Living an Anti-Diet Life in a Diet-Obsessed World
Okay, so you’ve decided to take the leap and ditch diets for good. Maybe it’s because you are sick of hating your body. Or, maybe you’re ready to stick it to the patriarchy and the diet industry. Or, maybe it’s a little bit of both or something completely different. Whatever brought you to this place, I’m excited you are here.
Welcome to the diet culture dropout club!
I’m going to let you in on a little secret. This isn’t an exclusive club with lots of rules for admission. Literally, anybody can jump on this anti-diet train. We aren’t doing anything particularly groundbreaking...other than, you know, choosing to live outside of the oppressive system we call “Diet Culture.”
I’m not going to lie...it isn’t always the easiest club to be a part of. It can be lonely being the only person in your office break room not discussing their latest diet. It can be confusing and troubling when a doctor prescribes participating in diet culture as a cure for your troubles. And, it can be sad to see friends and loved ones continue to ride the yo-yo diet struggle bus. Sometimes, it can feel like living an anti-diet lifestyle is the wrong choice when others are shaming you for not engaging in restrictive eating.
So why do we stay committed to the club and an anti-diet culture lifestyle?
Because we can’t keep living under the oppressive rule of diet culture. Diet culture wants you to buy into the fact that YOU are responsible for your body size. And, that if you aren’t skinny, it’s because you aren’t trying hard enough. Diet culture wants you to think that you are broken and something is wrong with you. And, that the only way to be pretty is to be skinny. Diet culture is harmful to all of us, but it is especially harmful to anybody existing outside of the “thin beauty ideal.”
But what if you fit diet culture’s “criteria”?
Okay, so let’s go down that rabbit hole. Let’s say you fit the thinness ideal perfectly. You’re a lean machine, or have a pear-shaped figure, depending on which community you’re part of in diet culture. You should be good, right? Unfortunately not. Even if you fit into that small percentage of people with diet culture’s ideal body, there is still a strong chance that diet culture is harming you too. Are you watching what you eat? Speak critically about your body around friends or even alone in the mirror? Assume that in order to be healthy, you need to keep your body looking a certain way? These are all signs that you are being impacted by diet culture. And, that adopting an anti-diet lifestyle could be a great choice for your physical and mental health.
So rather than continue to participate in diet culture and in a system that is actively harming and oppressing MOST people, we turn to an anti-diet approach.
The “shoulds” and the “supposed to” of diet culture is an endless game. The members of the diet culture dropout club are really over these unrealistic expectations. Expectations that cause people to make drastic changes to their daily life in order to appease a system that will never actually be satisfied with their efforts. For so many people practicing an anti-diet approach, they are sick of hating themselves. They are sick of hating their bodies. And, are ready to tune in and listen to it. And others, like me, came to the anti-diet world in conjunction with being a part of the HAES community. For all of us, intuitive eating guides our food choices and not a set of rules or a desire to change our bodies. Under the anti-diet approach, you know what works best for your body. And, it’s your choice.
When’s the last time you listened to your body?
I mean truly listened to it about what foods you wanted, how much you ate, and even how you felt afterward? When’s the last time you intentionally checked in with your body to see how hungry or full you were (not just notice your stomach growling or being so full you are uncomfortable)?
When we were kids, this wasn’t something we had to think about. We just ate intuitively because we weren’t bogged down with pressures to fit into some cookie-cutter body. We knew when we were hungry and when we were full and we didn’t question that...we just did. But then, somewhere along the way, we started to question ourselves. We began to engage in popular culture and started comparing ourselves to the people we saw on TV. Often, we heard our parents comment on their own bodies, the bodies of people around them, and maybe even our own bodies. Then, we were told to clean our plates even after knowing we were full because “there are kids starving in Africa” or whatever reasoning your own family used. Through all of it, we began to worry about the way our body looked and we knew that food was the way we’re going to “fix” it.
Learn about intuitive eating. There are so many resources available out there. Start to tune into your body. Eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full.
Diet culture and anti-diet approach are about more than food though.
If we are really going to live an anti-diet life in a world obsessed with diet culture, we really have to challenge our belief systems. We have to challenge how we see beauty, how we identify health, and how we talk about our own bodies. Check our biases. Check our privilege (if we have it). Believe me when I say that thin privilege is a thing and that body-shaming happens to people in thin bodies too. These two things can exist as truths at the same time. Take time to stop and notice the language you use about your own body. What about the language you use about other bodies? What kind of compliments do you give? Are they about character or personality? Or rather, are they about how somebody looks? Look at your social media feeds. Are people of all body types represented, or just the ones that diet culture deems worthy?
Even those of us most immersed in fighting diet culture get it wrong sometimes. Living an anti-diet life is tough at times. We slip up, say something harmful, or even recognize our own participation in diet culture in a way we were not previously aware of. Whether you are new to this fight or you’ve been here a while, humility is key. Hear and receive feedback with humility when you are wrong and seek out more education. Listen to stories of discrimination. Process your own stories of discrimination.
Do your part in the fight against diet culture!
And speak up! For some, this may be assertively calling out discrimination and injustice in the workplace, within our families, and on social media. That’s amazing! The fight against diet culture NEEDS these people. But for others, that doesn’t feel authentic to who they are. Or, maybe that doesn’t feel safe and requires emotional labor that you just aren’t in the place to take on. These people, the quiet leaders, are just as important as the warriors. They work on themselves, provide education, and share their own anti-diet experiences in a way that is true to them. This doesn’t mean that one approach represents anti-diets more than the other. Neither way is right or wrong. Both are effective. We can all get in the game.
We have many open seats at the diet culture dropout table!
So yeah, the diet culture dropout club is something any one of us can join. But, that doesn’t mean it’s an easy life to live. Embracing an anti-diet mindset takes a lot of self-work and a lot of unlearning. We’ve been raised to believe that diet culture is just our reality: a system we’ve not actively chosen to participate in but have been thrown into nonetheless. Taking yourself out of that system can feel lonely. It can be scary. But that moment you realize that you aren’t wasting brain space on the next fad diet, you realize how freeing getting out of that system really is. It’s worth the work. Embracing an anti-diet lifestyle can give you back the mental real estate diet culture has been living in (and missing the rent payments.)
Thinking it’s time for you to break free from diet culture?
You don’t have to do this alone! If you want additional support on that journey and live in Missouri or Wisconsin, 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.
I’m offering online therapy only since my St. Louis based counseling clinic is closed. I offer a variety of services. As a HAES therapist, I’m passionate about offering eating disorder treatment and services for folks struggling with body image. More specifically, I offer counseling for anorexia, binge eating, and atypical anorexia. In addition, I offer therapy for compulsive exercise, maladaptive perfectionism, and eating disorder treatment for men. I often work with athletes and I’m well-versed in working with members of the LGBTQ+ community. When you’re ready to take the leap, follow these steps:
Contact Embodied Self Counseling for a 20-minute consultation
Kick diet culture to the curb
Other Therapy Services at Embodied Self Counseling
Anti-diet culture is challenging to overcome in a body-obsessed world. 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. When you’re ready, I am honored to walk alongside your mental health journey. Call now!