I'm not anti-diet because diets don't work.
I'm not anti-diet because they're a waste of time, money, and life energy.
Yes, all of those things are true. But there's something deeper that I've been exploring over the past year:
I'm critical of diet culture because I think it does incredible harm to us individually and collectively.
In late November I started a new job and there's a beautiful gym facility right on campus. I joined on my first day because I was thrilled for the opportunity to get back to working out consistently after having a not-so-regular routine for 2+ years.
I had BIG plans to get up early, be at the gym by 5:30am, do my thing, then get showered and dressed in enough time to be at my desk and sipping coffee by 8:00. This would happen 3 to 4 times a week.
It was perfect.
Letting go of dieting is a huge risk. It's like going into the great unknown.
Even though you can see dieting for the mindless, life-sucking ploy it is, it's still very familiar.
You pretty much know what's going to happen: a lot of sacrifice, some weight loss, a few compliments, followed shortly by falling off the wagon, the weight comes back, and then you hate yourself.
And the cycle just repeats over and over again.