#anti diet
3. make peace with food
this principle rests on one of the most fundamental concepts in intuitive eating: unconditional permission to eat. diet culture has programmed us w innumerable reasons why we should not eat at this time, or in that way, or this or that particular food. it tells us to eat less, to plan on eating less in the future, to always be looking for things to cut out and avoid. our hunger in the moment is affected by past deprivation, current restrictions, and the threat of future deprivation. given that the body’s main concern is obtaining adequate energy and nutrient variety from food, could anything be less peaceful??
what distinguishes this principle from the previous (honor your hunger) is its focus on the effects of psychological restriction, the highly conditional permission to eat with which we’re all indoctrinated in this culture. when we think we can’t have enough, or can’t have certain foods, the drive to obtain them in large quantities can be just as powerful as the drive to correct a negative energy balance. our bodies know what we’re thinking, bc guess what we’re thinking with!
when you recommit to yet another diet/lifestyle change, do you engage in what resch & tribole call “last supper eating”? you can’t have it tomorrow, so you better have as much as possible today! you’re not allowed to eat that cake on the counter so you eat everything else in the kitchen and then eventually the cake too, since you already “messed up” this time? the body REBELS against the threat of deprivation and creates compulsions to eat that few people can override (those people have eating disorders and are not to be envied).
the solution is so simple, but not easy! unconditional permission to eat means you can have whatever you want, whenever you want, as much as you want. this is scary as hell at first, when the deprivation backlash is still at work. give it time, eat those previously forbidden foods (they won’t hurt you!), breathe, and watch your body & mind come to a place of peace with all food. food will no longer be a battleground when you stop the destined-to-fail attempts at and plans for restriction.
2. honor your hunger
this is the radical notion that humans ought to eat when they’re hungry! how many ways has diet culture taught us to try to override hunger signals? being hungry doesn’t mean you’re thirsty, bored, lonely, food addicted, or any other invented narrative, it means your body needs energy in the form of calories from food.
honoring your hunger can be really scary if you’re experiencing hyperphagia (extreme hunger/eating) after a period of deprivation. you may have a LOT of hunger! you may be eating far more than you think is normal. that’s part of the process of repairing biological and psychological damage from restriction.
structure may actually help you here, tho it doesn’t feel “intuitive” at first. honoring hunger may mean getting on an eating schedule, something like 3 meals and 2-3 snacks per day. eat every few hours, and notice how you feel beforehand (hunger can appear as difficulty concentrating, dizziness, nausea, thoughts about food, irritability, even a sense of euphoria for some of us). you’ll find as you eat regularly and consistently that your hunger cues become more refined and perceptible, and you will learn to eat before you’re ravenously hungry. hunger will eventually become gentle and manageable if you’re eating adequately.
honoring hunger also means eating what you’re hungry for. if you’re craving a cheeseburger, don’t eat a salad. obviously we all have some material constraints around food choice, but believe your body when it communicates its needs in the form of cravings. as much as it’s in your power, eat what you crave and watch the body crave increasing variety over time. human bodies have been driving eating behavior via hunger for 200,000 years, and they’ve quite got it down–the fact that we have more dietary choice now is not reason to think our bodies incompetent in this area.
i love this phrase, “honor your hunger.” respect it, trust it, attend to it, defer to it. the tricks of diet culture are not worthy of honor, but your hunger (that is, your body) absolutely is.
Anti-Diet Resources: Part Two
Hey y’all! I got a lot of support on my first resource post, so as promised— this is part 2.
Books
- Fat Politics - J. Eric Oliver
- What’s Wrong with Fat? - Abigail C. Saguy
- Fat Shame: Stigma and the Fat Body in American Culture - Amy Erdman Farrell
- The Gluten Lie: And Other Myths About What You Eat - Alan Levinovitz
- You Have the Right to Remain Fat - Virgie Tovar
Websites
Podcasts
Online Courses and Communities
Providers
I love to talk all things HAES for those willing to listen. If you have questions I can answer please send them! I’m no medical professional, but I love to pass along resources for people to open their minds to.
Stay safe everyone
“the “obesity epidemic” is really a moral panic that has a lot more to do with diet culture’s skewed beliefs about weight than with any actual threat to public health.” - Christy Harrison in Anti-Diet (p. 47)
