11.
“Dieting, food restriction of any kind, stepping on a scale ever, and that ‘obesity’ is a ’cause’ of any disease. It took me decades to unlearn the guilt-ridden and shameful relationship with food and my body instilled in me by the Low Fat 90s and Low Rise Jeans 2000s.”
“My parents are healthy, privileged seniors — they play pickleball and golf, go running and biking, and have the freedom to eat a wide variety of whole, homemade food. But they’re somehow still convinced they need to ‘lose weight’ to ‘look better’ or ‘be healthier’ and go on crash or fad diets all the time, which is the opposite of healthy behavior. I have had to be very firm with them about ditching the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ labels and make sure they don’t mention restriction or weight loss being the way to be ‘healthy’ when talking about food in front of my kids. These kids will keep the intuitive eating cues they were born with, grow up loving their bodies, learn to nourish their tummies and brains with all kinds of food, and with any luck the next generation won’t suffer like we did.”
—38, Ontario