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An urgent, enlightening and empowering guide to disavowing diet culture and learning to make peace with our bodies, from body confidence and anti-diet advocate, Alex Light. I honestly think this is such an inspiring, honest, and eye opening book and I really can’t recommend it enough to, well, everyone. It made me come to terms with a lot about how i feel about my body image and how the world especially in terms of social media determine beauty and how people should look.
After a year and change of reading self-help books and writing this column, the idea of yet another cis white woman influencer getting a book deal to tell me to love myself starts to feel . I finished this last night but wasn’t overcome by it so I didn’t want it to be my 100th book of the year so I just waited until I finished Gideon to log it, lol. I don’t have many memories of that time, maybe just because I didn’t have the energy to even form them. By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. I would recommend purchasing a physical copy of the book to accompany the audiobook simply for the ease of dipping in and for the multitude of brilliant references and resources included.Some of it was a bit too deep for me but overall it’s definitely one that I will be mulling over for a while and if “the diet starts tomorrow” has been your mantra at any point put this on your to read list.
It reminds me of the outrage regarding Nike plus-sized workout clothes, with people claiming it promoted obesity, when really it just ensured everyone could exercise if they wanted. You are not a ‘before’ picture…We are living, breathing, multi-faceted, talented human beings whose true beauty cannot be captured in a picture…Our bodies are merely the vessels that hold all the good stuff. The fact that he chose to tell me that rather than tell me about the colour of her hair or whether she was wearing glasses, demonstrates how conditioned we are to judge or describe someone in terms of their size. I knew some of this (like the fact that BMI is *incredibly* racist and built on white male's body weights) but I didn't know so much of the other racism that is ingrained into diet culture that is mentioned. She gives examples from her own life and lives of others, points to recommended reading, and provides Instagram handles to follow for continued encouragement.
Definitely recommend if you've ever struggled with body image and want to finally let go of the unrealistic "ideals" society expects of women. In the first half of the book, Light has provided a concise and accurate primer on diet culture, its origins and iterations, its lies and harm. This is a must-have resource to help one improve mental health, resiliency, and live a more full and happy life. This includes a long list of positive social media accounts, wonderful advice on auditing your social media feed, on how to address unwelcome comments about your weight, how to see yourself as more than a before photo.
Being exposed to a range of bodies reminds us how varied, different, and beautiful the human race is. This seemed too far fetched but once I started looking and listening I found that there are examples all around.It’s shocking to realise that almost everything we believe about bodies, exercise and food is to fill someone’s pocket. Like most women I’ve struggled with my body image since I was a teenager and this book had an immensely powerful impact on my body image. I’m at the biggest size I’ve ever been, and in a few years, I’ll probably look back and wish I had enjoyed this figure more. While I couldn’t relate to all of it, the author herself acknowledges that you don’t have to relate to every chapter and that some will stand out to yourself more than others - and that’s what happened here for me. We are living, breathing, multi-faceted, talented human beings whose true beauty cannot be captured in a picture.
We tell ourselves if we find the right diet, the right gym, the right clothing, there will be a day when we look in the mirror and think “Perfect. I found it particularly gratifying that Light, now a social media influencer, took the time to delineate how diet culture is a way of controlling women’s bodies, and that there was (and still is) racism embedded in the idea of what an “ideal” body looks like. To access you ebook(s) after purchasing, you can download the free Glose app or read instantly on your browser by logging into Glose. Treating yourself to a doughnut does not mean you have questionable morals and going for carrots and hummus over a bag of crisps as a snack does not make you any more decent as a human being” (pg. The latter part of the book is an advice guide on liberating yourself from this insidious diet culture.It explores the relationship between health and weight, weight and exercise, social media and body image, body positivity. Admittedly the book itself is a little repetitive, there are lots of caveats (the author frequently acknowledges her privilege), and some might find it a little too self-helpy, but I still think it’s brilliant and will be recommending it to everyone. There was something that I could relate to on just about every page and the second half of the book provides real, actionable steps.
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