It’s that time of year again! The holidays can bring joy and excitement and wonderful holiday food traditions! Unfortunately, often the holidays are also greatly influenced by diet culture. We are back again this year with 12 Tips for #dietfreeholidays. We invite you to follow along and to post on social media using the hashtag #dietfreeholidays to help shift the culture and keep diets out of the holidays this year.
The Grinch
I equate holiday diet culture to the Grinch from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. You may know the story: the Grinch is an unhappy being that systematically steals Christmas from the Whos of Whoville. He dresses up like Santa Claus and jumps down chimneys, stealing presents, decorations, and even Christmas trees.
How Diet Culture Steals the Holidays
When I think about how diet culture has seeped into the holiday season, it feels just like the Grinch. Diet Culture is the Grinch that sneaks into a family gathering and steals the holiday joy and excitement. Diet culture is the Grinch that keeps us from truly connecting with family and friends because we’re focusing on food or weight. Diet culture, the belief that eating a certain way is morally superior to other ways of eating and the idea that certain body types are better than others, has found its way into all aspects of our culture. The holidays are no exception.
The Grinch is:
- Holiday recipe ingredient swaps to make foods “healthier”
- Comments about holiday season weight changes
- Saying you’ve been “bad” when you eat a traditional holiday food
- Comments about what others are eating/not eating at a holiday gathering
- Worry about more desserts being around this time of year
#dietfreeholidays
Over the next 4 weeks, we will be posting about how to NOT let diet culture steal the holidays. Join us on our social media: Facebook and Instagram, where over the coming weeks, we will post 12 tips to keep your holidays diet-free. Follow along with the hashtag #dietfreeholidays. We hope you will also use the hashtag in your posts to help us make the holidays diet-free.
We hope your holiday season isn’t stolen by diet culture. Looking for support? Have you checked out our latest posts?
- Our Holiday Recipes Plus Tips to Navigate the Holidays – This post is packed with our holiday recipes and ideas and tips to stay grounded this holiday season.
- Holiday Gift Guide 2021 – We love sharing our favorite food and kitchen gifts. Check out our latest gift ideas!
More recipes and tips for the holidays
We’re Elizabeth & Anna!
It’s great to have you here. We’re registered dietitians and we share tips to support you in raising kids with a healthy relationship with food.
