If you’re on social media, or listen to the radio, or watch tv… Basically if you exists as a person in today’s world, you’re likely inundated with New Year messages about weight loss. One mantra that often goes around in the new year is “new year, new me” and many see the new year as a time to commit to losing weight or deciding to take on a restrictive diet plan.
Sadly, at the core of this trend is a belief health and worth are the same thing, with people believing that somehow, smaller bodies are “better” than other bodies.
This new year, how would it feel to take a new approach? One that recognizes your worth is always the same no matter what your body looks like? Let’s explore the reality of diet culture and how you can, if you choose, begin to see your body in a new way.
The Dieting Boom in January: What the Numbers Say
If you had to guess, what percentage of folks do you think engage in a New Year’s resolution around weight loss?
One study from the Psychology of Health found that it’s as high as 19% of Americans! 19%!!
So many start the New Year believing that there is something wrong with their body. Ugh, so heart breaking.
But how effective are diets and weight loss resolutions? If so many people engage in them, surely they must at least be effective, right? The truth? They’re not.
Let’s look at the numbers:
80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by February, according to U.S. News & World Report.
A review published in the American Journal of Public Health found that 95% of dieters regain their lost weight within 1–5 years, often gaining more weight than they lost.
And let’s be clear here: this doesn’t speak to a lack of willpower or dedication.
This shows that diets don’t actually work. In fact, they’re actually designed to fail. Why? Because the diet industry is worth SO MUCH MONEY. Americans alone spend over $72 billion annually on weight loss products and programs.
The diet industry actually needs you to fail at losing weight so that they can keep selling you new products and programs and keep making more money off of you.
And the impact this has on people’s mental health… huge.
The diet industry actually needs you to fail at losing weight so that they can keep selling you new products and programs and keep making more money off of you.
The Impact of Diet Culture on Mental Health and Eating Disorders
Many folks see diet culture as a helpful thing, motivating people to take care of their bodies. But the truth is that diet culture is a well-documented risk factor for the development of mental health concerns and eating disorders:
A 2016 study published in Pediatrics found that dieting teens were five times more likely to develop an eating disorder than their non-dieting peers.
In adults, those exposed to diet culture often experience heightened eating disorder pathology and lower self-esteem, which negatively affect their overall mental well-being.
Chronic dieting has been linked to increased feelings of guilt, shame, and low self-esteem, further exacerbating mental health challenges and mental illnesses, including depression, anxiety and trauma.
Diet Culture: What It Is and Why It’s Harmful
So what really is this “diet culture” thing we keep referring to?
It’s a perspective and way of living that prioritizes thinness and promotes restrictive eating as the key to health and happiness. It also often suggests unhealthy ways of moving and exercising, again with the goal of weight loss, rather than actually being about health and wellness.
Diet culture teaches us to view our bodies as projects that need constant improvement and doesn’t actually concern itself with physical or mental health, just with appearances.
Key Characteristics of Diet Culture:
Equating thinness with moral virtue or success. How often are you told you are “good” for sticking to a diet? Or you’ve been “bad” because you ate something you find delicious? We are taught that we are more successful if we can make our body appear a certain way and eat in certain ways.
Prioritizing weight loss over overall well-being If we truly cared about health and not weight loss, no one would suggest a drink that is filled with chemicals rather than an actual meal.
Promoting restrictive eating or exercise behaviours A key part to diet culture is the idea that we should eat and move in ways that others tell us to, rather than listening to our own bodies.
The result of diet culture? A cycle of shame and disconnection from our bodies.
The Connection Between Racism and Diet Culture
Let’s take a moment to discuss the link between diet culture and racism (and why you should care).
We’ll begin with a tiny history lesson: During the colonial era, European powers imposed their cultural standards of beauty (i.e. whiteness and thinness) onto Indigenous peoples and people of African descent, positioning their bodies as "deviant" or “uncivilized." This was a way for colonial powers to maintain power and make themselves “good” and other people “bad”. This led to the stigmatization of larger bodies, especially those of Black and Indigenous people.
Research shows that Black, Indigenous, and people of colour (BIPOC) experience heightened pressure from both mainstream beauty standards and diet culture. This is particularly damaging because it contributes to a cycle of fatphobia, racism, and poor mental health. The pursuit of thinness has often been marketed as a way to assimilate into white, middle-class ideals of beauty and success, leading to higher rates of eating disorders and body dissatisfaction among communities of colour.
Notice how right from the beginning, diet culture and shaming larger bodies was about control: by putting a standard to what “beauty is” colonial powers actually got more control and kept people oppressed. By giving the metaphorical middle finger to diet culture, we not only support our own mental health, but also empower a shift away from racist systems and ways of thinking.
Right from the beginning, diet culture and shaming larger bodies was about control. By putting a standard to what 'beauty is,' colonial powers maintained power and kept people oppressed.
Healthier Alternatives: Body Neutrality and Health at Every Size
If you’re still here, it might be because you agree that diet culture and this idea of losing weight just isn’t working for you anymore. But what do we do instead?? Many people “like” diet culture because it has such clear rules of what we should and shouldn’t do, which can leave people feeling “good”. Stepping away from diet culture can be hard because there is no right or wrong which can be a little overwhelming. The following two alternatives don’t offer a “right” or “wrong” but may support you with some structure, if you find that to be helpful.
Body Neutrality
First, let’s look at the concept of Body Neutrality. Many folks think that they have to love their body (a concept often called Body Positivity) but this just doesn’t feel attainable for some folks who have been taught their whole life, from family, friends and culture that their body is bad. Body Neutrality accepts that you may not love your body all the time, but it emphasizes respect for your body without requiring you to love it.
Why Body Neutrality Is Better for Mental Health
It focuses on function, not appearance: You can appreciate what your body can do—like walking, hugging loved ones, or dancing—rather than how it looks.
It supports sustainable habits: Without the stress of achieving an “ideal” body, you’re more likely to develop habits that genuinely benefit your health, like eating intuitively or moving in ways you enjoy.
It reduces pressure: Unlike body positivity or diet culture, body neutrality doesn’t demand constant change and self-love. It just asks you to be okay with the way your body is, today.
So how do we get there? It really is a mindset shift that goes from disliking your body, to just being more objective about what your body can do. With a body neutral approach, we try not to criticize or praise our body; instead we just make statements that are true.
For example:
I can lift my kiddo up and give them a big hug. I am able to go on a walk and chat with my friend. My body allows me to stay present and focused all day.
Notice that we aren’t trying to say what is right or wrong; we’re just trying to make statements.
If it feels hard to start doing this with yourself, see if you can begin this practice with someone else. Maybe a kid you love very much or a person you admire. This may make it easier to not criticize them. In time, see if you can practice speaking about your body in the same way.
Health at Every Size (HAES): Evidence-Based Health Without the Weight Loss Obsession
A second option, instead of diet culture, that compliments very well with Body Neutrality is Health at Every Size (HAES). The HAES movement is grounded in the idea that health is not determined by weight but by behaviours and social determinants of health like access to care, stress levels, and sleep. Basically, health is a lot more out of our control than we are lead to believe and things like money play a big role in access to health and health promoting behaviours.
As outlined by this article, the HAES approach believes challenges beliefs we’ve held for a long time such as:
Adiposity (amount of fat stored on the body) poses a risk to morbidity and mortality: Instead, the HAES approach has examined data and found that adiposity is actually NOT a determinant of morbidity or mortality.
Weight loss prolongs life: Again, the actual research does not prove show that weight loss prolongs life!
Anyone, with enough willpower, can lose and keep weight of. As we discussed above, most folks on a diet will regain the weight in 1-5 years; it has nothing to do with motivation, but rather that our bodies are not meant for diets and having weight on our body is not a problem!
Weight loss is a practical and positive goal; diet culture loves to make us think this is true but it’s not! There are so many more beautiful, joyful things you can do with your time instead of focusing on losing weight.
The only way for folks in larger body’s to improve their health is with weight loss. Repeat after me: weight is not unhealthy and losing weight in not inherently healthy. If your goal is health, weight loss is actually a very bad marker of health.
Social Media, Diet Culture and It’s Impact on Mental health
We’d be remiss to not add a section on social media, given the impact it has on mental health.
Who hasn’t been on instagram and seen some influencers video of “what I eat in a day” and wondered how they could possibly be full and satiated after that so-called meal? And then maybe you end up feeling like a failure cause you try it for a day or a week before you “give in” and eat more food than that? Yeah, same!
The research looking at the relationship between social media and mental least consistently shows that social media usage correlates with body dissatisfaction, anxiety, and disordered eating behaviours.
A 2020 study published in Body Image found that social media use is linked to higher levels of body surveillance (looking at our body to see if it meets a certain standard), appearance comparisons, and disordered eating symptoms in young adults.
Another study in the International Journal of Eating Disorders found that 87% of participants reported body dissatisfaction after spending time on social media.
So what do we do? The reality is not many of us are willing to give up social media (I certainly don’t want to be living under a rock!!) so we have to learn to work WITH social media to have it suggest to us content that is going to improve our relationship to our body, rather than cause it to deteriorate.
The research looking at the relationship between social media and mental least consistently shows that social media usage correlates with body dissatisfaction, anxiety, and disordered eating behaviours.
Here are 8 Instagram accounts that we suggest following if you’d like your social media to look a little different! If you start engaging with this content, your algorithm will soon learn to provide different reels and posts, helping you shift the impact social media has.
@bodyimagewithbri
@meganjcrabbe
@fatpositivetherapist
@meg.boggs
@thebodyisnotanapology
@healthy_with_kelsey
@thebirdspapaya
@bodyposipower
Want to take it a step further? Instagram recently launched a new feature where you can reset your algorithm. This could be such a cool way to get rid of all the icky, toxic reels you see and start interacting with accounts that make you feel GOOD in your body.
A New Perspective for the New Year
What if instead of chasing weight loss this January, we tried to embrace a new perspective? One that actually IMPROVES mental health AND physical health?
Here are a few alternative perspectives to consider adopting this January:
Lean in to The Tenants of Health At Every Size
Weight and fat are not bad things, and being skinny does not mean you are healthy! Start questioning the narrative and claims you hear about body size and instead starting leaning in to listening to your body’s needs and desires.
Move for Joy, Not Obligation:
Movement is good and healthy, but when we do it as a punishment or cause we “have to”, it’s really not good! Instead, find movement that makes you feel good and play with it! It’ll change day by day, moment by moment, so just start listening and tuning in to what feels good.
Set Boundaries with Diet Culture:
Unfollow social media accounts that promote restrictive eating or unrealistic beauty standards. Turn off the TV when they start talking about the new superfood weight loss pill magic solution. Change the conversation when co-workers start talking about their goal to lose X pounds in X days.
Focus on Non-Aesthetic Goals:
Instead of aiming for a smaller waist, focus on improving your energy levels, learning a new skill, or deepening your relationships. Goals that aren’t appearance based are going to actually help you feel and be healthier!
Need Support for Body Image and Eating Disorders in Kamloops and BC?
As the new year begins and you’re inundated with messages about the body you “should” have and how to get it, you may feel that you need a little more support rejecting diet culture. If that’s the case, we have a therapist on our team here in Kamloops who focuses her counselling practice on body image and eating disorders from a trauma-informed, body neutral and health at every size approach. If you would like to build a new relationship with your body, one that recognizes the worth you inherently have and doesn’t ask you to change, schedule your first session with Jillian today!
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