I tried with varying degrees of success to limit or totally avoid unhealthy foods.
I started to actually put it into practice.
I stopped using almond milk and started usingactual milk.I ate chocolate chip cookies instead of chocolate chip protein bars.
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I started putting cheesewhich I had really been missingon literally everything.
My idea of healthy eating got more and more expansive, with flexibility that it never had before.
Mind you, all of this took about a year, and it wasnt without its speed bumps.
Now I understand that health and nutrition are incredibly personal.
Thats part of the reason that diet cultures sweeping directives to eat like this, not like that!
are useless and potentially harmful.
After all, no one way of eating will work for everyone.
Having said that, for me, intuitive eating wasnt just about my own diet.
It was one of the steps on my path toward embracing a true anti-diet mind-set.
So what does that even mean, you ask?
Friends and colleagues talk about their food guilt all the time.
(Ew, and dismissive eye roll from each of the other girls is the response.)
For one thing, the thought of opening up this giant and complex can of worms is intimidating.
And, follow-up: How do you even begin to start this conversation in casual conversation?
Not exactly a friendly conversation starter, people.
Im not alone in feeling this way.
Theres so much to consider.
And the pressure to diet is a lot stronger for a fat person.
They dont have to worry about bad reactions from physicians.
Their access to services is not put on the line in the same way.
Singh also points out that intersecting identities make things more complicated.
The fat-positive, body-positive, anti-diet movement hasnt historically been very safe for people of color, she says.
And, honestly, straight-up not engaging is probably the way to go in a lot of common situations.
With a lot of people, I just dont engage, Severson says.
Opening up an anti-diet conversation is not emotional labor Im willing to expend a lot of the time.
And besides, maybe whoever youre with isnt interested in having that conversation anyway.
What does it matter to them?
I have family members stuck in fatphobic beliefs, and I question those beliefs constantly.
Its so important to recognize body autonomy, Singh says.
I encourage my clients to make their own decisions, but to ensure theyre as informed as possible.
This is even more relevant in social situations.
But the truth is that its complicated, and its naive to think that you might change everyones mind.
Theres a misconception that we should always be fighting, Noel says.
In reality, we cant.
Its okay to protect yourself, to step away sometimes.
