Tag: diet culture
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The power of neutral food language
Health professionals have the power to either plant the seed of change, or to reinforce diet culture, with the language they use around food Have you ever caught yourself saying something about food and then low-key regretted it straight away? Maybe you said that chips were your “guilty pleasure”, or that you’d “earned” that slice…
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Disordered eating signs no one taught us
Dietitians, nutritionists and health coaches often get zero training on disordered eating, so not knowing the red flags is actually normal When I was studying, I was told that disordered eating was a specialty and if I wanted to learn more about it, I would have to pursue that myself after I graduated. Considering it…
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3 hidden ways diet culture shows up in your practice (and what to do about it)
Diet culture is more weighing clients. Dietitian Lucy Carey reveals the subtle ways diet culture may be lurking in your practice. “Most of the people you’ll see in the clinic will be coming for weight loss,” the tutor told us. We swarmed around him, our new Student Dietitian badges shining with naivety. “We’ll go over…
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We don’t need junk food… Except we do
It’s usually not feasible to eliminate junk food entirely from our lives, so it’s important that we learn HOW to eat it. “Something weird happened at school today.” My 5-year-old didn’t look upset, he just had the usual pensive expression he wore as he mulled over all the new things he was encountering since starting…
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You don’t earn food with exercise
Do you need to do burpees for every fry you consume? Dietitian Lucy Carey explains why you should not earn your food with exercise. We called it the ‘Exercise Park’. It was just a big field with a playground and some exercise machines. I don’t know if this is like, a Kiwi thing perhaps? But…
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What NOT to bring to Christmas dinner
Comments about what someone is eating, or their body size and shape, are sadly common over Christmas dinner, but never appropriate. “You actually want some? I didn’t think you’d eat anything so unhealthy!” “It’s so good to see you tucking in.” “Go on, have some more. You need fattening up.” These are all things that…
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No big deal
One of the most powerful reminders that diet culture has affected you, is witnessing an unaffected child select their food. “What do you want, darling? We could get popcorn, Malteasers, chippies… We could get it all! Anything you want, you choose.” I was so excited. This teacher-only day was a special day together for my…