What is Diet Culture?
Read Time: 3 minutes
Who doesn’t love a good trend? I know I’m the first to run to Walmart for a cute outfit or try a new recipe I found on Instagram. But, when trends spiral into unattainable norms and expectations, it can be difficult to draw the line. Diets. It seems we all want the idea of dieting to be constructive and positive, yet the idea of “diet culture” makes that specific want–a little harder to achieve.
What is diet culture, anyway?
In isolation, diets can be beneficial. Singular food decisions, choices, and habits can directly attend to our personal needs, as each vary (like food intolerances and allergies). But in diet culture, being thin catalyzes value. Being in a larger body strips those of that same value. Diet culture often leads to pressures to lose or maintain weight, even to those in good and comfortable health or size.
It can be difficult to spot harmful diet culture in the wild. Isolating diet culture from the general idea of just dieting presents difficulty, as diet culture can appear subtle and in-your-face. In today’s social media-driven society, diet culture shines through in many ways: the praising/degrading of influencers who have lost/gained weight, altered images that encourage unrealistic standards, and unqualified and unethical advice that sways victims into resenting food as a necessity rather than a reward. It is not just social media that diet culture fights for the spotlight. In everyday conversations, a simple congratulation or negative comments against the current state of a family member, friend, or pupil’s weight can cause significant damage.
Besides its immediate feel-bad nature, diet culture carries the weight of more long-term issues, too. But what kind, exactly? Firstly, self-esteem. That annoying friend of ours that–especially young women–we grew up instructed to be kind to. Diet culture makes that difficult. Stigmas around weight often result in body dissatisfaction and low self-esteem. In response, many subjected to diet culture tend to carry stress and even restrict certain meals or foods. In this stripping process, individuals tend to become isolated from their once close loved ones. Many mundane things that previous intuitive eaters used to love doing–going out to dinner, attending picnics or parties, grabbing ice cream with friends–suddenly felt like an annoying, uncomfortable chore.
Amidst these vigorous, emotionally tolling effects of diet culture, there is one major concern we often tend to overlook: health. “Weight cycling,” a term that means losing and gaining weight repeatedly over time, can lead to serious health issues like shifts in blood pressure, heart rate, and insulin levels to name a few. And still, diet culture is a damn good fibber. It is vital to ask yourself when dieting, does this lifestyle make me feel insecure in myself? If so, then diet culture has most likely affected you.
As individuals in a society that is ever-changing its norms in more areas than one, it is important to attend to those struggling with self-worth. Here are some ways to alter your practices if you feel diet culture has gotten the best of your self-esteem:
Say “bye-bye” to hyperfixation and restriction of foods and appearance. Don’t carry guilt for “over” eating or sort foods into a “good” or “bad” category. In diet culture, the BMI of individuals is often a scary number to see. However, focusing on just a website that names you obese is usually, actually, wrong. The internet is unaware of genetic makeup, physical activity, body composition, and so many other things. Beating yourself up over hypothetical feelings of shame is out.
Prioritize movement of any kind. If one thing diet culture does not shut up about, it’s exercise. We often couple exercise with dreadful cardio, or sweaty pilates, or those very humbling HIIT workouts. If you love those, great! But if you don’t, that type of movement is not for you. Instead, discover movement that brings you joy and leaves you feeling accomplished. Everyone’s happiness stems from different roots.
Unfollow, block, and draft your own advice. As I previously said, diet culture has a large foot in the realm of social media. It is often that pro-diet culture influencers promote unhealthy, strictly pro-skinny propaganda. There are also those who are completely unqualified, and suggest that what works for their body is universal, which we know is false. Consider engaging with size-inclusive influencers, and from there, start to form your own advice, as your body functions as yours, and nobody else’s.
How GossBoss can support you in pursuing body confidence
If you feel like diet culture has been a real struggle, first things first - you are not alone. If you’re looking for support as you put the kibosh on “dieting” I’m here to help.
Schedule a free discovery call today so we can chat more and form a plan. That can look like 1:1 coaching, group coaching, or something else custom for you.