It’s that time of year again! January 1st is the scariest time of the year when everyone talks about their weight loss goals, how “bad” they were during the holidays, and how they plan to repent.
Diet culture is exhausting, but while weight loss and fitness conglomerates are rubbing their hands together in hopes of increasing their annual sales, we’re going to take a different approach. That means preparing your mind and body to face this dieting palooza without fear. Temptation.
Nowadays, every weight loss company tries to thoroughly research your concerns so that you buy their products. So when Weight Watchers comes knocking on your door, here are some easy ways to prepare and boost your confidence so you can give them the middle finger (0 points).
5 tips for dealing with diet culture in the new year
Anti-Diet Culture Tip #1. read fat positive books
Reading (or listening) to positive books completely changes things. Over the past decade, the fat positive book market has boomed in the best possible way. Looking for sweet and hot nonfiction? Check out There’s Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Menon or Notable People by Kate Stayman London. Want to feel confident and be reminded that your body is perfect just the way it is? Read Things No One Tells Fat Girls by Jess Baker; The Body is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Tayloror Another F-word: A celebration of fat and furious people.
Seeing and reading about fat people living their lives, going on adventures, and finding love is so inspiring and reminds me that you, too, can do all of that without losing weight.
Anti-Diet Culture Tip #2. wipe out social media
Raise your hand if you spend more time on social media than you should. me too. But I’m not going to tell you to delete the app or cut down on the amount of time you use it. Social media is a great tool for curating a personal feed of people and ideas that inspire you. But if that feed makes you feel unworthy, unattractive, or enviable, it’s time to make a change. Next time you’re on social media, pay attention to how you’re feeling.
If someone’s before/after photos make you question your body, mute or unfollow them. Find and follow people with similar body types and styles. Find and follow people who promote ideas that align with your values. Your social feed will affect a large part of your day, so make sure it’s in a good mood.
Anti-Diet Culture Tip #3. Set health goals that don’t focus on weight
If you want to improve your physical and mental health, do it now. Many of us are out of balance, and the beginning of the year is the perfect place to check in with ourselves and make positive changes. But there are also many health goals that have nothing to do with weight loss. Here are some health goals you can add to your resolution list:
- Practice better sleep hygiene
- Add daily meditation to your routine
- Interact with nature once a week
- How to find a therapist you can trust
- practice intuitive eating
- Find the form of movement that brings you joy
Anti-Diet Culture Tip #4. Commit to moving your body out of love
We can tell the truth here. It’s tempting to lose weight and become more “acceptable.” But of course, it becomes less tempting once you realize that 95% of weight loss attempts fail in the long run. But still, we all have at one time or another signed up for a gym or bought some equipment that we thought would help us get smaller. No matter how loudly they cried out for lifestyle changes, fundamentally they were acting out of hatred.
Here’s a challenge for you: Next year, move your body in love. When you lace up your sneakers, do you go for a run because you think it’ll be fun, or do you go for a run because you ate an extra cookie last night and need to punish yourself?
Intention is important because the energy you bring to your exercise session not only affects your attitude, but also your likelihood of participating in exercise again. If you move your body because you hate it, you will end up hating moving your body.
If you’re ready to move your body for love, check out my book Zero gravity: How to eliminate guilt and heal your relationship with movement.
This ebook is a guided journey to achieving intuitive movement and is packed with resources to help you do it in a healthy way. Also, check out more accessible movement videos here. joina free app made by fat people for fat people!
How are you preparing for the impending diet culture/dietpalooza?
Source: The Curvy Fashionista – thecurvyfashionista.com
