The problem with anti-diet

No one person or movement is above critique. I identify with the anti-diet world, but at the same time, I also have personal issues with it.

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I have frustrations with the anti-diet world. Actually, let me back track, I first and foremost have serious frustrations with diet culture, which has its roots in white supremacy, which then branched out to misogyny, healthism, capitalism, and elitism. I have and currently do write about my frustrations with diet culture because of the obvious harm that it causes.

Listen, eating disorders, disordered eating, and orthorexia are nothing to dismiss, as there can be serious physical and mental repercussions. So yes, it’s always important to talk about this and to get people to divest from the grasp that diet culture can have. However, and I mean HOWEVER, it is frustrating when I see certain posts from anti-diet dietitans because I feel as though I see the same black and white binary thinking that we associate with those who criticize the anti-diet movement. In some ways, there is a certain laissez-faire attitude when it comes to eating, when I see posts about intuitive eating or being anti-diet.

“Splitting” is a defense mechanism in which people unconsciously frame ideas, individuals, or groups in all-or-nothing terms (e.g., all-good vs. all-bad or all-powerful vs. 100% powerless). - Andrew Hartz, psychologist

Nuance will always be the name of the game.

My personal gripes

I want to be 100% clear that my critiques are mine alone and personal opinion. I am very friendly with and have the utmost respect for my fellow colleagues in this field because their approach works for some people, and that’s great. I am also a dietitian who uses the term “nondiet” myself, as I don’t subscribe to the unnecessary restriction mentality, which is really the pursuit of thinness, not health, as often stated. I am also a firm believer that a variety of foods can fit within your lifestyle, and it’s normal for us as humans to want variety in our eating patterns and also want to eat foods that taste good. I always say that the only foods that you need to avoid are the ones that you are allergic to (obviously), the ones for medical reasons (super general, and nuance is required here), the ones you don’t like to eat (no need to torture yourself), and the ones that are unseasoned (umm food should taste good.) However, I realize that even when saying this, many ideas and words can get lost in translation and contorted.

It’s annoying because “Eat the foods you like” will somehow get translated and misinterpreted into “Eat whatever you want.” “All foods can provide a benefit in some capacity” has been translated and misinterpreted into “Eat gallons upon gallons of ice cream at your heart’s desire.” All of this is because social media is like one large game of telephone, and when one person says something, that message gets misinterpreted down the line. Basically, the anti-diet or non-diet movement has gotten a reputation for promoting unhealthiness and not caring about health.

What I am about to say might sound shocking, but while it’s annoying to get messages misinterpreted, it can also be understandable. Now, just hear me out for a second, some people might indeed be confused and turned off, even by the non-diet messaging. I’m not talking about the trolls who are hellbent on making anyone’s life miserable. I am not talking about the gym bros, gals, and influencers who are profiting off of diet culture. I am speaking of people who are genuinely seeking information and get a bit turned off by the messaging. Believe it or not, there might be reasons why.

Where messaging can go wrong

Even in the anti-diet world, we can also have very binary ways of thinking, where we think in black and white only and have zero regard for any gray area. In other words, we disregard nuance and individual circumstances. Nope, it’s not as easy as “Just eat