this talk: is about navigating diet culture after recovery from an eating disorder - with Izzy Marianne
Diet culture - a set of beliefs normalised in society revolving around the idea that "thin" bodies are the most desirable, valuable, and "healthy."
Diet culture also conveys that eating a certain way is "good" or "bad" - and that a person's worth increases when eating "healthy," or when living in a small body.
Disordered Eating – behaviours normalised by diet culture which are not yet diagnosable.
Preoccupation with weight, food, dieting, calories and food groups.
Preoccupation with body image, body size/shape, a specific part of the body.
Preoccupation with number on the scale or measuring tape.
Preoccupation with exercise, burning fat/calories with goal of shrinking your body.
Significantly limiting “allowed foods” by restricting whole categories of food and only considering a very small number of foods safe to eat.
Performing specific food rituals such as taking photos of each meal.
Withdrawing from social activities which may involve food in favour of weight loss practises.
Binging/purging behaviours which aren’t yet considered diagnosable.
Eating disorders - serious mental illnesses that involve persistent and extreme disordered eating behaviours.
This might mean limiting the amount of food eaten, eating very large quantities of food at once, getting rid of food eaten through unhealthy means (e.g. purging, laxative misuse, fasting, or excessive exercise), or a combination of these behaviours. It’s important to remember that eating disorders are not all about food itself, but about feelings. The way the person interacts with food may make them feel more able to cope/in control.
Reading these definitions you might notice overlap. Where do we draw the line between them?
This is something I’ve always struggled with.
I’m Izzy. 10 years ago when I was just 13, I was diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa and a few years later Bulimia. I bounced back and forth for years, attempting half-heartedly to recover. When I was 17, I decided the healthiest version of me would be someone who ‘ate clean’, went to the gym daily and maintained 6 pack abs year-round. I stuck with this “healthy lifestyle” for a while, posting pictures of my food hastagging #fitfam and #cleaneating and receiving copious amounts of praise for my “killer bod” and “dedication”, people told me they were just so jealous of my commitment to stay thin.
Looking back, I was still sick.
Fast-forward a few years and I’m still confused. My relationship with food and my body is in a good place but I still feel a bit meh about my body from time to time.
I spoke to my friends about this.
“Oh, but every girl hates their body” they told me, “that’s normal”, “don’t worry we all feel that way about our thighs”, “let’s do this diet together!”.
This language is so damaging.
So apparently, I should just accept the fact that it’s normal to hate your body.
Normal to try and fail diet after diet.
Normal to buy clothing one size too small in the hopes of fitting into it by summer.
Normal to skip dinner in favour of liquid calories before a night out.
Normal to order the “healthiest” option on the menu rather than the pizza I actually wanted.
Normal to talk of how much I hate my body, to stand in front of a mirror and pick out my flaws, bond over this with friends.
Well, I’m here to say, if that’s normal, normal isn’t good enough. Society’s unrealistic expectations of body ideals have already claimed too many victims.
How many parties missed? Meals skipped? Gym sessions pushed through with gritted teeth, knowing you’d rather be doing 101 other things? How many tears over dress sizes? How many bland, tasteless salads endured?
How much time and space in your brain wasted on attempts to shrink?
I for one am fed up of hating my body.
To recover, really recover, from the pandemic of disordered eating we need to reject diet culture and fight against those norms.
We need to unfollow influencers who promote diet shakes and appetite suppressant lollypops. We need to disengage in the cycle of dieting. Stop allowing people to profit off our self-hatred. Reject the notion that smaller body = more desirable.
Dieting is the number one cause of the onset of an eating disorder and seeking help early is the best preventative measure. Contact your GP for a referral to a practitioner with specialised knowledge in health, nutrition and eating disorders if anything here resonated with you or you’re concerned for a loved one.
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