We’ve been having SO many talks about diet culture - in my car with my daughter, in my office with my clients, and in my ZOOM room with professionals I support through supervision. Diet culture is so loud. Sometimes, I feel like I can’t escape it, which makes sense. It’s in all the safe places.
One of those safe places is the church. A few weeks ago, my daughter said there was a lot of diet and body talk in her youth group lesson at church (cue my Mama Bear and Advocate parts…). This kid has had many conversations about how diet culture shows up in the safe places, so I have a lot of confidence in her ability to talk about it. She feels confident, too. But something was holding her back.
Like many adults, she was afraid that saying something contrary to a lesson or a person with authority would come across as rude. I’m not going to address the underlying people-pleasing and patriarchy involved in this issue for many of us. I will, however, say it is never rude to hold a different opinion or value. This is what my daughter and I discussed. We decided that when she feels like she needs or wants to share about how harmful diet and negative body talk can be, she’ll take a long, deep breath and say this...
I hear what you’re saying, and I’m wondering if you would be open to hearing a different perspective?
Taking a deep breath can help ease a nervous system on high alert. It can help pivot how our bodies react to a threat in just a few seconds. Offering a new perspective may also help us address someone with more compassion and understanding. Hopefully, this can make for a more fruitful conversation. It’s hard to have an open mind when you’re playing defense.
As you move through this week and people are talking about dieting, what they don’t like about their bodies or others, or how irritated they are that a successful woman like Taylor Swift gets a tiny bit of air time during a football game (like a thousand famous men before her), give this perspective shift a try. That is if you have the capacity. Not every battle is our battle. ;)
Now for Menus
Let’s dive right into the tasty stuff. This week, we’ve got calzones (my favorite homemade pizza pocket), chicken Philly sandwiches, tacos, and more. I hope you find a menu or two that works for you this week.
Get your February Week 2 Menu HERE
Next month, I’ll be doing a Q & A post for paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, click on the subscribe button to learn more about the benefits you get for $8/month. And you support my work, which I really appreciate. So, if you’ve some Qs for me click the leave a comment button below.
Digital Snacks
This first digital snack of the week is from colleague Carrie Dennett. Carrie is not only a wonderful non-diet dietitian but also a journalist. I’ve appreciated her balanced and evidence-based writing and posts for years. She recently wrote an article for her column in Seatle Times about the documentary we covered last week, “You Are What You Eat.” If you’re interested in reading a bit more, CLICK HERE TO READ, “Is it true that ‘You Are What You Eat’? Sorting out the facts.”
The second digital snack of the week is a CNN article by another great colleague, Oona Hanson, and it’s perfect timing. CLICK HERE TO READ, “Already broke your New Year’s diet resolution? You may be better off.” Oona included quotes from other RDs in her article, including Shana Minei Spence, who also has a great newsletter called The Nutrition Tea on Substack.
Thanks so much for reading. I think I’ll have an update on my daughter’s writing assignment we talked about last week. She has to make a counterargument, and you will love her thoughts so far!
Until next time,
Leslie