179. Social Media, Comparison, and Weight Loss: Protecting Your Mental Health Online with Schnelle Acevedo

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You open your phone for a quick break, and somehow 30 minutes disappear…

By the time you put it down, you feel overwhelmed, behind, and worse about yourself. In the weight loss space, every scroll can bring another dramatic before-and-after, “this changed everything” claim, or account promising to have the answer. 

So how do you know when your phone use has become a real problem? And how do you take back control without disappearing from the internet completely?

I recently sat down with Schnelle Acevedo (known online as Glam Nellie), a digital literacy educator who teaches healthier screen habits. We talked about the hidden cost of scrolling, simple tools to cut back, and red flags to watch for online, especially in the GLP-1 and weight loss space

The one question to ask after you scroll 

When I asked Schnelle how someone even knows if their phone use is a problem, she didn't point to a screen-time number. She asked a better question: How does it make you feel?

That reframe stuck with me. You might scroll in the grocery line or watch "just one more" video before bed, but are you actually taking stock of how you feel afterward? Usually it's drained, a little behind, a little worse about yourself.

There's also a hidden cost we rarely connect to our health: decision fatigue. Every "should I click this, should I comment, do I agree with this" is a tiny decision. By the end of the day, after hundreds of them, it's no wonder we reach for the easiest food and the couch.

Your feed is not neutral

One of the biggest takeaways from my conversation with Schnelle was this: your feed is designed to keep you there.

The algorithm is paying attention to what you watch, what you skip, what you comment on, what you linger over, what makes you angry, and what keeps you coming back.

That means your feed is not just a random collection of videos. It is a carefully shaped stream of content designed to hold your attention.

And sometimes, the content that holds your attention is not the content that is best for your mental health.

This is especially true with:

• dramatic before-and-afters
• rage-bait posts
• unrealistic weight loss claims
• “what I eat in a day” videos
• people giving medical advice without proper training
• fake or AI-generated transformation accounts
• content that makes you feel like you are failing

The tricky part is that a lot of this content does not look harmful at first. It may look inspiring, educational, or entertaining. But if you consistently leave feeling worse about yourself, that is important information.

“Just put your phone down” is not always helpful advice

It is easy to say, “Just stop scrolling.”

But for most people, it is not that simple.

Phones are part of our lives now. We use them for work, communication, maps, banking, music, podcasts, photos, calendars, school updates, medical portals, and staying connected with people we love.

The answer is not necessarily to throw your phone in a drawer and pretend the internet does not exist.

A better starting point is to create more awareness and more friction.

Some simple tools Schnelle recommends include:

• setting a timer before you start scrolling
• turning off non-essential notifications
• keeping your phone away from your bed
• not checking your phone first thing in the morning
• deciding in advance what you want to do instead
• using app limits or blocking tools if you need extra support

The key is interrupting the automatic loop.

Because often, we do not decide to spend an hour scrolling. We decide to check one thing, and then the algorithm takes it from there.

Be especially careful with health and weight loss content

There is a lot of helpful information online. There are also a lot of people using vulnerability to sell products, programmes, supplements, and unrealistic promises.

This is especially important in the GLP-1 and weight loss space. 

People are often searching for answers because they are frustrated, confused, or tired of being blamed for their weight. That can make them more vulnerable to accounts that sound confident but are not actually qualified to give advice.

A few red flags to watch for:

• someone promising fast or guaranteed results
• anyone saying their way is the only way
• dramatic claims without context
• medical advice from someone with no medical training
• before-and-after photos used as proof of expertise
• content that makes you feel ashamed or desperate
• accounts pushing you to buy immediately
• people giving specific medication advice without knowing your medical history

Personal stories can be valuable and they can help people feel less alone. But one person’s experience is not the same as medical guidance.

Your body, medical history, medications, side effects, appetite, labs, lifestyle, and goals all matter. That context cannot be replaced by a stranger’s video.

Learn to pause before trusting what you see

Schnelle brought up something that feels simple but powerful: trust your gut.

If something feels off, pause.

That does not mean you need to become suspicious of everything online. But it does mean giving yourself a moment before believing, sharing, buying, commenting, or spiralling.

Before trusting an account, ask yourself:

• Who is this person?
• Are they qualified to speak on this topic?
• Are they trying to sell me something?
• Does this claim sound too simple or too dramatic?
• Do they show context, or only the final result?
• Does their content make me feel informed, or does it make me feel panicked?

You can also look at the profile itself. Fake or misleading accounts often have repeated versions of the same dramatic content, very little real history, or posts designed mainly to provoke a reaction.

And with AI-generated content becoming more common, that pause matters even more.

Build a healthier relationship with the internet you already use every day. 

The internet is not going away, and it is not all bad.

It can educate, connect, entertain, and support us. Many people find real community online, especially when they are navigating health challenges that people in their day-to-day life may not understand.

But your online life should not leave you feeling constantly inadequate, overwhelmed, or afraid.

A healthier relationship with your phone usually starts with a bit more awareness. 

Pay attention to how you feel after scrolling, which accounts leave you feeling grounded, and which ones send you into comparison, panic, or shame.

From there, you can make small changes that give you a little more breathing room. Turn off the notifications that constantly pull you back in. Set a timer when you know you are likely to lose track of time. Unfollow the account that always leaves you doubting yourself.

And when you reach for your phone because you are tired, bored, or overwhelmed, try choosing something that actually gives back to you: a walk, a podcast, a book, a conversation, or time with people who make you feel like yourself again. 

You do not need to overhaul your whole life. But you do deserve to feel better than you do after another 30 minutes of scrolling.

For practical ways to cut back on scrolling, spot online red flags, and protect yourself in the weight loss space, listen to the full interview with Schnelle Acevedo on The Obesity Guide.

TRANSCRIPT:

Disclaimer: The transcript below is provided for your convenience and may contain typos, errors, or grammatical inconsistencies, as it has not been professionally edited or proofread. Please enjoy it as-is and read at your own discretion.

Please note: The content shared in this podcast and blog post is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider for personalized medical guidance.  

 All right. Welcome back to another episode of the podcast. I am so excited today. Tell me if I'm saying your name right, Chanel as. Acevedo Acevedo. Okay. I was like, I know I'm gonna get this wrong, but online you're known as Nelly. I'm so excited to have you on today. I feel like it's been years now of me following you, like you found me at some point and then I found you. So can we start out real quick? If you can just introduce yourself and, let our audience know a little bit about really all the different things you do, but then also the area that I'm bringing you in for today. Oh yes, for sure. So, hi everyone. I actually I started as a food blogger in 2011 and. In 2016, I realized that I had to stay home for my son. My son is special needs. I have three children and one of them is special needs. And I was getting a lot of phone calls at work and it was a lot of back and forth and I was like, wait a second, I gotta figure this out. So I started food blogging full-time and I've been a full-time food blogger since 2016. We're coming up on my 10 year anniversary. That's amazing. And I know, I'm so excited. And you know, to be an entrepreneur for that long is a big deal and it's really, it's a win. Really, really. It's such a win. I feel so proud of myself for that. And in the last year or so, we've had a hard time with our kids and the phones and so I've been doing a lot of deep. Diving, researching, looking up things and realizing that a lot of our kids are stuck in this bit of phones, algorithms, comparison traps, fomo, so much that they're getting caught up in and they're kids they shouldn't have. To deal with all of that stuff. So I have created a full curriculum to teach kids in New York City as well as virtually how to manage their phones. Not necessarily take them away. 'cause a lot of parents wanna just take them away and put them in the drawer. And I know that sounds easy, but that's just not the way to do it. So I've been teaching. Kids and seniors and parents and teachers about the algorithms, how to manage them, how to deal with them. And I'm also just recently expanded this to teach all of these people how to make money online, since that's what I've been doing for the past decade. I love it. Thank you so much for sharing that. I can tell you so. I, I have a 6-year-old son, well, almost 7-year-old son. Yeah. And then I also have three step kids and they're all older, right? Like, think like, you know, 14 up to 18. And boy do I know with this, with the device is they just really wanna be in the room on the device all day long. And it's so scary when, and maybe we can touch on this. When you see the data of how detrimental it is to their mental health. I mean, I love watching YouTube videos and being on TikTok and doing all the things, but I do know how bad I feel if it's hour after hour Yes. That I, I truly do not feel good. And one of the reasons I brought you on is that I think this also is really detrimental in the health. Space because touching on what you said, when you're doing this compare and despair, it is not real a lot of the time what people are seeing yet, they're comparing themselves to that. They come into clinic patients that I've seen for years, and they say, well, this person lost 40% of their body weight and they see the 10 skin removal surgeries, and I'm thinking. That is not most people, like no one has the finances to be able to do that. Yes. Yeah. Let alone they're not telling you that they probably had surgeries or they're on four meds. They're just not telling you what the reality is. Right. They're seeing the final product, whatever that is. Totally. So do you, where do you start with people? Like how does someone know if this is even a problem for them with being on the phones too much? Well, I, the first thing I wanna ask them is, again, just like how you said, how does it make you feel? Like really? How does it make you feel? It might be a distraction, it might be taking up the time, it might be you scrolling while you're in the grocery store but are you really taking stock of that feeling? For example, I was on threads this morning and saw a woman, she's a very popular, food TV host, and she shared a story where she was like, Hey. I have a picture of this guy from the nineties. Can anybody help me find him? So now like I'm invested and I'm like, wow. Like I was like, wow, okay. I love when these things happen, but wait, there's more. And I look in the comments and everybody's making jokes and it's hilarious, whatever. And then I get to the comment that said that he passed away. Like 14 years later, earlier or something like that. It was pre-Katrina, so I guess longer than that, and it was just all of a sudden so sad and I was like, that's what I get for getting on threads this morning. You went down the rabbit hole? Yeah. Why did I do that to myself? Because I was like all excited. Now all of a sudden I'm sad. But even just being conscious of that feeling, that real feeling of, you know what, maybe I should just put my phone down and get to work now. You know? Yeah. Instead of just looking for more things to get that dopamine going. Really just taking stock of how you feel is the biggest, biggest one. I love that you bring that up because what I always think about every single thing we're seeing. We're having all the thoughts, all the feelings, and when were we ever in 50 different areas thinking about things, one second after the next. I don't think we realize, when people get to the end of the day and they're exhausted and they make poor food decisions, it's like, but how many decisions online were you making about, should I watch this? Should I click on it? Should I try to search this out? Oh, I don't agree. I'm leaving a nasty comment. That's all decision fatigue. Yeah. So not only the dopamine hit, but there, there's just a lot going on with this. I think we can maybe assume that pretty much everyone listening knows that they have a little bit too much of a reliance of, being online, things like that. Yeah. So do you have any tools for how we could help not only ourself, but also our kids or younger people in our life to, to decrease this consumption? Well, yeah. For sure. The first thing I would do is set a timer. I don't think we realize how quickly the time goes when we're consuming content. Yeah, there is 10 minute videos, there's 30 second videos, there's five minute videos, and all of a sudden. We're two hours, behind what we're supposed to be doing. Or maybe we're supposed to get up and get ready for work and an hour has passed and now you're late for work. Like you have to make these conscious decisions of setting timers, getting off of the phone, or even maybe not even picking up the phone in the morning, which is very foreign to a lot of people. Yeah. And there's certain times of the year where I'm just like, i'm not gonna touch my phone until after my workout 'cause I work out in the morning. That is the number one thing. The second thing is just to really try. To figure out what you need to be doing instead of being on the phone. Hmm. Like put that in front of you if that's your calendar. If that is a book that you've been wanting to read, but for some reason can't find the time what is it? Is it, do you wanna go get a bike ride? Do you wanna go to the park? Is there a movie that you wanted to see that you're letting go? You know, movies are in and out in five minutes these days. What is it that you wanna do that you've been wanting to do, that you are not doing because you're sitting at home scrolling and letting other people entertain you? What is it in real life that you want right now? Gosh, you brought up so many good things. Right now. The no phone in the morning. Do you know how hard it's been for me to implement that? Because a lot of the, it's so hard, right? I mask it being noble. I'm like, but I'm seeing if a patient left a message, right? It's like, no, girl, you do not need to look at five 30 in the morning. You need to go to your walk. You need to, mm-hmm. Do your day. I think that is so powerful. And also the timer, a hundred percent agree with you. What are your thoughts on, I know I got a while ago, it's called Brick, where it's literally Oh yeah, it's literally a brick, guys. It's like two inches by two inches and it's linked to an app, but you decide, okay, when I click it, it turns off all those apps that I don't wanna be on. The reason I do that is 'cause I do still need on my phone, my calculator to be able to, you know, do of course formulas with my patients, things like that. Yeah. But I don't wanna go down the rabbit hole being on TikTok all the time, or Facebook or Instagram, whatever it might be. Yeah, makes sense. Do you recommend those kind of devices to people or apps that time out at certain periods, or do you do it more manually? I do recommend all of them. Like anything that works for you, let it happen. For me it was last year I turned off all of my notifications. That was a big one for me. Yes, that's a big one for me. Turn off, do I don't. Yeah, yeah. Don't let any of the services I turn off Facebook. Instagram, the TikTok, like, I don't know what's happening there unless I log in because that little bing was driving me crazy. I had to know what was going on. Who posted what, where, what look, no. So I had to, turning off the notifications for me was a big one. As far as not having, like the brick and stuff like that. That's cool, that's fine. But for me personally, I play music. Okay. Yeah. So when I'm singing and I'm like engaged in that way, I am not thinking about what's happening on social media. 'cause I'm working and I'm singing and I'm working and I'm singing, or I'm listening to a podcast. I just think that long form content is so much better for your brain versus the dopamine rush of the 30 second videos. Yeah. And the five minute videos. Definitely. Yeah, I so hear you. Yeah, I'm a big podcast fan, podcast audible, all of that. Yeah. And I feel like at the end of it, you actually know something like, yes. What did I hear the story the other day? You know, the, the, scrub daddy, the little sponge. Yes, of course. They were on Shark Tank in the past. Okay, so there's a podcast How I Built This and they told the story. It was incredible. Like multiple times I had chills after that I went and talked to my friends about it and it was something where it uplifted me and. Inspired me. I wasn't feeling depleted at the end of it. I think that's mm-hmm. Beautiful. And I like this last thing that you put here with, put it on the calendar, the things that you wanna do. 'cause that's what I've started to do. You think, oh, I'll do the things I like here and there. No, you have to decide, I'm gonna do 30 minutes of crafts tonight. And you have to lay it out and necessarily be ready for you. Mm-hmm. It doesn't sound fun, but it's really fun when you're doing it and you know you have the time for it and you get realistic about what you can do and you're looking forward to it. Definitely. Yeah. These are all really good tips for how people can notice it, how they could, decrease their consumption. Some, how do we help our kids with that? 'cause I know some of us they're rather addicted to the screens. Do you have tips for that? So I have a 7-year-old, a 14-year-old, and a 17-year-old. Oh. So really like the same. Yeah, it's a big wide range. You know, my 7-year-old, I'm very protective of her. I do not let her have her own device, even though she's begged me to have one. I don't believe that she should have one until she gets to high school. But, we'll, we'll see what happens, you know? Yeah. Yeah. My middle son, he does have a phone because he was going to middle school that was very far away at one point. So he does have a phone. However, we do have a screen time cut off of five 30 in the house. Mm-hmm. Everyone puts their devices away at five 30 and. One, one of the most important things I do, especially now that I've been doing all the research and presentations to kids and so forth, is I do it for them. So they've become my test audience, if you will. And so I teach them about digital literacy algorithms and when they hear about how there's actual psychologists that are. Training these algorithms to keep you there as long as possible. They're like, what are you talking about, mom? I'm like, no, for real. They want you to stay. They know what you like. They know how long you engage. They know what you block. They know what you don't block. They know all of these things and then they use it against you to keep you there even longer. And they're like, what? I said, yes, it's a whole thing because you are the product. You know, they, it's just you are the product. It's free for a reason. It's because you are the product and they wanna show you more ads. And the more ads you see, guess what? The more money they make. I know. So I have to literally tell them the whole process. And then once they kind of step back and look at that, I'm not saying that. They will reduce their screen time because they still love it, but they look at it from a different point of view. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like it's not so much of, oh, mom is being mean and she's making me put the phone down. It's like, oh no, mom actually knows what she's talking about, so let me put the phone down. You know what I mean? Totally. Yeah. This knowledge is so much power. You know what it's reminding me of? It's kind of like with the food industry, how. They make things super hyper palatable. Yeah. They too have the food scientists, they're sticking 'em in the imaging machines. What's your brain doing when you're thinking about it? Eating it, and they're, they're trying to make that bliss point with the food. So you overconsume it. I feel like this is the same thing, right? Where it's like if absolutely, and maybe you still have the processed food, but if you're not aware of how much they're screwing with you, it's really detrimental. So I love that you're doing this education. How, how early do you think we should be starting with educating kids on this? So I start from third grade to fifth grade. Okay. Okay. So I'm not teaching them necessarily about algorithms, but I'm teaching them about protecting their information. Okay. Yeah, because what they're gonna do is. My mommy's name is, I live here. Yeah. You know, all of these crazy important data points that other strangers on the internet do not need to know. Yeah. I teach them about cyber bullying and even comment culture because they're seeing it on YouTube. They see all the comments, screenshot culture, all of these things. I'm teaching the third to fifth graders about, unfortunately, I can't really do much with the K to second. With them. I'd rather talk to their parents. Yes. And have them understand that leaving the babies on the iPad for the six hours is horrible for their brains. Yeah. Let's go play a game, friends, let's go play. Let's go play a board game. And I understand that there's a lot of apps that teach. Which is great. Right. But at the same time, they still don't need to be on the screen for as long as possible, you know? I know. I mean, I get it. Parents are exhausted. Oh, we are. Yeah. I really believe that everyone's trying to do their best and I think that it kind of crept away on little feet and we didn't realize it. It's just that so far out of control. Mm-hmm. And now, now we have the data, now we see how detrimental all these things are. Yeah. So I love that. How it's basically, yeah. 'cause I feel when kids are younger, the parents cannot introduce the device. They have a lot more control. And what you're talking about the third to fifth grade. Sometimes they get a device at school. This actually really annoyed me when my son went to, well it was even in kindergarten, they had an iPad and they have to take it home. I was like, why do they have to take it home? Why can't we, my daughter too? Yeah. So it was really interesting, and I remember he would, he found like loopholes how to get on kids YouTube because they had it blocked. Wow. Yeah. But he found when you go through the help screen, like the little help video, then you kind of like Jimmy rigged it. We talked to the teacher, we tried to fix all this stuff, but the reality is, if you're not watching what they're doing, you don't know what's happening. I can go on for days about that because actually we ended up banning YouTube in my house, which is like, it sounds insane, but no, it doesn't. You'll, you'll understand why. Because my daughter. Like right after the pandemic, I would say like maybe 2023, 2024, she was really into these doll videos, where these dolls are talking and they have these adult voices on them and all of this stuff. Yeah. And someday I was, she was just right next to me and I heard some of the language and it was just like it was so crazy because if you look from even six feet away, it's dolls that are playing, it's to suck. But if you hear. Yeah, it's really awful, at one point I was just like, I'm so sorry baby, but we can't do this no more. And she was okay with it. She's fine now, it's really about really K through two, well K through five, really just monitoring what they are looking at and not just. Giving it to them and walking away. Constantly looking, hearing what they're looking at. I feel like people now have a little bit of an understanding for themselves, for their kids. Yeah. Can we switch gears a little bit one, the comparison factor. 'cause I think it's huge. And then also how to spot if accounts are fake, because I think this is really big in the health space. What advice do you give around, people not comparing, because I think like, you're gonna be online, you're gonna look at stuff, but do you. What do you tell people? I don't know, what am I trying to ask here with comparison? I think, I think what you're trying to ask is, I mean, from what I would respond is just you don't know the whole story, and I always approach everyone with that. Even my best friend of 20 years, I still don't know the whole story. I'm still learning about that girl, you just don't know the whole story and what you're being fed is something that is packaged and gorgeous and has been practiced many times. And I think it's so important to be good with yourself and understand that what you're most things online even it's no longer 1999, most things online are no longer genuine and authentic. It's a show. It's a bit of a show's, guys. Totally. I'm so glad that you bring this up because even I would like to think, oh, I'm sharing, genuinely who I am, things like that. But I'm thinking, no, I don't share every single struggle. I don't share. You gotta produce some of it. I know. It's like, I'm not saying every coach I'm working with every, oh my gosh. If we talked about all the things people would think we're a mess. Yeah. Yeah. And so I agree that you never know the full story. I think I try to always say that too, with the health stuff that. They don't even know everything about themselves. They don't even know the genetics and what's going on. Do you think, are there ways for people to spot if an account is made with AI or it's fake in general? There's a couple of ways. The first thing is trust your gut friends, because so many times I've come across a video and I'm like, Ooh, that feels. That feels off, that feels weird. And it just, like it's, IM, it's immediate, right? It's just, yeah, that feels weird. And then I go into the comments to confirm like, is it me? I'm like, is it me? It's like, is it me? And then immediately everybody's like a i, a I. I'm like, yes, period. You know? Like it's still working. So trust your gut is the number one thing. The second thing is always check the profile because. TikTok especially has these horrible, profiles that are. Mainly geared towards getting people upset, rage baiting. Yeah. And then having them click on the bio. For example, this one is terrible. I'm sorry to bring it up, but it's just my number one. When I talk to the high schoolers, this is my number one, example. There is a company called cheater buster.com and they have hired content creators to create these. Out of control stories about husbands that are cheating and are going on various apps, like it's the, if you think about the worst case scenario of what your husband could be doing. They're doing it. They're talking about it, right? Yeah. So they're like writing stories and then Yeah. Oh, they're, oh, it's really dramatic, right? So they're like showing up at mistresses houses and it's just like really salacious, right? And, but it's several of them so they have millions and millions of views. You look at their reply videos and it's like, everybody wants to know how I found out. And it's actually this website called cheater buster.com. It's all an ad. It's all an ad. They have done this over every time I find one in my FYPI screenshot it and I show the different people that are doing the same thing. And again, you have engaged millions of people. Millions of people are angry now. Yeah. They have responded. They have left a diaries. Full worth of comments. Yeah. Girl, you should leave him. I would never, there's so much, right? Yeah. It's all in the profile. If you see something like that and it's starting and it's like salacious and it's absolutely outta control, look at the profile. They probably don't have a lot of followers. They've probably done this over and over and over. They probably have a different version of it over and over and over in their profile. Yeah, so I think that's like my second thing is just making sure that someone is not purposely getting you angry to get you to click on a website. Totally. Yeah. Not only the fake aspect, but I also find it so unethical. 'cause I do think some people that are real are doing that as well. And Oh, yeah. To me it's an instant turnoff that, or responding to negative videos, there's this certain formula that people do just to get the views up. And a long time ago when I got online, I was like, I don't care if I never have any followers. I'm not gonna Yeah. Grow based on negativity. Yeah. And putting people down and Yeah. I have a lot to say, but I'm not gonna, yeah. State in that forum in that way. Yeah. I really like you giving these tips. So looking, is it. Multiple different versions of the same thing, the age of the account, the followers, all that kind of stuff. I know right now the biggest trend is the post-divorce effect videos where they show the before and after. It's like total AI totally made up that's just the latest wave of the before and after trend that we're seeing. Yeah. Yeah. And when you think about it, it again feeds into that loop, of, oh, I'm angry. I'm so angry, I'm gonna comment, I'm gonna do this. And then you see a nice little doggy video and you're like, oh my God, it's so amazing. And then you go and you see something else and it's just. Let's put the phones down. Yeah, let's start from the top. Let's go back to the beginning. Let's get that book. Let's read it. Because the more we engage with this stuff is the more they're gonna just bring more of it out. You know what I mean? Totally, if someone specifically is in this sort of, I feel like the weight loss GLP one space mm-hmm. Is even the worst. And again, I come from metabolic health and things like that, but mm-hmm. People will use the term weight loss. Are there any, big red flags for accounts or program or, or experts that people are trying to, they're trying to, uh, grift off of that. Do you think there's any clues for people as well what they should look for? Well, honestly, and I, and I'm making some pushback for this, but I only truly listen to doctors and people that are in the medical field. No. You know what I mean? But like I agree, I don't, because I enjoy content from GLP one users. I love it, and they got me through my journey, but you know. There is a bit of a salesy part to that as well. Yeah. And sometimes I'd be working and I'd be in the lives and I'd hear so much medical recommendations and that kind of gave me the cringe and it was just like, ah, what are you doing? You know what I mean? Because I know my journey was so different from everyone else. Like I never went past five. You know, um, you know, and I always was like a workout person, so like I was, it was just, it all came together really well for me. But that's not gonna be everybody's journey. And I have friends and family members who are on the journey right now, and they're like asking me for advice and I'm like, ask your doctor because I don't want to even step in that space, and be that kind of a voice for them. But I feel like when it comes to. GLP one and weight loss and all of that other stuff. It's such a sensitive topic where everyone is super vulnerable. So it's super easy to prey on people who desperately want to lose the weight and desperately want to not be in the body that they're in anymore. So I think for me, I love someone who has just have some sort of medical background. Yeah, that's number one for me. I prioritize that over everyone and everyone else. I take with a grain of salt, I really do and I love them and I care about them as people. But I can't listen to them because they're not professionals. Right. I, I find they're not held to the same standard. I went to this training a little while ago here, and it was like a five hour obesity medicine, all of that. But it was not. By an MD or a do. It was, mm-hmm. I'm not gonna like out the organization, but the point anyway, I sat through it, but there were multiple times when the information was incorrect and I'm not gonna sit there and say it in the Zoom chat, that's not my place. I'm not the one that's running it. But I was just sitting there thinking, oh my gosh, there's maybe 30 people on this call that are vehemently taking notes that are thinking that this is the correct thing. And I just thought about how easy this is to misguide so many people. And that's one of the only reasons, to be honest, that I'm online. 'cause I don't really want to be online. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That really gets to me that. That information is so easy to get out there, but the correct stuff isn't because it's not packaged. That's amazing. I just wanna take the time to give you your flowers because I've been listening. I've been listening to you for years, and once I found your account I was like, yep, boom. Good. You know what I mean? I knew that whatever. Video came across my feed. It was gonna be well thought out. It was gonna be from a medical professional, and I could listen. I could absorb that information and have it helped me on my journey, I just wanted to say thank you publicly for being so awesome online. I know much that means to me because especially with how you do stuff online too, I think you really get it how hard it is to be out there and yeah, it is. Just thank you for that. I don't think that people sometimes know how hard it is to turn the camera on and to do things and to, and press post. Yeah. Yeah. So, switching gears a little bit, do you think there are things that in general, people should do for their safety online? Do you recommend any of these services where it goes and deletes all the personal information? Or are there just things in general we should do? The first thing I would recommend is a two factor authorization on everything. Everything, everything, everything that offers it. Take it.. The second thing I would recommend is to trust your gut. Try to have some sort of conscious engagement. Really take time because sometimes, it happens to me, I see a video and they're gorgeous. And they're beautiful, and it's like your first inclination. It's I trust them because they look so good. You know what I mean? And it's just like, wait, pause, pause, pause. You know? Just because they look good don't mean what they're saying is correct so like really taking your time to critically think throughout every single video that you see. It makes. Sound great and maybe packaged wonderfully, but is it true? Do you need to do your own research on this? That is the most important thing and I truly believe in trusting your gut. I do. And if something feels off, it probably is. First of all, the two factor authentication. It is so annoying to set up, but I have it for everything. And I cannot tell you like every six months there, someone tries to hack my Instagram. Yeah. And I know because I'm getting a request for a second authentication. That's wrong. Right? So if. I mean, obviously I'm changing passwords and stuff all the time, but Yep. And this critically thinking, the other day I saw a, a hair loss commercial. Right. Some, some product. I feel like I, I must talk about it a lot or something on my phone. Me, I dunno. You know? Yeah, yeah. And this lady was, she has all this lush hair, right? It's like, like 10 mountains of hair that she probably had 10 wigs on. And she's saying in, she's like, in three weeks, it was longer and thicker. And I'm like. The hair life cycle is months. Yeah. So for when you said three weeks, we know it's a lie. The whole ad is a lie. Right, right. And it was, it really honestly, especially with hair where it's so personal and intimate and Yes. Identity forming. And so I could see how someone would just click and buy it just immediately to see if it helps. Yeah, yeah, and when you're talking about trusting your gut, it's a big one. 'cause I think a lot of us have. Just specifically talking about the weight area for a second. Mm-hmm. We've learned to not trust ourselves over time. 'cause we've been told you need to calorie restrict, you need to move more. Like we're always told you are wrong, you are lazy, you are doing all these things and it's not anything that is love and compassionate, kind, understanding of physiology. When you bring this up, I think it takes time for us to be able to trust our gut. Especially when it comes to it does a lot of stuff happening. Yeah. And it takes confidence, you really have to build. Build it over time and really understand that, okay, well this is working. This may not be working right now, but this is working and maybe it didn't work last week, but it's still working. And I think even in my own personal journey where it was just I didn't lose, I think I'm, the most I've lost in a month was two pounds. The, that's lightning speed compared to me. I mean, like, it was, I mean, I, whenever I saw negative 0.01 woo, like I was so excited. You know what I mean? When I see people online who are like, I only lost five pounds this week. I'm like, ex, oh, what? You know what? I, yeah. Only, but I, I'm like a crusader right now online for glamorizing slow transformation. So I made a video on YouTube the other day. I'm trying to get more active there, and I talked about how it was like. Slow over six years. That was like the title and I'm like, let's get this message out instead of glorifying the before and after culture. That's really, oh my gosh, really rooted in real health change. Yeah, and I actually have not shared any before and afters online. Yeah, I've been tempted, but I have not, and obviously all my friends and family have seen the transformation. I've been completely open and honest about, how it's happened and so forth. But they've always known me as a athlete, so like to, to, to kind of push. Pushed the two together has been like super, super fun. But again, it was no loss. Point two loss. Yeah maybe a little gain here and there, but it was slow. It was really slow but I liked it that way and I liked that. I still knew something was happening and I was still trusting in the process and trusting in my gut that I would get to where I'm in maintenance now, but, get to where I wanted to get. Yeah. And. When I got there, it was the sweetest thing. It really was the sweetest thing because the trust, the ugh, it's incredible. I mean, I, so I've obviously been following you for years and Yeah. You know, you would show videos of doing different exercise things and I'm like, oh my gosh, look how strong she is. Look at these things that she's building out. I loved seeing it because it's just clear that you were doing these things and it wasn't like this external motivation, if that makes sense. In my head, I am like Serena Williams. I just, I'm an athlete. I'm an athlete. Gosh, athlete. You know what I mean? Like, I've won many, many championships. I'm I'm, I'm, I'm Asia Wilson. Like in my head, that's me. You know, I love you. I love that you bring this upm 'cause I'm the same. And I'm like, why do people feel bad about themselves? I'm gonna celebrate everything all day long. Everything, everything I actually just registered for. Do you know what High Rocks is? No. High Rocks is a competition. It's a fitness competition. It's very, very popular these days. It sells out in minutes, and it's basically, where you're running and you're strength training with thousands of other people. Wow. This is the most insane thing. Look it up. It's High Rocks and I signed up for a High Rocks competition in May, and I'm telling you, if. Someone would've said this to me three years ago, I would've been like, oh, please get outta my face. Like, right. But like now I'm like, Nope, we're gonna do it. You know what, what, I mean, bring, bring a challenge. Yeah. I'm an athlete in my own head. You know what I mean? So I love that. I, well, I'm so excited if you share any of it online. I'm so excited. Yeah. Able to see it and learn more. That's gonna be amazing. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And I love how over time we do things differently that we would've never considered before. Yeah. It's beautiful because I always tell people like. We don't need to skip to that version of ourselves. There's many versions in between and it's actually nice to just like naturally unfolds. It's really beautiful. Absolutely. Coming to one other thing, 'cause I know that I wanna make sure to respect your time, but let's say that someone knows I've been scammed, like something has happened. Yeah. Are there any safety things afterward to do? Yeah. So the first thing I want everyone to know is that everybody can get scammed. These scammers are some of the smartest people they have been working on people and. How they think for years. Okay. So when I see people who are brave enough to share their stories online about how they've been scammed, and then I look at the comment section, it's like, oh my God, this would never happen to me. How did you miss this red flag that It's like no, it won't happen to anyone. I remember it almost happened to me. They have a scam where they call you as a physician and they say you've, you missed a subpoena to show up for a patient case. Oh my gosh. And so you think you've been, you think you've been summoned, that you didn't hear it, that now there's a problem. And, eventually I was like, okay, this is crazy. At the, at some point it didn't make sense, but initially they know enough where you think, wow, this is serious. Yeah. And they, that's the thing. There's so much of your information that's out there, people that are watching your stories, people that are, just they see your names, they Google you. Have, I don't know if anybody's Googled themselves recently, but you'll show up in the most random places. Like your name will show up in the most, so, so they put these pieces together of you. It's very easy to get scammed. The first thing is if it's something that you've clicked on, I know it's really, we talked about this two factor authentication stuff. It's really difficult to get in contact with like social media companies, unfortunately, but just try to change your password as soon as possible. If it's something that you have paid for, call the bank immediately. Do not call mom crying about it. Just call the bank immediately so that you can, figure that out and get that card shut down, if it's someone and I teach about this in my scams class, if it's someone that's calling you and saying that your family member is in trouble, and this is the biggest one lately. Mm-hmm. You have to hang up the phone and call the family member. You just do they're demanding money. Especially why would somebody call you and demand money because your family member's in trouble. They've already hooked you with your family member being in trouble and now you're gonna give money. Stop. Take a beat. Take a beat, you know? Yeah. Understand that this is not your fault. That people are awful and people are just trying to get as much out of folks as possible. And I've seen it so much recently. My mom even has a friend who is, posing as. A newscaster, her favorite newscaster, and she thinks that man is real. And she's been sending money and it's like, hello. Like, you know, but she can't, romance can't romance scams are hard because people really, really terrible in it. They really, they don't believe you. It's really nasty work. It's really nasty work and it's just, it's a matter of taking a beat. Figuring out what's the next step, what's the next right, next step, and doing it as quickly as possible. Yeah. This is really good advice. Do you think there's anything that we didn't talk about today that is really foundational? Like people need to hear this? I think it's probably what we were talking about before about community. I think it's time we really step forward in building, in real life community again. Yeah. Like we. Really had something special pre devices, and I think there's a healthy way to combine the two, you know? Yeah. So maybe it's not laying down on your couch. Scrolling after a hard day is blissful. It's wonderful, but like you can't do that every day, right? It doesn't long term restore you as the problem. Like in that moment you get a little dopamine hit, but you don't like a week later feel amazing. You don't, you know? Yeah. And so I'm just encouraging everyone to take that time, you know, even if it's the weather's getting nicer to go to the park to sit in, people watch and do the simple things that we've somehow lost along the way. Yeah, I love that you bring this up and also marrying the two. 'cause I find, there's a lot of people in my community. I run this group program called 30 30, and it's not even about the information because I always say, look, all the information exists out there. You can hobble and cobble it together. Yes, it might be in an easier place when you're coming to me, but. The only reason you would join 30 30 is 'cause you wanna be in a community where it's not diet culture where people actually support each other. That's the magic, right? Yeah. And then it's no shock that in-person events have come out of it because people wanna actually meet when they've been talking for years. There's an actual human connection. I often say. If I, God forbid, found out that one of them had breast cancer or something, I would go fly out to them. You know? Absolutely. It's, you actually care about the person. They're not just Yes. A little anonymous person commenting like you actually care. Yeah. And that's a whole nother level that I really think people need to know unfortunately with, with suicide rates being so high, people need to know I'm loved and cared for and I have a place where I belong. And that's part of it, to be honest. Yeah. And I have another example of that. In 2023 I started going, 'cause I'm a very big Peloton person, you can't see here, but I have a bike, I love it. A row and a tread, in my office. So like I'm obsessed with them and they know it and I know it. Yeah. So in 2023, I started going back to. The, the actual studios, yeah. So I go to the studios now almost every week, and we have created the most awesome community. So now,, they spent the whole birth, my whole birthday with me, and, we go to every, we support everyone. I was at the New York half, couple of days ago supporting my Peloton girls that were running it, out there in the cold, even though I have everything here, going out and seeing instructors and seeing my friends, like running next to my friends and rowing and biking, it's just been the best thing I've ever, like the best decision I've ever made because now I have this community of girlfriends and guy friends that are just, we are fitness people. We're fitness people. We love it, but like outside of that, we know each other. And we love each other and we chat. We chat before class. We chat after class. We chat in the lock the locker room, forget about it. They hate when we're there 'cause we're, you know what I mean? So it's just like it's, but, but it's like one of the best decisions I made, especially post COVID where I was just I don't know what to do now. But just walking into that gym and showing up every week has created some of the best connections of my life, honestly. I love hearing this. Also just to hear how diverse it can be. Yeah. It, I know for me, like I'm finding some, scrapbooking events, right? Like yeah. Everyone brings their supplies and there's, you know mm-hmm. It's mm-hmm. Just industrial table and everyone's having fun. Yeah. But together and there's just something so different about that. So I love hearing your example, and it's just really endless, is the point. And so I love how. You're bringing that up and how important this is. Thank you so much for coming on today, for giving us You're welcome, your time. I've learned so much. This has been, honestly one of my favorite interviews ever. Can you, oh my gosh. Can you tell everybody how can they find you online kind? What are the best ways to connect with you after this? Oh yeah, for sure. So my company is BAM, digital Media, LLC and my, company. We teach classes to NYC students, elders, and parents. And I am on TikTok at Brooklyn Active Mama on Instagram at Glam Nelly. And if anybody wants to reach out, I'd love to chat. I love that. Thank you so much. We're gonna make sure to put it all in the show notes, so anyone that's listening, yeah. Renta clinic.com, click on podcast, and right there is gonna be the episode. We have all of this linked and everything that we talked about in a written format if you wanna make sure to not miss anything. Thanks again for coming on and sharing all this with us. Of course.