4 Diet Culture Messages to Reject this New Year
First of all, we’ve made it to the end of 2020! Time for a happy dance! This year has been unlike any year for so many reasons. But one thing hasn’t changed much: diet culture messages are everywhere.
What do I mean by diet culture? A definition that I love is from Christy Harrison, another anti-diet dietitian.
Diet culture is a system of beliefs that:
- Worships thinness and equates it to health and moral virtue, which means you can spend your whole life thinking you’re irreparably broken just because you don’t look like the impossibly thin “ideal.”
- Promotes weight loss as a means of attaining higher status, which means you feel compelled to spend a massive amount of time, energy, and money trying to shrink your body, even though the research is very clear that almost no one can sustain intentional weight loss for more than a few years.
- Demonizes certain ways of eating while elevating others, which means you’re forced to be hyper-vigilant about your eating, ashamed of making certain food choices, and distracted from your pleasure, your purpose, and your power.
- Oppresses people who don’t match up with its supposed picture of “health,” which disproportionately harms women, femmes, trans folks, people in larger bodies, people of color, and people with disabilities, damaging both their mental and physical health.
What’s so difficult about rejecting diet culture is that it is hard to recognize as we are bombarded by messages everyday. It’s something as simple as your workout instructor saying this last rep is for that beach body. Or keto ice cream instead of the real stuff that actually tastes good.
Here are four diet culture messages to reject this new year and make 2021 better than 2020.
Diet Culture Messages to Reject
Weight loss = health.
This idea might go against everything that you’ve ever thought about health, but I am here to tell you, as a nutrition professional, that weight loss does not equal health. We need a shift in the wellness paradigm. The focus needs to move from weight loss to weight-neutral outcomes that don’t erode self-esteem and body image. Just because society is telling you that being thin is better and you will be healthier doesn’t make it true.
Health outcomes to focus on instead this new year:
- eating more mindfully
- stressing less about food
- not using food to cope with emotions
- increased stamina
- becoming stronger
- exercising for fun
- being more in-tune with your body when you are hungry and full
- increased confidence.
Anything promising a quick fix.
There is no quick fix or hack for good health as so many diet culture messages would have you believe. I know, not what I wanted to hear either. Your health is a complex state of physical and emotional wellbeing and, as with anything complex; there is no simple answer or hack. Beware of products promising a quick fix like 10 pounds weight loss in one week. Even the health challenges like a 30 day workout challenge. Working out for 30 days to reach a goal is great! But what happens after the month? Did you enjoy the workouts enough to stay consistent because there are 11 more months in the year? Moving your body in a way that you enjoy is the best way to be sustainable.
Drink your celery juice to detox.
Remember when we went over why quick fixes are a bad idea? This fad is a great example of that. These past couple of years, celery juice and detox diets have been especially trendy. The celery juice trend started with a self-proclaimed health guru who actually has no medical license or training. Red flag right there. It’s not that juicing celery is ‘unhealthy’. Celery does provide us with vitamins and minerals like folate, potassium, vitamin C, and vitamin B6, all of which we need for optimal health.
The issue lies in the fact that many see this drink as a cure-all. If I were to have a client coming to see me for nutrition counseling that was drinking celery juice every morning my first question would be, “do you enjoy it?” They answer yes, then drink up (as well as having a balanced breakfast.) If the answer was no, then I would do some exploring as to why they felt like they needed to be drinking it every morning.
When food and drink become an obligation it can negatively impact mental health.
You should be tracking everything.
With technology like Fitbit and Garmin watches it’s easier than ever to track health metrics from steps a day to how many hours you sleep. I think this technology does have it’s place (plus it’s pretty fascinating to be able to track your heart rate during a workout) but I think we can easily become too reliant on these metrics. Have you ever thought, “this walk is a waste because I don’t have my Fitbit on to track my steps.” We can become too attached to what’s on our wrist and the data in our phone that we forget to dial into how our bodies are feeling. If you are an athlete training for an event, being able to listen to your body is vital because it might be screaming at you to stop and rest even though your watch says keep going- this can cause physical and mental distress.
Bottom line, if you are choosing a New Year’s resolution that focuses on improving your health, pick one that is sustainable throughout the year and keeps your physical as well as mental health in mind!
Finally ready to reject diet culture?
Wanting a more sustainable solution? Check out what some past clients had to say when they decided they did and how the process of seeing a dietitian works.
