Undressed Skeleton — POST The girl circled is Taralynn of...

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The girl circled is Taralynn of UndressedSkeleton, a rather popular “fitblr” here on our quaint little website. In the photo, one can see the caption “She lost 50 pounds the healthy way!” under her name. What’s so bad about that? Well, nothing. Putting aside any fat-phobia, losing weight the ‘healthy way’ (i.e. eating appropriately and exercising on a regular basis) is great. But that’s not my issue. Taralynn claims time and time again that her eating habits are normal and healthy, but the truth is, they’re not.

TARALYNN:

After waking up this morning, I was linked to a couple blog post about me. I respect whoever wrote this, and everyone has the right to voice their opinions. In this post there were a lot of false accusations about my blog. I do understand how easy it is to get a precarious vibe, but if you were resourceful you would have considered taking the time to investigate deeper into my site before you began this post. Goes to show how much background you have in research considering you used “Snooks” as a reference site, that’s worse than quoting Wikipedia on a College paper. I stand firm on “ I am Healthy” and this is why:

You can find more at undressedskeleton.tumblr.com.

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A quick click-through of her blog brings up the following:

She adds sugar-free jello to everything. In an attempt to cut out added sugars, she switches to using artificial sweeteners (in this case, aspartame). Despite the reports that aspartame and other artificial sweeteners may not actually be harmful, sugar-free jello lacks something that fruit does not: nutrients.

TARALYNN:

The reason I use sugar free jello is to slowly help those who don’t like the taste of fruits or other healthy foods by themselves. When I first started my journey I noticed how healthy grapefruits were, but I couldn’t stand the taste alone, so I sprinkled some sugar free jello over the top, I noticed this helped me eat the fruit and really enjoy it. Sugar Free Jello took away it’s tart taste, soon my tastebud created a enjoyment for the fruit alone. Sugar free jello might be lacking nutrients, but does that really matter when you are consuming, fruits, yogurts and other healthy nutritious foods a long with it? I know that if I posted “Sprinkle Jello over the top of your fruit” I would have pretentious replys to my post about how unhealthy sugar is in regular jello.

Having a blog is never a win/win situation. It’s about posting exactly what you do. Many will feel inclined your ideas and many will despise them. I don’t want to fabricate about the food I consume, that doesn’t make a reliable blog.

I do understand where you are coming from with the “dangers of the sugar free sweeteners” I have taken consideration in cutting them out. I have slowly begun to.http://undressedskeleton.tumblr.com/post/8998623142/this-morning-i-decided-to-make-a-change-im-going . I used to use splenda and sweet n low in about everything I ate, that was when I had never thought about the side effects. I have diverted over to using Truvia. If you have read any of my updated recipes you will notice my baking swaps from splenda to stevia.

Is aspartame safe? (FDA)

After reviewing scientific studies, FDA determined in 1981 that aspartame was safe for use in foods. In 1987, the General Accounting Office investigated the process surrounding FDA’s approval of aspartame and confirmed the agency had acted properly. However, FDA has continued to review complaints alleging adverse reactions to products containing aspartame. To date, FDA has not determined any consistent pattern of symptoms that can be attributed to the use of aspartame, nor is the agency aware of any recent studies that clearly show safety problems.

As you can see there is no proven fact that aspartame is detrimental or fatal. I recognize that I should refrain from using it because it is artificial. I have been cutting back, but there are many foods that contain “artificial ingredients” even if they are not a fat free/sugar free food. Lunchmeat, white bread, ramen noodles, cheese, yogurt, cereal, dried fruit, etc. are all foods with high fat, and sugar content, but they are also known for artificial sweeteners and additives. The obvious solution is to always buy your foods at a Whole Food/Organic grocery store, but in reality being a young adult/teen I can’t afford to spend 100$ on each meal. I try to visit the whole foods market as much as possible, but it’s expensive, which is another reason I eat the foods that are available to me and my budget. Those who are pursuing healthy alternatives that are from whole foods can find numerous blogs online based solely on whole foods.

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She eats soup with a fork to “cut out 500mg of sodium just in the broth!”

TARALYNN:

That’s right! I do eat my soup with a fork. Now do I eat my tomato soup or any other runny soups with a fork? Obviously not! I LOVE soup, especially in the winter months, but I focus on staying within the 2000mg of sodium per day. Some of my favorite soups contain more than 1000mg of sodium! That is A LOT! I also eat soup almost every day, so if I continued to consume tons of sodium, that could be dangerous to my blood pressure and heart. I usually eat the really chunky vegetable soups and it makes since to eat with a fork. It cuts out sodium, which only benefits your health. Of course everyone needs sodium in their diet, but too much of it can be dangerous. My family has a background of heart attacks, both of my grandpas had severe heart attacks throughout their lives, doctors had asked them to watch cholesterol and sodium for the rest of their lives, and this is why it’s important for me.

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She seems to eat about 1000 calories every day — nearly half of the average caloric intake recommended by the US Department of Health (pdf).

TARALYNN:

If you took t time to read my blog more thoroughly you’d realize, why this accusation is beyond false. I am very aware of how many calories one should consume each day, and everyone is different. I used to have a meal plan link on the side of my blog that had over 100 meal plans to choose from all being 1000 calories. On the top of the page was a paragraph stating “All of these meal plans are 1000 calories. Everyone’s body requires a different amount of calories based on activity and size. The reason these are 1000 calories is so you can mix and match meal plans. If you are striving for 2000 calories a day than go ahead and pick two to follow for the day. If you are striving for 1500 calories for the day, go ahead and add another half of a meal plan. I would never tell someone to shoot for 1000 calories that would be an eating disorder. When I get emails from girls talking about staying under 1000 calories I am very concerned and IMMEDIETLY tell them to start adding more. That is why there is a restricting rescue page. The reason I took this page down was because of the misunderstanding of mix and matching meal plans. I burn tons of calories at the gym, and if I was only eating 1000 calories per day I would be very ill.

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I want to be forward here: I am not saying Taralynn has an eating disorder. What I am saying is that her means of dieting are not healthy and that it is unfair to herself and her readers to claim that they are.

TARALYNN:

I also want to be forward: You are stating I have an eating disorder, and that I condone it in girls around the world. I also don’t believe in diets, because they do not work in long term progress. I stay on a healthy diet not a life of dieting. If I eat something unhealthy I don’t punish myself, but if I was on a “diet” I would believe that eating unhealthy was wrong. It’s why it’s a lifestyle, and I don’t believe in dieting. My body is as healthy as anyone else’s. Now a day it’s hard to eat pure on a budget and my foods I eat are just as healthy as the foods you supposedly eat. This is not a “whole foods” blog. I do eat whole foods but not every day. I love to work out and I post ways to make it more fun. I created this blog for girls who could relate to the life I used to live. I want girls to know that there is always a way out and never to let anyone bring you down. I have dealt with bullies since I was a little girl and obviously still do till this day. Of course reading through this post this morning felt like a stab in the gut, and I contemplated on what to do. Should I let it go? Write back?… Then I realized NO ONE deserves to be put down and to be accused of false motives.

On the cover of the magazine is “Demi Lovato” a girl who has been in and out of rehab, dealt with bullies, turned to self injury, suffered eating disorders, turned to drugs and still continues to stay positive. I thought that was very inspiring and this is why I have decided to write back. It’s not fair to me to have to feel put down and accused when all I am trying to do is help girls find comfort and love. MY blog is about honesty and the truth, never sugar coated. I will continue to smile and have pride in my blog. You can take what you want out of it but I will never change it for you.

Love

Taralynn McNitt.