In today’s society, diet culture has become an ever-present force, promising quick fixes and a perfect body. However, beneath the surface, diet culture can be toxic and detrimental to our overall well-being.
I don’t remember growing up without my mom, aunts, or grandmothers talking about their weight or the new diet they were on. No one told me I needed to lose weight or be skinny, but I saw them do it to themselves and thereby learned by example.
The cycle continued until I started working with a coach and vowed to end a long line of diet culture in my blood. The buck stops with me.
I am still doing a lot of work to improve my relationship with how I view my body and nourish it. However, one thing I know for sure is that diet culture has time and time again gotten in the way of me actually achieving my goals.
If you are reading this and have a similar history, you are not alone. I’m going to share with you the world of diet culture, its problematic nature, and why it often leads to dissatisfaction in our health and wellness journeys.
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What is Diet Culture?
Without realizing it, I, like many other women, grew up in the thick of diet culture. I didn’t know I was until I started my own journey of healing and growth. Likewise, I didn’t really know what it was either.
Essentially, diet culture is a pervasive system of beliefs and practices that promote the pursuit of thinness as the ultimate goal of health and beauty.
Think of those grocery store magazines at the checkout promoting “I lost 20 lbs in 20 days” kind of nonsense. Or seeing only borderline sickly skinny women idolized in pop culture across industries. And don’t get me started on the fat shaming!
Everything about diet culture is a means to control women into thinking they need to fit in a certain “ideal” body image. But let me tell you, that type of body is less than ideal.
In order to fit into the molds of diet culture, you must follow strict, restrictive eating patterns, obsess with weight loss, and accept that the notion our worth is tied to our appearance.
An example of diet culture is the constant barrage of “before and after” photos on social media, promising transformative results through extreme dieting.
This is one of the main reasons I started MidwayJoy. We shouldn’t obsess over a before and after. Because we are always somewhere in the middle. Learning to live now and be happy now is way healthier and more sustainable than trying to live for an unrealistic goal.
Because once you hit that goal, what’s next?
Why is Diet Culture Problematic?
Diet culture feeds into a dangerous cycle of yo-yo dieting and can lead to the development of eating disorders. In fact, studies show that diet culture is closely linked to the onset of disordered eating patterns.
Additionally, it perpetuates a mindset focused solely on external validation, which can negatively impact our self-esteem and body image.
This is terrifying. We as a civilization are brainwashing ourselves into severe mental health issues that can have tragic consequences.
Likewise, who is to say what the idea body is? Without getting into its history of it, it appears that it is a select few elites in the Hollywood space that determine what “beauty” is. Then the big beauty marketers flood our lives with imagery and language pertaining to this expectation.
No wonder diet culture is so ingrained in us. Unless you live under a rock, you cannot escape overt and subliminal messaging everywhere you go.
The Allure of Diet Culture
Diet culture initially appeals to us with promises of rapid weight loss and societal acceptance. It feeds off our emotions and makes us submit to an arbitrarily constructed social norm of dieting.
The more I write about this, the more I feel like I have been lied to. In some ways, we all have.
Diet culture preys on our insecurities and the desire for a quick fix. The 90s and 2000s saw a surge in diet culture, with fad diets and extreme weight loss methods gaining popularity through media and advertising.
And it goes well beyond Adkins and Weight Watchers. I remember my mom trying every diet out there. Even the cookie diet. I have no idea how that is a thing.
Now, let me caveat that going on a “diet” for legitimate health reasons can often be a great thing. If someone is unhealthy and/or overweight and would benefit from losing fat I fully support that.
However, that is not the same as diet culture. Trying to lose weight because you think you are not enough and need to look a certain way is not okay. That is the distinction between the two.
Escaping Diet Culture
Breaking free from diet culture requires a mindset shift. Becoming a diet culture rebel means rejecting the harmful messages and unrealistic expectations set by society.
This. Is. Hard.
Imagine you were told your whole life that the sky was green and the grass was blue. Then one day you moved to a new city and everyone said the sky was blue and the grass was green. You would be so confused and likely debate it.
What in tarnation is this nonsense?! Well, that is what it is like breaking free from diet culture for a lot of people. Living in a culture that is telling you something that goes against nature, aka choosing a diet over genuine hunger or satiety cues, can be overwhelming when you see the truth.
But I assure you, no matter how hard it is and how long it takes, breaking free of diet culture is worth it. By embracing a non-diet approach allows us to focus on nourishing our bodies and prioritizing our overall well-being.
You will live in your body for the rest of your life. Wouldn’t you rather love it and enjoy life than be miserable never feeling good enough in your own skin? I hope you pick the former.
Navigating Weight Loss without Diet Culture
Losing weight while rejecting diet culture is possible through sustainable approaches. Instead of fixating on numbers on a scale, we can shift our focus toward holistic health.
Some ways of navigating weight loss without the thrones of diet culture include:
- Addition Instead of Subtraction – Think about adding healthier food to your life such as more plant-rich options as opposed to having a negative mindset of needing to take foods out.
- Reject Restrictive Eating – No food should be off-limits unless you have an allergy or intolerance. Instead, when you are craving that cookie, have it and move on. If you restrict and keep saying no, you are more likely to break and binge on the whole box. A little in moderation is healthy for the body and mind.
- Non-Weight Progress – Here are 15 biofeedback data points I recommend that do not require a scale. I am all for weighing yourself as a data point, but it should not be the only means to measure progress. You are worth more than a number.
- Find Movement You Love – Exercise should never be a punishment. Instead, it should be something that makes you feel good physically and mentally. If you don’t like working out at the gym but enjoy dancing then make that your movement. It doesn’t need to be complicated, do what works for you and your body will thank you.
These are just a few of many healthy ways of embarking on your journey without obsessing over diet culture. This involves adopting healthy lifestyle habits, including regular physical activity, balanced nutrition, and adequate rest and recovery.
I highly recommend using a coach or personal trainer that is familiar with diet culture and can help guide you through the process.
The Impact of Social Media on Diet Culture
I have a love-hate relationship with social media. Safe to say I think many others do as well.
I learn so much and get a lot of inspiration from the various platforms I use. However, I definitely realize that social media plays a significant role in perpetuating diet culture.
These platforms are flooded with images of “ideal” bodies and the promotion of detox teas and restrictive diets can be toxic to our mental and physical health.
It’s essential to recognize these influences and curate our social media feeds to include body-positive and empowering content.
While I’m never going to say go off social media altogether, I do suggest social media hygiene. A few tips I have are to put time limits of no more than an hour per day on social media on your smartphone and to unfollow accounts that trigger you to feel negative about yourself.
When Did Diet Culture Start?
Diet culture has deep historical roots, but it gained significant momentum in the 20th century. The emergence of dieting and weight loss industries, combined with societal pressure to conform to certain beauty standards, fueled the rise of diet culture.
The Toxic Effects of Diet Culture
Toxic diet culture can manifest in various ways. It promotes the idea that our bodies are not good enough as they are, fostering feelings of shame and inadequacy.
It encourages disordered eating behaviors and perpetuates harmful stereotypes about body size and shape.
This leads to a society of unhappy people with dwindling self-confidence from not feeling good enough. And as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, it tends to be generational.
Sadly, we often pass this on to our young. Our daughters are the most vulnerable. I remember being in the 1st grad and being ashamed of my size. Mind you I was the tallest kid in my class and absolutely in the normal weight bracket. Still, I felt like I was too big. In the 1st grade!!!
I hate to admit where I got this idea from but likely it stemmed from diet culture behaviors driven by the women in my family. I know they would never mean to, but their actions truly had an effect on me as with many other young girls.
Building a Healthy Relationship with Food and Self
As gloomy as this topic can be, there is an abundance of hope. I am even seeing more positive changes in social media and size acceptance in marketing. However, we have a long way to go as a society.
To overcome the negative effects of diet culture, it’s crucial to cultivate a healthy relationship with food and ourselves.
This involves practicing intuitive eating, honoring our hunger and fullness cues, and embracing body positivity. Self-compassion and self-care are key to nourishing our bodies and minds.
It will take work and it won’t be easy, but it gets easier with time and is a beautiful process. Tackling diet culture in my opinion is one of the most profound and empowering journeys I have been through.
You Deserve to Love Who You Are
Diet culture may promise quick results, but it often leaves us feeling unsatisfied and trapped in a cycle of restriction and disappointment.
By rejecting diet culture, embracing a holistic approach to health, and cultivating self-acceptance, we can embark on a journey of true well-being.
At the end of the day, you deserve love and respect for yourself and from yourself. Never let someone dictate your value and suggest you fit into a mold.
You are beautiful and perfect the way you are. Likewise, you decide when you want to make a change in your life, not an arbitrary authority dictating diet culture.
Let us break free from the constraints of diet culture and create a positive, empowering relationship with our bodies.
I hope you found this post encouraging. You are not alone no matter where you are. If this resonated with you, please leave a comment below I would love to hear your feedback. Or feel free to reach out to me privately.
One response to “The Truth About Diet Culture: Why You Are Never Satisfied”
Great Post!