navigating the anti-diet movement

You are all probably pretty familiar with the Anti-Diet Movement - a movement of nutrition and wellness professionals who endorse concepts like Food Freedom and Intuitive Eating in order to unravel the strong hold that diets (those marketed to us that promise quick and easy weight loss) have on our society.

I am a dance nutritionist who encourages overarching concepts from All Foods Fit, Anti-Diet, and Intuitive Eating that I find helps dancers with their food and nutrition the most. I have found that becoming polarized in any of these directions can cause more harm than benefit and it's pretty easy to fall into this trap. I imagine it’s something that many of the nutrition professionals mentioned in this article have fallen into, are currently navigating, or wondering how they got where they are. I’m certainly not judging or condemning these professionals. They know they’re stuff when it comes to nutrition + wellness - it’s just that sometimes the promise of profits can cloud our judgment or cause us to stray too far in one direction even when misaligned from our core beliefs. 

When something doesn’t sound quite right or nutrition “truths” are being pushed in one direction then suddenly another (like how eggs are constantly ‘good for you’ and then ‘bad for you’ the next week). There’s also this that we’re dealing with when it comes to advertising foods for the sake of health. 

When I'm confused by something or questioning a person's statement or endorsement of a product, I ask myself: Who financially benefits? 

Usually, it's a pretty simple question to get to the bottom of, and it almost always has to do with who gets paid or where money is coming from. There’s also a long history of Big Food influencing politics, legislation, and more (like the USDA food guidelines) in the US. That’s a WHOLE big fish to fry.

Instead, over the next few weeks, I’ll be exploring and defining aspects and concepts within the Anti-Diet Movement and offer my thoughts and opinions on what’s helpful and beneficial for our health and wellbeing moving forward - no endorsements included.

Have questions? 👇 Drop them below and I’ll consider while writing these upcoming posts!