Our take on diet culture...
We want to take a moment to address “diet culture” and give our take on it.
There is so much out there that shames people for eating poorly or having a “lack of willpower.”
There is so much out there that says to eat less, workout more, and show more self restraint.
There is so much out there that says if you follow a specific diet such as keto, atkins, raw food, intermittent fasting, etc, you will finally see the results you want.
All of this information is damaging and contributes to diet culture.
For those who are not familiar, diet culture refers to a set of expectations about valuing thinness and attractiveness over physical health and emotional well-being. It often emphasizes “good” versus “bad” foods and focuses on calorie restriction and guilt over eating specific foods.
Let us just tell you now, that is not what we are here to do.
First off, all those programs that say you need to restrict your calorie intake to 1200 calories a day are damaging. That is not nearly enough calories to sustain a healthy human body and we recommend fueling yourself properly which means a lot more than 1200 calories.
Secondly, we do not believe in following any sort of fad diet. Anything that promises a quick fix, or miraculously burns belly fat and wards off cravings is likely a hoax and probably encourages unhealthy and damaging behaviors (ie drinking caffeine to suppress hunger is not a good solution to weight loss). In this book we do not suggest a diet, merely suggest a focus on whole, real foods that we believe lead to an overall healthier lifestyle.
The next thing we will clarify is that we NEVER think you should feel guilt for eating certain foods and indulging. We are all human and feeling guilty is a waste of time and won’t help you reach your goals.
Diet culture is damaging and we do not support it.
What we have noticed though is that in response to diet culture, counter diet culture has been taken to the extreme. if someone is eating healthfully many people automatically label them as on a diet or restricting themselves. They are seen as bad or limiting themselves for eating a salad. This is also not healthy behavior.
It comes down to the fact that food is a sensitive topic for many reasons. Unless someone asks for our opinion and seeks our advice, we will never comment on what someone eats. Unsolicited advice is almost never welcome. Any comments such as “you ate all of that” or “that is all you are gonna eat” are damaging in their own regard. You never know the relationship someone has with food and what seems like a casual comment to you, can be triggering for someone else.
The last thing we want to clarify is that part of diet culture is labeling foods as good and bad. Many people take issue with this as they think it creates an unhealthy relationship with food and can lead to guilt and a poor self image.
Our potentially controversial opinion on this topic is that there actually ARE good and bad foods. But, the foods you choose to eat do not make YOU good or bad.
And, it is NOT because we think bad foods make you fat and eating them make you a bad person. We believe there are good and bad foods because there are some foods that better your overall health. This can include mental clarity, energy levels, chance of disease, mood, performance at work etc. Then there are some foods that increase your chances of getting a chronic illness, make you feel sluggish throughout the day, cause brain fog, make you irritable and more.
We would never call a food bad because of how it makes you look, only because of the poor health effects it has on your body functioning. We would NEVER say to not eat dessert, because again life is short and let’s face it, dessert is delicious. We could only say to give up the chemical laden desserts with ingredients that are known to cause cancer (like those snack cakes you loved as a kid that were rumored to be able to survive nuclear war) and replace them with desserts made from real ingredients.
Can you tell we are passionate about this topic? Diet culture makes choosing a healthy nutritional lifestyle even harder. Haters are gonna hate. And it’s annoying. Just don’t get sucked into the noise. Focus on yourself, your goals, and your choices.
We promote food choices that make you feel your best from the inside out. Diet culture promotes guilt and suppresses emotional wellbeing. Our goal is to educate you on food in order to help you make the best decisions for your body to actually help your emotional wellbeing. With everything we do, we aim to help and never to guilt. We are so happy to get to work with you!