I think body building culture is toxic, unhealthy and unrealistic

File: zyzz.jpg (229KB, 800x450px) Image search: [Google]

229KB, 800x450px

I'm sure most of you are aware of the booming industry that body building has become in the past 7-8 years or so. The internet has only made things a lot worse. People seem to be very obsessive about their image. Not solely due to social media, but just in general. Especially teenage boys.
I remember myself when I went through a phase of hitting the gym obsessively, counting calories, trying to hit goals, getting as big as possible, going through bro science phases, and debunking it all too.
I wanted to be a body builder, I wanted to compete. I even considered heavily going on steroids. All to look like a beast. In and out of the gym. I watched and subscribed to YouTube fitness channels. I joined online communities. I researched a lot about fitness and nutrition in general. Now this wasn't just "me" and I don't at all consider myself a rare exception. I know there are many, many others out there like myself. Maybe some of the things I did were a little unique to myself, but I still stand by what I said. There are plenty out there like myself.
People all over the internet in fitness communities of all kinds are so obsessive about the smallest things. Whether it be here on /r/fitness, /fit/ on 4chan, bodybuilding.com, or somewhere else.
Taking absolutely excessive amounts of protein. More than the average natural person needs. I'm talking 150-300g per day. No natural average lifter needs those amounts. Even very tall men would be fine on around 150g at the maximum. There are many studies out there which talk about the levels of protein that are needed to maintain and or grow muscle. And it's only needed for your lean body mass. Which I think many fail to remember.
Most of the people I've met or spoken to on the internet aren't even competing. Nor are they serious enough about their hobby to warrant spending the copious amounts of money they do on protein supplements or food.