Sunday, May 8, 2022

rant: how diet culture contributes to obesity

I had an epiphany last month thst shifted my thinking, and I wanted to share my thoughts in case any one else is like I was so you dont make the same mistakes for younger people on here.

I don't want to talk too much about my own experience since I already made a post about this but basically here are some of the ways I've noticed the diet industry (whatever that is exactly lol) has seemed to contribute to obesity epidemic (imo)

1.) so much misleading information. magazines with large print "lose 30 lbs by summer" "detox to kick start your diet" "how to lose 20 lbs in a month" really mislead the average person who hasnt any knowledge on how energy balance in the body works and gives off this false impression that losing 20lbs of fat is a realistic goal! And it turn it leads you away from the health experts like dieticians who would recommend you lose 1-2 lbs a week at most. because which sounds better? okay guys, This is going to sound dumb, but I used to get lowkey upset if someone told me to aim for 1 lbs a week lol. I'm like no, I'm aiming for 5 at least. but where did that get me? the reality is that even 2 lbs a week can be really hard at a 1000 cal deficit daily. if you're maintenance is 2000 calories or less, it would be very hard to reach that goal without rigourous exercise. I can see how health and fitness industry convincing you, you can lose 20 lbs in a month and then you turn around and skip a meal (500 calories) go to the gym daily (work hard for 30 mins maybe burn 150 calories) only to see like a 4 lb budge after a whole month can be really devastating.

2.) appeals to your emotions and preys on your insecurity. I just saw an ad that said summer bodies are made in spring. really? this kind of temporary false motivation is one of the biggest enemies to weight loss. it puts way too much pressure on you which can lead to a "last supper" or one last hoorah mindset. And it just isnt enough time. You would have to be making some very unsustainable life choices to be losing that much weight by summer.

3.) This one was more a problem when I was growing up (Y2K!) but I do feel like the glorification of skinny lead to people to get into the restriction mindset withiout having any real knowledge on nutrition and how to safely reduce body mass if needed. I know I started haaving some terrible eating patterns, because I started off at a healthy weight, but was bothered (facepalm) by the fact that my thighs looked huge when I sat down.

4.) The slow metabolism lie. This one bugs me. Yes, we all have different genetic propensities to how quickly we can put on weight, but this convincing people who have normal and very healthy metabolic rates, that they are "broken" because they aren't able to lose 50 lbs in a month. And that they are just naturally fat, and can only become skinny through surgerical procedures is bs. I thought I had a slow metabolism, because I eat healthy and am overweight but after I calculated the TDEE for my body size, and tracked how much I eat in a week it added up

I would love to hear from you all, did this ring true for you, what "dietlogic" did you have unlearn, or are you still unlearning?

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