How to Resist the Pull of Diet Culture During Tough Times

Normally I write to you on Mondays to let you know about the latest episode of Food Psych. But today I want to start with something more urgent.

Today I want to make space for the fact that many of us are reeling from the act of terrorism in Charlottesville over the weekend. Many of you may be in pain, and I feel it too. 

I want to make space for the fact that Black lives matter.

I want to make space for the fact that white supremacy needs to be unequivocally condemned.

I want to make space for the fact that when folks are struggling with disordered eating, it can be SO tempting to turn to dieting or eating-disorder behaviors in the wake of traumatic incidents like this.

So you may be feeling the pull back to those behaviors, even if you’d felt like things were going pretty well on your journey to peace with food. If this is you, have compassion for yourself, because those behaviors have been a coping mechanism in the past. 

And I want to urge you NOT to act on those thoughts now, as true as they may seem. 

Because you deserve to be present, feel your feelings, and speak out, even when things are painful.

You deserve to live a life free from the confines of diet culture, even when that life is difficult, as all of our lives inevitably are sometimes.

I'm sending love and compassion to all who are hurting right now, and I want to make space for it because it’s important. 

If you’re feeling sad, you’re not alone. And you don’t need to change your body to fix it. 

I believe in justice for ALL bodies, because we won't achieve true body acceptance in our society until we put an end to bigotry. 

 

This Week on Food Psych

Psychologist and author Deb Burgard, one of the founders of the Health at Every Size movement, discusses weight stigma in the healthcare system, pursuing joyful movement, size oppression and the exclusion of larger bodies from eating disorder treatment, how she got involved in fat activism and feminism, how to find joy and healing, and lots more.

I also answer a listener question about how to keep yourself from bingeing in a stressful work situation.

Listen to the episode here, and check out one of Deb's pearls of wisdom below!