When we look around at models, social media and the nutrition information on every meal, what do we see? People are being pressured to fit into tinier bodies because, of course, as Kate Moss once said, “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.”Â
I am two and a half years into recovery for my eating disorder (anorexia), and I wish someone had told me that food was, in fact, better than being skinny and dying, and that fitting into a size double zero was physically impossible for my body’s anatomy. It just will not work.
I am eighteen years old, a growing woman, and at fifteen, I thought that I must be skinny to be accepted into today’s judgmental society. Diet culture is everywhere! Look at your favorite influencer’s branding, your favorite clothing store’s models and your one friend who says that they did not eat breakfast today. Unfortunately, diet culture is likely to worsen from here, and there may not be an effective way to counter it.Â
In January of 2023, I was admitted to a residential facility for eating disorders. It was called The Emily Program. My parents noticed my eating disorder behaviors in early January of that year, though I wish they had seen it earlier. I went to an ED (eating disorder) evaluation appointment that month, and I got hospitalized at Children’s shortly after.
I was not underweight, but it can still be life-threatening; my body was slowly shutting down. I had a high risk of heart failure, and my organs were close to being damaged. My life was on the line, and I was willing to risk it for the price of being skinny. I am so incredibly thankful that my parents noticed when they did; otherwise, I would not be here now to write this story.Â
I was terrified about going into The Emily Program. I had known nobody who had been there for treatment, and the reviews online were not the best. Later, I learned that the reviews were mostly negative due to patients wanting to refuse treatment. My experience with The Emily Program was nothing but positive. I learned how diet culture influenced my eating disorder and how it almost ruined me. It was a difficult two months, but I made it past residential treatment, and I am now in the outpatient stage.Â
With all of these years passing as I am actively in treatment, I have learned a couple of things. There is no set “healthy” for everyone. Everybody has a different body that requires different things, such as different amounts of food, different exercise patterns and different lifestyles. Diet culture is not just “not for everyone”: it is for no one.
No one can be their healthiest and happiest self living in a box of rules set for themselves. No one can be happy when they constantly monitor their BMI (body mass index), which is not even accurate. People need to learn to live their lives free from diet culture, which will always be the brighter side.