Diet culture is backed by a multi-billion dollar industry that tells us that there is an ideal body type, an ideal way to eat, an ideal way to be healthy, an ideal way to be beautiful, and that we should spend our lives trying to achieve these status markers at any cost. The discrimination that diet culture perpetuates often overlaps with racism, sexism, ageism, ableism, and classism. As Christy Harrison, MPH, RD, CDN, an outspoken leader in the non-diet, weight-inclusive movement points out, diet culture's "supposed picture of 'health,' disproportionately harms women, femmes, trans folks, people in larger bodies, people of color, and people with disabilities, and is extremely damaging to both their mental and physical health."

Diet culture is so pervasive that it can be hard to define it because it is literally all around us and within ourselves, either consciously or subconsciously. While diet culture will often mean different things to different people based on their individual experiences, it is widely regarded as a system of beliefs that:

• Worships thinness. It perpetuates the idea that people who are thin, are automatically healthy, more attractive, more worthy, and better than someone in a larger body. This, in turn, results in weight-stigma or the belief that larger bodies are inherently less-than, lazy or wrong. 

• Assigns foods as "good" or "bad'. It encourages the use of food rules and restrictions to manipulate body size. This hyper-vigilance around eating results in a vicious cycle of reward and punishment, and guilt and shame around food choices and behavior.

• Promotes weight loss as a way to achieve the higher status associated with thinness, and measures the effectiveness of a workout by its ability to help manipulate one's body size towards this goal.

As you can see, there is a lot to unpack around diet culture. The first step in resisting it, is to know what to look out for. The second step is to develop a support network through whatever means feels right for you. This can include but is not limited to friends, family, books, podcasts, anti-diet culture advocates on social media, support groups, size-inclusive therapists, intuitive eating counselors and anti-diet dietitians. 

I would like to help you when it comes to movement and reconnecting with a form of physical activity that is inclusive, accepting, encouraging, energizing, motivating and fun!