Why It’s So Hard To Let Go Of Diet Culture… But You Should Anyway
The anti-diet approach to exercise isn’t mainstream for a reason.
The promise of long, lean lines for every body is certainly enticing. A quick 10 day fix to get closer to the current cultural beauty ideal?? Who wouldn’t want that? And, yeah, that’s attainable for some people! What traditional fitness marketing tends to get wrong though is the implication that it’s possible for EVERY body— or that it’s even the healthy thing to do. Trust that I get it, but, health is so much more nuanced than what your body looks like on the outside, and minimizing your self care to modifying your body’s shape or size can actually be WORSE for your health.
That being said, it sometimes feels like diet culture is EVERYWHERE— so even if you know on paper that dieting and obsession with exercise isn’t good for you , it feels uncomfortable to push back or be the only one in your friend group who ISN’T obsessing over their plate or number on the scale. It can even sometimes feel like NOT dieting or overexercising is the unhealthy thing to do, even when we know the opposite is true.
Anti-Diet Exercise Isn’t What You Think It Is
People tend to think that letting go of diet culture and practicing intuitive wellness means just mainlining brownies and vegging on the couch 24/7- which couldn’t be further from the truth. While an intuitive approach to your health DOES mean allowing yourself to have foods that make you happy and resting, it definitely includes gentle nutrition and a regular exercise routine that’s finely tuned to your individual bodies needs. The emphasis isn’t on attaining a “look” but on your genuine overall well-being.
I think the problem with intuitive wellness is that it’s not very sexy marketing— in fact, it’s quite confusing! If you’ve spent your life time learning to dull your body’s communication skills by trying to hack your hunger, keep poor sleep hygiene, and push through pain signals in your workouts, the idea of “listening to your body” is intimidating. A clear cut program and to-do list, like recording metrics and tracking calories, feels attainable and concrete, even if it DOES suck the fun out of self-care. The nebulous, nuanced notion of “just follow your intuition” feels complicated and impossible to figure out how to do, even if it means you’ll feel better in the long run! I have good and bad news. Bad news first: It feels hard because it is, in fact, hard * womp womp *. The good news: despite the fact that practicing intuitive wellness means it’s more of a process than a plan, I bet it’ll change your life (for the better).
Conclusion
All I know as a fitness instructor, is that it doesn’t feel right to keep pushing weight loss as a marketing tactic when it’s a) not actually attainable for many people b) not even sustainable for the people who can attain it and c) comes at the expense of mental, and sometimes physical health. I don’t have it all figured out- but, I do know how fantastic movement can make you feel, and how exhausting diet culture can be. When it comes to thinking of mine and my client’s overall health—it seems pretty clear to emphasize the former in helping people develop health promoting habits like regular exercise and eating balanced (in boy joy and nutrition) meals.
My online studio, Helen Phelan Studio is all about challenging your mind and body with creative, coordination challenging flows with a heaping side of self compassion for what your body is- even if change is what you desire— though, I have to mention that I think it’s really hard to accept a body you’re trying to fix— as eating disorder therapist Stephanie Roth-Goldberg reminded us in our Body Neutrality Salon last month. It’s cheesy, but, your body hears everything you think about it, and if you’re spending more time criticizing it than celebrating it for what it can accomplish , it’s verrrry hard to have a positive body image.
Because of that, you’ll never find body shaming in HPS classes- you’ll work hard because working hard is necessary to be your strongest self- but you’ll also be KIND to your body.
You can check out what I mean with a free 10 day trial to access over 300+ body neutral pilates, cardio, stretch, and body image workshops ranging from 15-45 min in length. Can’t wait to see you there!
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