What is anti-diet culture and why is it important?

Let’s start from the beginning. Let’s talk about diet culture first.

Diet culture has become so normalized that people don’t even know what it is. It has recently been masked as wellness and/or fitness, which makes it harder to notice. Nonetheless, diet culture has taken a lot of people’s time, money, energy, and more importantly, health as dieting and exercising to lose weight and/or change your body often ends in weight regain, feelings of emptiness, and frustration, food obsession, and even disordered eating behaviors. 

Diet culture extends beyond mere fad diets or the wellness industry as it encompasses subtle ways to label foods and bodies as “good/acceptable” or “bad/unacceptable”. It associates thinness with health and value; therefore, it promotes weight loss, demonizes some foods, and shames certain ways of eating. It also oppresses people who don’t conform to its perceived notion of health, which creates a challenging environment where people are often judged based on their ability or inability to meet certain expectations (that are unattainable). You can detect it in social media, movies/shows, literature, or even within family/friend's advice where fatphobic remarks are casually inserted and foods are labeled as “bad/unhealthy”.

Diet culture causes people to miss social activities and celebrations as they fear being shamed for what they eat, or they fear having to eat certain foods. It makes people bond over restrictive ways of eating and compliments people for losing weight without knowing if weight loss is being caused by a disease or if weight loss behaviors are causing harm. Overall, it makes people obsess over food and physical appearance while distracting them from what’s important, their passion, purpose, and pleasure. And in the end, people end up feeling exhausted, hopeless, frustrated, and empty.

In the case of athletes, diet culture is seen in the promotion of unrealistic body standards masked with the excuse of certain body shapes or sizes being ideal for athletic performance, as well as in the restrictive diets or extreme eating plans that are given to athletes to achieve a specific weight or shape. All this often results in body dissatisfaction, distraction caused by food and body obsession, overtraining, disordered eating behaviors, and inadequate nutrition, which will lead to nutrient deficiencies and in the end, decreased performance, increased risk of injuries, and fatigue.

So…what is anti-diet culture?

This approach aims to adopt a healthier and more positive connection with food, exercise, and self-esteem. It prioritizes the overall well-being of a person rather than fixating solely on weight and appearance. This includes honoring those who thrive in larger bodies and those with weight loss goals because everyone should be free to decide what their personal goals are. The anti-diet culture emphasizes an approach of self-care; eating what makes you feel good because all foods fit, having adequate rest and sleep, and moving in ways that you enjoy are factors that don’t have a connection with how much you weigh or how your body looks, but more so about how you feel and how you pursue well-being. 

One of the main things anti-diet culture focuses on is making peace with food. This means stopping the restriction and starting to make food choices from a place of trust. Intuitive eating can help us listen to our body’s cues about hunger, fullness, and satisfaction, which will allow us to find peace with food.

Other factors on which anti-diet culture focuses include embracing body diversity and encouraging self-acceptance regardless of body weight, size, and shape can help you stop celebrating bodies and start celebrating actions and important things in life. Because health is not determined by body weight or size, instead, health is multi-dimensional and can be influenced by many factors, such as genetics, mental health, and social determinants. 

Also, we need to acknowledge that diet culture has had an impact on mental health, and thus we need to promote kindness towards ourselves and others, treat everyone with respect and empathy, and always prioritize mental well-being, body autonomy, and self-worth. 

Lastly, as athletes of course is important to focus on what your body can do, but it’s essential that you also focus on who you are as a whole individual because you are more than your body and your accomplishments. Your performance is not only determined by your body composition, so when you switch to an anti-diet mindset and start focusing on taking care of yourself instead of obsessing over food, weight, and appearance, your performance will likely improve. Keep in mind that you should eat what your body tells you to eat because it knows what it needs to keep you active and alive. 

Anti-diet culture will help you regain control of your life because you will stop obsessing over food and physical appearance and you will start trusting your body again. This will allow you to fully engage in your life, allowing you to focus on what’s important, find your passions, and pursue your pleasure and purpose.