Is it really about the weight?
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Before you dive into this post, we want to preface it by saying this will not be a post with weight loss tips or suggestions. At Collaborative Counseling and Nutrition, our dietitians and therapists take a weight-inclusive, weight-neutral approach to helping people through eating disorder recovery, disordered eating, and body image struggles. We do not help people with diets or intentional weight loss.
We understand that talking about bodies is a big topic, with a lot of nuances. We aren’t claiming to know all the answers or know what works best for your body and your life. Instead, our aim with this post is to provide insights that get you thinking critically about the role of (intentional) weight loss and its impact on your physical, mental, and emotional health.
We cannot have a conversation about weight loss and bodies without acknowledging the harm done to people living in disabled bodies, LGBTQIA+ bodies, and non-white bodies by racism, capitalism, fatphobia, and the gender binary. Diet culture is built on and rooted in white supremacy and anti-blackness (a topic for another blog post). It favors and provides privileges for people living in small, thin bodies - which might be one of the reasons you want to change your body size! Having thin, skin color, or able-bodied privilege does not negate your experience. It’s important to acknowledge that the experiences of people with marginalized identities are different and valid as well. When we talk about body image and body liberation, we believe in body liberation for all bodies.
We understand why you might want to lose weight.
First, we want to validate your desire to lose weight. We understand (to a degree, of course, since we don’t know you personally) why you want to lose weight. And you aren’t alone in this desire. Maybe you lost weight in the past and felt a lot of benefits. More energy? Clothes fitting better? Compliments on compliments on compliments? The pursuit of intentional weight loss and/or dieting can make us feel seen, accepted, and safe. Negative body comments can be turned into compliments. A smaller body can bring the validation you have been craving for years. There might be very valid reasons why you want to lose weight from wanting to fit in to perhaps feeling safer and more in control.
We get it. We understand why weight loss can be so desirable. But why is weight loss seen as the ‘cure-all’?
Diet Culture
It’s crucial to recognize the significant role our culture's obsession with thinness and dieting plays in how we feel about our bodies. On a daily basis, we receive messages about which bodies are good and which bodies are not. We correlate our body size with our worth. We assume we are not good enough if we do not inhabit a body that is acceptable by society’s unattainable and unrealistic standards. We feel like failures when dieting and weight loss attempts do not elicit the results we want.
For the most part, in our culture, if your body is smaller, you benefit. If your body is smaller, you are worthy. If your body is smaller, you are healthy.
Healthism & Social Determinants of Health
Healthism “is the preoccupation with personal health as a primary - often the primary - focus for the definition and achievement of well-being; a goal which is to be attained primarily through the modification of life styles, with or without therapeutic help [2].”
Because of the messages we receive, we often assume that being thin means someone is healthy or good. We want to debunk that myth. It’s impossible to know the health of a person based on their body size. Plus, body size isn’t the best indicator of health, regardless of what our culture tells us.
Social determinants of health play a bigger role than weight loss alone. These are conditions in the environment that affect health, functioning, and quality of life outcomes and risks [3].
Social determinants of health account for more than 89% of health outcomes [1].
According to the CDC, the social determinants of health can be broken up into 5 main domains including education, social/community, economic stability, healthcare, and environment. Within these domains, consider the role racism, fatphobia, weight stigma, and capitalism all play in our day-to-day functioning and stress levels. Consider the role of education, income level, and access to food and water when it comes to health. Our culture likes to tell us that we are the sole determinants of our health, but the reality is that some things are out of our control.
Clara over at yourdietitianbff created a very detailed and helpful graphic with Dalina of you.latina.nutritionist about healthism and social determinants of health. Take a look here.
As you consider a weight loss goal, we encourage you to think about it in the context of your life.
Do you have time to meal prep every week?
What happens if you miss a workout due to illness, stress, or a work conflict?
How will you feel missing out on a friend's dinner because the restaurant doesn’t have enough options to fit your diet plan?
How much energy, brain space, and time does dieting or the pursuit of weight loss take up in your life? Is it worth it?
Do diets actually work?
You might have seen the statistic that diets have a failure rate of 95%. In fact, long-term dieting can actually promote weight gain, with studies showing that up to 2/3 of people gain more weight than they initially lost [4]. Dieting decreases metabolism while increasing binging and purging [4]. Chronic dieting teaches the body to retain more fat when you stop restricting [4]. Diets are linked to eating disorders. Dieting is correlated with feelings of failure, lowered self-esteem, and social anxiety, and it can erode self-confidence and self-trust [4].
Interestingly, dieting promises increased self-confidence and esteem, yet it actually has the opposite effect. Dieting focuses on the external, changing your lifestyle, eating preferences, drink choices, workout regimens, and more. Focusing on changing external factors often feels infinitely easier and more accessible than it is to dig deep and figuring out our true motivations for wanting to shed weight.
Is it really about the weight?
This is a question we often ask our clients: “Is it really about the weight?” We’ve found that it’s often not just about the weight, but rather what we think losing weight will bring. As we just mentioned, we know doing deep, internal work is difficult. Whether you are ready to dive into these questions with your therapist or you want to save them for another time, here are some questions to consider:
Is it really about the weight? What are you actually hoping to gain or lose or shift?
What would losing weight mean for you? Positives? Negatives?
What sacrifices or life changes will need to happen if you pursue weight loss? How long would those changes need to be in effect? Is that something you’re willing to see through?
Has focusing on intentional weight loss ever helped you live a fuller life? If so, how?
More to come
Now, we have a lot to say about body image, weight loss, weight stigma, and more, so get ready for more blog posts diving into these topics. Our hope is that this post gets you thinking. If you’re ready to ditch dieting and dig deeper, our team of dietitians and therapists is here to help! If you aren’t ready yet, that’s okay. We will be here when you’re ready!
What questions do you have for us? How has this topic impacted you? What do you want to learn more about in upcoming posts?
Sources used:
[1] Choi, E., & Sonin, J. (2017, August). Determinants of Health Visualized. goinvo. Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://www.goinvo.com/vision/determinants-of-health/
[2] Crawford, R. (1980). Healthism and the Medicalization of Everyday Life. International Journal of Health and Human Services, 10(3), 368. https://www-jstor-org.proxy.ulib.uits.iu.edu/stable/pdf/45130677.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3Afd25272fbda768960a7246d7d744fc5f&ab_segments=&origin=&acceptTC=1
[3] Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (n.d.). Social Determinants of Health - Healthy People 2030 | health.gov. U.S. Department of Health And Human Services. Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/social-determinants-health
[4] Tribole, E., & Resch, E. (2020, June 23). Intuitive Eating, 4th Edition (Updated). St. Martin’s Essentials. pp. 29, 72-74
Collaborative Counseling & Nutrition is an outpatient nutrition and body image counseling center, with locations in Indianapolis and Carmel, that provides compassionate, holistic eating disorder treatment. Through practicing mindfulness, intuition, and Health At Every Size, we are on a mission to help you find a true state of well-being! We take an anti-diet, weight-inclusive approach with all our clients and work to help guide you towards a way of healthy living designed by you, just for you! This post is for education purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for treatment for an eating disorder. If you are looking for a registered dietitian or therapist to assist you on your recovery journey, please reach out today!
