3 roles YOU play in dismantling diet culture

Welcome to this week’s episode of How to Love Your Body

We are talking about YOUR role in dismantling diet culture.

We all wish diet culture would not be here.

We might feel like a victim of it, fair enough.

It’s inhumane, it’s unfair, it’s harmful.

 

People are working hard to dismantle it - through legislation, through education, through activism….

But do we just sit around and wait for the world to change?

That doesn’t feel very empowered.

So what can WE do to begin dismantling diet culture in small ways in real life?

 

Show up as you are.

Something we see a lot of in The UnDiet Collective and in our own personal situations is a real fear of showing up and being seen in a way that goes against diet culture.

For instance today I did some instagram stories and as per usual I was walking and was holding the phone kind of low and talking, not a very nice angle.

When I look at those stories before posting them I thought, I do not like the way that looks. Initial thoughts include - if ppl see that that I haven’t seen in a while they’ll really think I’ve changed, they won’t know what I REALLY look like.

Fears of not fitting into the world that diet culture built for us while ALSO wanting to dismantle diet culture. Well that makes no sense!

The only logical move is to ALWAYS post it anyways, show up anyways.

If you want to have permission to show up as you are with no apologies you need to BE the person who shows up as they are with no apologies, no one else is going to do it. 

 

2.  Allow others to show up as they are

 

Every time you wear the bathing suit you actually want to wear (even if it makes you nervous) you give permission to others to do the same. 

This is a ripple effect that is so powerful and really important.

Imagine 100 people who listen to this podcast episode show up to see their friends post pandemic (in many places, not where I live sadly, everything has closed down again), with zero apologies, no need for an explanation or “excuse”. Just, Hi it’s great to see you!

Then everyone of those people shows 5 others that it’s ok to just show up as you are, there’s 600 people now feeling more free and so on.

You CAN make a big difference even just be showing up without apologies or “explanations”.

 

3. Share your views publicly

 

No you don’t need to preach to everyone you meet how they shouldn’t diet, that won’t be very helpful BUT you can share an insta post publicly (even if you worry that a couple friends might argue with it -- NOTE: You do not need to engage with everyone’s opinion, you can just say, that hasn’t been my experience).

Sharing UnDiet resources can plant a seed in people that turns into questioning and shifting their beliefs later on. 

For instance, share this podcast episode right now! It will help the message get farther so we can change the world one person at a time.

PS - If you also want UnDieting messaging to get farther please rate and review the podcast as this lets more people see it!

 

Thank you!