Eating Disorders – Do Not Let The Scale Define You
By Nicole Saliba
Edited by Sarah Hayek
Reading Time:
2 minutes
Social pressure and diet culture
“WOW! Have you lost weight? You look great!”, “you’d be so much prettier if you lost a few kilograms…” How many times did you hear people saying these comments?
Our society and its beauty standards always promote thinness, encourage people to seek unrealistic body shapes, to always eat “good food”, and to be on restrictive diets, which are the strongest risk factors for eating disorders. The problem is that in the diet culture we live in, not only food is labeled as good or bad, but people may label themselves as good or bad for consuming these foods.
Social pressure where “THIN IS IN” is definitely one of the elements that lead to developing these conditions. If you don’t fit the perfect body shape and the ideal weight, you are not “worthy”. This is how diet culture can cause you to criticize yourself. Diet culture is more than just being on a diet all the time; it’s an environment of cultural messages about food and bodies that has led to a set of beliefs: that thinness equals health, worth and overall wellness, goodness and morality.
These ideals cause a feedback loop of shame around your exercise and food habits and send you into a spiral of disordered eating.
What are eating disorders?
Eating disorders are not a choice. They are serious mental illnesses that could be life-threatening. In fact, every 52 minutes someone dies due to an eating disorder. The most common eating disorders include anorexia, bulimia and binge eating. They occur when a person develops a distorted image of themselves, as well as a dangerous relationship with food marked by severe disturbances in eating behaviors. It is important to know that anyone can get an eating disorder regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or background. Most often, it starts in the teenage years (14-20 yo).
How to Promote a Body Positive Environment? (and feel good about yourself too!)
- Eat when hungry and until you are full
- Acknowledge that there are no “good” or “bad” foods and they are not correlated to a person’s worth
- Ditch the scale and ditch diets
- Promote overall health instead of focusing on body weight
- Celebrate diverse body sizes
- “Unfriend” or “unfollow” people whose social media posts trigger you or lower your self-esteem
- Seek out others who respect and care about your body
- Emphasize inner beauty and inner qualities when conversing with others and yourself
“Beach season is coming up! But it can be scary to actually go there. Unrealistic beauty standards tell us we can, and should switch bodies for the one that’s seen as “respectable” at the moment. So we tell ourselves: “I’m too much this, not enough that…” The truth is: our bodies are all created with different genetic heritages and evolve into a multitude of shapes for a multitude of reasons. So if you go take a dip, remember that the Sun and the Sea will always love to have you. Because you are perfect the way you are.”
Embrace yourself!
