Member-only story

Wake Up You're Fat: A Comprehensive Guide to Diet Culture, Weight Loss, and Body Acceptance

Ken Follett

·15.3k Followers· Follow

Published in WAKE UP YOU RE FAT: Weight Loss Motivation For The Not So Sensitive

5 min read

1.5k View Claps

76 Respond

Save

Listen

WAKE UP, YOU'RE FAT: Weight Loss Motivation For The Not So Sensitive

by Erisvaldo Correia

5 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	346 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Screen Reader	:	Supported
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
Word Wise	:	Enabled
Print length	:	12 pages

In her groundbreaking book, Wake Up You're Fat, author and body acceptance activist Elyse Resch challenges the prevailing narrative of diet culture and empowers individuals to embrace body acceptance. With a refreshing blend of humor, compassion, and scientific evidence, Resch exposes the harmful effects of dieting and the weight loss industry, while offering practical guidance for cultivating a healthy relationship with food and body.

Diet Culture: A System of Oppression

Resch argues that diet culture is a pervasive system of oppression that perpetuates unrealistic and harmful beauty standards. Through the lens of critical race theory and fat studies, she demonstrates how diet culture disproportionately impacts marginalized communities, including women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals.

Diet culture promotes the false belief that thinness is the ultimate measure of worth and success. It perpetuates a culture of body shame and discrimination, leading to negative mental health outcomes, such as eating disorders, anxiety, and depression.

The Weight Loss Fallacy

Resch debunks the myth that weight loss is the key to happiness and health. She cites extensive scientific evidence to show that most diets are ineffective and lead to weight regain in the long term. Moreover, weight loss can have severe consequences for physical and mental health, including nutrient deficiencies, hormonal imbalances, and muscle loss.

Instead of focusing on weight loss, Resch advocates for a "Health at Every Size" approach, which emphasizes healthy behaviors and body acceptance regardless of weight. This approach promotes physical activity, nutritious eating, and emotional well-being without the pressure to conform to arbitrary weight standards.

Emotional Eating: Breaking the Cycle

Resch explores the complex relationship between emotional eating and weight gain. She provides practical strategies for identifying emotional triggers and developing coping mechanisms to break the cycle of emotional overeating.

Emotional eating is a common response to stress, anxiety, and other negative emotions. When we eat for emotional reasons, we are not truly satisfying our nutritional needs but rather seeking comfort or a sense of control.

Resch offers a compassionate and evidence-based approach to understanding and overcoming emotional eating. She emphasizes the importance of mindfulness, self-compassion, and seeking support from loved ones or professionals when needed.

Intuitive Eating: Listening to Your Body

At the heart of Resch's philosophy is the practice of intuitive eating. Intuitive eating is an approach to eating that involves listening to your body's hunger and fullness cues and eating when you are truly hungry, stopping when you are satisfied.

Resch provides a detailed guide to intuitive eating, including strategies for overcoming food cravings, managing emotional eating, and developing a positive body image.

Body Acceptance: A Journey of Self-Love

Resch emphasizes that body acceptance is not about condoning unhealthy behaviors but rather about embracing your body as it is, regardless of its size or shape.

Body acceptance is a journey that requires patience, self-compassion, and a willingness to challenge internalized messages about body size.

Resch offers practical tips for cultivating body acceptance, such as practicing body neutrality, using positive self-talk, and surrounding yourself with people who support your journey.

Wake Up You're Fat is a powerful and transformative book that challenges diet culture, promotes weight acceptance, and empowers individuals to find peace with their bodies. Elyse Resch's compassionate and evidence-based approach provides a roadmap for breaking free from the cycle of dieting and embracing a healthy and fulfilling life.

Whether you are struggling with weight loss, emotional eating, or body image issues, Wake Up You're Fat offers a valuable resource for understanding the root causes of these challenges and finding lasting solutions.

WAKE UP, YOU'RE FAT: Weight Loss Motivation For The Not So Sensitive

by Erisvaldo Correia

5 out of 5