Leave Diet Culture Behind and Reclaim Your Life |
If you’ve spent energy this year worrying about how to shrink or tone your body, you are a victim of diet culture – a system designed to make you feel broken.
Defined by dietitian Christy Harrison, author of Anti-Diet and The Wellness Trap, diet culture refers to the harmful belief that our health and value is defined by our body size and shape. This system insists that worth is tied to weight, leading to deep food shame and the marginalization of anyone who doesn't fit a narrow “ideal.” It functions by labeling food as “good” or “bad,” eventually tricking us into believing we are “good” or “bad” based on what we eat.
Diet culture influenced Veronica, who grew up with this "good food, bad food" mentality and was often praised in her early 20s for her "discipline” because she followed a rigid meal plan and rarely missed a workout.
It took a mental toll when Veronica began declining social invitations, and social isolation set in. Plus, she was consumed with judgments about food that were exhausting.
While Veronica may have looked healthy, by societal standards, she was often tired, cranky, and had "brain fog." Her doctor, who was also influenced by diet culture, congratulated her on what were perceived to be positive health patterns.
Now and then, Veronica would “give in” or break her diet, and that resulted in........