How To Ditch Diet Culture This Christmas
November 29, 2021
No matter how hard we try, diet culture seems to have its sneaky way of working its way into our lives. From advertising and clever marketing, to fad diets and misleading information, diet culture has a lot to answer for. Not only does it take us further away from living life connected to the biomechanics of our own individual bodies, but it leads us astray from eating intuitively and knowing what our bodies need at any given moment in time – a quality we are all born with, yet that seems to leave us once the noise of diet culture has taken hold.
There are moments when that noise seems to quieten and still, but then there are those times when it becomes so loud that we can’t hear anything but the latest food trends and tips on what we ‘should’ and ‘shouldn’t’ be eating – it becomes so overwhelming that it’s easier to cave in and believe we no longer know what our bodies need, rather than drown out the noise by listening to our own internal body clock.
Christmas and New Year is a time where cleverly timed marketing campaigns and well-placed adverts in the news and on the TV make certain diet trends quite hard to miss. In fact, by the New Year, the majority of us would have attempted, thought about or even started a new diet or health-kick regime.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that IF that’s what will serve you best and those goals are driven through love. But more often than not, these ‘quick fixes’ and fad diets draw us in by shaming us, making us feel guilty and letting us believe that we are doing something wrong.
Here’s the truth:
There are no such things as good and bad foods.
There’s no one way of eating that will serve everyone at any given moment.
We are all so unique and that needs to be honoured in the way we fuel our bodies.
So OF COURSE these diets aren’t going to work for us long term – which is why the diet industry grows and thrives, because it calls us in time and time again. It draws us in via the relationship it has with our inner mean girls (and boys) by telling us we aren’t good enough, pretty enough, sexy enough, slim enough etc.
I’m all for upping your health game and taking your nutrition to the next level BUT ONLY if those thoughts and desires stem from love – the love you have for your body and for yourself. If those thoughts are driven through fear, pain and misery, then that’s when they become unhealthy and you need to take an extra dose of vitamin L (LOVE) before taking one more bite of food. The desire to enhance your health is a LOVING one. The manipulations of diet culture make these beliefs fear-based ones.
So this Christmas, rather than giving into diet culture and believing that you’ve over-indulged, that you’re eating ‘naughty’ foods or that you’ll go on a ‘diet’ in the New Year, give yourself the permission to still nourish your body but enjoy every single mouthful at the same time.
Here are 5 tips to help you survive this festive period and put those diet culture beliefs to one side:
DITCH THE SCALES
Scales have a time and place – Christmas is not one of them! Your value isn’t determined by your weight and your worth isn’t based upon how you look. You are so incredibly valuable just as you are and it’s about time your worthy-o-meter reading flew off the charts!
Your weight naturally fluctuates daily – hormones, water retention, food weight and even gut health all play a role in your body’s overall weight. Weight doesn’t necessarily translate to fat – and fat most certainly does not indicate how worthy or loveable you are. You are so loved just as you are regardless of your weight, size or appearance.
FILL YOUR PLATE WITH VEGGIES
There are so many delicious foods out there that are just waiting to be eaten. Ok, so some of them may not necessarily have the same nutrient profile as another – let’s face it, brussels sprouts have a completely different nutrient profile to a box of chocolates – but that doesn’t make them superior or inferior to others. All foods have a place in our diet.
Having said that, just because we might have a few more fun foods than normal doesn’t mean we have to let those nourishing foods go out the window completely. We can enjoy those fun foods and still eat a variety of delicious whole foods, fruits and veggies to keep our nutrient game high!
Fill your plate with all of those delicious veggies – you can still have those more indulgent foods, but prioritise adding in nutrients when you can. This is about adding more onto your plate, not taking away. Rather than thinking you’ve fallen off the band wagon or that the diet will ‘start tomorrow’ (popular diet culture beliefs our inner mean girls pick up on), keep fuelling your body with those foods it thrives off whilst still enjoying those more fun festive foods.
HAVE A SOCIAL MEDIA DETOX
Comparison-itis needs to take a step back. There is no space for our inner mean girl at the Christmas dining table. She needs to get her coat and simply find somewhere else to stay. This is not a time to compare or get sucked into the latest diet trend or fad diet.
If there’s one detox I’m going to suggest you do – it’s this: The social media detox.
Put down your phone. Close down your computer. Get present, be mindful and connect back to yourself. You are so much more than the content you see and consume on social media. You are a whole, complete person with a wonderful, colourful life full of love, laughter and joy. So instead of getting caught up in your electronic devices, give them a break. Know that they’re there for you to come back to at any time. Just disconnect from the noise of social media and come back to your truth – love.
PRACTICE LOVING MOVEMENT
This isn’t about exercising until you feel sick or running off those Christmas calories. This is about moving your body in a loving, gentle and fluid way – in a way that sparks joy inside of you and lights you up. This is a form of self-care and a way of expressing self-love. For me that’s going for a hike, going for a gentle walk with my family, practicing Yoga or Pilates or simply putting on my favourite playlist and having the most epic dance party. Moving your body not only boosts your mental health, emotional state and mind-set but it can also help shift your perspective and leave your body feeling energised and full of even more love and joy.
POSITIVE FOOD TALK
It’s time to give our food talk an upgrade so we can start healing our relationship with food. Rather than thinking there are ‘good’ or ‘bad’ foods, that we ‘shouldn’t’ have eaten x, y or z or feel guilty because we believe we have over indulged in something – give that internal dialogue with food an upgrade. The way we talk to ourselves can translate into what we believe and that can then influence how we act and live our lives – everything is food! So let’s start to practice positive food talk.
Positive food talk includes:
- Food gives me energy
- Food is enjoyable & delicious
- Food is fun
- Food is comforting & reassuring
- Food is satisfying & tasty
- Food is part of celebrations & traditions
- Food can help our bodies heal
- Food is an experience
- Food is creativity
- Food is part of culture, our roots and heritage
- Food gives us life
- Food makes our cells
What other positive food talk can you start to think, speak and believe?
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