"Extreme" Diets, Empanadas, & Documentaries
The dieting spectrum, favorite foods, and diet culture films
Diet culture is everywhere, and we need to talk about it. Like time-out, let’s talk. I make the time-out sign with my hands when chatting with my daughter and clients. If diet culture gets glossed over, its flame gets bigger and bigger. Of course, I’m not chatting to people outside my circles about this (unless they invite me to talk about it). It’s not our job to save everyone from diet culture, but we have to have hard conversations when we know seeds could be planted and grow into harm for someone we care about.
I’m not going to be a jerk, but adult feelings are not my priority when I’m protecting a child from the dangers of diet culture.
This week, my daughter told me she was doing a writing assignment for her English class. The assignment has nothing to do with dieting or diet culture. But, when the writing assignment was an argument, my daughter knew right away her topic would be diets - specifically, how diets are harmful. So obviously - fist bump.
When she told her teacher about her topic, “Why Diets are Harmful,” her teacher added the word “extreme” before diets in her title. So many of us believe that extreme/fad/crash diets aren’t good for us, and that is a good thing - but it’s not enough. The problem with this is that it leaves a lot of room for typical dieting - Noom, MyFitness Pal, WW, calorie counting for restriction, eliminating carbs, intermittent fasting, etc… - to wreak havoc under the radar. That is the sneakiness of diet culture; it makes us think the run-of-the-mill New Year, New Me diet is benign. It is not benign. So, stay alert!
Now for Menus
Have you ever had an empanada? If not, you’re in luck. We’re making them this week, along with salmon, pizza, spicy chicken, and more. Whatever you make, I hope you enjoy it. And don’t forget that convenience food is okay. Diet culture tries to make us feel bad for buying something like a salad kit or premade pie crust, but I have no interest in chopping several types of lettuce or making dough on a weeknight (or, ever, who are we kidding?!). These foods increase our variety and decrease our prep time. Both are wins in my book.
Get your February Week 1 Menu HERE
Do you have some favorite convenience foods that help you get a meal done? Leave a comment below. I’d love to know! I’m working on an “I can’t even” meal idea list. That’s what my clients and I call a meal that can be thrown together with very little thought and prep.
Digital Snacks
Several colleagues have reviewed the documentary “You Are What You Eat.” I dislike food- and diet-related documentaries because all of the ones I can think of in the last decade or more have harmed my clients in some way. One, because they’re always one-sided, and two, they take giant leaps (in the wrong direction) about what the research actually suggests. Many acquaintances, clients, and colleagues have reached out about this one. It is essentially a “Game Changers” Part two. And it is just as one-sided and potentially harmful.
Trusted dietitian Val Schonberg broke down this documentary and the twin study it references in a three-part Instagram series. I couldn’t have done a better job. If you want to know more about what diet culture is up to in the entertainment realm, check these posts out. If you want to ignore it altogether, I fully understand that too.
The Study vs The Movie - Part 1
The Study vs The Movie - Part 2
The Study vs. The Movie - Part 3
It’s only a matter of time before diet culture has this movie in schools. Let’s stay away and have those hard conversations to keep our circles safe. Meanwhile, my daughter edited the additional word “extreme” from her title and kept on writing her argument piece.
Stay tuned,
Leslie
P.S. Have a question or topic for an upcoming newsletter? Just let me know in the comments.