Diet Culture: What Is It and How Do We Escape it?
Have you ever done a craft project involving glitter? Glitter does two things: 1. It makes things pretty and 2. It gets everywhere. I don’t care how careful you are or how neat of a workspace you keep while crafting, glitter is going to make its way on to just about everything in sight. Including innocent bystanders that wanted nothing to do with the glitter to begin with. Sure, you thought you kept it all exactly where it was supposed to be, but sure enough, a week later the light hits just right and you notice it somewhere else. Who knows how it got there, but the point is, nothing seems impervious to glitter’s staying power.
Diet culture is sort of like that glitter.
It is everywhere! We’re told we need to be dieting to look pretty. Most of the time, like that innocent bystander with the glitter, we don’t even realize we’re being subjected to it until somebody shines a light on it. We may even try to “clean it up”, if you will, and quit engaging in diet culture. But it’s a sneaky booger and keeps popping up when you least expect it. In conversations with coworkers, television shows, even in your thoughts still. We can’t deny the staying power of diet culture…and glitter.
To say that diet culture is prevalent in our lives would be an understatement. Diet culture is inescapable. Dieting or not, chances are pretty high that you are still a willing participant.
So, what is diet culture? And how do I escape it?
I think the best definition out there for diet culture comes from Christy Harrison. She states:
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.
As we can see diet culture includes many different areas
It is more than the food you choose to eat or not eat….this is a whole system of beliefs. Diet culture is a system that wants us to believe that some foods are “bad” and need to be avoided at all costs. This system teaches us that thinness is the ultimate goal and that thinness=beauty. We are made to believe that our body size is something that we have complete control over. Diet culture completely disregards genetics, health, and the fact that intentional weight loss does not work in the long run.
And, diet culture has cost us more than a few calories
This system of beliefs is taught to us by our families, in school, in pop culture, and all over social media. There is a whole market of companies out there that benefit from your dissatisfaction with your body. Diet books and apps, weight loss “supplements,” many aspects of the world of gyms and fitness, diet foods, etc, etc etc. The diet industry alone is a $71 billion industry.
Think about that….this year, in 2020, Americans spent $71 billion dollars trying to get skinny! Seriously? That’s insane! And that’s even with a decrease in sales from previous years!
When you don’t fit into the ideal that this system has you striving for, the system of diet culture itself would have you believe that this is your fault. Your inability to conform is a “reflection of your will power.” “You need to change.” “Maybe this brand new diet with all of these crazy rules will work for you even though the last however many did not.” “This isn’t a diet, it’s wellness.” You can see these one-liners lingering through all corners of diet culture. And, you know what? I’m really over it.
I’m calling bullshit on all of that!
I get it. I live in this culture too. Just like you, I have received these same messages my entire life. Even though I have actively made the decision not to participate in diet culture, that doesn’t mean I live a life devoid of it. How can you? It’s so easy to fall into a trap of criticizing your body or sucking in your stomach, even when that goes against my entire belief system. Diet culture has socialized us to believe this is what we “need” to do.
So, now that our eyes have been opened to the oppressive system that is diet culture, what do we do with that?
KEEP EDUCATING YOURSELF - read books, listen to podcasts, and follow anti-diet bloggers and instagrammers. The more you know and the more you expose yourself to, the more likely it is that you will notice when diet culture is rearing its ugly head. I know for me, education was crucial. The more I educated myself on the oppressive system that is diet culture, the more I wanted not just distance myself from it, but to dismantle it completely.
BEGIN TO NOTICE WHERE DIET CULTURE IS SHOWING UP IN YOUR LIFE - Maybe your tiktok feed is full of weight loss tips. Or, maybe your office is hosting yet another Biggest Loser competition. Pick one of those things and change it. Maybe that means that this year, you don’t participate in the Biggest Loser at work or you take active steps to change your social media feed. That one small change will lead to more.
START SHARING IT WITH THE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIVES - We are not lonely islands. We are affected by the words and actions of people around us. Who knows who else may need to hear this as well. Sharing the anti-diet message is not just educating those around us to something that is important to us, it is empowering us to stand up and use our voices. Diet culture is a system and we can’t fight that battle alone. We each find a way to do this that fits who we are. Whether that is confrontation or education or just picking your battles. There is no right or wrong way to do it.
Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be exploring more about being anti-diet in a diet culture-infused world. Check back for more!
Ready to ditch the diet culture for good? Yay, Congrats!
If you live in Missouri or Wisconsin and want some support fighting the good fight, you’ve come to the right place! Let’s set up a time to chat to see how I can support you on your diet-ditching goals.
Currently, I’m offering online therapy since my St. Louis based counseling clinic is closed. I offer eating disorder treatment. A few of these services include offer counseling for anorexia, binge eating, and atypical anorexia. I also offer services to help with body image, compulsive exercise, and maladaptive perfectionism. And, I provide eating disorder treatment for men. I often work with athletes and members of the LGBTQ+ community. When you’re ready to become a diet culture dropout, follow these steps:
Contact Embodied Self Counseling for a 20-minute consultation
Join the diet culture drop out of the club!
Other Therapy Services at Embodied Self Counseling
It’s time to drop out of the diet club. There are healthier and more sustainable ways to thrive. Let’s do this together at Embodied Self Counseling’s St. Louis office. If you need additional support, I offer online therapy in Missouri and online therapy in Wisconsin to accommodate your busy schedule. If you have "stuff with food" that others don't get, you could be a good fit for my eating disorder treatment. Additionally, I provide a unique approach to working with atypical anorexia and perfectionism. I offer eating disorder treatment for men too. Additionally, I offer Counseling for Compulsive Exercise, I am skilled with working with athletes and providing Counseling for Athletes. Plus, I provide Eating Disorder Treatment for Men. If you believe that therapy holds a space for you and your well-being, then schedule a consult and see how I can help!