Going against diet culture is a counter-culture. Diet culture is the water we swim in, and I’m trying my best to swim upstream.
It’s challenging feeling like you know a truth that so many people disagree with. It’s exhausting trying to convince people something they’re not ready to hear. I’m not saying I’m a hero—all of this is so easy for me to say as a privileged, straight-sized, cis-gendered white woman who doesn’t get her life threatened on the internet. I just mean to say that disagreeing with the masses is really draining. I spend so much time angry & annoyed at the culture around us.
Generally speaking, people aren’t ready to let go of the idea that weight might not have anything to do with health (or that the pursuit of weight loss is potentially dangerous). And there are so many reasons why. Their doctors might reinforce the idea that weighing less is always better. Their families might shame weight gain. Or maybe they’re a weight loss coach or nutrition counselor of some sort, and for the first time ever, they’re considering that their advice may have harmed someone. It’s hard to grapple with. I know I felt a lot of shame for promoting dieting on my social pages, and I’m not even an influencer or professional. But the truth is that fatphobia hurts everyone involved.
But here’s what I know now. The pursuit of an “ideal body,” halted my dreams, aspirations, & relationships, and anecdotally, that’s true for SO many womxn I know. And like me, when we gave into our obsessive thoughts and forced ourselves into temporary weight loss, we were complimented and praised. It’s short-lived, but the damage lingers. Dieting leads to disorders, & a disorder isn’t something you can turn off once you’ve decided you’re done.
I know all of these things to be true. I know that promoting “lifestyle changes,” and weight loss before & afters, and restrictive diets likely only inspire people who are in the depths of body shame, deprivation or dysmorphia. And I know that if I keep sharing the opposite messages over and over and over, I just might be able to catch someone at the exact moment they need to hear it. I know it because it’s happened. And that’s why I do it.