You may not of heard of the exact phrase "diet culture," but you have definitely experienced and probably partaken in some of the beliefs and behaviors around this phenomenon. For the purposes of this blog post, I would define diet culture as the industry and mentality around the goal of having a smaller body. Any product that claims to promote weight loss as well as super restrictive dieting are big parts of diet culture. I believe diet culture targets women more than men, but everyone feels the effects of this mentality. Diet culture also appears to value a white, young, female, skinny life by using models and social media influencers with such traits as their spokeswomen to specifically target a female demographic. Especially as a dancer, I see and hear so much toxic behavior surrounding food and dieting.
I would also like to note that I am not a dietician or nutritionist and the information I have on the subject is from a variety of sources, including my own personal experiences with food. I have also never been diagnosed with an eating disorder. This post is not meant to tell anyone how to eat, but instead to provoke some thoughts about how we see food and fitness in society. I recently started watching dietician Abby Sharp on youtube where I learned some of this information specifically about diet culture and intuitive eating, and I would recommend watching her if you want to learn more.
Diet culture definitely caused some of my disorderly eating habits as a teenager. As a young, impressionable girl I saw women in person and on television of a range of ages and sizes all trying for the same thing: to lose weight. This teaches us to value weight loss, oftentimes over health. I also heard many preteen girls start to say the classic, "Oh I'm so fat," "I'm so bloated today," "I ate SO much last night," and I started saying those toxic phrases too. Everyone else thought they weren't "skinny enough" and complained about their body, so I figured I wasn't either and should complain about my body. Especially in quarantine, I've seen many posts about how people have been eating more since being home, and they don't say it in a positive way. This sort of mentality is what really upsets me. Diet culture makes us believe foods are "good," or "bad," but in reality it's all just food. The most important thing is that you are feeding your body what it needs. If you are craving chocolate and eat some chocolate, that does not decrease your value as a person. If you gained a few pounds in quarantine, that does not make you "fat" or even unhealthy. Disconnecting my self-worth from my diet is a struggle that I'm still dealing with, but I've made tons of progress through cooking and changing my perspective in the past few years.
The fitness industry as a whole can be really toxic for my mental health, for example I just saw an ad on a youtube video that started with "The best way to lose weight is..." which really frustrates me. This ad has immediately assumed that I want to lose weight, and therefore immediately enforced the idea that losing weight is better. But news flash: IT'S NOT! Juice cleanses, detox teas, extreme diet plans, weight loss supplements, and countless other dieting products all cover the media and are often endorsed by white female celebrities. They are indirectly telling us we need to lose weight by telling us we need to buy this product, and most of the products are not even backed by science. I think any super restrictive diet that cuts out whole food groups or has a low caloric intake, (low carb, low calorie, sugar free, keto, paleo, even a vegan diet) can enforce toxic ideas about what is considered a "good" or "bad" food. Some of these diets work really well for people, and if so that is great for them. For me, it is most important to eat foods that provide my body with the micro and macronutrients it needs, but everything is okay in moderation! That's why I eat dessert every day and don't feel bad about it.
There are so many marketing gimmicks to fall for between the fitness and wellness communities. The idea of detoxing after eating or drinking unhealthily is a total myth, because our bodies literally do that for us (thanks liver!). By going on a juice cleanse after a "cheat day", the body is being denied of the calories and nutrients it needs to function, which will cause more fatigue. Even the idea of a cheat day is toxic, because they enforce the difference between "clean" or BETTER days that have lower caloric intakes and "cheats" that may be higher in fat, calories and carbs. In my opinion, it is better to have two scoops of ice cream every night than to restrict all week and eat the whole gallon on a cheat day. Eating intuitively and following your hunger signals will for the most part put you at a healthy weight, and it is mentally so freeing to eat without feeling shameful.
We often go through our busy lives without taking the time to honor our bodies and our hunger, instead just grabbing something convenient or forcing ourselves to follow a fad diet that may leave us feeling unsatisfied. Some of these diets are just not sustainable, which causes people to relapse and binge on foods that were in the no-zone before. It sounds cheesy I know, but it really is about the lifestyle you live. Making time to make meals that you really enjoy, knowing what's in some of the foods you eat regularly, being physically active, and listening to your hunger signals are all wonderful ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle without any mentally unhealthy behaviors. I would also encourage a change in the language we use around food and bodies that enforces unhealthy connotations like: junk food, cleanse or clean, detoxing, guilt-free foods, bad days vs. good days, cheat days, off-limits foods, skinny, fat, and general commenting on others weight or eating habits.
I have a theory, that stemmed from another theory that I probably saw in a youtube video many years ago about why women try to be smaller. The original theory was about how women pose in photographs compared to men, often contorting their bodies in unnatural ways to get the best "angle". These poses usually make us appear to have a thinner waist, or overall appear smaller. Society tells women to be smaller, cross your legs, don't be so loud, don't take up as much space as a man does. Because of these sexist subliminal messages, I am getting all these weight loss tea ads while men get more bulking and gaining muscle messaging. Men are pressured to be stronger and larger, women are told to shrink themselves, and both are unhealthy expectations for either sex that enforce gender roles.
I hope this post empowers everyone, but especially women to throw out any of those toxic diet culture phrases and behaviors, and adopt a healthier, shame-free mentality towards food and health. Our picture of health should not be a white 22 year old girl in a bikini holding a green juice, but rather a diverse vision with different bodies, genders, skin tones and balanced diets. Your body deserves, and needs, calories, so eat them without feeling bad!
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