05/05/2022
Using food to cope with stress started when I was very young, however diet culture also started creeping into my life when I was very young too.
I was not a slim, skinny little girl, and my Cuban family was not discreet about letting me know it either.
It was pointed out, publicly many times during big family gatherings like birthdays, holidays and weddings.
Sometimes I feel like my social anxieties and fear of public speaking stems from this particular childhood experience.
I always knew my weight would be pointed out. Either I lost weight and was praised for looking skinnier, or I gained weight and had to hear it in front of everyone else.
Finding my identity was a struggle when for so long I thought my value was determined by my body size.
I used to think my self esteem issues came from being fat, but now I realize it’s from the adults in my life making me feel it wasn’t ok to be the way I was.
When I stepped away from dieting and focused on accepting myself the way I was, I was able to make food choices freely.
Focusing on feeling good within my skin, mentally and physically, through choices and actions based off of self care, has helped me understand my worth and value as I am.
Now when I go to family gatherings I have to hear about how skinny I am, and it makes me so angry because I’ve come to realize, that diet culture has influenced my culture in such a way, that when my family sees me, all they see is my body size.
How has diet culture affected your culture?
**kdietculture