YOUR FEAR OF FOOD OR WEIGHT GAIN IS NOT IRRATIONAL...IT'S A SIDE EFFECT OF DIET CULTURE
Something that I routinely hear from my clients is how they "know their thoughts and beliefs about food and their weight are irrational".
Their fear of weight gain is irrational. Their fear of carbs is irrational. Their hatred of their body is irrational.
And that's the problem with leaving out education on the oppressive nature of Diet Culture, and dominant narratives like Fatphobia.
When the focus is on you, your behaviors, and your beliefs without understanding the larger cultural subtext in which they arise and form, you are left thinking you are the problem to be fixed. You are the irrational one worrying about weight gain.
The truth is there is nothing inherently irrational about any of our thoughts and beliefs around food & weight when you consider the culture we grew up in.
A culture that trains women to believe their weight dictates their worth, social life, career...where fatphobia is so real that parents willingly put their kids on diets at the age of 3. This all puts a ton of pressure on our relationship with food.
When you can look outside of yourself and see that our culture really does judge and discriminate against people on the basis of size and appearance...when your access to jobs, quality health care or clothing that fits is limited...when you grow up watching media riddled with fat jokes or listening to your peers make fun of people for their size... OF COURSE, YOU ARE GOING TO BE WORRIED ABOUT FOOD AND YOUR WEIGHT.
It's a natural side effect of growing up with Diet Culture & Fatphobia.
There is nothing irrational about wanting to avoid judgment & discrimination. There is nothing irrational about wanting to feel loved and accepted.
When we understand that these thoughts and beliefs about food & our weight originated from our culture, not ourselves, then not only are we able to be more compassionate with ourselves, but also, we can see that the culture is the problem, not us.
xo, C
To learn more about healing your relationship with food and your body, check out my podcast Love Your Bod Pod, or click here to learn about opportunities for 1:1 coaching.