Cassie Ho exemplifies why we shouldn’t exalt fitspo experts
January 31, 2016 Ashley 0 Comments
Many of us have got hottie health-pro models we look up to.
And for a large percentage of Youtubers, Cassie Ho has fit the fitspo bill for young women looking to eat clean and rock a hot bod while getting their “om” on. And for good reason. Because while she’s a social media celeb (AKA “internet personality”), she also instructs pilates and yoga online while promoting healthy lifestyles and body images for women. In fact, one of her viral videos might be familiar to you. It centers on her live-photoshopping her image in a mirror ’til she looks nada like herself. Much like the piece she presented on her site chastising Target for their false advertising, impossible expectation-setting, virtually constructed, stem sliced model they added a thigh gap into. People praised her for this in a big way.
Which is why it was so surprising when she did something that seemed totally hypocritical.
While her whole online persona admonishes against anorexia or imbalance, Cassie fell into a spiral of exactly that a few years back. Why? Because she wanted to reach some swimsuit competition goal. So, she did what most people do: hire up some UFC looking stranger to train you how to hate life in the name of being validated by even more strangers. Sure, she had a rocking bod. But her brain was constantly foggy, she was in permanent PMS mode to everyone, she could eat all of six things (five of which, I think, were lettuce), and she had to work out four times a day. 180 minutes with a trainer in the morning. 60 minutes of cardio at night. Zero minutes to discern how dumb a venture this was.
But I get it. I totally do.
First, let’s all give homegirl props for coming clean.
Second, as someone formerly caught in the grasp of anorexia’s bony claw and bulimia’s acid eaten jaws, I can relate in the same way many of you out there can. Anyone who’s ever suffered an eating disorder can. And, while I’m not sure whether Cassie’s of that category, she served as a perfect example that even the healthiest women can fall prey to snake oil salesmen claiming they can make us “look like her” (whoever the bikini covered “she” hanging on our fridge might be this week). Cassie is human. More than that, she’s an internet celeb. One whose whole career centers on looking and eating healthy. Those two things can be challenging as a combo. Because, as a celeb, you always hafta reinvent yourself or come up with new material to stay relevant. The thing about being healthy, though, is that it’s a sustainable thing. You eat healthy, you work out, you live your life. The end. But Cassie felt compelled to “level up”.
And there’s nada wrong with that. She just went about it the totally wrong way.
There are plenty of diet and exercise regimens out there that’ll accomplish that for you. For me, personally, going high carb, low fat, non-processed vegan has accomplished exactly that. That, paired with the fine wine of no wine (or any alcohol, really, though you could just moderate) and staying active. It’s literally been the only way I’ve been able to enjoy both variety and abundance in my diet sans ballooning up Violet Beauregard style. And, funny enough, when I hunt down testimonials for it, I notice pretty much the same thing happening for everyone who’s done the same. No books. No expensive trainers. And if I workout more than your average Ho, it’s cause I’ve got a shiz ton of non-processed food energy coursing through my blood pipes. It’s legit as simple as that. People ask me what my secret is. Aside from the obvious dietary path I’ve got on my side, there’s no sorcery to it. I don’t cheat. And if I do cheat, I don’t go into denial about it when I eff up. Much like Cassie’s own screw up, she had to own it – along with the fact that she’s human. The longer you hide your humanity, the more likely you are to err again and again. And, also, I listen to my body. It’s got better advice than the words coming outta someone else’s.
“I thought ‘He knows what he’s doing with my body – probably better than I do; he’s a professional…”
This bit was a biggie for me. After you’ve started a sustainable lifestyle, it’s important to only let external factors determine where you should be to a point. The mirror says you’re puffy – and that might just be because you’ve had a salty meal. The scale says you’ve gained a few pounds – and that might just be because you had a full meal and haven’t hit the can yet. You’re ravenous for seemingly no reason – and that might just be ’cause the rag’s rapidly approaching. The key’s to A.) accept that some body fluctuation will transpire during your life. B.) Understand it doesn’t need to be extreme. And C.) Tap into your own somatic ears to regulate that – uing general wellness, not necessarily weight to determine
But I give huge kudos to Cassie for her confesh. It was awesome insight into what’s really happening behind all these supermodels and celebs promo’ing one product, crediting it for weight loss, and secretly committing sanity suicide behind closed doors. This’s the kinda stuff that – as a celeb – lands you in the barber shop going for the Baldy-top look before beating paparazzi with umbrellas. As a young woman, living in obscurity and just try’na get her sexy back, though? It’ll pro’lly just cause long term depression, furtive addictions, and cycle all the way back to those rollercoaster weight oscillations. Especially once you realize you can’t keep it up. But the high paid celebs would never tell you that. It’d be resting their neck on a career guillotine to give an admission like Cassie did. A listers are invested in an image and whatever they’re selling. Thus, we were lucky a small time net celeb was able to remind us all of just how faux our health heroes can be. This was a beautiful “just in case you forgot” PSA that nothing’s what it seems when it comes to our “fitness idols”.
Which is why I always say – become your own health hero.
Do use public figures as a fitspo diving board into proper diet and health, if you like.
But not some permanent body barometer.