The 6th of may is “No Diet Day”, a day designed to celebrate the diversity of human bodies.
This day was first established by the feminist Mary Evans Young, in 1992, in the UK and quickly spread to other countries through feminist groups. The symbol of this day is a light blue ribbon. The aims of its institution were: to provoke questioning about the existence of a single standard of body shape; to raise awareness about phenomena such as discrimination based on body weight and size, and "fatphobia"; to declare a day free of diets and obsessions about body weight; to present the society with facts about the food industry and the ineffectiveness of commercial diets; and to honor the victims of eating disorders and impulsive recourse to cosmetic surgery.
The purpose of this day, or even its name, may seem strange to you. However, dieting behaviour is a known predictor of poor health, eating disorders and low self-esteem. Indeed, if everyone could stick to a balanced and diverse diet, and if they became more immune to social pressures to achieve a certain body shape or weight, dieting behaviour would be almost extinct. Furthermore, prolonged dieting behaviour can seriously compromise the energy available to the individual for daily tasks, resulting in fatigue and weakness. It has other consequences such as low blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, osteoporosis, hormone dysregulation and infertility. At a psychological and psychiatric level, it is associated with disorders such as depression, anorexia and bulimia, among others.
Please understand that talking about the abolition of dieting behaviour does not mean eating any food in any quantity. It actually means eating intuitively and consciously, preferring healthy and enjoyable foods, paying attention to your body's signals, such as those of hunger and satiety.
Try spending your 6th of May diet-free. Allow yourself to have a friendly relationship with food and with your body. Free yourself from the pressures of a dieting culture, free yourself from the self-hatred that you sometimes or often direct at your body.
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