Is An Anti Diet Culture Approach To Movement A Good Fit For You?
A great place to start is by exploring your current mindset around movement and your body.
With zero judgement, because we have all been there, do you ever…
engage in compulsive exercise behaviors?
experience frustration, burnout or frequent injury?
avoid exercise?
feel criticism, shame and/or guilt?
demonize certain ways of eating while elevating others?
use exercise to compensate for or punish certain behaviors?
experience anxiety or depression?
feel confusion and/or isolation?
It is completely understandable if you answered yes, maybe, or even I don’t know, to any of these questions. How we relate to movement and our bodies is highly complex, and intersects with many different aspects of our being. Despite these individualized aspects, one thread that is common throughout, is diet culture and its systemic influence.
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. 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. It is important to note that because of societal weight stigma and fatphobia, the reality is that in many ways, living in society in a larger body is extremely marginalizing. This can contribute to one’s desire to be in a smaller body.
Diet culture messaging often promises that if you just workout and exercise enough, you can manipulate your body size and shape to meet society’s standards, which in turn, promises a better, easier, “healthier” life. It sends the message that your body is the problem, and if you just fix your body, you can shield yourself from challenging emotions.
It makes complete sense that under these conditions, you might engage in compulsive exercise behaviors and experience frustration, burnout or frequent injury. It is understandable that you might avoid exercise and feel criticism, shame and/or guilt. You may also be inclined to demonize certain ways of eating while elevating others and to use exercise to compensate for or punish certain behaviors. All of the diet culture behaviors that are supposed to bring you “happiness,” more often negatively affect your mental health and can lead to or exacerbate feelings of anxiety or depression, confusion and/or isolation.
My goal is to help you realize that it isn’t just you, and your body is NOT the problem. I hope to plant a seed of curiosity that inspires you to think critically about diet culture and realize that it is possible to relate to movement and your body from a kinder, more compassionate, and more joyful place.
An anti diet culture approach to movement is one that:
Recognizes that you are the expert of your own body. As a coach, it is my job to ask the right questions so that we can work together to develop awareness about what types of movement and styles of physical activity you find enjoyable.
Honors how your body is feeling on any given day. Pain isn’t gain. Intuitive movement involves the practice of meeting yourself where you are at any given time, and making choices accordingly.
Avoids weight-centric language. It is possible to engage in health-promoting, life-enhancing behaviors without the intention of manipulating your body size and shape. You won’t find any diet culture language in our sessions. Instead our focus is on cultivating mind-muscle connection and highlighting strength-based achievements, all in service of bringing you closer to body peace and discovering what joyful movement looks like for you.
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If any of this has resonated with you and you are ready to try something new, then an anti diet culture approach to movement is a great fit for you. If you like the idea of having a coach who can guide and empower you on this journey, feel free to schedule a free discovery call to learn more about the different ways we can work together.
