It’s summer and there’s this gym down the street from my house that has a sign outside that says, “Get your Beach Body Here,” with a photo of a skinny, busty woman in a bikini. All around the windows in orange letters are words like “Burn Fat” “Burn Calories” and all of the other tired, tragic tropes of fat-phobic diet culture. Every time I pass it, I seriously want to stop and post sticky notes all over it calling out the body-shaming lies. 

But it’s not just gyms perpetuating this skinny-is-better diet culture. It’s my friends. It’s people in my social circle. It’s companies and celebrities and all sorts of well-meaning people that I really love and respect. My newsfeed is littered with before and after shots and comments that imply one message and one message only, “Skinnier is better. To be better, try this diet, it really works.” 

I’m putting “works” in quotation marks. Take note of that word. “Works.” Because, honestly? These weight loss plans don’t “work” the way we think they do.

As mentioned in the podcast, here’s the link to the Harvard Public Health article, “Obesity: Can we stop the epidemic?” It’s a long, but worthy read.

I have some cool new ways to work with me on my website! Check it out and see what’s new at laurajingalls.com

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