A Day Without Diet Talk
People get into diet talk as casually as they ask about the weather. Diet talk is so common that most people don’t actually realize when their conversations are steeped in it.
Think about it. Over the past week, how many times have your conversations involved a discussion of foods you don’t or “shouldn’t” eat, calories, guilt about your choices, things you hate about your body, or your own weight goals? How many conversations have you overheard in which people are discussing someone else’s food choices or weight? Wild, right?
Diet talk can be harmful for anyone to overhear. For someone recovering from an eating disorder, it can cause them to question their food choices and potentially get set back into unhealthy behaviors or thoughts about food.
Whether it’s National Eating Disorders Awareness Week or any other day of the year, it’s important to always remember that you are more than your body, your weight, or your food choices. To celebrate and embody this, commit to a day without diet talk. Pledge to shift the conversation away from calories, weight, or food shaming. After all, you’re so much more interesting than your food choices!
Dealing with Diet Talk
Once you start noticing diet talk in your world, you might not know how respond or change your thinking to alter the conversation moving forward. We’re here to help. Here are some ways to change the conversation when it comes to diet talk in your life:
When they say…
“I’m being bad and eating xyz…”
Try…
“It isn’t morally good or bad to eat any particular foods.”
When they say…
“Look at the [insert something from the nutrient label] in this food!”
Try…
“I choose foods based on what makes me feel good and what is satisfying. Counting calories always backfires, and calorie labels are inaccurate anyway.”
When they say…
“I just ate xyz, now I have to go do [insert physical activity].”
Try…
“I enjoy exercising when I’m well-fueled, but movement is not a requirement to ‘earn’ food!”
When they say…
“I’m going to eat this because it’s lower in [insert something from the nutrient label].”
Try…
“I’m going to eat this because it’s going to taste awesome, and I know I’ll get all the nutrients I need in the long run when I listen to my body.”
When they say…
“Wow, look at what that person is eating!”
Try…
“We don’t know what the person needs or why they chose that food just by looking at them.”
When they say…
“I haven’t eaten anything so far today!”
Try…
“You must be ravenous! I know I feel awful when I don’t take care of my body like that.”
If none of these situations apply, you can always try…
- “Have you seen this new TikTok?”
- “Can we please talk about something else?”
- “Diets don’t work for me, I use my body’s cues to guide my eating.”
- “I don’t believe food is something you need to ‘earn.’”
- “I’m really enjoying the [insert sensory quality] of this food! It would be a shame to miss out on that because of a diet.”
- “Those kinds of comments can actually be really hurtful. Imagine how you’d feel if someone said that about your food choices.”
- “I’m glad that choice is working for you right now. My body needs something different.”
- “Life is better when there are no rules about food!”
- “I feel like there are more important things we could talk about right now.”
- “There’s nothing wrong with eating something you enjoy!”
If you our someone you knows finds themselves struggling with diet talk there are a number of resources on-campus that are here to help. UVM’s Center for Health and Wellbeing offers Body Image and Eating Disorder support programs that range from clinical to counseling services. Likewise, LivingWell offers a number of events meant to help with your mental wellbeing – whether it be combating anxiety or just engaging with some guided mindful meditation.
