Diet culture has been around for hundreds of years. One of the earliest diet books was published in 1558 and introduced a concept of calorie restriction. Fast forward to the mid-1800’s, a trend of ‘ideal body types’ started to arise and a ‘thin body’ became glamorized. This was the beginning of extreme restrictions, cleanses, and making desperate attempts to fit the thin ideal standard of the time-period. (SAHRC, 2022)
Since this era of original experimentation, the diet culture has only grown. The so called ‘ideal body type’ changes, the diet fads to reach that ‘ideal body type’ changes, and yet the level of risk people put their bodies through to meet that social diet culture continues.
In the United States, it is estimated that over 30 million people will be diagnosed with an eating disorder in their lifetime (NAED, 2024) and at the same time about 129 million people have at least 1 major chronic disease. (CDC, 2024)
Think it is a little ironic that as diet culture participation goes up, so do the rates of disordered eating and chronic diseases? Truth of the matter is that diet culture is not improving health and wellbeing, it is making it worse.
Diet culture leads to distrust of our natural hunger and fullness cues, body shaming, hyperfocus on foods, emotion-connected eating, addictions, mental stress, unhealthy weight jumps, chronic disease, and much more. If you have been on the dieting roller coaster, you might resonate with some of these unfortunate effects that social influence glamorizes.
Now imagine this:
- Being proud of and loving every part of your body at every stage of life
- Being in full control of food and knowing early signs of hunger and the early signs of fullness
- Disconnecting food from emotion and managing emotions in a healthy way
- Having a deeper sense of purpose and satisfaction in life
- Being resilient to life’s challenges
- Having the energy and excitement to move your body and eat flavorful nutritious foods
- Eating your favorite treats whenever you want
- Never feeling guilty or the need to ‘earn’ food again, and
- Creating an environment at work, home, etc. where everyone around you can feel that same body empowerment. (Tribole & Resch, 2020)
Sound pretty magical? Well, buckle up, because over the next few months we are going to be closing the door on diet culture and opening a healthy beginning of self-love, adventure, and nourishment.
Over the next few months, I am going to share the secret ingredients to a healthy beginning where we find our passion, mindfully and lovingly care for our minds and bodies, and live a healthy life that we are in love with.
As you participate in the Healthy Beginning Moments, share your wins, your ideas, and your photos. Together we can replace the diet culture noise with positive self-love. Welcome to your healthy beginning!
References
CDC. (2024). Chronic Disease Prevalence in the US. Retrieved from CDC: Preventing Chronic Disease: https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2024/23_0267.htm
NAED. (2024). Eating Disorder Statistics: An Updated View for 2024. Retrieved from National Alliance for Eating Disorders: https://www.allianceforeatingdisorders.com/eating-disorder-statistics-an-updated-view-for-2024/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwkJm0BhBxEiwAwT1AXFw3tkJ00OcKzdzfznq9THyjro4kcSOwEnYTvJT9pvUCVlnZaJzh8xoCaG8QAvD_BwE
SAHRC. (2022). Diet Culture: A Brief History. Retrieved from Social and Health Research Center INC: https://sahrc.org/2022/04/diet-culture-a-brief-history/
Tribole, E., & Resch, E. (2020). Intuitive Eating: A revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach. New York City: St Martins Essentials.
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