New Year, Same Bullshit Diet Culture

It’s almost three weeks in to the new year, the new decade even. Christmas feels like it was about four months ago, am I right? The cheeseboard is well and truly packed away and the last Quality Street has been eaten (or thrown out seeing as nobody actually eats the coconut ones). We are ready for the future, for 2020; to take on the world…. Then BOOM, it hits you like a tonne of bricks. And when I say bricks, I mean those “perfect bodied” or “Instagram influencer” shaped bricks. They’re all up in our faces with their slimming teas, their appetite suppressant lollipops or their favourite juice cleanse. It’s the same EVERY SINGLE YEAR. New Year Diet culture is being presented to us in these perfectly packaged, pretty campaigns. They use well known celebrities and people that are considered to be role models. They are attacking us personally with their oh so predictable “New Year, New You” message. (Read what I had to say about this last year here) Well guess what diet culture? You are not invited to this party. You do not belong in any woman’s 2020 or any part of her future for that matter. It’s time for us to take a stand and to stop sanctioning this toxic movement that pits women against each other.  You are not a bad person for enjoying Christmas or for indulging amidst the festivities. You do not need to feel guilty for this or to compensate. Your weight or clothing size does not make you any less worthy. We know this right? Surely we know this by now? So why oh why is diet culture still hanging around like the sickening scent of our leftover Brussels sprouts?

New Year Diet Culture is Personal

Don’t for one moment think that this shit isn’t personal. The companies that are bombarding us with advertisements throughout January are quite frankly, predatory. They are currently spending millions on all of the campaigns that keep popping up on our social media channels. There’s no avoiding it. There appears to be nowhere to hide. These companies have absolutely no regard for the mental or physical wellbeing of the women that they target. They’re not interested in whether or not you have poor body image or a history of eating problems. They don’t care if you are vulnerable or whether their messages put you at risk. But why is this? Well, if they didn’t teach us to be terrified of food or to hate our bodies then how would they ever make a profit?

Early on in my eating disorder recovery journey I read a quote that really had an impact on me. “If tomorrow, women woke up and decided they really liked their bodies, just think how many industries would go out of business.” – Dr Gail Dines. She’s 100 percent right. It’s so sad when you really think about it. But these brands and companies are relying on our self loathing. They are actually feeding it. Because why would you want to look like YOU when you could look like one of these gorgeous models or celebrities by using THEIR product? They’re telling you that you need to be smaller, to take up less space. And every year we seem to feel the need to agree.

In September 2019 Instagram released a statement stating that they would restrict people under the age of 18 from seeing posts that promote weight loss products or types of cosmetic surgery. Which is all well and good Instagram, except we don’t just stop being susceptible when we reach adulthood. We don’t just stop having eating disorders because we are over 18. There is not cut off age here. There’s no “safe group” when it comes to this kind of aggressive and targeted marketing. I am 35 years old and already this year (just 18 days in remember) I have seen both of the “new year diet culture” advertisements posted below.

I don’t personally feel let down by Khloe Kardashian or Chloe from Geordie Shore because I don’t idolise either of them. I have never watched their shows and I do not feel in any way obliged to consider what they say to be of any value. BUT LOTS OF PEOPLE DO. And here lies the danger with “Influencer Marketing.” Both of these women have huge platforms. Both of these women have enough money to spend on personal trainers, nutritionists, and chefs. Both of these women have undergone multiple cosmetic surgery procedures. Now, I have no problem with cosmetic surgery but if you’ve had it, disclaim it! Don’t be out here suggesting to your potentially very impressionable audience that a diet drink or a skinny tea got your body to look the way that it does. It’s dangerous. It’s irresponsible. It’s inaccurate and it quite frankly makes me furious that it is even allowed.

New Year Diet Culture is what we know

The scary thing about all this is we’ve become so accustomed to looking at January as a time to punish ourselves, to get back on track or to detox that it doesn’t even upset us anymore. It’s so familiar. Those new year diet culture messages are just as expected as the Christmas decorations appearing as soon as Halloween is over. We’ve been conditioned to just see it as part of our reality. I know this to be true because for pretty much every January of my adult life I’ve been a part of it. I’ve tried every fad diet out there, I’ve fasted, I’ve juice cleansed, I’ve starved myself, I’ve joined countless gyms, gone to Weight Watchers and Slimming World; I’ve even tried every way possible to physically empty the contents of my stomach after eating. THIS ISN’T NORMAL. And perhaps I didn’t initially see that those “diets” were leading towards disordered eating, but looking back, they were the slippery slope that I couldn’t get off of. And look how well that turned out friends.

The truth of the matter is, that even though we may have that knee jerk reaction to compensate for the Christmas calories, it’s complete and utter bullshit. Eating and enjoying food is not a crime. Neither is taking up space in this world. When companies, brands, or so called celebrities make you feel shame over what is/was on your plate, the outcome is never going to be good. For the sake of both your mental and physical health please consider 2020 as the year to start being gentle and more loving with yourself. I certainly don’t believe that it’s as simple as flicking a switch but we have to start somewhere. So why not now?

I am going to be continuing on with my intuitive eating journey in 2020 and hopefully getting just that little bit closer to recovery from my eating issues for good. I know now that happiness is not a size. It isn’t something that can be found at the bottom of a low calorie diet shake. It isn’t obtained by punishing myself with hours and hours of exercise. And with this knowledge comes power; the power to rebel. So I hope that in this new year we can start to look past what is or isn’t on our plates and aim to find our happiness where it truly lies – in people, in amazing food, in moments, in living.

Thanks for being here, as always. And HAPPY NEW YEAR

Beth Anne xoxo