Dietitian Reacts to Alivia D’Andrea’s Glow Up Diaries & Problematic Weight Loss Plan (OMG, NO!!)
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Hi everyone, welcome to Abbey's Kitchen! In today’s video we will be taking a look at Alivia D'Andrea's Glow Up Diaries.
A FEW DISCLAIMERS
1) The information in this video is for education and entertainment purposes only, so you should always speak to a health care provider about your unique health needs.
2) Please be kind in the comments here and on Alivia's social media platforms.
3) TW: to those with ED tendencies, feel free to skip this video if it’s not supportive to your recovery.
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Set Point Theory: Can Dieting Change Your Set Point?
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
National Eating Disorder Information Centre (Canada) – , 1-866-NEDIC-20
National Initiative for Eating Disorders (Canada) – , 416-859-7571
Sheena’s Place (Toronto) – , 416-927-8900
National Eating Disorder Association (USA) – , 1-800-931-2237
Academy for Eating Disorders (International) – , 1+703-234-4079
Alissa Rumsey, RD
Unapologetic Eating
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“Your food issues are not your fault.”
I needed this today. You said that and I cried. Thank you.
I’m so glad that was helpful ❤️
So did I. Sending you lots of love. <33
yes!! such an impactful thing to hear!
I didn’t know what she meant by that. Is it someone else’s?
@Paramount Of Puns no, I believe she means that Ed’s or disordered eating is a result of coping habits, poor education of food, the media, etc. I think that’s what she means anyways
Hearing her dad talk to her that way made my heart hurt so badly for her.
It was definitely very upsetting
Tough love is sometimes what’s needed. I know if I was in such an unhealthy overeating cycle and sugar addiction I would want my family or friends to try and slap me in the face with a hard dose of reality to try and get me to change
is it better to speak or to die? ummmmmm, I’m sorry but I beg to differ. She seems like a whole and healed person in body, mind and spirit now
The comments from her parents are what made me so sad. I remember being her age and getting similar comments from my parents while going through a period of gaining some weight in college, and it was heartbreaking…even though I knew it came from a place of love, it still hurt.
I know, it was very upsetting to watch
I know right.. I had a huge criticism made by a family member which led me to lose 10 lbs (and luckily didn’t hurt my relationship with food)in the past year but my mental health was so hurt, I still cry when I think about it and still think I’m fat 😔 Long story short, even if the intentions were good, the words still hurt and can still affect you in the long run
@Anna Duong remember as long as you have confidence and beleive in yourself, that’s the real beauty and no one can say otherwise. I struggled with a restrictive “diet” over quarantine. I was weighing myself way tok much so Ik how you feel.
is it better to speak or to die? the dad isn’t a phycologist or a therapist though. He just wants to see his daughter happy and healthy. He does not really know any better.
is it better to speak or to die? Sometimes, and i can’t say 100% sure bcs idk Alivia and her parents, but some people really don’t know any better. And as Asians, a lot of our parents grew up under the whole “tough love” regime. I know my dad did. His parents worked really hard throughout their lives to support the family but never really gave much thought to the emotional aspect of their lives. I’m not saying it’s ok, but I’m sure that Alivias dad meant well for her and i do hope he can learn how to address issues like this in a better way
I used to watch her gymnastic and dance tutorials when I was 12, then her channel switched to weight loss. I continued watching, and it gave me a very early unhealthy relationship with food. I think she she should have been a bit more cautious of her audience
Honestly, me too. It’s unfortunate how impressionable our relationship with food is when we are young. I think a lot of my unhealthy relationship with food began with the influence of social media and other people’s comments.
same i remember watching her stretching videos for splits and everything. it makes so so sad :/
How doe. She always said that what she did was unhealthy
Same
How though she literally is spreading awareness to binge eating and how to help stop binge eating and have a healthy relationship with food, ive had binge eating in the past and Alivia has really helped me and she does give warnings.
The fact that Alivia was so concerned about her weight made her contact Steve, but I think a psychologist would have help to solve the problem from the root. I don’t think a personal trainer was the solution, because Steve sees health from another perspective, he focuses on the physical image instead of an actual well-being and a healthy mindset.
Teodora Barbu hope you’re gonna recouver soon
She believes that seeing a therapist will only worsen her disordered eating.
Teodora Barbu I got the most compliments when I was severely underweight because of a health condition. Some people really thought it made me look *fit and healthy”. This is insane.
She appears healthier and happier though. Her internal dilemma was focusing on the weight and once she reached her goal, now, she’s at ease. Don’t hate on her.
Yes, I don’t think anything of what Steve said was wrong or not delicate enough. He seemed pretty ok considering what his job is. A therapist would definitely have been more appropriate to begin with and to change approach to food an mindset, and then if still needed going to a trainer would be an option. But first what is needed is to learn to love herself more for what her and her body’s needs are, accept them and start from there.
I used to watch Alivia religiously. Literally refreshing her page looking for new glow up diaries videos. In my opinion, I feel like it started out really really good. But I think I stopped watching after I realized a lot of what was going on in her videos was going on a downward spiral of constant restrictions. And I would also like to point out how a lot of her fans are blinded to how unhealthy her mindset is because she doesnt look like Eugenia Cooney. Because she isnt “skin and bones”. Society has always had a huge problem with assuming people do not have harmful eating disorders/tendencies just because they arent making them lose weight. Endnote: Please love yourselves. Stop telling yourself you arent good enough just because you did not eat exactly what was on your meal planner. You are so so beautiful and anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong.
My position is same as yours ! I was sooooo addicted to her Videos then I started spotting some unhealthy tips or unhealthy mindset , idk if you remember but when Alivia’s sister said : ” you have so much potential, you’re just hiding behind fat ans greasy hair ” , and It BROKE my heart ! 💔
Take care of yourself , send love 🤍✨
@Ourhaven ugh yes that part where her sister said that to her truly made my heart break for her. Thank you so much, and please take care of yourself too! <3
Same for me! I really unjoyed following the diary s1 but now, it kind of makes me uncomfortable to watch her fighting her “weaknesses” with her mindset. I really hope that she’ll finally heal but in a healthy way.
@Manon I can seriously relate with the uncomfortable feeling while watching this season. I hate how she tears down her “season 1 self” when in reality her season 1 mindset was much better.
Right!
Her family made me so sad. They saw she was struggling and essentially bullied her into losing weight. It’s only natural she resorted to extremely restricted eating and over exercising ):
I dont know exactly if she is an asian. But if she is, is “normal” asian family to do that. I can tell you from personal experience your asian family is the worst support you can get if you want to lose weight or have eating disorder. They think if they “bully” you , you will get motivated.
@Sanctriell My asian mom always say you need to lose weight or why you eat so much but all i eat was three meal and she said i need to bully you because i want a pretty daughter.but I’m only 13 years old right now
I can say that’s your typical asian family. I grew up with my family constantly picking out how thin I was before and how I gained weight during my early 20s. It doesn’t help me but through this kind of videos guided how I think about myself.
her family didnt bully her tho. she chose to restrict herself.
@yaaa its rewind time no they did. Maybe you didn’t hear all the comments they made, but they did bully her.
Being someone who has struggled with her body image because of her parents’ comments about weight and clothing choices I empathize with Alivia’s struggles.
YES like it is REALITY how are people going to be mad that she’s showing that part of her life? She’s all about reliability and being transparent with her viewers.. some people will be able to sympathize with her.
her parents remind me how they used to tell me that i was over weight when a dietrien told them that my weight was normal for my age and that if i lost a few pounds i would be going under weight but my parents idea of a good body is a skinny one because my mothers youngest sister is so skinny that she is actually underweight for her age and bmi but there is no way i can change their mindset
Omg your comment made me cry because that’s what happened in my life too. This makes me so sad & sometimes always burdens my life. It’s sad when it’s come from people (family) who bully us who are supposed to give us the power to change & make us happy but instead they are the ones who stress us out 😞😢
@Gaberiella “maybe you should change into something that covers you a bit more, once you’ll loose the weight you’ll be able to wear anything you want”. This kind of comments stick with you your whole life, even when and if you do lose the weight. I have lost 40lbs in the past year and a half and sometimes I still think “yeah I’m not skinny enough for this shirt”. I’m with you 🌸
-Come over an see Johnny Depp pursuing Amber
Heard with a blade as she begs him to stop, a recording played at trial that I transcribed and loudened
i seriously needed someone to talk about alivia because she has tons of fans that believe 100% what she does is okay and it’s not
Alivia films and posts because it’s her struggle, and she knows its not okay. She posts it because it’s her journey to try to get through that ‘not okayness’ if that makes sense.
How come
She posts her journey to tell others they are not alone. Not to encourage it, most fans take her journey as inspiration that they can improve their lifestyle on their own
@Nora Periodt
@Nora exactly
Seeing some of the rude comments regarding her content I have to say:
It’s very easy to be harsh and judge Alivia but have you guys thought that it’s a complicated issue?? I honestly believe that she is capable of getting healthier on the other side of this. She has a lot of stuff she is struggling with like: limiting beliefs, insecurities coming from her upbringing and from comments that her family is saying to her, from media, her own coping mechanisms to deal with all of it. She seems not to be aware of it – like most of us weren’t before someone pointed it out to us. Therefore she’s trying to help herself the best way she knows how and it’s obviously not healthy and it’s obviously not working but she is trying. It’s not like she means to do harm to anyone. She struggles with self-sabotage, self-hate yet she is still trying but she just doesn’t see yet that this mental stuff is what is holding her back. I personally think that therapy would help her more than dieting. And then dieting would also be good for her. I honestly think that constructive feedback is valid here but it also takes having empathy to fully understand what is going on with her. – to write an *actual* empathetic, constructive comment. Some of these are just rude, judgmental and hateful. And saying that she is responsible for someone else’s way of eating is pointing the finger in the wrong direction. Complete lack of accountability for our own lives. What she is going through does look like an ED to me. And that is helped through therapy + diet together. She is struggling with physical sugar withdrawals, insulin spikes and lows – these are things that only a diet can fix. So like I said it’s complicated.What she is doing is a documenting of Her own journey. Not telling people how to live their lives. And If we make choices based upon someone’s YouTube video then that is our business and our choices are our own responsibility. If you don’t like her content and you watch it then who is there to blame for it?
But at the same time I understand the concern that promoting this way of being as sth healthy is not a good influence. I get that.
All in all I think that we are all witnesses of how she takes her first steps on her recovery which is sometimes messy. And with time while taking the helpful feedback she will be able to take healthy steps to improve her life. let’s support each other instead of tearing down one another 🙂
Best comment on here
Plus she isn’t perfect, she obviously is going to make mistakes and the fact she shows her mistakes on YOUTUBE makes her BRAVE af. If I put my mistakes on social media, I don’t know… I will be cancelled
H M proofs or i don’t believe you.
this is all well and good and people should be empathetic, but to some extent alivia DOES tell people how to live their lives, or at least strongly encourages it. she consistently uses the second person to address her audience- “you need to do x” or “you have to x” is language she often uses that it also commonly used in advertising and motivational speeches to make an audience take action. and let’s be clear- it ceases to be just about her when alivia has a large platform, a younger audience, and makes PROFIT from these videos and this advice.
Thank you for this comment.
The way Steve emphasizes sleep for the sole purpose of “burning fat” makes me want to stay up all night. Like sleep is a joy, a rest from all the insane dos don’ts of the day and to give yourself a break. Sleep should never be framed as another form of cardio.
His job is to help you get fit. He’s not here for random opinions. It’s his job. He’s promoting healthy sleeping habits bc they’ve been known to help. People can’t win. Jesus
@Ellie Cee but he is promoting them for wrong and problematic reasons.like,”eat an apple” is a true advice which can both mean “because it is nutritious and good for your health” and “because it spikes your insulin in a lower level so that you get less fat from it”(it was a wrong information about insulin in her video).yes,sleep and exercise and eat healthy foods because it is nice for you,not everything you do must be related to weight loss it is soooo problematic
@Açelya I get what you’re saying but again like Laura above said, his JOB is to help people become fitter, lose weight, gain muscle, etc. OF COURSE, he’s going to relate his tips to those things. He’s a personal trainer, that’s what they do. If you’re not interested in losing weight, great news, you don’t have to listen to his advice.
@Melmellow16 I agree with that,you are right.I am just concerned that her viewers are probably(as I was before) young girls who have weight issue and body image problems.I mean if Steve said his points in a separate video who targets grown up people,it would be okay.But I am concerned that it would and probably will worsen those young peoples’ body image problems,as expected.He even talks about body symmetry,that’s crazy!As for Alivia,she already has so much body image problems.And as for a trainer,half of his knowledge about nutrition from that video was wrong.He isn’t a saint,he wants to make money from people with body image problems and spreads wrong information
@Melmellow16 dom dom karaoke
I’ve only watched a couple episodes of Alivia’s glow up journey but I actually really liked it. It resonated with me because of how raw and honest she is about her journey. I am so used to seeing diet & exercise related videos that make a healthy lifestyle look so easy when in reality its not easy for me. I don’t think her videos were ever meant to replace health advice from an expert but instead show the very real struggles one goes through on their journey to becoming the best version of themselves. Her videos inspire me to keep pushing through the bad days.
i completely agree
this.
girl, same.
“Discomfort = growth”
THIS GIRL HAS BECOME A LIVING ED DICTIONARY
I have never seen so many red flags for eating disorder or disordered eating in one persons thoughts.
Discomfort never helped me grow, it made me miserable. It reminds me of my ED mindset.
I mean ED recovery is also discomfort? I’m recovering right now and it’s very uncomfortable but it IS growth, for me personally during my ed restriction was what felt comfortable
tbh my ed is my comfort zone so going to therapy is out of that zone and therefore, recovery is uncomfy but ultimately worth the pain
Discomfort definitely brings growth in a lot of instances, not just food.
But discomfort does equal growth….just like it does with stretching, working out, trying new foods. You’re coming out of your regular zone which is good.
I’ve watched both Aliva and Linda Sun and I’ve noticed they have completely opposite mindsets. HIGHLY recommend watching Linda. She has such a better mindset and way of looking at things compared to Aliva. I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to notice how toxic her mindset is
well yes alivia explicitly states taht she is still growing and bettering her mindset
i feel like the comfort of watching alivia’s videos is that she’s a work in progress, just like i am
@The Queertelope
but she’s also a huge pro ed (even if she doesnt mean to) person and her mindset that if you stray a little away from your diet, you’re weak or sleep is a form of cardio, and her family, it’s just, i’m only a little bit into this video and hearing her dad talk like that is so disgusting. if you’re young i recommend you stop watching her.
@am coincidentally enough, i have stopped watching her in these three months
Ehhh. I don’t know. I feel like Linda is still a work in progress when it comes to ED recovery. Like I remember a couple months ago she posted a video about how her body image issues were starting to come back and then the next week posted a video about halving her calories for a week. As an “experiment.” I personally think there’s a lot more to her than she shows on camera and only you can really help yourself, not some 21 year old influencer. I wish her and Alivia the best in their journeys though.
that video idea is from natacha oceane, and neither girls glamorise the experience.
Abbey Sharp is the concerned dietician mom that Alivia needed but never had
her dad whispering just gave me so much chills he was so creepy for doing that everyone in her family are definitely encouraging disordered behaviors
Why don’t we see it positive way maybe he was telling her that because he knows how bad she feels after eating that ?
@I just can’t exactly !! That’s what I mean unfortunately I feel bad after eating and I know how it feels !!
I’m happy to see that her father was caring .
This made me realize how common eating disorders are. So many of us have been influenced to think that we should “eat to live” because to “live to eat” is evil and unhealthy.
The phrase that my mom used to tell my sister and I was “once on the lips forever on the hips” whenever we ate. I have never really had a weight issue mostly because I ignored her. My sister on the other hand, developed an ED and still doesn’t have a healthy relationship with food/ health. Its just so destructive to listen to others projections
Alivia’s video actually got me out of my “let’s starve myself so I can actually see results” plan. Because I saw myself in her, I saw her binging, her shame and her exasperation. I downloaded this guys plan and was basically forced to eat if I wanna be better. I realised I can’t reach my body weight if I’m following these already failed unhealthy habits.