but also to that of those around you. I didn’t just learn that thinness was the ultimate aspiration from magazines and the TV when I was growing up – the message also came from those around me, as of course they too had been negatively impacted by diet culture. Diet culture has a ripple effect and its impact stretches far and wide.
We’ve all heard it: ‘No thanks, I’m being good today,’ while turning down a piece of cake. ‘I’m being so bad,’ while eating a doughnut. A phrase I heard when I was beginning my recovery from my binge eating disorder always stuck with me: ‘When you deprive, it thrives.’ This simple, five-word phrase unlocked something I could never understand: I wanted so badly to stay away from things like cakes and biscuits and crisps – why did I always end up gorging on them? Because they were my ‘off-limits’ foods and being so aware of the fact that they were off-limits made me crave them until I could no longer resist.