Blogs and websites devoted to weight loss are nothing new.

It seems to if they’ve almost taken over social media with all the Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest accounts solely dedicated to cute workout clothes, healthy recipes and inspiring quotes.

That’s all well and good if it pushes you to achieve your goals – even if sometimes it seems like a fitness overload.

However, there is a fine line between fitness and the disturbing trend of taking “thinspiration” to extreme levels.

Although pro-ana (pro-anorexia) websites first appeared in the late ’90s there was a 470 percent increase from 2006 to 2007. In the past seven years, that number has continued to dangerously spike.

When searching “thinspiration” on Google, one comes across many websites with the word “pro-ana” attached.

Pro-ana refers to the promotion of the eating disorder anorexia nervosa. There’s also the term “pro-mia,” which is the bulimia version, although it is used less often.

Pro-ana is a social movement dedicated to encouraging an anorexic lifestyle – they push the belief the disease is a lifestyle choice and not a mental illness.

These websites are covered with photos of emaciated women with protruding ribs and hip bones, with quotes like “Once on the lips, forever on the hips” and “Every time you say no thank you to food, you say yes please to being skinny.”

There are even encouraging songs and poetry about starvation, painting it as a lifestyle to admire.

Red bracelets are featured on many personal websites – these bracelets serve as a tangible yet discreet reminder to not eat and unify anorexics.

There are lists of guidelines that should horrify young girls, but instead are causing them to actually join the “pro-ana” life.

It starts out by explaining “Ana” (anorexia personified) must become the center of life, and that friends will only get in the way of those goals and should be avoided – isolating the ones who care already.

The “rules” only get more insane and controlling.

There is advice on snapping a rubber band against your wrist at the first pang of hunger and to only snack on celery if “you are really hungry.” There were at least hundred quotes, all of which I found highly disturbing, including “Hunger hurts, but starving works,” “Thinner is the winner,” and “It’s not deprivation, its liberation.”

These websites worship models such as Kate Moss, who famously said in a 2009 interview, “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.”

Websites like these are dangerous to not only girls who suffer from eating disorders but to all t young girls who are vulnerable to body image issues already in our thin-obsessed society.

These forums make all “pro-ana” supporters feel like family and can convince them they don’t have a problem. They view mainstream society as condemning, like they just don’t understand.

Thankfully, many social networking sites have taken measures to shut down pro-ana websites.

Facebook tries to delete the sites on the basis they “promote self-harm,” which breaks the terms of service.

LiveJournal, on the other hand, made a disturbing quote about why they would not shut down pro-ana blogs, claiming that allowing them to exist has benefits, such as making those suffering from the disease feel less alone and providing reassurance.

In reality, it just reassures them starving themselves is okay – the last thing someone suffering from an eating disorder needs to hear.

These websites exist to promote delusion, and when a big group of people is saying starving yourself is okay, it makes it seem like it is okay.

It’s scary that young people have access to websites such as these at their fingertips, especially knowing how impressionable teenagers are. Everyone needs to make sure their online sources of motivation are positive and healthy.

If the words “pro-ana” are mentioned, you automatically know it is not encouraging the lifestyle you are looking for.

A healthy weight and fit lifestyle are certainly good goals but should never be taken to the measures pro-ana pushes for.