Slim Fast, Jenny Craig, Atkins Diet, Whole30, Keto, Paleo, Intermittent Fasting, Ozempic, and countless other diets have one thing in common: they are all products of diet culture. They’ve all made promises of weight loss, thinness, and ultimately a happier life than you’ve ever had before. One of the many problems with diet culture is that it preys on vulnerable people who want to feel better about themselves. Diet culture not only doesn’t deliver the results that are promised but it makes things worse. Dieting leads to rebound weight gain and binge eating, which is what I see in providing binge eating disorder treatment. It can be hard to see all of the red flags of diet culture at first but that’s what I want to be able to help you see.
What is Diet Culture?
Diet culture has existed for a long time, even thousands of years. It is all about focusing on weight loss and thinness, often putting appearance above both physical and mental health. According to diet culture, being thin is the most important thing and is seen as a sign of beauty, success, and status. The tricky part about diet culture is that it doesn’t come right out and say this. It can be deceiving and disguised in the name of improving health so much that you might believe it too. It’s much easier to admit that you are trying to be “healthy” rather than trying to be thin.
Diet culture often labels foods as “good” or “bad,” encouraging you to avoid “bad” foods no matter what. It can even encourage you never to eat those foods again. This can lead to extreme dieting, cutting out whole food groups, and unhealthy eating habits. These behaviors are considered normal in diet culture, even though they are both mentally and physically harmful. For example, you might cut out all carbohydrates or fats, thinking it will make you healthier or thinner, even though your body needs these essential nutrients to function.
The influence of diet culture goes beyond just eating habits. It affects how society views beauty and can lead to negative body image and low self-esteem. Many people try to follow these unhealthy standards because it can seem like a solution to a lot of emotional suffering. You might feel pressured to look a certain way because you see celebrities or influencers who promote these unrealistic body ideals. This can make you feel bad about your own body and lead to feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, depression, and a poor relationship with food.
The diet industry makes a lot of money from this culture, about $255 billion a year. It sells products and plans that promise quick weight loss, even if they are not healthy or effective in the long run. Diet culture leads you to believe that it will solve all your problems and once you reach being thin, you’ll be happy. This includes things like diet pills, meal replacement shakes, and extreme workout programs. These products often come with a high price tag, but they don’t provide lasting results, leading you to spend more money trying new diets and products.
Diet culture also impacts binge eating. The strict rules and rules about food can lead to cycles of restricting food and overeating. When you break your diet rules, you often feel guilty and ashamed, which can trigger binge eating episodes. These episodes involve eating large amounts of food quickly and feeling uncomfortable afterward. This cycle of restriction and binge eating can lead to serious eating disorders. For example, you might restrict your eating all day and then binge eat at night because you are so hungry. This can create a harmful pattern and can require the help of an eating disorder therapist to recover.
Aside from Binge Eating Disorder, diet culture also leads to other eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and orthorexia. The relentless pressure to be thin can drive you to engage in extreme behaviors to lose weight or maintain a certain body size. Anorexia involves restriction of food, which can lead to weight loss and health complications. Bulimia involves cycles of binge eating followed by purging through vomiting, excessive exercise, or laxative use. Orthorexia is an obsession with eating "pure" or "clean" foods, which can result in nutritional deficiencies and severe anxiety around food. These eating disorders are often fueled by unrealistic standards and harmful messages perpetuated by diet culture, creating a toxic environment where disordered eating behaviors are normalized and even encouraged. Eating disorders are a serious mental health issue and can be quite dangerous.
Intuitive eating instead of dieting
Intuitive eating is the antidote to dieting. It’s all about listening to your body's hunger and fullness cues rather than following rigid dieting rules. Intuitive eating promotes a healthy relationship with food by ditching moral labels of "good" and "bad." Instead of focusing on weight loss, intuitive eating emphasizes overall health and well-being. By trusting your body's natural signals, you can enjoy a variety of foods without guilt or shame, leading to better physical and mental health. This approach helps break the cycle of restriction and binge eating, which is a more sustainable and positive way to nourish your body.
Binge eating disorder treatment in Utah can help you heal your relationship with food
If dieting has led you to a cycle of binging that you can’t seem to escape, binge eating disorder treatment in Utah can help. Binge eating doesn’t have to run your life and wreck your self-esteem. With the help of an eating disorder therapist specializing in binge eating disorder, you can find relief from the cycle of dieting and not let it consume so much of your thinking. Eating disorder therapy is all about helping you learn to cope with emotions and dig deep into what is driving your pattern of dieting and binging in a safe place where you don’t have to worry about judgment.
Begin working with an eating disorder therapist in Utah
You can stop binging and have a better relationship with food. You don’t have to keep feeling trapped in your head and in your body. This Utah Counseling Clinic has an eating disorder therapist specializing in helping you break free of binging. To begin counseling follow the steps below:
Meet with a binge eating disorder therapist
Start recovering from disordered eating
Online Eating Disorder Therapy in Utah
It can be difficult to prioritize regular therapy appointments when it requires you to travel and carve out time in your busy schedule to deal with barriers like traffic. This is why I provide online therapy in Utah. I assure you that online therapy is just as good as in-person therapy without the hassle of worrying about parking and getting stuck in traffic.
Online counseling also means I work with clients all throughout the state of Utah including Cedar City, St. George, Provo, Heber City, Salt Lake City, Logan, and more.
About the Author
Ashlee Hunt holds two bachelor's degrees from Southern Utah University, one in Psychology and the other in Family Life and Human Development. She furthered her education by earning a master's degree in Social Work from Utah State University. With extensive experience in the field of eating disorders, Ashlee has worked at all levels of care, providing compassionate and effective treatment to individuals struggling with these challenges. Her expertise and dedication make her a trusted and knowledgeable therapist in the area of eating disorder recovery.