What’s Diet Culture?
According to anti-diet dietitian, Christy Harrison, M.P.H., R.D., C.D.N., diet culture a set of beliefs that worships thinness and equates it with health and moral virtue. Diet culture is not just unreliable. It’s also damaging. Anytime we place our identity or worth in something we do, we’re setting up scaffolding that is bound to crumble underneath us.
Some of the phrases that are associated with diet culture are incredibly ingrained in our daily lives. Just yesterday, I saw a little girl at the grocery explaining to her older brother why whole milk is “unhealthy.” Most likely, the girl heard the words from a friend, who heard them from someone else, who heard them from a person who is frantically climbing the flimsy scaffolding of diet culture without knowing why it’s never enough.
Anytime we place our identity or worth in something we do, we’re setting up scaffolding that is bound to crumble underneath us.
So let’s learn the “why.” Why diet culture is harmful and how we can be proactive in fighting back against it. Let’s learn why food isn’t “good” and “bad and why we don’t have to earn rest. And ultimately, let’s dig our heels in to the belief that all bodies are valuable, but our value doesn’t depend on our body. I wish I’d known that earlier in life, but I know it now and I’m doing everything I can to spread the word. 🙂
Table of Contents
- What’s Diet Culture?
- “I’ve earned this…”
- “No pain, no gain.”
- “I wish I could get away with that.”
- “That is a good/bad food!”
- “Oh. You’re eating that?”
- Conclusion
“I’ve earned this…”
I guarantee you’ll hear this phrase spoken at least once at most holiday gatherings. It’s an attempt to soothe our guilt when we consume a food that’s deemed as “bad.”
To illustrate how screwed up the concept of “earning” food is, allow me to compare it to Americans’ favorite pastime: pet ownership. Would you force your cat to do a certain amount of exercise before he could eat dinner? Would you dangle a treat in front of your dog while telling her, “you haven’t earned it”?
I certainly would not–I also wouldn’t own a cat, but that’s beside the point. The point is that we see the ridiculous nature of conditional nutrition for others, but we often practice this rigidity with ourselves.
I’m a strong proponent of self-discipline. Self-discipline must be accompanied by self-compassion, though. Otherwise, “discipline” morphs into legalism very quickly. Research shows that when foods aren’t off limits, we are better able to tune in to what our body wants and needs. The key, then, is discipline plus compassion. Keep this in the back of your head… you don’t have to earn food.
No food is “good” or “bad” (more on that in a minute). If you’re alive, you “deserve” to eat.
“No pain, no gain.”
If I could make my own running shirt, I’m pretty sure it would say, “Rest day, best day.”
I won’t lie: I don’t functionally believe that statement fully yet. I’m on a long journey toward reclaiming the joy of movement and training. But I am learning the value of rest more and more each day. The Hannah who couldn’t tolerate a single minute of physical inactivity a year ago is enjoying balance more than ever! I’m finding that it’s brought so much more enjoyment to my sport, and it’s also improving my fitness.
Why rest? Take two athletes, for example. One athlete treats every day like a rest day. She doesn’t get much movement in unless it sounds fun. She doesn’t follow her coach’s plan if she’s not feeling it that day. The other athlete strains her body 24/7. No breaks. Which one has better fitness and performance six months down the line? I’d bet on the rested runner any day. She may not be diligently following her training plan, but she’s enjoying movement and she’s actually resting her body. She’s demonstrating the importance that physical training–whether you are an elite athlete or occasional visitor to the gym–ought to stem from joy, not fear. Fear causes an athlete to bleed away rest days in favor of more, more, more…It’s never enough. Joy brings a desire to train, rest, and listen to one’s body.
Discomfort is how we physically improve as athletes. Pain is a fool’s pot of gold. You won’t find it getting you anywhere.
Rest days are the best days because they’re where the gains come from. They’re also the days that keep us sane and remind us that we are more than just bodies. Discomfort is how we physically improve as athletes. Pain, on the other hand, is a fool’s pot of gold. You won’t find it getting you anywhere.
“I wish I could get away with that.”
Since when did wearing a specific outfit or eating a snack elicit the same language as a minor misdemeanor? Listen, friend: if you want to wear overalls, wear them. If you want to eat a cupcake for breakfast, go for it. There’s nothing criminal about choosing clothes you think are cool (in fact, you get extra points for defying diet culture’s rules about which body types” one should have to wear said clothing “can” wear which clothes).
Similarly, there’s nothing criminal about eating food. When food is just food, it is not a weapon or the enemy or a way to numb emotions. Food is just food, guilt isn’t an ingredient, and your body knows what to do with all sorts of foods, so I promise: you don’t need to try and “get away with” eating something. Ever.
“That is a good/bad food!”
I wonder what life is like for an avocado. Years ago, it was scorned during the low-fat craze of the 90s. Diet culture promoted low-fat and no-fat foods, and avocado didn’t fit that mold. Then, the power of marketing and swings in diet culture provided the humble avocado with a platform. High-fat and low-carb foods came into vogue and the avocado became a super food. Now, the average American eats more than seven pounds of the fruit each year, according to the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center.
My life has been greatly enriched by the belief that all foods fit and none are to be demonized.
The reason I’m sharing about avocados is because they’re far from an anomaly. Opinions on foods shift over time, but the foods themselves don’t have any inherent morality. Avocado has always simply been avocado.
In other words: nothing makes a cookie “bad” or a carrot “good.” If you ate nothing but cookies all day long, your body probably wouldn’t feel great. If you ate nothing but carrots all day long, your body also wouldn’t feel great.
I’m not here to give you dietary advice. Not my wheelhouse. What I can say, however, is that my life has been greatly enriched by the belief that all foods fit and none are to be demonized. I encourage you to learn more about the principles of intuitive eating if you’d like to learn more. If you’re not interested, that’s fine. But please don’t throw around your diet culture terms. Let’s stick with calling food “good” when referring to that delicious-melt-in-my-mouth-goodness. Let’s save “bad” for describing that moldy bread in your pantry–bread (or any other food) isn’t bad, and you aren’t bad for eating it.
“Oh. You’re eating that?”
This phrase is in the starting lineup of powerful, passive-aggressive phrases. After all, when do we ever ask these types of questions with a genuine desire to understand?
I can practically hear the sneer in my voice as I read the question to myself: “you’re eating that?!“
Friends, do yourself and others a favor: don’t comment on what others are eating. For those in recovery, food is already a challenging topic. Please trust that your loved one has a treatment team to help them navigate difficult situations with food. You don’t have to be that person. What you can do, though, is be aware of possibly-heightened anxiety and be gracious with others and with yourself. Food judgments are never helpful, so let’s leave them at the door.
Unless someone is consuming spoiled food (Ex. that milk shouldn’t have chunks in it…..), don’t comment on their food choices.
(If you are concerned your loved one is not adequately fueling his or her body, that’s another conversation entirely… as in: don’t spring the topic on them at that moment. Be patient, seek counsel, and make sure there is trust established if/when you broach the subject later).)
Conclusion
Friend, you and I need to work together to promote healthy bodies and minds. We’re fighting against a $71 billion dollar diet and weight loss industry (as of 2020) that feeds off of our insecurities.
Changing how we speak about food and bodies is a way we can take action. A simple awareness of the words we choose can go a long way in helping heal hurt. For many of us, the tentacles of diet culture have been siphoning off confidence and joy for nearly our entire lives. We can’t erase it, but we can fight back.
Love,
Han
A Grateful Life Lived 
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