I started following Caroline Dooner, author of The F*ck It Diet, on Instagram a few months ago after a friend shared one of her posts. As I waited for her book to come in at the library, I took in the high-level messages from social media about body positivity and turning our back on diet culture.
The book, that I’ve wrapped up today, is not a diet book. In fact, it’s firmly the opposite, explaining how our obsession with food and restriction is biologically perpetuating our obsession with food. It’s both a feminist and medical response to diet culture, successfully arguing that constant dieting and bingeing has put our bodies in a famine state.
There’s only one cure: eat. A lot. Whatever you want. Without restriction. It’s the only way to heal our obsession with food and give our body what it actually needs.
The book digs into the physical, emotional, and mental side of restriction and weight and health and body image. It’s a book I may need to read again to fully sink in the message and address the stigma I still have about weight and food. I have to admit, I’ve never been a chronic dieter but I do think about food a lot, even as I’ve eased up on my restriction the last few months.
I thought this was a fantastic read and I think anyone, chronic dieter or not, can benefit from the misconceptions it addresses around food, weight, and health.
With Love,
Natalie