MFP article photos depressing
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And... Boom! Thread over ^_^... It's for ANYONE. You might also argue that a photo of a young woman is not an appropriate photo for any guy who might be reading the article, but that's not necessarily the case because the very first sentence is the target audience - anyone who is on a weight loss journey.
You sound like you're kind of taking this stuff a little personally...
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Putting aside the issue of motivation and body image, and simply to make an analogy of inclusiveness:
Pretend that the service is specifically for citizens of California and New York. ALL of the photos, though, are of New Yorkers, even for the articles about Californians. Would that make sense? Might some of the Californians begin to feel a little left out? Maybe wonder if they are in the right place? Wouldn't a Californian appreciate it if every once in a while, there was a picture of one of them?
Silly analogy, I know, but I'm having trouble trying to express my meaning.
Here's an analogy for you. Let's put more pictures of "C" students in schools and bring that achievement down! No, no, let's not strive for anything. It makes too many peope uncomfortable.0 -
arditarose wrote: »Why is a size 2 or 4 not healthy? Why do you assume everyone using MFP is not fit? Some people use this app to GAIN weight. Some are very fit and use it to track calories/macros and stay on track.
Some people are motivated by fit models. Some are not. There's nothing wrong with it either way. But if seeing a normal sized woman in an ad makes you feel so depressed...I don't know. I'm sorry, I don't understand.
Did I say a size 2 or size 4 is not healthy?
Did I say that everyone using MFP is not fit?
Did I say seeing "a normal sized woman" in an ad depresses me?
Was I talking about a singular ad?
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arditarose wrote: »Why is a size 2 or 4 not healthy? Why do you assume everyone using MFP is not fit? Some people use this app to GAIN weight. Some are very fit and use it to track calories/macros and stay on track.
Some people are motivated by fit models. Some are not. There's nothing wrong with it either way. But if seeing a normal sized woman in an ad makes you feel so depressed...I don't know. I'm sorry, I don't understand.
Did I say a size 2 or size 4 is not healthy?
Did I say that everyone using MFP is not fit?
Did I say seeing "a normal sized woman" in an ad depresses me?
Was I talking about a singular ad?I Today I saw an article about managing morning chaos. The seated model that we see from behind appears to be very tall and maybe a size 2 or 4. Why? Can we never see a healthy woman that is more in line with the body type of a typical MFP user? I'm pretty sure none of the models featured ever used MFP or faced the struggles that we are trying to overcome. These photos do the opposite of inspiring/ motivating me. They depress me and kind of make me want to give up. No matter how much success I achieve, I can never look like these women. If MFP suggests these reflect how users should look, then I'm in the wrong place. :-(
Yeah you kind of said that, to an extent.
Listen, we all get our motivation from different sources. I'm saying it's okay that this does not motivate you. There's actually a really good podcast about this issue. I'm going to look for it. One sec.0 -
The site is called myfitnesspal. Why wouldn't they use photos of fit people? Attraction sells.
If you are depressed by photos of fit people advertising a fitness site you are possibly being a little too sensitive.
If a used car lot ran an ad do you they'd pull more people in using this perfectly normal looking car
or this sporty one?
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I think the second episode of Shredded by Science Radio "How to Get Motivated to Get in Shape"
http://shreddedbyscience.com/get-motivated/
It's a nice listen and talks quite a bit about balance between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to get fit0 -
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arditarose wrote: »I think the second episode of Shredded by Science Radio "How to Get Motivated to Get in Shape"
http://shreddedbyscience.com/get-motivated/
It's a nice listen and talks quite a bit about balance between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to get fit
Thank you, Arditarose. I appreciate your helpfulness. I'll check it out.
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GuitarJerry wrote: »I think it contributes toward unrealistic ideas and goals and causes many of the problems we have in society today. I wish it would stop. Why have pictures at all? Just let the content of the articles sell the idea, and then each person that reads it puts their own interpretation on health. The pictures are non-sense. Many of those models do not run or exercise. They are just skinny 20-somethings with good genetics. It's lame to put pictures like that in the blog posts that are supposed to be about health and helping people on their journey towards making themselves more healthy.
I've never seen a photo in a MFP blog, or email, that shows unrealistic goals. Only realistic ones.0 -
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GuitarJerry wrote: »I think it contributes toward unrealistic ideas and goals and causes many of the problems we have in society today. I wish it would stop. Why have pictures at all? Just let the content of the articles sell the idea, and then each person that reads it puts their own interpretation on health. The pictures are non-sense. Many of those models do not run or exercise. They are just skinny 20-somethings with good genetics. It's lame to put pictures like that in the blog posts that are supposed to be about health and helping people on their journey towards making themselves more healthy.
Giving props to to the models: a lot of the ones they use aren't skinny-- they're ripped! Which is awesome when it matches the article. "20 Ways to Get Ripped" should definitely use them in a photo. But they are almost always used, to the point of exclusion, even in articles that don't match at all.
An article about a grandmother who's gotten fit? Wonderful! Show me a fit grandmother. Show me a RIPPED grandmother. Don't show me the same ripped youngsters that we see in every article.
You are right, GuitarJerry, the photos are nonsense. And it would indeed be better not to use them at all, at least where they make no sense with the article.
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arditarose wrote: »I think the second episode of Shredded by Science Radio "How to Get Motivated to Get in Shape"
http://shreddedbyscience.com/get-motivated/
It's a nice listen and talks quite a bit about balance between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to get fit
Thank you, Arditarose. I appreciate your helpfulness. I'll check it out.
Yeah, I know it's not really what you posted about. I mean I'm not saying you have a problem with how YOU are motivated, and you're trying to make a statement about MFP using "fit" models...but regardless, it's still slightly on topic lol. And I do love that podcast.0 -
Can anyone show me how to post photos?0
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GuitarJerry wrote: »I think it contributes toward unrealistic ideas and goals and causes many of the problems we have in society today. I wish it would stop. Why have pictures at all? Just let the content of the articles sell the idea, and then each person that reads it puts their own interpretation on health. The pictures are non-sense. Many of those models do not run or exercise. They are just skinny 20-somethings with good genetics. It's lame to put pictures like that in the blog posts that are supposed to be about health and helping people on their journey towards making themselves more healthy.
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Can anyone show me how to post photos?
@Arbeej When you open the convo box glance up at the tools and you'll notice what looks like a dark sheet of paper with the corner bent down. Put your mouse over it and you'll know you've found the right spot. You can attach or drag and drop the photo into your post.
HTH 0 -
You keep referencing this article and that it was supposed to be about a grandmother.
IT'S NOT
Here is the title and first paragraph.
************
"Nine signs of progress that aren't a number on the scale." (Feb. 15, 2016)
"Think about what triggered your weight-loss journey. It could have been anything from being able to squeeze into an old dress again to appeasing your unrelenting doctor to staying around for your grandchildren. Whatever your original intention, once you start losing weight a new motivation takes over. Watching the scale go down as you shed the pounds becomes a tremendous source of motivation. But what happens when a weight-loss plateau threatens to kill that motivation?"
*************
The photo is just illustration. It means literally nothing.
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Thank you, Hearts!0
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Emdeesea, my more recent post was a hypothetical, not specifically about that article. Originally I did use that as my specific example, and I think it stands. The same type models are almost always used, even it is at odds with the article. It's not just that one article that doesn't match.0
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Ah, my photo problem is that the app does not have access to my photos. It said that I can change this in the privacy settings, but I've looked through each option and cannot find the setting that changes this.0
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I've never gotten any emails with articles from MFP and I've been here for 5 years. Maybe there's an opt out for receiving junk mail so you won't have to deal with stuff you don't want in your inbox.0
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I find your post interesting, and I'll tell you why. I live in Rome, Italy. The ancient Roman baths were full of sculptures of beautiful naked bodies--now in the museums. They were meant to be an inspiration to the people going to the baths, which included the entire populace--even grannies. Therefore this is a very old "marketing tool". Come to think of it, I haven't seen even one statue of a naked grannie in the museums. All of them are young and still beautiful. By the way, I'm 61 myself.0
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Before it was bought by Under Armour, MFP was all about the average person/user. Since the buyout, it seems to be just a giant advertising engine for them to pitch their products and their "professional" opinions. Of course they can't pitch there stuff if the models don't represent their idea of fitness and beauty.
I love how Under Armour gets the blame for EVERYTHING around this site.0 -
Before it was bought by Under Armour, MFP was all about the average person/user. Since the buyout, it seems to be just a giant advertising engine for them to pitch their products and their "professional" opinions. Of course they can't pitch there stuff if the models don't represent their idea of fitness and beauty.
I love how Under Armour gets the blame for EVERYTHING around this site.
A lot of the beautiful athletes that I'm talking about appear to be wearing Under Armour, so the argument seems plausible. On the other hand, Under Armour makes fitness garb up to women's size 18. I assume at least some of these women are fit or getting fit, so it doesn't seem likely that the sponsor would mandate that few/none of them may be shown in the photos. (I have yet to see any, but there might be a few in the MFP blog archives?)
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I receive MFP articles in my email. Often these articles are accompanied by photos of very thin models. Workout photos are of advanced athletes; photos that supposedly depict average MFP users use models who have reached the height of physical fitness and beauty. That certainly isn't me. I am an average, middle-aged woman in need of motivation and inspiration to make healthy choices. These photos feel like they are rubbing my face in the kind body type I can never achieve. Today I saw an article about managing morning chaos. The seated model that we see from behind appears to be very tall and maybe a size 2 or 4. Why? Can we never see a healthy woman that is more in line with the body type of a typical MFP user? I'm pretty sure none of the models featured ever used MFP or faced the struggles that we are trying to overcome. These photos do the opposite of inspiring/ motivating me. They depress me and kind of make me want to give up. No matter how much success I achieve, I can never look like these women. If MFP suggests these reflect how users should look, then I'm in the wrong place. :-(
MFP articles, photos or blog really don't have anything to do with your ability to acheive your goals or use the tools on this site. This is not the wrong place. Go look in the success forum and you will see users of all types with different goals if you want to see some real MFP user motivation.
I don't receive e-mails from MFP and I'm not bothered by photos of fitter people than me on articles. I know what I want for me and I'm okay with my goals.
There is probably something at the bottom of the e-mail about contacting them. If you'd like to suggest they use more diverse photos or let them know how you feel you might try sending them a message. There is probably also an unsubscribe option.
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coreyreichle wrote: »So, MFP should use pictures of people not in good physical shape, to show people what their goals should be?
I love seeing the pics of what I'm aiming for. That's encouraging. Show me what I am already would make me think,"All done now!"
Corey, I completely agree with your second paragraph. You speak for me there. :-)
As for the first paragraph, that is in no way what I am suggesting. If you fully read the original post, you would have seen this question: "Can we never see a healthy woman that is more in line with the body type of a typical MFP user?"
Perhaps the fault is mine in not stressing that strongly enough -- but I did specify "HEALTHY WOMAN." There are HEALTHY WOMEN here of a variety of ages and body types. It would be nice to see some of them, too.
It's not MyWeighLossPal, it's not MyHealthyPal... It's MyFITNESSPal... it's in the name.0 -
Before it was bought by Under Armour, MFP was all about the average person/user. Since the buyout, it seems to be just a giant advertising engine for them to pitch their products and their "professional" opinions. Of course they can't pitch there stuff if the models don't represent their idea of fitness and beauty.
I love how Under Armour gets the blame for EVERYTHING around this site.
I think it was the timing of the upgrade back in Oct of whatever year it was now just before they purchased the site that makes fingers point at UA. @DavPaul0 -
bennettinfinity wrote: »coreyreichle wrote: »So, MFP should use pictures of people not in good physical shape, to show people what their goals should be?
I love seeing the pics of what I'm aiming for. That's encouraging. Show me what I am already would make me think,"All done now!"
Corey, I completely agree with your second paragraph. You speak for me there. :-)
As for the first paragraph, that is in no way what I am suggesting. If you fully read the original post, you would have seen this question: "Can we never see a healthy woman that is more in line with the body type of a typical MFP user?"
Perhaps the fault is mine in not stressing that strongly enough -- but I did specify "HEALTHY WOMAN." There are HEALTHY WOMEN here of a variety of ages and body types. It would be nice to see some of them, too.
It's not MyWeighLossPal, it's not MyHealthyPal... It's MyFITNESSPal... it's in the name.
Most of the articles I'm talking about specifically target weight loss. I have no problem with super athletic models alongside articles about being super athletic.
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Personally I'd rather see work in projects then the end results. The motivational posts and emails are not advertisments, and would be more useful/enjoyable if they used real people who actually use the app, not stock photos. It's about as motivating as looking at people's after photos, but not the befores. You can't see the work that went into it.
And the analogy made before about showing average mfp users being akin to schools advertising 'c' students is pretty insulting. I'm not somehow lesser than, or a failure because I'm not where i want to be. (not, of course, that c students are failures because high school is unnecessarily difficult and average is not bad or shameful)0 -
Before it was bought by Under Armour, MFP was all about the average person/user. Since the buyout, it seems to be just a giant advertising engine for them to pitch their products and their "professional" opinions. Of course they can't pitch there stuff if the models don't represent their idea of fitness and beauty.
Huh?
This did not start with the UA purchase.0 -
Here's my real life article with real life pics of a 60 yo woman who will never be a size 2 or 4.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10347057/my-success-story-made-the-front-page-of-the-newspaper/p10
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