How to Become a “Diet Culture Dropout”

To answer this question, we have to ask, “What is diet culture?” first! Diet culture is society’s belief in prioritizing thinness and looking over health and well-being, but with the disguise that this is all about “health.”. A hot new term synonymous with diet culture is wellness culture. It’s just disguised as something new. Diet culture tells us what we can and cannot eat. It makes us label foods as “good” and “bad,”  or “healthy” and “junk food.”. It is fear-mongering and fat-phobic. 

So, a diet culture dropout is someone who is consciously choosing to heal their relationship with food and their body by ditching the diet(s). This is someone who no longer engages in fad diets or constantly worries about losing weight. A diet culture dropout is putting in the hard work to not succumb to society’s unattainable standards. With that being said, it’s understandable that people fall under diet culture’s spell. It is a master manipulator. 

It will be a tough road, but it is so worth it. 

As mentioned above, becoming a diet culture dropout means healing your relationship with food and your body. Who doesn’t want that? Society is so caught up in the appearance ideal, beauty standards, thinness, and health policing. One thing we know for sure is that the leading environmental contributor to the development of eating disorders is the socio-cultural idealization of thinness. This is a problem. Our children are more afraid of becoming fat than they are of getting cancer. This is a problem. 

Studies show that 95-98% of people who diet will gain weight back. And with that, experience additional problems. Your body does so much for you, including compensating when you are trying to restrict its intake of essential nutrients (i.e., calorie restriction, cutting out carbs, eating gluten-free when you don’t have a gluten allergy, intolerance, or celiac disease). Bodies will fight as much as they can to keep you at your set weight. Our weight is largely determined by our genetics. Everyone has a set point weight range (see Health at Every Size). The range is different for each individual and might not be what the BMI (which is stupid) says is “healthy.”. So, it makes sense that when we diet and try to lose weight rapidly, our body bounces back, sometimes even more than before, with weight gain. It’s trying to right a wrong. 

With that being said, taking time to enter this new chapter and club as a dropout is not typically an easy thing to do. Becoming a diet culture dropout in a society where diet culture is a multi-billion dollar industry and thinness is coveted is incredibly brave.

If you want to ditch diet culture, there are some steps you can take to help you get to dropout status! These can include but are not limited to:

• Ending any diet you’re on and making a commitment to not start another one. 
• Throw out any diet books you have. 
• Throwing away the scale.
• Calling out people for food and body talk perpetuates diet culture. 
• Similarly, not policing anyone else’s plate… we call these folks the “food police”… you don’t want to be one of them. 
• Challenge yourself to view food as just food, with no moral value of “good” or “bad”. 
• Reading Anti-Diet by Christy Harrison.
• Exploring body NEUTRALITY… you don’t have to strive for body positivity. 
• Focusing on engaging in joyful movement, rather than strict, regimented exercise. 
• Reading and exploring the Intuitive Eating book and workbook (the 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating are a personal favorite).

If you find that you are far too stuck in diet culture to become a dropout on your own, that can possibly indicate that you’ve crossed the threshold into disordered eating, though maybe not a full-blown eating disorder. Not to be the bearer of bad news, but diets are quite literally disordered eating. 

When this happens, it might be time to seek professional help. There are therapists who specialize in this kind of work. The therapists you want to seek out are those who specialize in eating disorders, disordered eating, body image, and self-esteem. It is important to seek someone who is knowledgeable on these subjects, as some therapists are stuck in diet culture themselves. 

Here at Gold Counseling, we have therapists who specialize in the areas mentioned above. We are ready to help you on your journey to find peace with food and with your body. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you, or someone you know, could use that additional support. 

For more information, contact us or book an appointment online. We serve patients from Riverdale UT, Washington Terrace UT, Clinton UT, Kaysville UT, Clearfield UT, Farmington UT, Draper UT, Riverton UT, Sandy UT, St. George UT, Bloomington UT, Santa Clara, UT, and surrounding areas.