Negative body image and rejection of diet culture are NOT mutually exclusive

Negative body image and rejection of diet culture are NOT mutually exclusive. In other words, you can desire to change your body and yet, reject diet culture at the same time. ⠀
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Just to be clear, diet culture, as defined by Christy Harrison in her new book, Anti-Diet, is "a system of beliefs that equates thinness, muscularity, and particular body shapes with health and moral value; promotes weight loss and body reshaping as a means of attaining higher statuses; demonizes certain foods and food groups while elevating others; and oppresses people who don't match its supposed picture of 'health.'" ⠀
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It's hard to feel positive about one's body in a culture where we are set up to hate it. Rejecting diet culture is certainly like swimming upstream, especially at this time of year when we are flooded with ads, plans and chatter about how to achieve body transformations. However, we can take steps toward body acceptance when we begin with a rejection of diet culture. By rejecting this oppressive system of beliefs, we are refusing to: ⠀
...contribute to the diet and wellness industry's more than $72 billion in profits ⠀
...be a statistic. Data shows that attempts at intentional weight loss (as opposed to attempts to improve health BEHAVIORS) are most often futile, with 95%+ re-gaining the weight lost within 5 yrs and ~67% regaining more than the amount lost.⠀
...risk negative health outcomes associated with the inevitable weight cycling associated with dieting⠀
...live small. You can't be the best version of yourself while underfed and undernourished.⠀
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So, even if you long for a body change, I challenge you to acknowledge that and still walk away from the temptations to join in diet culture practices (this includes modern diet culture vernaculare: Whole30, Keto, juice cleanses, intermittent fasting, "clean" eating!). We all know where that story ends: the diet industry gets richer and we lose more time, money and energy. ⠀
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To get support in your body acceptance journey, check out the certified intuitive eating counselor directory where you can find clinicians across the globe (🙋🏻‍♀️) trained to help you navigate this treacherous path.