Are you part of the problem, or part of the solution?

“I have been buying into the diet industry my whole life and then I became part of the problem,” Valerie Bertinelli recently stated in an interview shortly after she was trolled on twitter about her new book “Enough Already”. I must agree, many of us have been buying into the diet industry and diet culture for years who feel the same way. As a matter of fact, we are applauding her openness and honesty.

‘Enough already’ are the exactly words I said to myself 6 years ago as I sat in a hospital bed, waiting for a surgery that was supposed to put my body back together after decades of my own physical abuse. I had had enough trying to fit into society’s ideal image. Enough dieting, enough over exercising and enough beating myself up.

To tell the truth, I know how Valerie feels. I was part of the problem too. I believe many of us are, and we don’t even realize it.

Falling Victim to Society’s Thin Ideal

Here are a few examples of falling victim to diet culture and ‘societies thin ideal.’

Telling someone “how great they look, have you lost weight?” Or, being told how “wonderful you look” after losing weight (on purpose, or due to stress, medication, illness etc.)
Calling yourself names (negative, degrading body talk) because your body doesn’t look like it “should”
Commenting: ‘that person over there shouldn’t be eating that’ or ‘she should not be wearing that outfit’ or ‘she/he/they would be so pretty if she/he/they just lost some weight”

How about you? Have you been affected by diet culture or ‘societies thin ideal?’

Society’s Thin Ideal

Society has suffocated this country with images of how we ‘should look.’ The medical profession followed by categorizing people with a single number-the BMI (a completely false formula for health). We can’t escape it. Images of air-brushed models… touched up selfies, and photo-shopped images are everywhere. From the grocery store line, to multi-media platforms. Unattainable images (for the majority of people) of body size, weight and shape are plastered for all to see, and see, and see again.

This has created a huge problem in our country.

Studies show that 91% of women have an “I hate my body” moment every day.
The average woman diets, restriction and deprives herself 17 or more years of her life.
The rate of children under 12 hospitalized for an eating disorder (due to trying to fit a certain image) rose 119% in less than a decade.
Women punish themselves with hours of exercise trying to ‘burn off’ dinner.

All of this and more, all in the name of trying to fit in to what society has deemed acceptable.

We have been told for decades (which results in what we believe) that the only way we can ‘be happy’ is if we are “thin” or in a smaller body. The only way we can ‘accept ourselves’ is if we have a certain BMI or weigh a certain amount. And the only way we can be successful in career, or relationships is if our pant size is X. Valerie’s right…

ENOUGH ALREADY.

Having experienced and recovered from an eating disorder and years of compulsive exercise, yo-yo dieting and negative body image, I know first-hand how negatively this impacts us. Not only our bodies, but also our self-esteem, self-confidence, our relationships and society as a whole.

I made a conscious choice to reject diet culture and societies than ideal. Cold turkey. I no longer wanted to contribute to the problem.

The Problem

Girls as young as six are afraid of being fat.
94% of teenage girls have been bullied and shamed.
There has been a significant increase in teenage eating disorders
More and more women experience anxiety, shame, guilt and depression due to negative body image.

All of this, in combination with my own disordered relationship with food and body is why I finally said ENOUGH. I made a clean (and difficult, uncomfortable) break from diet culture. It was only when I made this decision, that I able to become part of the solution.

In addition to all of this, believe it or not, there is good news!

Actually, it’s great news!

YOU can be part of the solution too, just like Pinterest, Valerie and many others.

The Body Joyful Revolution

The Body Joyful Revolution was formed for just this reason. To be part of the solution. It is a community and global movement that welcomes women of all sizes, shapes and weights to: Say NO to Diets, Reject Societies Thin Ideal and Heal from Diet Culture.

This revolution applauds and welcomes Pinterest, Valerie and other celebrities into our community. And we would like to invite you to be part of the solution too.

I invite you to join the Body Joyful for Revolution today and help us reduce body shaming, bullying, weight stigmatization and disordered eating

Start Here:

Say no to diets restriction and buying into societies than ideal once and for all.
Change the conversation when it comes to weight size shape and body image.
Support and encourage other social platforms to adopt a policy like Pinterest.
Educate your family, friends, colleagues. educational institutions and community leaders about the dangers of Diet Culture and buying into Society’s thin ideal.
Reach out to leaders, like myself and ask for help. It is out there.
1. Pre-order my debut book The Body Joyful – My journey from self-loathing to self-acceptance. In it I share my story and lay out a road map to joy, body confidence and self-acceptance… regardless of one’s size, shape or weight.