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Now that it’s 2018, most of us have learnt by now that our social media footprints are basically permanent, so we have to be ultra-selective about what we choose to post and what we don’t.
Yet some people have apparently not gotten this memo. Case in point: the fact that Instagram and Facebook are being used as surveillance tools by sneaky personal trainers who want to see how their clients are spending their off-hours.
According to the New York Post, your personal trainer is totally spying on you via social media – and let me tell you, they don’t like what they’re seeing.
Read more: Find the best personal trainer for you
According to personal trainer Joe Holder, who’s based in New York City, some fitness instructors have no compunction about poring over your social media presence to see if you’re sticking to your diet.
“If you catch them doing something [unhealthy], you can call them out. If they’re doing something dope, you want to show them a little love,” he says.
Much like Santa Claus, they see you when you’re sleeping and they know when you’re awake (and stuffing your face with a pizza).
Read more: Try the Men’s Health pizza egg recipe for a cheat meal without the guilt
While most fitness instructors said they will draw the line at explicitly shaming their clients or calling them out in the comments, they’re not above a passive-aggressive jibe or two.
“I’ll see [my trainer] for our Saturday-morning sessions, and if I’m a little sluggish, he’ll be like, ‘Well, that’s probably because you had all those margaritas and ate all those tacos,’” one woman told the Post.
The end result is a relationship that is much more intimate (and arguably much more creepy) than the standard trainer/client dynamic.
Read more: Learn some lessons from Cape Town’s celebrity personal trainer
To be fair, this is something of a first world problem; if you can’t afford to hire a personal trainer in the first place (which, let’s be real, a lot of us can’t), this is not a particularly salient concern.
Also, if you do have a trainer, it probably isn’t an awesome idea to follow them on Instagram in the first place. You’re their client, not their friend. It’s kind of like being in high school and sitting with your Grade 10 maths teacher at break time.
But if you absolutely must follow your trainer on Instagram, at the very least, put your settings on private during your cheat days – or, alternatively, just check out our Belly Off Eating Plan and stick to your diet in the first place.
This article was originally published on www.menshealth.com
Image credit: iStock
