The beginning of January brings about the potential for inspiring resolutions and goals. But unfortunately, the new year also provides an opportunity for diet culture to influence how people view their bodies and food.
By: Regina Colie
When a new year begins, people often set aside time to sit down and make a list of resolutions they hope to achieve over the next twelve months. The new year signifies a fresh start and provides an opportunity to reflect on the last year. However, diet culture messages about the next diet fad or new workout program flood people’s inboxes as soon as midnight on January 1st strikes. In an article for Vox, Casey Gueren writes, “Everywhere you turn, brands and influencers are out there promoting detoxes, cleanses, get-fit-quick workout plans, and elimination diets. The messaging often implies that you “overindulged” in the past few months, and you must want to start fresh this year.” (Gueren, 2022). This can be overwhelming and triggering if you struggle with food and body distress.
If you need help blocking out the diet culture noise, here are some helpful tips to get through the new year.
Unfollow Unhealthy Or Diet Culture-Oriented Accounts
Despite the efforts social media platforms put into monitoring and taking down harmful content, users still find ways to manipulate the algorithm and continue broadcasting the unrealistic expectations set forth by diet culture. Unfollow accounts that are not promoting healthy standards and find accounts that support the anti-diet movement, intuitive eating, mindfulness, and more. The bottom line is that your social media feed should make you feel good about yourself and your body. Any accounts that make you feel guilty, ashamed, or wrong should be unfollowed.
Build Your Support And Strategies
Curating your feed with supportive content, surrounding yourself with loved ones to help build you up, and developing coping strategies to handle the tough times can be very helpful in blocking the new year’s diet culture wave. Have conversations with the people who care about you, set boundaries to support your recovery, and, most importantly, inform others of the truth surrounding diet culture. In an interview with Eater, Christy Harrison shared, “Even though a lot of popular new diets promise that they’re not like all the other diets, that they use psychology or target your microbiome or whatever, it’s all just repackaged versions of the same stuff that we’ve been seeing for 150 years or more.” (McCarthy, 2022). Unfortunately, the influence of diet culture will continue to market itself and make people believe that they must achieve a particular physical ideal. However, following organizations and people who promote body acceptance and learning to treat yourself with compassion can make all the difference.
Having someone to reach out to when you or someone you love is struggling with food and body distress can help start the new year off on the right foot. Let BALANCE help you set the stage for lasting recovery. Our 12-day winter intensive program can help you jump-start your recovery. Our exclusive winter eating disorder treatment program fits conveniently within your winter break schedule, allowing you to invest in transformative care. Connect with our admissions team and learn more about our 12-day winter intensive program here.
This post was written by BALANCE Blog Contributor, Regina Colie (she/her).
Regina Colie is currently pursuing her Masters in General Psychology at The New School For Social Research. She is interested in working with women who have eating disorders and postpartum depression. Upon her graduation from Marymount Manhattan College, she had the opportunity to be published in Dr. Nava Silton’s book, The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Child, Adolescent, and Adult Development. Her previous work has been featured in Project HEAL, BALANCE, Olive Branch Nutrition, and Nourishing NY.
References
Gueren, C. (2022, January 4). How to tune out New Year’s resolution diet messaging. Vox. https://www.vox.com/22865118/new-year-diet-messaging-triggering-body-image
McCarthy, A. (2022, January 10). Christy Harrison Explains How to Survive January’s Diet Messaging. Eater. https://www.eater.com/22870258/diet-culture-january-christy-harrison-interview
