����vlog

In the social media-saturated world we live in, we seem to have developed a new ritual around eating. Now, whenever particularly tasty looking food is placed before us, we no longer jump right in. Instead, we reach for our phone, snap a few pictures from various different angles, and then we eat. Sure, it can result in your meal going cold, but those lukewarm poached eggs are going be worth it when you start raking in the likes on Instagram, right?But it turns out the plummeting temperature of our food isn't the only issue we have to contend with as a result of every mealtime becoming a make-shift photoshoot. According to one Instagrammer, it encourages us to eat more – and we can see where she's coming from.Health influencer Amanda Meixner brought the idea to our attention in one of her recent posts. In the picture, she compared the portion size of the porridge and toppings she needs to feel full, to the amount that looks good on Instagram. And there's a pretty sizeable difference."The moment when people post oatmeal and they’re like 'kept it super simple today' and it’s like caramel chocolate, matcha toffee coffee oats with cocoa nibs, star fruit, bewitched peanut butter with bananas captured in the trees of Narnia," Amanda joked.But she added: "In all seriousness, I’ve been guilty of this before! When you try to make your food extra pretty & overkill for the gram but really it’s way out of portion."The difference in portion, she points out, is almost 400 calories-worth. Which – given the recommended daily allowance of on how many calories we should aim to be eating per meal – would soon start to rack up.But Amanda's reminder is useful, because we want Instagram to at least be a little bit realistic. And if that means your brunch might look a little too sparse to be photogenic, maybe just don't photograph it. It's a better alternative than eating double the amount of food you need.For more on the negative effects of social media, watch the video above.