The first full week of 2025 is in the books . . . how are you holding up? If you're hoping to build a more balanced and sustainable relationship with food this year, great! Good for you! And if you're already struggling with that goal, I want you to know you are not alone and that the impossible standards of diet culture may be keeping you stuck.
To be super clear, I am not recommending you diet this year! At Food Wonderful, we a firmly anti-diet. We know that 90% of diets fail in the long term. We know that the most common outcomes of dieting are weight gain and disordered eating. In the following post, I'll reference current diet culture trends that may be on your radar and offer some more sustainable alternatives. But if even the whiff of diet talk is challenging for you, you might skip this post entirely.
And this feels like a good spot for my standard disclaimer: This post is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individualized medical or mental health care. It does not constitute a patient-provider relationship. The content of this post might not feel useful to you right now – please take the information that serves you and leave the rest.
One of diet culture’s icky little tactics is using shame to elicit action. Humans do not like the feeling of shame! It’s a visceral, bodily response that makes us want to do something right freaking now to feel better. Shame can be very motivating in the moment which is great for diet culture because it makes us more likely to act or to make a purchase. But in the long term, shame corrodes our sense of self-efficacy, that intrinsic belief that we are capable of taking care of ourselves. And decades of research tells us that the more shame we carry, the less we are to believe in ourselves, and the less likely we are to make positive and life enhancing behavior change.
Most diet culture “tips and tricks” are inherently shame based, setting you up for failure in the long term. Consider avoiding:
Nutrition Buzzwords and One-Liners
How many of us have tossed out one of these cliches: "I'm gonna go low carb," or "I'm eating too much processed food." These types of broad, generic declarations are so undefined, they become impossible to stick to. What's a low carb diet? In diet culture a low carb diet could mean something like Keto, which would more accurately be described as a no carb diet. Or it could mean no pasta or bread while other so called “clean” foods like lentils or quinoa are allowed. And how processed is too processed? Because a piece of produce that's been washed and chopped has been processed. Hummus, a darling of “clean eating” contains multiple processed ingredients that are then added to a food PROCESSOR and combined. Because there is so little clarity around these types of goals, they quickly become sources of guilt or shame. Of course you aren’t sticking to your low carb diet if you’ve haven’t clarified the parameters of your goal.
Instead, try getting a bit more specific with your goal setting. But hang on! Please, approach this process with nuance and flexibility. While defining goals is important for clarity, too much rigidity in goal setting can lead to all or nothing thinking, another diet culture trap. Ok, so how do we get specific without becoming rigid? Start by tapping into your physical sensations. Perhaps you’ve noticed that a snack that’s higher in carbs but low in fat or protein leaves you hungry again in an hour. Or that a large serving of dessert at the end of the night can cause some uncomfortable fullness. These physical sensations won’t be solved by a low carb diet! Specific goals might be to plan meals and snacks that include a source of carbs, protein, and fat. Or to be more mindful of fullness cues when eating dessert. If take out and fast food isn’t feeling nourishing these days, that doesn’t mean you have to axe all processed foods. Maybe you try cooking one new meal a week at home – a goal that’s more specific, more realistic, and more likely to help you feel better.
Public Proclamations & Progress Pics
I know, I know. Diet culture teaches us that we must announce our diets, "weight loss journeys", and fitness plans to the world. Weather it's a group text or social media post, we think these proclamations will keep us accountable. They won't. Because here's the thing, public accountability can all-too-quickly morph into public humiliation. Maybe you've been consistent with your nutrition plan, but you aren't seeing the results you expected. Or you're committed to regular workouts but took a week off when you were sick. There are a multitude of super valid, super healthy reasons why your nutrition, fitness, and wellness plans may shift. But as soon as that "accountability" sours, you're left with guilt, frustration, and shame . . . again.
If you're hoping to make long term, sustainable changes to your nutrition this year, skip the fanfare and practice holding yourself accountable. Tune in to your values around health and wellbeing and set boundaries with yourself. Recognizing that moving your body more regularly for enhanced balance and mobility as you age is genuinely important to you, and then choosing to be more physically active because that’s genuinely what you want is incredibly motivating! Realizing that eating beyond comfortable fullness leads to sleepless nights and setting a boundary with yourself (in the same way you might set a boundary of keeping pets or screens out of the bedroom) allows you to hold yourself accountable in a way that’s more genuine to your values than your social media following could ever be.
Good Food/Bad Food
Food is not binary. Nutrition and wellness do not live in the black and white. But nuance and flexibility don’t make for straightforward diet plans. And so, diet culture has an inherently all or nothing design. Even allowances like, “pizza is ok in moderation” or “it’s fine to eat cake at a party” reenforce that pizza and cake are bad foods, foods that should be eaten in as minimal quantities as possible. Food moralization and hierarchical food classifications (i.e. you’re “bad” when you eat certain foods, or some foods are “better” than others) only lead to more guilt and shame around food. Even when you’ve convinced yourself you’re allowed to indulge, that nudge of guilt will likely hang around.
What if all food has good qualities? I know, I know, that might seem like a wild assertation from a dietitian. But hear me out. Pizza is delicious! It contains a good mix of carbs, protein, and fat. The tomato sauce is high in antioxidants and the cheese is a good source of calcium. Cake makes for a lovely snack or dessert. It’s often a celebratory food that enhances social connection. And it can add satisfaction to your overall intake which is important for avoiding backlash or binge eating in the long term. Unlearning good food/bad food scripts will take time. But finding the goodness is all foods is a great place to start.
By recognizing and avoiding these diet culture traps, you can create a more balanced and sustainable approach to nutrition. Remember, the goal is to build a healthy relationship with food that supports your overall well-being. Here's to a year of nourishing your body and mind with kindness and flexibility! And remember, support is always available. If you’re struggling, please, reach out.
With compassion,
Stephanie
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