The Imprint It Leaves: The Insidious Nature of the Diet Industry
Laura Savary, LCSW
The day before New Year's Eve, I realized I was inundated with weight loss ads on social media. This wasn't surprising, as this is the time of year where diet companies capitalize on New Year's resolutions. However, what did catch my attention over a couple of minutes of scrolling was how these ads for weight loss and body modification avoided using diet and weight loss in their vocabulary.
The first few ads to pop up were for shapewear companies selling body-modifying contraptions, essentially physically molding bodies into a smaller, hourglass form. Instead of speaking to this body manipulation, one company tried to convey a message of empowerment for its potential customers — that forcing one's body into their shapewear would help channel the wearer's power and strength. I then saw promotions for fitness plans that stayed away from talk of weight loss, but these workout regimens still emitted a “new year, new you” tone through their rigid schedules, neglecting any notion of joyful movement. The ads continued with marketing for supplements, smoothies, and detox beverages selling promises of increased energy and a faster metabolism, but again, no direct statement regarding weight loss. It became apparent that though these companies were selling diets and weight loss, they were presented under the guise of health and wellness.
This shift in advertising makes sense; as we see notions such as Health At Every Size (HAES) and body neutrality become more widely accepted, the appeal of diets (though still ever present) has declined. Over the past couple of years, soda companies have “overhauled” the names of their famous diet beverages to omit that very word. According to Danielle Wiener-Bronner for CNN Business, "The reason for the overhaul: The word 'diet' has fallen out of fashion — especially for Millennials and Gen Z-ers." One can see this strategy not only with soda or shapewear or “detoxes,” but also with companies that even admit to selling weight loss, such as Noom. Noom is a weight loss app that markets itself as an approach for its users to quit dieting through behavior tracking and modification. But as registered dietician nutritionist Carrie Dennett says about Noom, "Noom claims it’s not a diet, but let me assure you — it’s a diet." The shapeshifting which diet culture, propelled by the billion-dollar diet industry, is able to get away with shows its insidious nature in its attempt to stay relevant and maintain its grasp on consumers.
I recall a specific summer where I realized I needed to sever myself from this industry. Every July, I have a Carvel ice cream cake to celebrate my birthday. I've done this since I was a child, and have continued into adulthood. The crunchies, the incredibly sweet mix of chocolate and vanilla ice cream, that synthetic blue icing that manages to get on everything — I treasure it. It was the last birthday I celebrated with my grandma, and at this point, she had been suffering from dementia for a few years. She didn't know who I was, or what we were celebrating, but she seemed to enjoy the company, understanding on some level she was with people who cared for her. I asked her if she was going to have a slice of the Carvel cake, to which my grandma replied, "I can't have cake — I'm on a diet."
Years later, I often think of her response. Here was a woman in her late 80s, with decades of memories of loved ones lost, who at this point hadn’t been able to truly form new, lasting memories in years due to dementia. And despite her memories lost, the imprint to diet persevered. I realized through this interaction that moments of togetherness may be erased but unless the work and education is done, the desire to diet will remain.
Sometimes, my resolve wears thin; there are moments where it feels easier to cave into society’s expectations of what is "the right thing" i.e. dieting and body modification, though I know it would only propel me into forms of restriction and unhappiness. It's even more difficult after a year of facing chastising from doctors regarding my weight. One specialist to which I was referred told me multiple times in our first (and soon to be obvious last) encounter, "You just need to lose weight,” and proceeded to point to my lowest recorded weight though I had already articulated that the lowest weight was when I engaged in overexercising and undereating. More recently, I had a physical with a new provider who I had hoped would be HAES-aligned based on reviews I read. I was then disappointed when she suggested I engage in forms of restriction related to my eating. Feeling defeated during these appointments, I couldn't muster the energy to advocate for myself although my work is in advocating for the needs of others. And this was all with the privilege of being a white cisgender person, able-bodied, and residing in a body that still holds size privilege, even if I’ve been told to lose weight.
This time of year can be taxing. Even after years of “un-dieting,” I still have to sit with the words of these medical providers and witness these toxic marketing campaigns by clever diet companies. To attempt to extract oneself from diet culture, it takes an active unlearning — unlearning a deeply-rooted lifetime of attitudes, beliefs, and propaganda. And so in those moments of doubt, I remind myself of my grandma, the lasting effects that dieting can have on a person, and all that you can end up losing — joy, celebration, connection, peace.
Here are a list of individuals involved in joyful movement, fat activism, intuitive eating, and anti-diet work to follow on Instagram:
Shana Minei Spence, MS, RDN, CDN - @thenutritiontea
https://www.thenutritiontea.com/
Aubrey Gordon, author of What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat and co-host of Maintenance Phase podcast - @yrfatfriend
https://www.yourfatfriend.com/
Kanoa Greene, surfer and joyful movement fitness coach- @kanoagreene
https://11honore.com/blogs/page-11/11-things-with-surfer-kanoa-green
Shira Rosenbluth, LCSW, psychotherapist - @theshirarose
https://www.shirarosenbluthlcsw.com/
Mya Kwon, dietician - @foodbody.peace
https://www.foodbodypeace.com/
Tiffany Ima, founder of Simple Body Confidence - @tiffanyima
http://tiffanyima.com/
Jennifer Rollin, LCSW, psychotherapist - @jennifer_rollin
https://www.jenniferrollin.com/
Laura Savary, LCSW (she/hers) is a NYC-based social worker with experience working in the fields of education, substance use, and mental health. She is a graduate of Hunter College's Silberman School of Social Work as well as the WTCI's two-year postgraduate training program. She is passionate about educating individuals on the intersection of Health At Every Size (HAES) and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS).
References:
CNBC. (2021, February 3). How dieting became a $71 billion industry, from Atkins and Paleo to Noom. https://www.cnbc.com/video/2021/01/11/how-dieting-became-a-71-billion-industry-from-atkins-and-paleo-to-noom.html
Dennett, C. (2021, July 12). Noom claims it isn't a diet. We found out if that holds water. The Seattle Times. https://www.seattletimes.com/life/wellness/noom-claims-it-isnt-a-diet-we-found-out-if-that-holds-water/
Wiener-Bronner, D. (2021, December 14). 'Diet' soda is disappearing from store shelves. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/14/business-food/diet-soda-zero-sugar/index.html