Reclaim You- The Impact of Diet Culture
Season 1: Episode 2- Abby joins Sarah to explore the Impact of Diet Culture
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On this episode of Reclaim You, eating disorder and body image specialist, Abby Albright, joins Sarah to chat about the impact that diet culture has on our sense of self, body image, how we view health and wellness and how we are able to connect and care for ourselves.
Abby kicks off the show talking about what Reclaim You means to her and what it means in her work with clients. From there, the conversation turns to an exploration of the impact of diet culture on all of us, with Abby sharing what stands out to her the most.
Throughout the episode, Abby highlights the many ways that exposure to diet culture's messages can create ripples in our lives, from our relationship with food to our sense of self. She explores the impact of diet culture on body image concerns, as well as how its messages impact people's relationship with health and wellness.
As the episode progresses, Abby and Sarah look at the impact diet culture has on people's sense of self and how it can be challenging to distinguish between beliefs and behaviors that are based in self-care versus those that are based on diet culture's expectations or beliefs.
Abby offers some parting thoughts on this important topic, reminding us that recognizing the impact of diet culture is an important part of reclaiming ourselves in the face of disordered eating and body image concerns.
Join us as we explore the impact of diet culture and learn how to move towards a more connected and self-caring relationship with our bodies, food, and ourselves.
To learn more about the Reclaim Therapy team, be sure to visit our website at www.reclaimtherapy.org
We'd love for you to review, like and subscribe to the podcast and check us out on YouTube.
Let's dive in!
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00:01] Sarah Herstich: Hi There. Welcome to Reclaim You, a podcast published by the Reclaim Therapy team. Join us as we share stories, tools and insights on how to reclaim you in the wake of trauma, disordered eating and body shame. Grab your coffee, tea or your favorite snack and get cozy, because we're about to dive in. Welcome back to reclaim you Reclaim You, the Show That Supports folks have experienced trauma, disordered eating and body image Concerns. And today we're talking to Abby, one of the therapists on the Reclaim team. Welcome, Abby.
[00:34] Abby Albright: Hi, Everyone.
[00:35] Sarah Herstich: Abby Specializes In Treating trauma, eating disorders, body Image concerns, depression and anxiety. And today we're Going To Be talking all about diet, culture's, impact on all of the Things. So body image, your relationship with food, your relationship with the concept of health and wellness, and of Course, its impact on your relationship with yourself. So I'm really excited to dive in.
[01:01] Abby Albright: Yeah, awesome.
[01:02] Sarah Herstich: So, to start, what does reclaim you mean to you? It's something I'm kind of asking everyone this Month. What does it mean to you in your relationship with yourself, in your work, with clients? Yeah, let's start there.
[01:17] Abby Albright: Yeah. I love that word. Reclaim. And when I think of the word Reclaim, immediately I'm thinking of, like, what I can Take back that Has Been Taken from me. And so what I feel has been taken from so many of us over the course of our lives. Right. Just given the society that we live in, is just this innate ability to trust Ourselves, to trust our own wisdom, to trust that we know what is best for us, to trust our bodies, to trust ourselves around food in Particular, with The Work that we specifically do. But I think it sort of Pans out into so many other parts of our lives. So, yeah, Reclaim To Me really feels like just this taking back what has been Taken. And for me personally, it's just this daily practice of checking in with myself, checking in with any stories I'm telling myself, any Beliefs That I'm Carrying that Just Are Not Mine. They've been placed upon me by society, by the past and it's just not mine to carry it's not mine to hold So Reclaiming is that daily practice of, like, checking in, is that mine? No, it's not. That can go away. Let me return to what I know to be true for myself. So that feels really broad. But that's how I feel it for me personally. And then in work with people that I work with, with my clients, reclaiming Themselves, it Feels like very much of the same daily Work, and it feels like a Lifetime of Work, just constantly Checking In, specifically around our bodies and around Food. What are the beliefs and the stories we tell about ourselves that have been placed upon us? Where has the trust been taken away? How can we reclaim that trust? So feels very Broad, but that's kind of that idea, taking back what's been taken.
[03:26] Sarah Herstich: Yeah, that's coming up in my head as you're talking about. This is the word consent, that we can consent to having all of our trust in ourselves and our bodies taken away with all of these messages. So it's even reclaiming what you allow into your space and into your being and what you believe in and all of that.
[03:47] Abby Albright: Yeah, that's not mine anymore, and it never was. And so I am now making the active decision to get rid of what does not serve, keep what does keep in alignment, and reclaim who we know to be true, who we know we are deep down in our core, what we were sort of born with, if you will. Yeah, I love that idea of consent.
[04:13] Sarah Herstich: And it feels almost like you answered the first question I had for you in that. But the impact of diet culture on all of us, what parts of even what you just shared or anything different, what stands out the most to you in terms of the impact, the ripples that it causes in our lives in our day to day and our concept of self?
[04:33] Abby Albright: Yeah, diet culture, it's just this big, broad concept term idea. And whenever I hear the phrase diet culture, I immediately think about how Christy Harrison talks about it or Nick named it the Life Thief. And ever since I've heard that phrase, it's stayed with me because it is so incredibly true, engaging in diet culture in any type of way, whether we're sort of actively dieting or we're talking about diets and bodies and food in a restrictive way. Whatever it is, it is stealing so much of our life. Same with that idea of reclaim, like it's taking so much of our life from us. So the way she describes it is it's a life thief in that it steals our time, it steals our energy, it steals our money. And I think it just steals parts of our spirits, like parts of our truth. I can think of all the times that I was very active in sort of diety ways or disordered eating, and just how much energy and time was spent. And not only myself, like, I talked to many people about this personally and professionally, how much time is spent just like scouring menus before going out with friends or taking up so much energy and time to think about grocery shopping and all the things. And of course, we know how much it takes of our money when we could be spending our time and energy in ways that we really deep down want to be, which is like, in connection with other people in community. Yeah. So that's what stands out the most about diet culture to me.
[06:27] Sarah Herstich: Yeah. So stealing your life. Christy Harrison is so spot on, and I agree. I kind of forgot that she referred to it in that way. And it is just this little phrase that represents so much so, those ripples, what do you see with clients? How impactful that is? Like, what are some of the struggles that you feel like result from the life thief, from diet culture?
[06:53] Abby Albright: Yeah, it's interesting. And I love the image of a ripple itself, just like a pebble in a body of water, and it ripples out. And I think about, like, ripples in two ways. Like, when I first thought of the ripple metaphor, I was thinking about diet culture, the life thief, how it ripples out this way, like the normal way that a pebble will ripple out in water and ripples that happen vertically. And so what I mean by that.
[07:24] Sarah Herstich: Is, wow, I love that.
[07:27] Abby Albright: Yeah, diet culture sort of rippling out in the sense that we are relational beings as humans, we just are always in connection with other human beings. And so anytime we're engaging very heavily in diet culture, whether we're explicitly talking about it or not, there are ripples in our relationships. So whether that be people observing our behaviors and write no judgment here, we're all steeped in it. We're all swimming in it.
[07:58] Sarah Herstich: Yes.
[07:59] Abby Albright: So I just think of the very sort of present day, tangible ripples. Diet culture rippling into our relationships with other people, impacting other people in our lives, and other people's engagement in diet culture rippling onto us totally. So rippling out and then rippling vertically. Just kind of thinking about the generational ripples of diet culture and how so much of diet culture, again, because we're swimming in it and we've been swimming in it for so long, is really ingrained in so many of our ancestors, people who have come before us, and how we were raised with this just sort of in the air. All to say, that's one way I think of the ripples. It's so relational. It's in what we observe other people doing. If we have observed our family members talking about their bodies in really negative, derogatory ways, we're going to absorb that for ourselves. Present day, if we're seeing a lot of our friends engaging in diet culture and diet talk, it feels very hard for that to not have an impact, a little bit of an impact, a little bit of a ripple, even as we do this work. And so that's one way I think of the ripples, and then I think of the ripples internally, like how diet culture is not just about food and body image. As I mentioned earlier, diet culture just really disconnects us from our own trust within ourselves, trust that our bodies know what they need. And so when we engage in our relationship with food and our bodies in that way of like, I don't know what's right for me, but everyone else does, I need to follow these rules to be, quote, unquote, healthy, to have the body that is, quote, unquote, worthy of love and care. When we're told all of this stuff. We can't trust our internal knowing. And so I've seen this within myself, I've seen this within clients. Just really sort of this confusion, like, I don't know what to do or what decision to make. I don't know if I can really trust my gut instinct on this one. I don't know if I can trust that I'll make the right decision. Because what if I get told that I was doing it all wrong all along because diets will do that again and again and again. We engage in one fad diet and then another one comes around and says, like, that was all wrong. Do it.
[10:37] Sarah Herstich: This is the answer. Right. I love that imagery, actually. Not only the horizontal ripples or the I don't know, I guess the circular ripples around a pebble, but also that sinking down. I'm like imagining a body jumping into water. Right? And you're right, the ripples down, that is like embodied reaction to all of the disconnection.
[11:01] Abby Albright: It's just within us in many ways from that sort of generational process. And also yeah, it becomes embodied somewhere in our family line. Right?
[11:14] Sarah Herstich: Absolutely. I know a lot of the clients that we work with, they come because we treat body image concerns. So knowing that body image, the intersection of body image and diet culture is so great, can you talk a little bit about that? About what that intersection is and how much of an impact diet culture has on people's? Definition of what body image is or what it should be or struggles with body image, all of that?
[11:42] Abby Albright: Yeah. The way I see it is that diet culture does not tell us to listen to ourselves, but tells us this is the way to be, this is the way to eat, this is the way to move, and ultimately, this is the way to look in order to be deemed worthy, acceptable. And so diet culture kind of spins this narrative that to be worthy is to be thin, is to look a certain way. And it's also constantly changing, as we can see over time. Just body ideals sort of being fashionable and changing with the season. But ultimately, no matter what sort of disguise diet culture is taking on, there's this underlying notion that sin is best. Being in a larger body, being in a fat body is correlated equal to unhealthy, it's equal to disgusting, it's equal to not taking care of oneself, quote unquote. All of these messages that are very embodied are very internalized. And so we are constantly striving for a body that fits that mold. Because again, as I had mentioned earlier, we're just relational beings. We are humans who crave connection, who crave community. And so it makes all the sense in the world that if we're taught and told you will be rejected if you don't look this way, we're going to do everything we can to ensure that we stay within the confines of what society tells us to be and how to look. So that's kind of what comes up most for me about its intersection with body image and also just this idea that, again, sort of body ideals change over time. Diet culture capitalizes on that and preys on that. And so now, as maybe there's more body positive movements popping up, diet culture may be kind of co opting health, wellness and making it not about body image, making it not about thinness. Right. But it still is.
[13:50] Sarah Herstich: Yeah. The concept of health and wellness and the shape shifting that happens with diet culture of, oh, now body positivity is in whatever the popular culture believes that to be. And diet culture saying, well, now let's move it to health and wellness. Right. To be healthy, to be well, you have to fit this certain mold which is still underlined by fitness right. In the medical paradigm. Can you talk more about that, too? The concept of health and wellness and how diet culture is infiltrating or has infiltrated for many, many years. What do you see now with clients or even just hearing through different avenues?
[14:31] Abby Albright: Yeah, I think just as much as diet culture capitalizes on bodies, it also capitalizes on our fear of mortality. We all want live long, healthy lives, of course. And the research is so wonky about what health even is. And the research is really wonky on body diversity, like what makes some folks thin, what makes some folks fat. Right. So diet culture then just kind of preys upon that fear of mortality, that fear of illness, and says, you don't want to be unhealthy, you don't want to be sick, you don't want to die, obviously. And so come buy this product, come join this plan, this program, come do this thing, and we'll ensure that you'll live this long, healthy life by losing weight, by staying thin, by not gaining weight, by all these things. Right. And then I just know that for me personally, I've really attached in the past to this sort of clean eating detoxification of the body propaganda that you just drink this tonic or whatever, all of your ills will be resolved. But it does feel so much to me like their diet culture has preyed upon this fear that we all have so that we can buy whatever it is they're selling.
[16:02] Sarah Herstich: Yeah. And diet culture's notion of buying into, if you do all of these things, will guarantee your health when we know that health is never guaranteed. Right. So much of this is out of our control. There's genetics that play into things. There's where you live, what you have access to, all of these social determinants that are so more important than drinking green juice every morning or like whatever it is that diet culture, wellness culture, is guaranteeing to be the cure all. There's so much of this that's out of our control. And there's also so much of this that continues to, like you said, keep us engaged with diet culture and dieting and then feeling out of control around food, and then dieting and feeling out of control around food, which is ultimately going to lead us into other health outcomes that we don't consider when we're just so focused on fitness or fitness or whatever the ideal is at that time.
[17:00] Abby Albright: Yeah. And I feel like there's always sort of this the beauty ideal, the thin ideal, always very closely follows behind this focus on health and wellness, quote unquote. Right? Like drink this thing or follow this plan or engage in this type of diet to improve your health and also you're going to glow and also you may lose weight. They kind of slip it on in there.
[17:29] Sarah Herstich: What we've all come to know as orthorexia right, the fixation on wellness and food and food, quote unquote, quality and all of that. It's so destructive.
[17:41] Abby Albright: Yeah. And as you were mentioning, just sort of all the things that are outside of our control as it relates to our health, the way we look. Right. Like so much of that exists outside of our control and yet we're told that we have the power to change all of this. We have the power to change how we look. We have the power to change our weight and our shape and our size. We have the power to determine our health and how long we live. These promises that we attach to it's really alluring in so many ways because the promise is that if you do all these things, you'll be happy, you'll be in greater connection, you'll be lovable. And so that alone is such an allure and also it's really alluring because there's just so much out of our control and life can be hard and scary and the world can be hard and scary. And so to want to control something that has been put on a pedestal as being the most important thing, the way we look and yeah, our health, we're going to of course attach to that.
[18:58] Sarah Herstich: Yeah. Which then of course ripples into how we kind of conceptualize ourselves in the world and what we're deserving of because of how we move our bodies or how healthy we are or how we look. So it feels important to recognize that the destructive nature that all of this has on how we turn towards ourselves and how we take care of ourselves and how we can start to honor ourselves in light of all of that and reconnect in ways that feel safe and accessible, which will probably be like these small little tidbits over time. I'm curious if you have any other thoughts on that side of things on how all of this interrupts our relationship, really with just us. I know we've spoken to some of that already, but if there was anything else that you had in mind yeah.
[19:53] Abby Albright: Something that's coming up for me is just this. Yeah, we did talk about this in some ways. And there's this additional thing that I'm thinking about where this fixation on eating the right foods, exercising in the quote unquote right way, this obsession with our outward appearance, it's very externalized. And so in some ways, it takes us so far away from ourselves, our emotions, our thoughts. And in some ways, it feels really good in the short term to be so focused on that because we don't have to go deep and think about all the things that truly are plaguing us, that truly are distressing to us. So when we start to do the work of letting that go, which is really hard and really scary and takes a lot of time, I know for myself, we start to reenter our own system and get back in. Touch with all the things we've maybe been ignoring or avoiding or just simply not in touch with because we've been so externalized about food, about the body. So that's something that's coming up for me that disconnection the way that diet culture connects us not only from trusting ourselves, but just even being with ourselves and how yeah, it can feel good for a little bit until it doesn't. And then it's really powerful to start to let that go and reclaim what we lost, that connection that we lost with ourselves.
[21:33] Sarah Herstich: Yeah, reclaim and reenter in some ways in a slow and ways that feel safe for people, just like disembodiment into how do I get a bit more embodied? How do I enter into that.
[21:49] Abby Albright: Feels.
[21:49] Sarah Herstich: Like true to me, hard work when we're still swimming in the culture that says, oh, no, you shouldn't be in there. You should be out here with us doing all of these things. That's when you'll have it all. I'm curious for you, how you can differentiate or how you do differentiate behaviors or ways of taking care of yourself that are rooted in that idea of connection and embodiment and self care versus ways that are, like, colluding with diet culture.
[22:23] Abby Albright: Yeah, I love this question because it's something that I think about not only for myself a lot, but I talk a lot with the people I work with. Like, how do I know what my intentions are behind this decision, behind this? Am I doing this to nourish myself and care for myself? Or is this part of past dieting or disordered eating? I think it really does come back to the intention. And I tend to be on the lookout for words like should or must or if I don't do this thing, then this thing will happen. Yeah. And whether it's the words or just the energy of should and I think we might all be able to sense what that energy is like versus checking in with this is actually truly like, what my body is craving right now. I'm thinking for myself how, like, a decision I made recently to go for this sort of healthy, quote unquote smoothie type drink and wondering for myself, what is the intention behind this? This was something that in the past I would have reached for from that place of should, from that energy of this is what I'm supposed to be having at this time. And recently, for me, having engaged in this work personally, that energy was not there. It was like my body was just craving this fresh fruit smoothie. I knew that that would be the thing to satisfy me in that moment. And it felt really nourishing. And I was able to check in with myself beforehand before I made the decision, during the drinking of the smoothie. Like what's coming up for me now? Is there that should energy here? Is there that fear? Or is it very much like no, this feels really nourishing and sort of after the fact reflecting on what was the intention there. So it can get complicated, especially as we do this work. But for me, it really is looking out for those shoulds and checking in before, during, after.
[24:23] Sarah Herstich: Yeah, I love that example. And it feels important, too, that we all can engage in old behaviors pretty easily without intention there. And noticing when we do that or when we're drawn to that and being able to take a step back and have grace and compassion for yourself, that even undermines the root of diaculture, of this sense of internalized shame, of like, I've done something bad, I've done something wrong. I should know better. So even by doing that and holding yourself differently and those experiences because we don't shift the way we look at food and body and behaviors overnight. But if we can really show up for ourselves differently, I think it even pulls us further out of the messages that we need to be doing healing work or recovery work a certain way.
[25:14] Abby Albright: Yeah, I feel like that's so important to name and remember, even if it were in my own personal example, like the case that my intention was sort of from this past place, being compassionate because it's tricky, it's really complicated.
[25:30] Sarah Herstich: Is there anything else you feel like you want to add or that feels really important to share with folks who are watching or listening to this?
[25:38] Abby Albright: Yeah, I think when I first started to engage in this anti diet work and explore more of my own relationship with food and all that, I got really angry at diet culture and continued to be really angry at diet culture in many ways. And I find that that anger is so necessary and can be so powerful, especially when that anger arises. We can listen to that and ask, what is it this anger is telling me? Oh, yeah, we got to fight the system. We got to fight the diet culture stuff because it's not going away anytime soon. We see it everywhere, we hear it everywhere. For those who are listening like, if you're feeling angry towards diet culture. Yes, that makes sense. And what can we do with that anger to both heal ourselves and also to start to maybe perhaps one day do some more sort of advocacy work that is a little bit more coopetive. Of course, starting individually feels really important in healing our own relationship with food and body. The anger piece is what lingers for me.
[26:56] Sarah Herstich: Yeah. And what a powerful image of that anger that so many people direct internally over the years because of these messages and expectations and things like that. To pull that anger and to put it back to where it belongs. Yeah. That's the reclamation in all of this, right?
[27:16] Abby Albright: Yeah. Anger tells us something's not right, and so we don't need to turn towards ourselves.
[27:24] Sarah Herstich: Well, thank you so much, Abby.
[27:26] Abby Albright: Thank you.
[27:27] Sarah Herstich: Appreciate your wisdom, as always. And we will be back next week talking to Laura about more of the ways that diet culture disconnects us from ourselves in really sneaky ways. So thank you, everyone, for watching. Thank you again, Abby. And we'll see everybody soon. Bye. Thank you so much for joining us on this episode of Reclaim You. Be sure to like and subscribe to the podcast and check us out on YouTube at Reclaim You. We'll be back next week with another episode. So until next time, take good care of yourself.oes here
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