Who is Liv Schmidt? Understanding the TikToker’s Weight Loss Journey and the Controversy Behind Her Ban to Combat Obesity in America

Liv Schmidt garnered significant attention when TikTok decided to ban the influencer due to her contentious advice on weight loss.

Many individuals felt that her posts encouraged disordered eating habits, as she offered various suggestions on remaining lean and preventing weight gain. Her videos reflected an unhealthy preoccupation with maintaining a slim figure. Following her ban, Liv Schmidt launched a new TikTok account, leading to a surge in public interest around her.

Who is Liv Schmidt?

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A post shared by Liv Schmidt (@livsschmidt)

Liv Schmidt is a 22-year-old influencer and office worker living in New York City. Before her ban, she boasted over 700,000 followers on TikTok, where she shared fitness and nutrition tips alongside vlogs detailing her daily meals.

The underlying issue? Liv Schmidt is an everyday office employee whose fixation on perilous beauty norms stands out. The internet has largely dismissed the necessity for dietary supplements over the years, yet she continues to promote them across her channels. While she also features workout routines and discusses her eating habits, her content has been categorized as “thinspo” — a term linked with pro-eating disorder communities that serves as motivation to stay thin. This perspective is incredibly hazardous as it encourages individuals to take extreme measures to lose or maintain an unhealthily low weight.

Prior to her viral fame, her followers admired her for her dieting techniques. However, post-ban, many began to confront Schmidt about her unhealthy fixation on thinness. As a society, we have made considerable progress in understanding body image, striving towards acceptance of various body types, yet figures like Schmidt seem to pull us back to an era where being skinny was venerated. It’s essential to recognize that while being slender isn’t inherently negative, compromising health and nutrition in pursuit of extreme slimness is certainly problematic. Since her ban, Schmidt has created a new TikTok account and is actively posting on Instagram and YouTube.

Liv Schmidt defends her content amid backlash

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A post shared by Liv Schmidt (@livsschmidt)

In spite of the backlash and her TikTok ban, Schmidt appears to remain steadfast in her belief that her content is not harmful. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, she stated, “For my own aesthetic, I prefer being skinny, and that’s perfectly fine.” Her stated mission is to “combat obesity in America one individual at a time.”

Moreover, she claims not to be obsessive about health, insisting that she doesn’t restrict herself from any food groups. “I eat dairy, I’m not vegan or gluten-free,” she clarifies. Schmidt revealed that she has previously struggled with body dysmorphia, expressing, “When all those around you fit a certain mold, it’s easy to feel pressure to conform.” Given that she embodies that same mold as a blonde and slim individual, one may question whether her appearance is genuinely authentic or if it stems from external pressures.

Schmidt shared her disappointment regarding TikTok’s decision to revoke her account, believing individuals should have the choice to engage with content that resonates with them or to block what makes them uncomfortable. It seems she is determined to persist in her mission of tackling obesity through her brief video content. The digital world is now watching to see if she can fulfill her objective or if more platforms will eliminate her content—along with that of other “thinspo”influencers.

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