Did you know we just had a No Diet Day? Well sorry if you missed it, because apparently that was your one day to get off the diet train and embrace your inner fattie. Rather than focus on the warm embrace—like that of an old sweater or a drunken friend—of banishing self-loathing body images, the world preferred to take a different kind of stance:
Today is International No-Diet Day! Is that why I've inhaled half a roll of Rich Tea Biscuits and Custard Creams? — Epicurious proclaimed.
...food lovers, it's a day to fall off your 'don't even think about it' dietary regimen, and dig in to you heart's content — warbled Marlo Thomas on The Huffington Post.
Forget the scale on No Diet Day — trumpeted The Waterloo News.
Launched by the National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC), No Diet Day aims to “express frustration with societal standards of appearance that pressure us to be thin, often with devastating results," “declare a moratorium on diet/weight obsession,” “increase public awareness of the dangers and futility of dieting,” and “celebrate the beauty and diversity of our natural sizes and shapes."
So why, instead of promoting, oh I don't know, healthy eating and bodily acceptance, did news outlets offer it as an excuse to gorge on custard creams, "fall off the wagon" of your health regimen like some panicked junkie, and generally banish your fat ass-fear for a day before re-committing to a restrictive diet regimen?
Hard to say. It's like a call to Dionysian arms—this kind of coverage plays up a dangerous dichotomy at the heart of our relationship with food: it is either villain or vice, something evil to be avoided or a sinful indulgence to feel guilty about after. The true aim of No Diet Day is to make us rethink this tortured dynamic.
Next year? Let's pinkie swear to respect this noble intent . . . instead of using it to promote the very behavior it seeks to thwart.
Image: ThinkStock
