The diet industry has been and will always be harmful to women. There are always new diets flying around the media to lose weight and look skinny. The target audience for diets is women because of the expectations we have to uphold. I believe the biggest issue with diets is most of the time they lead to unhealthy eating habits such as anorexia and binge eating.
For women, it is so hard to not fall into these traps that will only lead to us being unhealthy. When you are surrounded by people advertising these diet and weight loss programs it’s hard not to think “I should lose weight”. With social media being so popular these days you are bound to come across a video of someone talking about keto or an intense workout that will make you slimmer. We have to ignore these and learn to understand what our body needs.
Every person’s body needs to be treated with different foods and exercise. When we live in a society where certain diets focus on extreme and unrealistic goals it can make food an exercise a negative topic for women. To help women understand what their body needs we can practice intuitive eating. This is when you listen to your hunger cues and cravings so you can get full and balanced meals. Start slow and ask yourself “am I hungry and what am I hungry for?”. This allows you to listen to your body and not under or overeat.
When you see a video or post talking about a diet they are starting to lose weight, I suggest you scroll past it. I have watched these videos and thought to myself that I should be doing this because it will be healthier. We need to realize that health does not equate to weight and our body deserves to enjoy food.
Another way you can stray away from the diet industry is by finding a workout you enjoy. There are so many different ways to exercise besides cardio. You can lift weights, go to a yoga class, or try an at-home home Zumba class! Find something that is fun and makes you feel good. We can make food and exercise enjoyable if we learn to listen to what our body needs. Do you think diets are helpful or harmful for the women in our society? To help make a change share this post with women you know.
