3 Diet Culture Myths That Will Surprise You

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Episode 45.

You are Being Lied To

I hate to say it, but it’s happening early and often. To all of us.

When I’m not getting angry about it, it’s sort of fascinating.

We actually have a pretty good sense of what constitutes evidence-based nutrition.

But the diet and weight loss industry needs to complicate it so that we are reliant on their products. Their business model is designed to create repeat customers, not help us. They want to confuse us and convince us that some great plan is around the corner to save us from our misery.

Having us obsess about weight loss and our body size is a great way to do that.

When really, they want to hide the fact that it’s diet culture and the internalized notion that thinness equals health that makes us feel bad and sometimes quite sick.

Today’s episode includes:

• My personal diet culture gaslighting story and how it kept me away from finding an eating pattern that worked for me for years
• 3 diet culture myths that will surprise you
• What you actually should focus on doing
• New free resource! 7 Satisfying Snacks You’ll Actually Want to Eat

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Are You New Here?

Welcome! I’m so glad to have you. You might be wondering what this blog and podcast are all about.

We relate everything in this podcast back to motivation, but not the hustle and grind kind. Truly sustainable motivation that keeps you feeling energetic and engaged in your life for the long haul. We talk about why “I’m just not motivated” is a myth, and why the TYPE of motivation you have is so important to fully understand. If you are ready to learn about motivation and respecting your body in an effective way so that you can live a life you truly love, you are in the right place.

Check out the Foundational Episodes of the Motivation Made Easy Podcast here!

• Introduction: What is this podcast all about?
• Episode 1: Want to Get & Stay Motivated? A Crash Course on Motivation, Weight Loss, and Health
• Episode 2: How Dieting Steals Our Motivation
• Episode 3: How To Get Motivated To Improve Your Health (Motivation 101)
• Episode 4: How to Transform Health Fears Into Forward Progress

Do you ever worry that you are wasting your life?

I definitely did. In fact, I wrote that in my journal many years ago when I was in the middle of the diet-binge roller coaster ride.

• I woke up every day thinking about food, my body, and what I would eat that day to “be healthy”
• The notebooks I had filled with calories and points could fill up a spare bedroom
• Social events and vacations immediately prompted the thought “they will notice I gained weight” or “I need to lose weight by then”
• Deep down I knew I wasn’t living life the way I wanted to, but I didn’t know how to pull myself out of it.

If this is you, I want you to imagine what it would feel like to feel empowered in your body and proud of your choices on a consistent basis. I promise you, it isn’t too late.

Dieting steals our motivation. It makes us ineffective. It keeps us spinning our wheels in a system that was never built to work.

If you are ready take the first step to motivating yourself with what matters to you, download my free Create Powerful Motivation guide (which is quite beautifully designed if I do say so myself), and walk through the 3 simple steps to create motivation that works for YOU in 15 minutes or less. You will get a simple formula to write ONE SENTENCE you can use to motivate yourself on a daily basis.

You can write it on your bathroom mirror, put on the background of your phone, or just read it and repeat it in your mind.

Look, I know how much it hurts to live a life worrying you are missing out, not stepping into the person you were truly meant to be, vibrant, passionate, curious, vulnerable, and brave.

You can listen to the podcast all day, but taking that first step, putting pen the paper (or typing on your phone) is required for true lasing change. It’s time to start living my friend.

It’s 100% free, so what are you waiting for? Grab your free copy of the guide today at DrHondorp.com/Motivate 

My Diet Culture Gaslighting Journey

I’ve actually always had a preference for more plant-forward eating. When I was a freshman in college and I found out I had high cholesterol (like super high) and triglycerides, I was literally excited. “Maybe now I’ll be motivated to be healthier.” <enter deep sigh>

Long story short, for all the reasons we talk about on this podcast about external shame-based motivation, it didn’t.

However, I did find books about plant based nutrition and reversal of heart disease. One in particularly I recall was by Dr. Dean Ornish. What’s fascinating is that although the exact program was way too strict for what I wanted or needed, I eat a somewhat similar diet now: mostly plant foods. And yet it took me MANY years and then finally working in a Preventive Cardiology clinic to get back to the diet or eating pattern that worked best for my body.

Instead, due to the immense power of diet culture, I got funneled down the weight loss industry track instead. Although the first attempt at Weight Watchers did “work” and had me eating a fairly balanced diet, I cannot say the same for many other attempts. Jenny Craig? Slimfast? Yuck.

Even with Weight Watchers, I still had the mindset of I “should” be eating a dinner of a grilled chicken breast, steamed veggies, and maybe some plain brown rice.

The rules I followed:

• Don’t eat too much pasta and carbs, they have a lot of caloreis
• “Everything in moderation”
• Make sure to have protein at every meal and snack

The Answer Was Actually Simple

By the time I learned about the true science of plant-based eating, it was many years later. I was working in a Preventive Cardiology clinic and my sole motivation had zero to do with weight loss, and everything to do with honoring my body, but honestly, mostly taking care of my family.

3 Diet Culture Myths That Will Surprise You

Myth #1: “It’s all about calories in versus calories out.”

• Tomiyama study: Shows up that low calorie dieting (eating 1200 calories, even without recording) increases cortisol (Tomiyama, 2011)
• How Not to Diet book by Dr. Michael Greger references many studies demonstrating the health benefits of a high fiber diet. But remember, there isn’t much money in telling people to buy and eat whole plant foods, so diet culture isn’t interested in promoting this message.

Grab My Free Satisfying Snack Guide Today!

P.S. Hot off the press, I created a new fun guide with 7 Satisfying Snacks You Will Actually Want to Eat. These is really simple snack ideas that are all relatively high in plant foods and fiber, that are some of my go to favs. Grab it for free today at DrHondorp.com/Satisfy!

Myth #2: “You need more protein to feel full.”

This one kept me stuck for YEARS. I really don’t love meat. I mean I like some meat, but I don’t love grilled chicken, and I hate preparing meat at home or eating it leftover.

But diet culture told me I needed to eat enough protein, so I tried to have some chicken, or sliced turkey on my low carb wrap, even though I didn’t really enjoy it.

The reality is, I still eat meat when I feel like it (typically a buffalo chicken sandwich at a sports bar, or Italian sub) but I rarely eat meat at home and I’m very satisfied.

I don’t stress about calories and eat a portion that helps me stay full. AND my leftovers look less gross to me. It’s glorious.

Myth #3: “You must track your eating to have success.”

This is super common, but again, based on the notion that we need some external guide to keep ourselves in check. We don’t.

I’m not someone who believes all recording is bad. You have choice, remember. But truly, it isn’t needed and if you’ve been doing it for years, it’s probably time to let it go and trust your body.

Support Independent Bookstores Near You!

Did you know that that if nothing slows their momentum, Amazon will have almost 80% of the book market by the end of 2025?

Look, I love the convenience of Amazon, but I’ve got a super cool way that you can support local bookstores and my blog and podcast simply by buying books like you already do! You can choose any bookstore on the list in the US and Canada (they plan to expand to other counties in the future) OR you can just let the donation get split between all stores. As of this recording, they have raised 15 million dollars for local bookstores. On my bookshop, you will see my absolute favorite books related to health and wellness, courage and vulnerability, and even my favorite fiction and kids books!

My recent favorite related to improving the quality of our lives was Digital Minimalism. Our family actually has decided to do an optional screen free August to re-evaluate the role of screen time in our lives.

So if you believe in supporting local businesses, please consider buying your books through Bookshop from now on!

The Psychology of Wellness Bookshop Link.

Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider patient relationship.

Disclosure: Using the Bookshop.org links in this post means that I would get an affiliate fee if you purchase from the online bookshop (this supports my business, and local bookstores too!).

Credit: This blog post was written by Dr. Shawn Hondorp and edited by Sarah Grace Rapoport, podcast and blog manager and Psychology of Wellness Intern.

References

Tomiyama, J., Mann, T., Vinas, D., Hunger, J., Dejager, J., & Taylor, S. (2011). Low Calorie Dieting Increases Cortisol. Psychosomatic Medicine, 72, 357-364.