Pulverize diet culture in these 5 easy steps

Diet culture needs to die a slow, painful death. It values weight, shape, and size over well-being and has permeated our society for decades.

In layman’s terms, diet culture is that nasty dude you went to high school with who says you’d be pretty if you lost 10 pounds. It’s that lady who lives down the street who says you’d look less tired and frumpy if you stopped eating carbs and take three pills a day instead. It’s everything wrong with our world because it preys on insecurities and junk science.

The good news is, we can pulverize the hell out of diet culture if we start being kinder to ourselves. Follow these 5 easy steps and, eventually, diet culture will fade into the dark abyss where it belongs.

Step 1: Stop labeling food as “good” and “bad”

There is no such thing as “good” or “bad” food. Food is fuel. Period.

Some food is full of nutrients your body craves and needs. Other food has very little nutritional value. But none of it is inherently bad.

What IS bad is our RELATIONSHIP with food. When you stop obsessively policing:

• when you eat
• which foods you’re allowed to eat
• how much of those foods you’re allowed to eat

and instead focus on:

• when you’re hungry
• which foods you’re craving
• why your body needs certain foods

then you’ll begin to repair that relationship so food is no longer the enemy.

Step 2: Unfollow people who make you feel bad about yourself

Marie Kondo changed a lot of lives with her unique take on decluttering and organization. It’s important to understand her rules are applicable to the people in your life as well as the things: if there are people who don’t “spark joy” in your life, get rid of them!

If you’re on social media, and a person’s posts constantly make you feel bad about yourself, mute them or even unfriend them completely. Give yourself back the ability to scroll while maintaining your sanity.

Step 3: Set goals unrelated to weight

Don’t shoot me for this one: there are times when you may NEED or even just WANT to diet. There is nothing wrong with that. You can love your body and desire change at the same time.

But constantly setting goals focused on weight feeds the monster. It places value on the number on the scale and that number alone.

Instead, set goals that maintain consistent healthy habits. Examples include:

• eating more vegetables
• incorporating exercise
• sleeping an extra 30 minutes
• drinking fewer soft drinks
• substituting fast food with quick, home-cooked meals.

Step 4: Focus on healthy habits your entire family can embrace

I didn’t grow up in a healthy family. I grew up in a loving family but definitely not a healthy one. Most of us didn’t because “healthy” wasn’t something we talked about in school or as a society.

We talked about “being skinny.”

We talked about “getting fat.”

But never what “healthy” meant.

It’s time for us to stop this cycle and focus on healthy habits the entire family can embrace! Diet culture has taken enough from US. Let’s not let it take from OUR CHILDREN, too. How can we do this?

• Stop telling kids to finish their plates no matter what. Learning to eat past the point of being full develops that negative relationship with food early on.
• Incorporate fruits and vegetables early on if possible. If the kids are older, have them help you pick out produce at the store they’d be willing to try.
• Don’t demean yourself. Your kids are learning how to talk about THEMselves by how you talk about YOURself.
• Be a positive example but don’t walk the path alone. If you’re eating salads and lean protein all day, but you constantly stop at McD’s for your kids, you aren’t helping them learn healthy habits. You’re further instilling BAD habits. If fast food isn’t good enough for you, why is it good enough for them?

Step 5: Choose joy! Be the one to stop the diet culture cycle!

This is probably the most difficult step. If you’re reading this, you’re probably of a certain age meaning you’re rather set in your habits. People our age grew up in an era where calling ourselves “stupid” or “dumbass” was common place. Along the way, some of us even started believing it.

Let’s reverse engineer this! Every day, say something nice about yourself. It doesn’t have to be about your appearance. It can be anything as long as it’s a positive sentiment.

I know it sounds silly and like an SNL sketch from the 90s, but it works. The more kind things your brain hears, the more it starts to believe them. The more it starts to believe them, the easier it is to believe you deserve them. And the more you believe you deserve them, the better choices you’ll make!

It’s easy to stuff your face full of junk and lounge on the couch all day when you don’t think you’re worthy. It’s far more difficult to do when you start to believe in yourself.

We have the power to pulverize diet culture. We created the thing, and we can damn well destroy it! Work through these 5 steps. Share them with your friends. Continue to spread the word that diet culture has no place in our lives! And if you need help along the way, reach out. I’m here for you!