Anti-Dieting

Haha, I just feel like ranting on about why girls/women shouldn't diet.

Haha. Heck about the guys today. Who cares if they live or die right! Actually, not that I don't care, it's just that it's a very rare sight to see guys suffering from Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia Nervosa.





*I shall use the term 'we' to refer to women who diet. Of course I don't diet. I'll just miss out on all the great food.



At the beginning of the 21st Century, we live in a world that has seen an upheaval in consciousness concerning the position of women. Yet, despite dramatically changed views and expanded lifestyles, many women still place dieting and body shaping ahead of life shaping and world shaping on their lists of New Year's resolutions. Once again, we are planning to spend billions of our dollars trying to transform our natural shapes.

(Note: New year is coming, try not to say "I want to lose 20 kg by ___[whatever month]". Seriously stupid I would say.)


Yet, here we are again. The idealized image is meaner and leaner and younger than ever. The tabloids scrutinize our Hollywood icons to see who has lost and who has gained. The doctors hawk their programs, vying for space on bestseller lists. And many of us are ready to die for all those new pills and surgeries.


We believe that the pressure to diet and bodyshape is part of the ongoing backlash against the changes in the status of women. It seems that the more space we occupy in the world, the more pressure there is to reduce ourselves. The larger our presence, the narrower and more childlike the idealized images become. What exactly is so wrong with us the way we are in our great, infinite variety?



Women today suffer deeply from a condition we describe as "Bad Body Fever."


It goes like this: Millions of us wake up every morning, make our way into the bathroom to shower, look in the full-length mirror and say, "Yuck!" Every moment of every hour of every day, millions of us of all shapes, sizes and ages utter some variation of the phrase "I feel fat." (Sounds familiar?)

A woman may catch a glimpse of herself reflected in a shop window and gasp, "God! My stomach is huge." She may be daydreaming while waiting for an appointment only to find herself thinking that her thighs are disgusting. Or she may be walking to her car when she suddenly feels huge. These "fat feelings" – bad body feelings – occupy the minds and hearts of the vast majority of women and even little girls.



each time a woman says, "I feel fat," she is saying, "There is something wrong with me." She is feeling self-hatred and self-contempt. Sadly, her subsequent heroic efforts to transform her shape never impact the source of her real problem – her lack of sense of belonging in the world.



Sometimes we wonder what would happen if women simply stopped having these bad body thoughts. What would happen if each time you made a self-abusive remark about how you look, you let the reproach go, challenged your thinking – "Who says there is such a thing as a perfect thigh?" – and instead focused on whatever you were thinking about before you made the thought-detour to your body.



Just imagine the $60 billion diet industry crumbling, taking several others along with it! What would we do with all that time on our hands? Imagine how we would use all the energy! The possibilities dazzle!!!! REALLY! :D :D :D



As a start, let's scratch all references to achieving an unreal body shape from our list of resolutions. This year, let's resolve to stop the dieting that has become such a life-long, life-draining preoccupation and instead embrace and enjoy our bodies in all their diversity. Let's happily reclaim our appetites, our bodies and our lives!! WHEEE!



SORRY. Long post. I just had to say it! New year's coming. And everyone's drawing up their "New Year's Resolution list", I don't really want people to put "LOSE __KG" on the top of that list.



However, please note that having a HEALTHY AND BALANCED LIFESTYLE IS COMPLETELY NECESSARY. Eating everything you see isn't the best way to go anti-dieting.

"People are not perfect (Except when they smile)"