I’m a big fan of posting on Facebook. Pictures of my cats, pictures of the places I go, food I eat, etc. all make their way – often – to my personal Facebook page.
Picture of one of my cats.
My workout-related stuff gets posted there too, and often. I check in at my gym and enter my workouts on MyFitnessPal, which I’ve set to automatically feed to my personal Facebook and my blog’s Twitter account. Pretty cool, right? I think so, and so do other social media posters, according to research conducted by the University of South Carolina.
Researchers in this weight loss/social media study discovered that study participants who engaged in social media (either podcasts or podcasts + mobile media) over six months experienced a 2.7 percent weight loss. Through the study, researchers also found that participants regularly used Twitter to post about weight loss, and those particular participants lost more weight (every 10 Twitter posts =0.5 percent weight loss).
Image from blogs.knoxnews.com
I was not surprised by the results of this study. Some of my most successful weight loss journeys were chronicled on social media sites. I’ve checked in at gyms, I’ve logged calories burned, I’ve shared successes and disappointments. No matter the nature of the post, I love posting because it’s my way of saying, “If you noticed I look heavy in my recent Facebook photos, I’m doing something about it” or “If you think I’m looking pretty good, and you want to make a change, here’s what’s been working for me.”
Most of us need encouragement and praise. Social media sites give us the chance to bounce what we’re doing off other people and receive much-needed feedback. While I do sometimes worry my frequent weight- and fitness-related updates irritate the folks on my friends list, I figure, hey, it’s their problem. I’m the one doing something good, and I deserve the chance to tell you so.
Post, post, post away, my friends!
Image from www.yourtrainerpaige.com
For more on the University of South Carolina Study, visit the links below:
http://www.sc.edu/news/newsarticle.php?nid=5604
http://www.womenshealth.gov/news/HealthDay/EN/2013/Jan/14/672426.html