Diet culture is a system of beliefs that worships thinness, attaches health to moral virtue, promotes weight loss as a way to attract higher social status, demonizes certain ways of eating while elevating others, and oppresses people that don’t match the supposed picture of health. The thing about diet culture is you don’t have to be someone that goes on diets to be caught up in it.

In fact, I’ve worked with tons of women who wouldn’t describe themselves as “dieters” but as we dug into their relationship with food we uncovered that their thoughts around food and their body were veryyyyyy much like a diet. They felt that certain foods were “good” and others were “bad”. They found themselves using exercise to “make up” for the foods that they ate. These are sneaky ways diet culture gets into your mindset around food and your body.

You may have found on your fertility journey that there are loadsssss of diet recommendations. Some come right out and say they are a diet, for example the keto diet or low carb diet which is often seen promoted as good for fertility (this isn’t true by the way!). Others aren’t so cut and dry, like clean eating and cutting back on processed foods or sugar. This style is just like diet culture— or wellness culture. Anything that involves labeling foods as “good” or “bad” or eliminating certain foods or food groups is a diet plain and simple.

You might be wondering— well what’s the big deal? The big deal is that creating this relationship with food sets you up to 1) feel guilty when you break the “rules” and 2) overeat. Which leads to this ⤵

After scouring the internet for fertility diets and seeing allllll the recommendations you’ve probably found yourself out to eat with your friends sippin’ on a margarita enjoying chips and guac when all of the sudden the guilt sets in. Is this harming my eggs? Is this going to prevent me from getting pregnant this month?

I know the feeling all too well. But the good news is you don’t have to continue on your fertility journey like this. You can change your mindset around food by healing your relationship with food so you can enjoy that marg without guilt WHILE TTC. You want to know the best part? Healing your relationship with food is a skill that will last you a lifetime. So when that morning sickness FINALLLYYYY rolls into town you won’t feel guilty for going weeks without eating a veggie and only being able to tolerate saltine crackers.

If you’ve been reading this and you aren’t totally sure if your relationship with food could use a little TLC, have no fear, I’ve got you. I’m going to walk you through three tell tale signs that it may be time to work on your relationship with food. ⤵

1. You label foods as “good” vs. “bad” or “healthy” vs. “unhealthy”. This may have stemmed from past diets that told you certain foods were better than others by labeling them with less points or different colors. Or maybe you heard about it on the news, a commercial, a blog post, an Instagram post, or another dietitian. Friends, diet culture is EVERYWHERE.

2. You find yourself feeling concerned over whether or not you should eat something and if it will harm your fertility. When you’ve read several books and scoured the internet you’ve probably come up with one source that says to “not eat dairy” while another that says to “eat full fat dairy”. Chances are this left you feeling confused and frustrated. How the heck are you even supposed to know what is really TRUE!

3. When you give yourself the “freedom” to enjoy your favorite Starbucks latte you are riddled with guilt.

Any of these hit home for you? If so, I have good news!

These are all just your MINDSET around food. Which means you can SHIFT your mindset to remove those labels, worry, and guilt. Working on shifting your mindset is just like clearing a new path in the woods. Think of your current mindset around food as a well groomed path. When we shift your mindset around food we are creating a new path. There are grass, brush, and trees in the way. We have to work on grooming the path in order to get the new mindset to be an easier path to follow.

Taking the time to do this now while you are on your fertility journey is the PERFECT time. Creating a healthy relationship with food decreases your stress levels so you can focus on nourishing your fertility with confidence and ease. Imagine walking up to the winery with your three best girlfriends, hoping up to the tasting bar and trying your favorite sweet wine with freedom and ease. Ultimately, being able to enjoy these simple things while TTC is what you really want, isn’t it?

💜 Susan

Resources: Anti-Diet by Christy Harrison