Diet culture has always been misguiding people, but thanks to social media and the fixation on looks, it has become even more pervasive.
The focal point of diet culture is looking thin. It entails endorsing just a particular body type, which is skinny for the most part, but does not factor in health, race, etc.
The diet culture also enforces the concept of healthy eating, which in their theory is composite of low-calorie consumption with a lot of pulverized greens. The exercise regimen that is part of the diet culture is all about burning calories, fast.
What the diet culture ends up propagating is an unhealthy lifestyle –ironic, right! –with focus on losing weight, fast. It is not concerned with your health or wellness, which is why many people trudging the path of diet culture have health problems that entail a visit to the Fauji Foundation Hospital.
How to fight the culture?
Whether we like it or not, we are under the influence of the diet culture, as we laud thin bodies, fret over our fat, and consider being fat a calamity of epic proportions.
Our mindsets then not only hurt us but also have a detrimental impact on the quality of other’s lives as well. People who are plus-sized or obese then are made to feel anomalous and are discriminated against.
Therefore, it is imperative that you actively fight the diet culture. Some helpful things to do include:
Actively reject it
We know it is hard to give up notions that are wired into your brain, but you actively need to undo them. Overtime, your mind will then alter its thinking as well.
Hence, reject the diet culture, and vehemently so. Do not follow people who propagate it. Do not partake in it. Encourage lifestyles that defy this culture.
Change relationship with food
You need change the way you think about food. Rather than thinking in terms of caloric content, recognize how it will nurture your body. Conceptualize it in terms of nutrients. You should eat to nourish your body, not to meet come calorie range.
Watch your language
Our language also has been under the influence of diet culture, which is why we inadvertently praise people when they lose weight, saying things like you look so pretty after losing the extra kilos, or associating morality with food by saying terms like it is good, bad, and cheating.
Hence, try to reform your language. Think in terms of health and wellness, whether it be physical or mental.
Self-care
Unlike the fixation on size when exercising and eating in diet culture, think of the impact of good diet and healthy exercise on your physical body. Incorporate these habits to not get a bikini-bod, but instead, to love yourself. Expend it as a form of self-care.
Moderate social media
A lot of the garbage that we consume on social media can hamper our progress towards fighting diet culture. Therefore, do a social media detox. Unfollow all those people who prioritize looks over health.
Come to terms with your body
Your weight is just one indicator of your health, and likewise for your shape. Hence, do not buy into the trope that just because you are curvy, you are unhealthy. There are other measures that are utilized to gauge your health.
Since obesity puts health in risk, therefore, do not think that just because you are against diet culture, it is okay to be overweight. People who are obese have greater risks of chronic ailments like heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, sleep apnea etc.
Hence, take steps to lose weight for the sake of your health and not because you need to conform to some beauty standards.
In the endeavor to lose weight, make sure you do not fall trap to fad diets. Instead, visit a Dietitian in Islamabad for sustainable and healthy dietary habits alongside being physically active.
