Gold Coast personal trainer Emily Skye has more than 7 million Facebook followers and uses her social media presence to promote her health and fitness programs. Picture: Peter Wallis.
SOMETHING strange happens to our Facebook feeds at this time of year.
Yes, there are the envy-inducing snaps from all your rich friends holidaying in Aspen and endless photos of children in elf costumes.
But in 2016 these usual January irritants have been replaced by a new annoying feature -sponsored posts from self-described fitness gurus peddling their “New Year, New You” weight loss plans.
Even if you unfollow women like Emily Skye, Kayla Itsines and Ashy Bines on Facebook or Instagram, sponsored posts advertising their fitness and diet programs still appear in your feed.
Just this week, news.com.au counted at least ten Australian health personalities who are promoting eating or exercise plans online, designed to capitalise on our motivation to shift a few Christmas kilos.
They include I Quit Sugar’s Sarah Wilson, Instagram celebs Base Body Babes and nutritionist Lola Berry, whose controversial four-week program ‘Stop Being a Fat Bitch’ has now been removed from her online store and the program’s website fatbitch.com.au taken down.
A sponsored Facebook post from Gold Coast personal trainer Emily Skye. She has a combined social media following of more than 8 million people.
Gold Coast personal trainer Emily Skye has seven million Facebook followers and according to Facebook she is the biggest “fitness influencer” in the world.
Her 28-day and 12-week F. I. T programs, which include workout videos, meal plans and online support, are currently promoted online with a 50 per cent off deal.
“I never use New Year’s resolutions in my marketing, because I don’t believe they’re realistic,” Skye, 31, told news.com.au.
But she acknowledges January is an important opportunity for her business.
“Because it’s a new year, people want to make those goals and start fresh,” she said. “I have a lot of followers overseas, so in the lead-up to Christmas it slows down a bit. But in the new year it picks up and I like to kick things off with a sale. Whenever there’s a sale people obviously jump on board.”
Picture: Kayla Itsines.
One of Skye’s biggest competitors is 23-year-old personal trainer Kayla Itsines, who has 4.2 million Instagram followers and another 3 million on Facebook.
Itsines is famous for her Bikini Body Guides, which focus on 28-minute circuit workouts and eating plans. She’s currently promoting her Sweat With Kayla app, which costs $US20 a month.
“Legs is it for you girls today! Try a workout like this in my app on a FREE 7-day trial today at http://ift.tt/1P2iTOl,” she wrote in a sponsored Facebook post.
A spokeswoman for Itsines wouldn’t comment on whether she receives more sign-ups in January,
“as she prefers to focus on her journey, everything health and fitness and her BBG girls’ inspiring transformations.”
A sponsored post from former bodybuilder Sophie Guidolin, who recently gave birth to twin girls. Picture: Sophie Guidolin.
Many of the programs advertised online offer the promise of a 28-day or 12-week body makeover. Itsines frequently shares photos from her ‘Bikini Body Girls’ online community, who use the hashtag #BBG online.
These include ‘before and after’ photos showing huge body transformations, often over the course of just a few weeks.
While January can be a good time to make some healthier changes, trying to complete a total overhaul in 28 days can be dangerous, said the head of physiology at the University of Melbourne, Professor Gordon Lynch.
“You can make dramatic changes early on, but I’m always interested in seeing what these people look like in year’s time. Has it made long-lasting changes to their health and wellness?
Popular personal trainer Kayla Itsines, whose BBG guides are popular with millions of women around the world. Picture: Nick Clayton.Source:Supplied
“Rather than rush out and say ‘In four week’s time I need to look like this’, take it slowly and be more realistic,” he said.
Professor Lynch said putting a time limit on your health and fitness goals can set you up to fail.
“People get derailed early and they think ‘I’ve mucked it up now’ and they give up.
“What we should be saying is ‘There will be obstacles, you will miss a training session here and there’, because our lives are so busy’.
“But we’re in it for the long haul and if we do it over time and stick with it, we’ll be surprised in a year’s time how far we’ve come.”
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