A gentle reality check about social media and not getting on my soap box (too much)

Let’s be honest – social media can be a lot.

One minute you’re looking for a nice dinner idea, the next you’re being told you should be training harder, eating differently, ageing better, fixing your posture, healing your hormones, and apparently doing it all before 6am with glowing skin and a green smoothie.

It’s exhausting.

Social media has a way of making perfectly capable, intelligent women feel like they’re somehow behind. Behind in fitness. Behind in health. Behind in life.

And that’s not accidental.

The highlight reel problem

What you see online is rarely the full picture. 

It’s cropped, filtered, rehearsed, and timed for maximum impact. 

Even the real life posts are often carefully curated to look effortless.

The problem isn’t that people share.

The problem is when we start measuring our very normal, very human lives against someone else’s edited moments.

That’s when comparison sneaks in. 

Quietly. 

Persistently.

Trends, gimmicks, and the fear of missing out

Social media loves extremes.

Do this workout. Avoid that food. Try this challenge. Buy this programme.

If it feels overwhelming, that’s because it is.

Health isn’t meant to be a performance, and movement isn’t meant to be punishment. 

Real well being is built slowly, quietly, and consistently – not through whatever happens to be trending this week.

There’s nothing wrong with improving yourself. 

But doing it from a place of pressure rather than self-trust rarely ends well.

Real bodies live offline

Strong bodies. 

Resilient bodies. 

Bodies that move well and feel supported – they’re built over time, not in 30-second clips.

Pilates sessions, walks, rest days, good conversations, proper recovery – none of these are particularly glamorous. 

They also don’t photograph very well. 

But they work.

And they last.

You’re allowed to step back

You don’t have to quit social media to protect your well being. 

But you are allowed to:

• Mute accounts that make you feel inadequate
• Ignore advice that doesn’t suit your body or your life
• Take breaks without announcing them
• Choose calm over constant input

Sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is stop looking outward and start listening inward.

Trust the process (yours, not theirs)

You don’t need to optimise every part of your life. 

You don’t need to chase perfection. 

And you certainly don’t need to keep up with strangers on the internet.

There is always an option.

There is always another way.

And more often than not, the right way is the quieter one – the one that feels sustainable, supportive, and genuinely yours.

Sam ‘being real’ Hobbs