How to Navigate Diet Talk

Have you ever been in a social setting where there is incessant talk of food plans and diets? Where individuals make comments about their bodies or your own, even if they were not prompted in anyway to do so?

I would gladly go out on a limb and say most of us unfortunately have experienced this. This can feel especially exaggerated over the holiday seasons. Given this is so incessant in social situations in our culture or even treated as an appropriate greeting from some, it can bring about a lot of fear for individuals who are working towards removing emphasis from their body appearance and shifting away from a diet mentality. Additionally, it can be very triggering for those entrenched in diet thoughts or in eating disorder recovery. Rather than be fearful and avoid social situations, it can be helpful to equip ourselves with tools to navigate ‘diet talk.’ These boundary-setting ideas will help shift the conversation back into your control and can empower you to be “the boss of your own body.”

1.     EDUCATE

• Knowledge is power – if you educate others about why diets don’t actually work this may shift their mindsets. This may sound like “Did you know 95% of diets don’t work?” Or "I learned recently in a class I’m taking that "2/3 of people end up gaining more weight than they were pre-weight loss. Did you know that?”

2.     CHANGE THE SUBJECT

• If educating makes you feel uncomfortable at this point in time, you can always try the old, let’s just change the subject. Typically others will follow right along and not even notice that the conversation has shifted. This may sound like “I’d rather talk about something else. Have you watched that new show on Netflix recently? What do you think of it?”

3.     WALK AWAY

• If you have tried one strategy and it hasn’t seemed to work, you can always create a clear boundary and leave the conversation you’re in. You have the ability to remove yourself if the conversation is feeling more harmful for you than helpful. This may sound like, “Gotta go to the bathroom!”

4.     BE VULNERABLE AND SHARE YOUR TRUTH

• If you’re feeling up for it and trust that the information will be received well from the company you’re in, you can try sharing a bit about your story. Vulnerability can be very impactful and may actually shed light on others’ challenges as well. This may sound like “Hey, I’m actually working through a lot of my own pain with my eating disorder right now. When we talk about diets it is really triggering and stressful for me. Would you mind if we talked about something else? It would mean a lot to me.”

5.     BE BOLD AND SHUT ‘EM DOWN

• If you’re feeling bold in the moment, you can be also be very clear and to the point. This may sound like “Please don’t comment about my body.”

Interested in diving deeper into intuitive eating and making peace with food?

Schedule your complimentary discovery call today! You’ll work 1-on-1 with Tory to heal your relationship with food, navigate diet talk that you may be experiencing, improve your body image, and rediscover the “fun” in eating again.