Diets Are Bullshit:
How Diet Culture
Starves our Minds & Bodies

Diet culture is everywhere. It promises quick fixes, perfect bodies, and everlasting happiness. But let’s be real—diets are bullshit. They mess with our minds, harm our bodies, and set us up for failure. So, how do we break free from this vicious cycle? It’s all about mindful eating and focusing on person-centered wellness.

Cycles of Problems in Diet Culture

Diets lure us with the promise of rapid weight loss, but most fail to deliver sustainable results. Instead, they often lead to:

Yo-yo Dieting:

The infamous cycle of losing and regaining weight.

Nutritional Deficiencies:

Cutting out food groups can leave us lacking essential nutrients.

Mental Stress

Constantly worrying about food can lead to anxiety and depression.

Body Image Issues

Unrealistic standards can harm our self-esteem.

The truth is, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Our bodies are unique, and so are our nutritional needs.

Diets and Mental Health

Our mental health plays a crucial role in our overall well-being. Stress, anxiety, and depression can negatively impact our eating habits and vice versa. To achieve long-term wellness, we need to nurture both our minds and bodies. Mindful eating is about paying full attention to the experience of eating and drinking, both inside and outside the body. Here’s how to practice it:

Listen to Your Body:

Eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full

Slow It Down:

Take your time to savor your food, chew without the force of a thousand demons and don’t rush through a meal.

Avoid Distractions:

Turn off the TV and put away your phone during meals. Maybe it sounds like torture, but it gives yoru brain a chance to actually register your body’s response to eating and when you’re getting full.

Eat with Intention

Choose foods that nourish and satisfy you. Silly as it sounds, I work with clients on finding ways to really attune to their body’s needs by using mantras like “what can I give my body” or “what does my body need”. It works, and you’d be surprised how much ✨mental health stuff✨ comes up when being intentional.

Breaking Free from Diet Culture

If escaping diet culture was as easy as ignoring it, we’d all be much healthier, and I’d probably be out of a job. But escaping diet culture requires a shift in mindset. Sounds a little wu-wu but it’s true, how we think about the dominant culture around us is everything. So how do we shift our thinking?

Fuck the (Food) Police
Silence the negative thoughts that judge your eating habits.

Reject the Diet Mentality
Acknowledge that diets don’t work for long-term health.

Honor Your Hunger
Trust your body’s signals and eat when you’re hungry.

Make Peace with Food
Give yourself unconditional permission to eat the foods that fuel you

Respect Your Body
Appreciate your body for what it can do, not just how it looks.

The Racism and Privilege in Diet Culture

Diet culture isn’t just harmful to our health—it also perpetuates systemic racism and privilege. Many of the ideals and standards it promotes are rooted in Western, white beauty norms, which can marginalize and harm people of color. The Body Mass Index (BMI), a common tool used in diet culture, was developed by Adolphe Quetelet in the 19th century. His data was based solely on European populations, making it inherently biased. This has several problematic implications:

Racial Bias

BMI does not account for the diverse body types and compositions found in different racial and ethnic groups. It often labels healthy individuals as overweight or obese based on Eurocentric standards.

Reinforcing Stereotypes

By holding everyone to a single standard, BMI reinforces the idea that certain body types are “normal” or “ideal,” which often align with white, Western bodies.

Health Disparities

The misapplication of tools like BMI can lead to inadequate or inappropriate health advice and treatment for people of color, exacerbating existing health disparities.

Marginalization

People who do not fit these narrow standards may feel excluded or pressured to conform, leading to issues like low self-esteem and body dysmorphia.

Moving Beyond Diet Culture & Western Beauty Ideals

To create a more inclusive and healthy approach to nutrition and wellness, we must:

Embrace (& Empower) Diversity

Recognize and celebrate the beauty of diverse body types and cultures.

Use Person-Centered Measures

Focus on individual health markers and personal well-being rather than one-size-fits-all metrics like BMI.

Promote Inclusivity

Encourage media and health professionals to represent and cater to a wide range of body types and backgrounds.

In a Nutshell...Diet Culture is Bullshit

So, let’s say it loud and clear: Diet culture is bullshit. True wellness comes from listening to your body, nourishing your mind, and rejecting the toxic culture that diets perpetuate. Diets and mental health do not go together, and we shouldn’t believe the notion that dieting is a sustainable path towards wellness. Instead, looking at our physical and mental health needs on a person-to-person basis will foster positive results.

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Online therapy is essentially face-to-face counseling, just conducted remotely. Studies show that teletherapy is as effective as traditional counseling. Professional organizations and state governments recognize its benefits and have set regulations for it. However, like any therapy, its success in achieving your goals isn’t guaranteed. It’s important to discuss with your therapist whether teletherapy is working for you.

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of course! though we have some unconventional therapy approaches, we are rooted in evidenced based practices. Talk therapy is a major player in the therapy room! See What we Treat and Integrative Services for more information

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Our Qualifications:

Our founder, Rebecca Sidoti, is a highly qualified, state-licensed therapist and supervisor with extensive training in anxiety related disorders and innovative treatment such as Ketamine Therapy. Mind by Design Counseling adheres to standards set by the our governing counseling boards.

To see each providers credentials, training and licenses, visit our “Meet the Therapists” Page to learn more.

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Online therapy might not be as effective for individuals with chronic suicidal thoughts, severe trauma, significant mental health history, or those recently in intensive care. Such cases often benefit more from traditional, in-person counseling. We’ll help you decide if our online services are right for you during your intake and evaluation.

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Security and Confidentiality of Sessions:
Your privacy is crucial to us. We use TherapyNotes, a HIPAA-compliant platform, ensuring secure and confidential teletherapy sessions. This platform’s security features include encrypted video connections, secure data transfers, and encrypted databases, ensuring your information is safe at all times.

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we use VRT to support Exposure Therapy, a long standing traditional therapy modality to treat phobias, anxiety and stress. we send a headset directly to your home so you can access VRT from anywhere.

VRT not only helps with exposure therapy for phobias, but is great for ADHD, mindfulness, PTSD and social anxiety.