Diet Culture worships thinness and equates it to health and moral virtue!
Hayley Perkins (Specialist in Disordered Eating)
Helping Professional Women Rewire Their Minds, Build Resilience, and Achieve Lasting Well-Being | Therapist | Clinical Hypnotherapist | Coach | Specialist in Mindset, Nervous System Regulation & Identity Transformation
Years ago, I was deep into diet culture and weight loss. I always constantly worrying about the number on the scales, regardless of how my body felt.
I stuck to foods that fitted my diet plan and my daily calorie goals.?
I hung out on weight loss forums reading every single tip or story someone had about what worked for them.
I would share with others what I was trying in my pursuit of weight loss. No one thought it was over the top. No one suggested that I stopped.You know why?
Because?EVERYONE?else was doing their version of a weight loss plan, they all thought it was normal.?Why did I do all these things?
Because I didn’t like my larger body.
I was obsessed with being smaller.
No matter what, my behaviour might have been common but it wasn’t “normal.”
It took me years to realise that I wasn’t doing these things because I enjoyed them.
I wasn’t counting calories and over-exercising because these things were healthy for me.
These habits were actively harming my physical and mental health.?I was doing them because everything I saw told me I should.
Once I realised that there was another way, I was able to break free.?
Have you noticed that you have rules and habits that aren’t serving you?
But you keep doing them?
Well, this is the effect of toxic?diet culture.
Diet culture is bad for you!
Diet culture is what tells you that you need to lose weight, count calories, over-exercise, and so much more to be “good enough.”
It tells you that a smaller body is always healthier, more attractive, and better in every way than a larger body.
Perhaps even more dangerous is the myth that being thin equates not only to being healthy but also to being?happy.
I’m sorry to tell you that diet culture is in every part of your life.??
You can also think of diet culture as weight loss culture. Because, really, that is the ultimate goal of weight loss rules, getting you to lose weight with zero regards the real physical and emotional impact.
Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look.
Diet Culture is everywhere, in everyday life
Unfortunately, it is true. Diet culture is found in every aspect of your life.
It is found in places that you never even thought about. It may be not be noticeable as diet and weight loss culture.
Diet culture rules might look like “healthy habits.” make no mistake, diet culture is?unhealthy.?
Here are some examples of toxic diet culture.
Basically, diet culture?is everywhere.
And I am sure you will be?participating.?That is okay. Give yourself some grace. You might?just now be learning how much diet and weight culture is a piece of your life. You didn’t know.?
So, How Is Diet Culture Harmful to Someone’s Mental Health?
Diet culture can trigger enormous feelings of shame, guilt, embarrassment, and fear. At the same time, it can put weight loss and diets on a massive pedestal. As a result, you may assume you’re “failing” if you can’t adhere to such rigid standards.
Feeling stigmatised for any reason can lead to stress, higher risks for chronic disease, and avoidance of healthcare—and weight stigma has been specifically linked to avoidance of exercise, inability to self-regulate appetite, mood and anxiety disorders, eating disorder symptoms, and even to all-cause mortality.
What’s more, people who fall into the pattern of weight cycling, after attempting diet after restrictive diet, might end up gaining more weight than if they had never dieted at all.
Diet culture can negatively impact your mental health by:
Diets?and diet culture?is one of the?strongest predictors for?the development of disordered eating, and disordered eating behaviours,?in particular dieting are among the most common risk factors for the?development of an eating disorder.
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So how can you start to UNSUBSCRIBE from DIETS and DIET CULTURE?
In a society that bombards people with numerous messages about body image and thinness, resisting diet culture
Here are eight tips to consider if you’re ready to say no to diet culture:
1. Reflect On How You Give Into Diet Culture
Almost everyone is a victim of this phenomenon. But if you want to resist diet culture, you have to be aware of its role in your life. Consider spending a week writing down the times you engage in diet-culture behaviour. For example, note when you reject a specific food for being “unhealthy” or make an automatic assumption about someone over their size.
We can acknowledge that diet culture profits from products that fail the vast majority of the time, creating repeat business. Dieting doesn’t make most people thinner or healthier (two separate things) but does make tremendous wealth for its purveyors.
The goal of this self-awareness exercise
Debunk the idea that thinner bodies are more disciplined, healthier, and more worthy of attention—you have no idea how ‘healthy’ someone is by just looking at them. Indicators such as blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels can improve in response to a health intervention regardless of changes in weight.
2. Stop Labelling Foods or?Behaviours
Try to avoid using the words like cheat, treat, healthy, clean, or indulge. These words are emotionally charged, and they can create inherent messages about how and what you eat. Instead, aim to be more neutral. Food doesn’t have any moral value—it is simply a source of energy. As you learn to release these preconceived labels, food feels less powerful.
Appreciate that the concept of ‘health’ includes mental health as well as other aspects beyond body size. A positive relationship with food
3. Find Healthy Role Models
Try to limit exposing yourself to images that focus on an unrealistic beauty standard. To achieve this goal, you may need to cut down on social media or television consumption.
Instead, try to find real-life people who inspire you, and don’t focus on how their bodies look. Instead, focus on the energy they radiate. How do they carry themselves throughout the day? How do they leave people feeling? What messages can you learn from them to implement in your own life?
4. Avoid Body-Bashing
When was the last time a friend told you that she loved how their legs looked? Or, that they felt so attractive in their new bathing suit? Chances are that this kind of self-praise has?never?happened. If it did, you might have even felt confused or judgmental by this action.
To resist diet culture, you need to resist body-bashing conversations. You can model this behaviour by avoiding criticising your body in front of others (and to yourself). For example, if a friend starts complaining about their appearance, you can validate their feelings, but aim to gently shift the conversation.
We can refuse to engage in, and push back against, negative body talk to help create a world where bodies of all sizes are accepted and celebrated.
5. Stop Engaging In Fad or Crash Diets
Weight loss is a staggering ￡72 billion industry,?and yet an overwhelming amount of research shows that weight-loss diets don’t work in the long-term.
Fad or crash diets can adversely affect your metabolism and trigger more hunger, food obsession, and depressing thoughts. Instead, if you need to change your diet for medical reasons, consult with a qualified physician or registered dietitian.
6. Try Intuitive Eating
Intuitive eating refers to listening to your body to guide you into how and what to eat. The premise is simple: follow your hunger cues, and you will eat the right foods in the right amounts. If you ever need to see intuitive eating in action, just watch a toddler throughout the day.
One day, they may love vegetables and fruits. Next, they might insist on only eating crackers and chicken. With intuitive eating, there is no right-or-wrong. Everything balances itself out.
Intuitive eating shuns disordered eating by largely avoiding anything to do with food groups, calorie counts, or emotional eating. This practice can take time, especially since many people unknowingly engage in diet culture. You have to dedicate yourself to relearning your body’s needs and honouring them.
7. Embrace Meaningful Movement
Moving your body regularly is optimal for your overall health. But exercise shouldn’t be associated with punishment. It also shouldn’t be a qualifier, determining whether you eat- or what you eat that day.
Try to focus on building a positive relationship with your body. What kinds of activities feel good to you? How do you enjoy moving your body and honouring your strength? Hone in on listening to your body’s cues. If something really hurts, don’t keep pushing. Similarly, if you feel like you need to rest, listen to that message. Your body knows what it needs!
8. Make Life Goals That Aren’t Related to Your Body
Obtaining the “perfect body” shouldn’t be your life’s work! Even if you achieve specific body-related goals, such achievements are not synonymous with increased happiness. While it’s perfectly reasonable to value your health, spend time considering your other priorities—including strengthening relationships, participating in enjoyable hobbies, and engaging in meaningful work—and focus on pursuing them.
Finally, commit to stop waiting! Stop waiting to be a certain size to try new activities or commit to new goals. This is your life; stop?waiting?for it to begin!
Final Thoughts on Diet Culture
Diet culture represents an ongoing problem in modern society, and it doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon.
Unfortunately, participating in diet culture may exacerbate feelings of depression, anxiety, and shame. By rejecting the status quo and choosing to nourish yourself?and?your body, you can harness a greater sense of fulfilment.
Thank you for reading
Hayley Perkins
The Food Therapist?