Diets Don’t Work

Diets Don’t Work Let’s take down diets and diet culture

with ⁣..⁣Self-care isn’t always chocolate cake and bubble baths. Sometimes, true self-care is just… hard. 🛁🍰 With so...
04/24/2026

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Self-care isn’t always chocolate cake and bubble baths. Sometimes, true self-care is just… hard. 🛁🍰

With so much uncertainty in the world right now, taking care of yourself is more important than ever. But when you’re already stressed, rattled, or anxious, making choices that honor your physical and mental health can feel exhausting.

If you're struggling right now, here is some gentle advice on how to nourish yourself when life feels heavy:

🍲 Show compassion with food: If you need comfort from food right now, give yourself some grace. But if you're frequently using takeout or a bowl of popcorn as a daily band-aid, try to find gentle ways to support your well-being, like batch-cooking when you have energy or keeping a few easy, nutritious meals in your repertoire.

💤 Protect your sleep: Staying up late to binge a show might feel like a great distraction, but losing sleep throws off everything else—including your nutrition, movement, and stress management. Try to stick to a consistent sleep schedule!

📱 Set media boundaries: Constant news-checking and doom-scrolling feed anxiety. Remember, it’s okay to step away from the 24/7 news cycle and social media if it's making your anxiety rise.

If you don't know where to start, start with self-compassion. Place your hand on your heart, take a deep breath, and say: “This feels hard.” Then ask yourself: “What do I need to feel a bit better right now?” ❤️

Remember: self-care is NOT selfish. When we take care of ourselves, we can show up more effectively in the world. It helps us feel better, be better, and do better. ✨

What is one thing on your personalized self-care list? Let me know in the comments! 👇🏻



with ⁣..⁣Coping skills make so much sense on paper.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀You can list them.You’ve talked about them in therapy.You...
04/23/2026

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Coping skills make so much sense on paper.
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You can list them.
You’ve talked about them in therapy.
You’ve saved the posts.
You know what helps.
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But then in the moment , when you’re activated, flooded, and spiraling…your mind goes blank and the tools feel impossible to access.
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That’s not a personal failure.
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When our nervous system is in survival mode, our thinking brain goes offline. The part of us that can reflect, choose, and remember what “works” gets drowned out by the primal part that just wants to protect us.
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So if you’ve ever thought:
“Why can’t I just use the tools I have?”
“What’s wrong with me?”
“I should be better at this by now…”
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Nothing is wrong with you.
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Your body is doing exactly what bodies are wired to do under stress.
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This is why nervous system regulation matters.
Not as another thing to be “good” at.
But as the foundation that makes coping skills accessible in the first place.
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Start smaller than you think.
Take one breath to create space in a heated moment.
Ground yourself in the present by washing your hands or naming 3 things in the room before you problem-solve.
Practice when you’re calm, not just when you’re in crisis.
Use the tools on ordinary Tuesday stress, not only the big meltdowns.
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Over time, it really does get easier.
It’s a lot like building a muscle, the more you use it, the more available it becomes.
Less effortful.
More like an instinct.
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If coping has felt hard lately, this is your reminder:
It’s not about willpower.
It’s about the state of your nervous system.
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What helps your nervous system settle, even a little? Tell me in the comments 💭💛

.ed.project with ⁣..⁣Your brain isn’t measuring your intentions, it’s responding to whether your body is getting enoug...
04/23/2026

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Your brain isn’t measuring your intentions, it’s responding to whether your body is getting enough. When your body feels deprived everything gets louder because your body is trying to protect you!!
Recovery looks like working with your biology and consistently giving your body enough energy and care!!

with ⁣..⁣Signs you might be stuck in diet culture👇🏻🥑 Distrusting hunger cuesYears of dieting teach us to distrust our...
04/23/2026

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Signs you might be stuck in diet culture👇🏻

🥑 Distrusting hunger cues

Years of dieting teach us to distrust our hunger, to wait until a certain time, drink water instead, or “earn” food with activity. This disconnect weakens your ability to sense and respond to hunger.

🥑 Moralizing foods

Labeling foods as “good,” “bad,” “clean,” or “junk” creates unnecessary guilt and shame. These labels reinforce the idea that eating certain foods makes you virtuous or “bad.”

🥑 Restricting before events or meals out

Skipping meals to “save up” for a special occasion is a form of dietary restraint. Studies show that restrained eaters are more likely to overeat later once the restriction breaks.*

*see recommended article for references

🥑 Weighing yourself regularly

If your mood depends on the number on the scale, diet culture still has a grip on you. Frequent weighing is linked to lower body satisfaction and increased disordered eating, especially among women.*

*see recommended article for references

🥑 Comparing your body to others

Diet culture thrives on comparison. It’s good at convincing you that your worth depends on how your body measures up. Social media intensifies this pressure.

🥑 Equating health with weight

Diet culture convinces us that health can be measured by size alone. However, research shows that people in larger bodies can improve metabolic health through behaviors alone.*

*see recommended article for references

🥑 Exercising out of guilt

Exercise shouldn’t be punishment for eating or a way to “earn” rest or food. This guilt-driven approach can lead to compulsive exercise, which research links to higher rates of eating disorder symptoms.*

*see recommended article for references

🥑 Fear of fullness

Diet culture equates fullness with failure, as if eating until satisfied means you’ve lost control. But fullness is a biological signal that your body has received enough fuel.

Interested in learning how to break free? Keep an eye out for my next post!

with ⁣..⁣Take 2 minutes to reset your social media to limit unnecessary ads.
04/23/2026

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Take 2 minutes to reset your social media to limit unnecessary ads.

.dietitian with ⁣..⁣Eating disorders are very often number crunchers.Tallying calories to stay below a certain amount....
04/22/2026

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Eating disorders are very often number crunchers.

Tallying calories to stay below a certain amount.
Fixation on being a certain weight.
Counting carbohydrates so you make sure you "don't go over."
Being hyperfocused on workout stats that are disordered.

There are so many ways that eating disorders covertly take over your brain.
Swipe through to learn how to manage this.



with ⁣..⁣Men are still being left out of conversations about eating disorders. Too often, men are being praised for t...
04/22/2026

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Men are still being left out of conversations about eating disorders. Too often, men are being praised for the very behaviors that might be seen as red flags if they presented in women. Assumptions about who eating disorders affect prevent too many people from getting the care they need. In most recent article for , she shares the under-recognized warning signs of disordered eating and questions to ask young men about body image and exercise.

with ⁣..⁣Misinformation is false or misleading information that’s shared without the intent to cause harm, but isn’t ...
04/22/2026

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Misinformation is false or misleading information that’s shared without the intent to cause harm, but isn’t accurate nonetheless. Disinformation is false information that’s created or spread on purpose to intentionally mislead.

Nutrition misinformation/disinformation is everywhere online, so here are some red flags to watch for:
- Fear-based messaging
- One-size-fits-all advice (nutrition is never that simple)
- Promises of “magic cures” or “quick fixes”
- Personal anecdotes used in place of real evidence
- Overly restrictive or all-or-nothing rules
- Someone is trying to sell you a product or program
- Advice not coming from a qualified nutrition expert (like an RD)

Misleading nutrition information not only leads to confusion and self-doubt, but it can be harmful. So many of our clients at F2F, tell us they feel confused and that they see so much conflicting information online. Misinformation and disinformation may lead people down a road of obsessive food thoughts, development of food fear, unnecessary food restrictions, disordered eating, and nutrient deficiency to name a few. Don’t hesitate to meet with a Registered Dietitian who is regulated and must follow important standards of care set out to protect the public.

with ⁣..⁣I don't know who needs to hear this, but you deserve a peaceful, mindful relationship with food & your body....
04/21/2026

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I don't know who needs to hear this, but you deserve a peaceful, mindful relationship with food & your body. 💚✨

with ⁣..⁣Let’s give ourselves a little grace and a fresh perspective, it can help 💗
04/21/2026

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Let’s give ourselves a little grace and a fresh perspective, it can help 💗

with ⁣..⁣While we are big fans of doing mindset work that involves tools like learning self-compassion and challengin...
04/21/2026

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While we are big fans of doing mindset work that involves tools like learning self-compassion and challenging beliefs, it’s only one piece of the puzzle.
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We are swimming in the waters of an anti-fat culture and exclusively using mindset work puts the onus on the individual to tolerate or positively think their way out of discrimination.
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Let’s use mindset work AND let’s help our clients recognize the influence of the culture on how they feel to see that they are not broken.
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with ⁣..⁣See how this works? We have to be more honest about what's really happening. People in fat and large bodies ...
04/20/2026

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See how this works?

We have to be more honest about what's really happening. People in fat and large bodies are mistreated in medical settings.

They are not believed.

Their concerns are dismissed.

Their symptoms are blamed on their weight/body size.

They are told to "lose weight" for most medical complaints.

They are shamed for their size.

They are humiliated because of their weight (gain).

If this was your experience in a medical setting, how often would you go to the doctor?

We have to stop pretending that harsh treatment by medical providers has zero impact on the overall health, wellness and longevity of fat and large bodied people.

Let's all do better and let's hold other medical professionals accountable.

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