Diet culture is a system of beliefs and socially-accepted behaviors that prioritize body weight and size over health and well-being. Diet culture has become increasingly prevalent in our society and often leads to body image concerns, disordered eating behaviors, or even eating disorders. Although it can be challenging, staying away from diet talk can be beneficial to one’s mental and physical health, particularly for those in eating disorder recovery.

By: Sadie Grant

These days, diet talk seems to be just about everywhere. Whether at the grocery store, having a meal with a friend, visiting the doctor’s office, or searching the Internet, you’re likely to encounter diet talk in some form or another.

So what exactly is diet talk, and why should we be concerned? Diet talk is any conversation that promotes restricting food intake, food groups, or exercising to change one’s weight/shape/size. While diet talk includes discussions of popular diets such as Whole30, Macro Counting, and Keto, it also occurs in much of everyday talk: “I can’t believe I just ate that. I am so bad!“ “I am definitely going to have to burn that off at the gym tomorrow.” “You have such good self-control for not eating that.”

Diet talk can be dangerous. Comments about weight, food and exercise promote the idea that an individual’s worth is connected to appearance and can lead to excessive social comparison, low self esteem and disordered eating patterns. In fact, diet culture is a leading social/cultural factor in the development of an eating disorder. Learning how to navigate diet talk can be a key way to prevent disordered patterns around food/exercise and support eating disorder recovery.

Today, we are going to share ways to navigate diet talk. Whether you are recovering from an eating disorder, are working toward intuitive eating or simply do not want to engage in conversations about eating, dieting, or weight, these tips can help you maneuver through and protect yourself from diet talk.

Leave the Situation:

If you have a friend or family member who comments on weight or diet or engages in triggering behaviors, excuse yourself. Say you need to use the bathroom or just leave. You do not owe anyone an explanation for choosing to support your own wellbeing and/or recovery.

If you experience repeated references to body, exercise, and food from certain individuals, refrain from partaking in particular activities with them. For example, maybe instead of going shopping or sharing a meal, you can suggest taking a walk or watching a movie together.

State your Needs:

If someone who is close to you engages in diet behaviors or diet talk, consider initiating an assertive conversation. While it may be difficult to assert your needs and boundaries, there are many therapeutic resources that can support you in structuring ways to ask for change.

One framework for interpersonal effectiveness is the Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) DEAR MAN guide. DEAR MAN is an acronym that breaks down difficult conversations into 7 steps: Describe, Express, Assert, Reinforce (stay) Mindful, Appear Confident, and Negotiate. For example:

Describe: “I’ve noticed you talk about the number of calories in food a lot while we are eating together…”
Express: “When you say these things, I sometimes feel shame about the food I am eating, which is something I have been working hard to overcome…”
Assert: “I am hoping that we can stop talking about calories...”
Reinforce: “If we stop talking about calories, mealtime will be more enjoyable for both of us...”
Stay Mindful: If necessary, work to stay on the topic, reassert your view, and ignore distractions.
Appear Confident: Do your best to use a confident tone of voice and make eye contact. Rehearsing the DEAR MAN steps can also help boost confidence.
Negotiate: If this person is not willing to change, consider offering an alternative that still respects your boundaries, such as: “If you are not willing to stop talking about calories while we are eating, why don’t we take a break from sharing meals together and visit the park instead...”

Change the Subject:

When an individual or group begins engaging in diet talk, say something to redirect the conversation. Mention a new favorite show. Talk about a project you are working on. Point out something in your physical surroundings. While it may feel uncomfortable to change the subject, remember that diet talk tends to negatively affect people’s well-being. Redirecting the conversation will be a healthy shift for everyone.

Surround Yourself with Support:

Diet talk is everywhere, but so are anti-diet culture resources. Create a bubble of supportive relationships, affirmations, anti-diet podcasts, books, and social media pages. Consider joining a group that actively rejects diet culture. Write supportive messages to yourself.

Think Critically About Diet Talk:

So much of the information that we absorb from friends, family members, media and even professionals such as teachers and doctors is fake news. Does a diet sound too good to be true? Does a way of eating and exercising sound excessive? It likely is.

Do your own research. Is there sufficient evidence to support the claims behind an eating regimen? Is there any research beyond anecdotal stories? Share what you learn with others. Become the empirical expert.
(To date, no study has found that dieting results in long-term weight loss.)

Curate your Social Media Feed:

Be critical about who you follow on social media. If a page promotes diet, exercise or weight loss, unfollow it. Also, consider unfollowing pages that makes you feel ashamed, insufficient or less-than. Instead, explore replacing content that focuses on bodies with beautiful landscapes, inspiring art or cute animals. There are also many social media accounts that work to promote healthy body image and balanced behaviors around food and movement. For example, our BALANCE and Redefining Wellness Instagram accounts work to promote freedom from diet culture and healthy body image through inspiring quotes and images.

At BALANCE eating disorder treatment center™, we offer a variety of programs and services targeted at helping clients overcome disordered eating and develop a healthy relationship with food and their body. We offer nutrition counseling with a licensed dietitian, meal support, a Food & Mood Group, and a variety of other groups and resources to help those seeking help for food concerns. Additionally, we offer a Body Image Group to help clients heal their body image and understand how to practice emotional regulation and self-compassion.

Our admissions team would be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding our programs and services. Book a call below or read more about our philosophy here.

This post was written by BALANCE Blog Intern, Sadie Grant.

Sadie is a recent graduate of Oberlin College with a B.A. in psychology. After recovering from disordered eating, Sadie became passionate about eating disorder awareness, body neutrality, and destabilizing beauty standards that are established by social and cultural norms. While earning her Bachelor’s degree, Sadie conducted quantitative research, worked with populations experiencing barriers to essential services, and studied Spanish. Sadie hopes to use her developing research and interpersonal skills to work in the field of eating disorders and address the way in which expectations around eating and beauty vary across different populations.

Resources

Keenan-Miller, D. (2020, June 11). Coping with dieting family and friends during recovery - mirror. Retrieved March 19, 2021, from https://mirror-mirror.org/recovery/coping-with-dieting-family-and-friends-during-recovery

Linehan, M. (2015). DBT skills training handouts and worksheets. New York: The Guilford Press.

Tips to help swerve toxic diet talk - nourishrx: The blog. (2021, February 16). Retrieved March 19, 2021, from https://nourishrx.com/tips-to-help-swerve-toxic-diet-talk-2/

How to Navigate Diet Talk