With all of the Ozempic buzz and trendy weight loss tips and tricks on social media these days it can be easy to fall into the toxicity of diet culture. There is no shortage of health and wellness “influencers” social media right now sharing all the things they do in the name of health.
There can be a fine line between wanting to lose weight and falling into the diet culture trap. What does diet culture actually mean? Well to me, it’s a culture that worships thinness and equates it with health and happiness. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t necessarily! Thinness doesn’t mean healthy. Healthy to me means having blood work that looks good (get your labs drawn), having good energy, sleeping well, movement without pain, good digestion, healthy relationships. It really doesn’t have much to do with a numbers on a scale. I care about numbers like your fasting blood glucose, blood pressure, heart rate, etc. While weight loss can definitely improve these numbers it doesn’t tell the full picture.
I also don’t think wanting to lose weight for health or appearance purposes is a bad thing. It doesn’t mean you’ve fallen into the diet culture trap. It doesn’t mean you have an eating disorder. If weight loss is appropriate (key word!) or you’re wanting to change your body (ex. gain more muscle) and if it’s done in a healthy way I support that. What’s NOT a healthy way: crash dieting, fad diets, weight loss drugs, over exercising) as these methods are not sustainable, don’t teach you how to properly nourish your body, and can often lead to disordered eating/eating disorders.
If weight loss is a goal and your first thought is trying to find an easy solution > putting in the work with a professional it’s likely going to be unsustainable and/or lead to unhealthy behaviors. Where are you getting your health and wellness information from? Make sure the person you’re follow on IG is qualified to be handing out that information before you look to them for advice 😉
I have worked with clients in the past that had previously been overweight and started a diet and it turned into an obsession. Their behaviors became disordered and their malnourished brains became obsessed with food and exercise. There is a lot of phrase for weight loss which can also fuel the desire to continue weight loss beyond a healthy point.
I also think it’s important to review what true wellness with food looks like. It means eating a variety of foods and food groups and getting satisfaction out of eating. It’s eating enough to meet your daily energy needs. It’s being flexible with your eating and food choices. It’s recognizing food has other roles such as providing pleasure, social, cultural, traditions, etc.
There is no shame in wanting to change your body is it’s appropriate. Start slow, make small achievable goals, and and layer on the healthy habits from there. Keep is simple. There is no magic pill, potion, or powder. Don’t over complicate it 😉
xx, A
