It’s a New Year which means it’s time for those pesky diet ads to pop up everywhere. You may see headlines such as How to shed 20 pounds in one month! How to get fit in time for summer! Try out this skinny juice; it really works!
Oh boy. Some days it seems the bombardment of these ads never ends, and just when you think you’ve blocked them all and can find some solitude – they find you. Again.
So here are some tips on how to avoid getting sucked into these ads and starting the New Year off with a healthy regard for food.
1. Diet Ads Create a Cycle
Diet ads tell you to go on a juice cleanse or only eat two crackers and a cup of coffee all day, which leaves you starving and the ads saying “yes, this is how you’re supposed to feel! This means it’s working!” Uh, yeah, working at destroying your body. Diets don’t work because they’re unsustainable. The point of these diet ads is to get you to try them, not succeed because they’re literally telling you to eat like a rabbit, feel bad about yourself, and then do it all over again putting more of your time, energy, and resources into this harmful business = a cycle. At the end of the day, diet ads and cultures are a business that want your money, not to help you feel your best.
2. Diet Ads Tell You “Junk” Food and Carbs are the Enemy
How many times must we hear every January that so called “junk” foods and carbs are our enemies? I’m so tired of it! First, let’s replace “junk” with “occasional” or “dessert” food. Now, if you try to quit eating occasional/dessert food cold turkey, chances are you’re going to crave it a lot. If you truly do want to cut down on the amount you eat, that’s fine, but it’s also important to recognize that occasional/dessert foods are 100% okay to eat in moderation, because they’re delicious, and why would I want to live in a world where I can no longer eat chocolate? Second, carbs are not the enemy. In fact, they give us the majority of our energy for the day! Again, why would I want to live in a world where I can’t eat cheesy buns? Don’t let these diet ads tell you that you can’t enjoy the food you love.
3. Diet Ads Don’t Tell the Truth
Diet ads are always targeting me with things like, “You need to lose 5 pounds,” or “Do you have problem areas? Follow this diet to sculpt your fat!” Yuck. Diet ads target your self-esteem and make you question yourself: “Oh, maybe I do need to lose 5 pounds?” No! The diet ads are lying to you! Also, what even is a ‘problem area’? You mean my tummy? My hips? My thighs? These are the natural curves of my body and guess what diet ads – I like them! Our tummies hold allllll of our organs inside our abdomens – it’s not that we’re fat, it’s that we have organs in there because we’re human beings! Our hips and our thighs help us to do so many things: walk, run, stretch, balance. They are strong and we better start showing them some love!
In the season of New Year’s resolutions it can be so difficult to avoid feeling the pressure to diet your way to a “better you,” and it may seem like everyone else is doing it. But it is important to remember these crazy diet trends are just that – crazy! They are unhealthy and often times harmful to your body, so ignore the ads and live your best life!