follow.
TikTok users who have tried to transform the trend may title their videos “Realistic what I eat in a day” or “What I eat in a day that won’t make you feel bad about yourself.” Some users have also called attention to problematic versions of the trend, such as interior designer Kelly Wearstler’s diet, published in an article in Bon Appétit magazine. Many viral TikTok videos criticized the eating habits Wearstler promotes, which can be summarized in the following statement in response to the question of what “solid foods” the designer eats in a typical day: “Besides almonds or granola, I don’t eat a lot during the day. Juicing is what gives me energy!”
Dieticians have also taken to TikTok to put a more positive spin on the trend, often creating video responses that give constructive feedback on others’ diets, such as ways to add more protein to a meal. However, dieticians off of TikTok have expressed relatively negative feelings toward the trend as a whole. Cara Harbstreet, a registered dietician of Street Smart Nutrition, explained, “Younger audiences, especially girls and young women, internalize the message that they must eat like these creators in order to achieve and maintain not only health, but also social desirability.”
With this in mind, I have my doubts as to whether we can effectively “fix” the trend. As with all social media content, these posts cannot possibly show the entire picture. We know nothing about the creators of these videos other than what they ate on one particular day, which is not nearly enough information to send a message on its own. We do not know what their body physically requires. We do not know the state of their health – both mental and physical. We do not know what they ate the day before or the day after. Without this information, we cannot safely compare their diets to our own.
It is also important to consider that TikTok’s biggest user base is females between the ages of 10 and 19. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, this demographic is most vulnerable to eating disorders, especially when they are promoted through inescapable social media content.
“The biggest collective harm I see with this trend is that it normalizes disordered or restrictive eating behaviors,” Harbstreet continued. “This could prevent someone struggling with an eating disorder from seeking and receiving support or treatment.”