Diet vs anti-diet culture
Diet vs anti-diet culture…
A debate which has, in recent times, taken over the fitness industry on social media platforms.
Both of these “camps” sing loudly but I think it’s important to establish and explore the middle ground.
I’ll start by saying, if you are linking intrinsic worth to body scale weight, it’s not a great place to be.
If you are linking intrinsic worth to body scale weight, it’s not a great place to be. I know, as years ago, I was there, badly, and it’s why I’m so passionate about women moving away from this. It is still the most common theme amongst women I coach.
However, if you want to change your physique, to improve your fitness or strength or mobility or optimise appearance, and that’s part of “self love”, then fan-bloody-tastic.
Should you feel the need to perpetually diet? No (and I spend a lot of my time convincing my clients to spend a considerable amount of time away from doing so).
Does the answer to your internal peace and contentment lie in a diet or your goal weight? No.
And finally, although we are conditioned to believe otherwise, your body is not the sole means by which you can express yourself.
BUT
I want to come from the grey area, the middle ground, where open discussions can and should be had.
The grey area however, doesn’t sell, doesn’t sound as punchy or as controversial and the thing is, the great pendulum of the fitness industry is constantly swinging from one extreme argument to the next and as soon as it stops in the middle, it gets boring and no one wants to hear. So...
Yes, I absolutely think it’s possible to have a compassionate approach to improving body composition and that’s always how I aim to coach my clients.
Yes, self improvement is an admirable trait and wanting to change your physique can be one of them.
Having an awareness of calories and a detailed understanding of nutrition doesn’t automatically mean you have or will develop an eating disorder (and to be clear, there is a huge difference between temporarily having a heightened focus on food and an actual diagnosed eating disorder - the distinction is imperative).
So all in all, your physical appearance or body composition goals shouldn't take up a large part of your life, but nor should you feel bad about wanting to improve it if it’s coming from a place of positivity or even neutrality.