No "Halo" Here - Diet Culture Revisited

Media. Surrounding chatter. Public influencers. Friends, family, classmates, co-workers, strangers. Books and magazines. “Scientific” studies.

It’s on our phone, our TV screens, in the magazines we read and advertisements we see, a common topic discussed by our peers – there is pretty much no space left in our world where we are free from diet culture (unless you manage to live somewhere with zero internet, no magazines, no other human contact, and have your memory wiped of all prior knowledge on things food, weight, exercise, and lifestyle). I’m talking about diet culture – good food, bad food, fad diets, cleanses, detoxes, popular work-outs, ‘superfoods’, body compositions and shapes… the list goes on. If I ask anyone to talk about the latest news about politics, or the weather for tomorrow, or the what made the headlines of the news – I that only a small percentage would have a clue of the right answer. However, if I ask someone to name 5 types of diets, where to buy detox or cleansing juices/pills/creams, or what exercise to do to target those abs or thighs – majority of people would blab their faces off and give enough information to write a whole essay or book (Quick side-note on the topic of exercises: there is no special exercise to target any “tricky” area – your body is blood fabulous the way it is and no ab circuit or booty-builder is going to make me or anyone think any more or less of you).

The idea for this post was brought about by the recent New Zealand release of the international brand ‘Halo Top’ ice-creams. At first, I was pretty darn excited to try these (the dairy-free ones at least) – after seeing them on my social medias, and being compelled by the idea of eating whole darn tub in one sitting and not feeling ‘bad’ about it, I was dead certain to get my cheeky hands on the goods. However, the more I waited, the more I realised how bloody twisted my mind had gotten and how easily it was for me to be sucked in. Now, I consider myself to be pretty up-to-play with the mind tricks of diet culture, and have managed to build a pretty good defense against any bad thoughts or crazy ideas manifesting in my actions and behaviours – but I was a victim of the evil that is diet culture.

A switch flicked. I only wanted to try the goods because that was what society was showing and telling me I should do. Those people who promoted this on my socials are now gone, the magazines closed, the TV channels switched, the internet blocked. I couldn’t give a flying pig about the frozen product to be honest; if I want to eat a tub of ice-cream and not feel “guilty” about it – I will eat any damn tub that takes my fancy and say a big “F*CK YOU” to whatever the calorie content is. The tub could be 300 calories, 500 calories, or 1,000 calories – you eat the thing you want, how much you want, and in the ways you want to. I pick my ice-creams based on the flavour and can not even tell you the calories or ingredients of them because I really don’t care. I eat the stuff every day – no lie – and I am still alive, not “fat”, and not a bad person.

If you, too, are sucked into believing that eating a certain food, exercising a certain way, living a specific life, wearing the right clothing, and thinking about yourself a certain way – I ask you to think why?! Is it because that is what you really want to think, eat, say, or do? Or is it because that is what popped up on your social media, or what your friend raved about, or what your favourite celebrities preach about how they keep in their prime shape? You’ll probably find that you are motivated by wrong things, so here is a quick 6 tips to snap out and break free of the reigns of diet culture:

1. When you find yourself compelled to try a certain diet – do a quick Googs of the cons of it. You’ll soon realise that the number of people who rave about it is the same as those who are against it

2. Listen to your body – if you really hate HIIT or weightlifting, but feel obliged to do it because that is what your fav celeb, magazine article, or friend said – stop doing it! Break out and give other forms of exercise a try – yoga, Pilates, a walk in the sun, boxing, hiking, swimming, pole dancing… search for that enjoyment and appreciation in moving your body that you have lost

3. Realise that the majority of people promoting success of detoxes, cleanses, pills, body suits, or any other branded products are getting paid to do so!

4. If the pictures look too good to be true – they are. It is amazing what sucking in, lighting, smiling, and photoshop can do to turn an apparent transformation accredited to a product but is really a quick-minute change. Tell tail signs? If there is a discount code attached to a person’s promotion of a product, it’s probably not worth your money

5. If you find yourself feeling down, self-critical, or experience a peak in negative thoughts or an urgency to do certain behaviours, after talking to someone, reading a certain magazine, following a person on Insta, a post from a liked Facebook page – cut it out, put it down, un-follow, unlike, put your phone down and shut your computer. You don’t need that negativity in your life, so stop enabling such things to be apart of what you subject yourself to.

6. Realise that it is society – NOT YOU – that needs to change

Your friend,

Rawing Meg, xx