Friday Subscriber Discussion - All The People
Happy Friday Subscribers and, as always, I’m so thankful for your support of the newsletter. Last Friday we talked about diet ads. Today I thought we’d talk about people - family, friends, co-workers etc. - at the holidays. NAAFA was kind enough to ask me to write a piece about dealing with weight stigma and diet culture at the holidays (or, anytime, really) and you can find it here if you would like. So what about you - do you find that you have to deal with weight stigma and diet culture nonsense at the holiday? What strategies have you found work for you?
Go forth and discuss…
So, as I’m adding small spoonfuls of the various side dishes at the holiday pot luck (wanting to at least taste some of the amazing dishes my friends have brought), the super skinny office gossip comes up behind to say out loud “oh I wish I could try some of those dishes, but I’ll have to workout all weekend if I eat all that!” Just to be sure that everyone’s attention is focused on the contents of my plate.
Yet, if one were to be somewhat interested and followed her around, one would see her continually pop portions of the all the desserts in her mouth as she walked around. Sort of like she thought if you don’t put the desserts on a plate, they don’t count as food?
Why does anyone think it is their business to publicly comment on what anyone else is eating?
I hate that sometimes I catch myself saying “oh I can’t grab a slice of pizza (or whatever) because then these people will think I eat like this all the time”. Why shouldn’t I be allowed to enjoy a holiday treat if an opportunity comes across? Why should I be made to feel that I have to hide my perfectly normal and reasonable eating from the eyes of those around me? It happens all year to some extent, but the holidays are worse.
I usually say "the world is on fire so I'm gonna enjoy my life."