No fight without munching: What food has to do with feminism

The patriarchy tells us the fairy tale of ideals of beauty. Nobody needs them, says dietician Isabel Bersenkowitsch and explains how we find our natural target weight.

"Lose weight without giving up", "With fasting to a comfortable weight" and "Intuitive weight loss" are catchphrases that are primarily aimed at women and sound harmless at first due to the normalization of society. In this article, you'll learn why these statements hold back women's equality and what you can do about it. Important: The text is directed against the patriarchy, not against men.

Perhaps the most important means of power

Judging the appearance of women is one of the most important instruments of power in our patriarchal society. None of what women achieve is commented on and discussed in the same way as their appearance. If you think at this point that you want to manipulate your weight into the socially accepted norm for yourself, that is quite understandable. Of course we feel more comfortable and more beautiful if we conform more closely to the patriarchal definition of beauty, after all, we have all been socialized from this perspective. Considering our anti-fat society, structurally discriminated against and stigmatized people in larger bodies, it is only logical from the accompanying security of the thin privilege to dream. The result affects us all: if you are not fat, you are afraid of becoming fat.

Target weight manipulation

Every body has a genetically defined target weight that is automatically achieved with health-promoting behavior and can be maintained with ease. This target weight brings the highest possible health and quality of life with itself. What makes many people unsure is that the individual target weight often deviates significantly from the media representation of “healthy” and “beautiful” bodies. The average German woman wears dress size 42. A model from size 38 is called "plus size". We can put our body in the short term Manipulate norms, However, this is usually associated with a deterioration in physical and mental health and a massive reduction in the quality of life.

Calorie restriction = potential restriction

Have you ever wondered who will benefit from your insecurities?

• Master Cleanse: Stanley Burroughs / Tom Woloshyne
• Celery Juice Cleanse: Anthony Williams
• Fasting 5: 2: Michael Mosley
• Keto: Russell Wilder
• Low carb: Robert Atkins

And the list goes on. You will probably notice what all these people have in common.

In nutritional psychology, it is an undisputed fact that physiological malnutrition is associated with a Obsession with foodaffects. If you think about food all the time and feel insecure because of a non-standard body, you will more likely (subconsciously) submit, develop fears of exhausting your potential and also have fewer opportunities to live it out. Don't get me wrong, I'm not submitting this to any individual. Rather, it is a structural phenomenon. A malnourished brain that inevitably comes with any of these diets above definitely cannot advocate for equality and respect.

It's not you

When we ask someone on the street how a normal body can be achieved, most of them answer: diet, exercise, willpower and Discipline. If you take one away from this article, please: Biology is always stronger than willpower. Nobody manages to hold their breath through willpower until suffocation occurs. Neither can we starve ourselves to death on these health-damaging diets. In the self-induced malnutrition the same instinct for survival is set in motion as with breathing. Hormonal cascades, which you interpret as a loss of control and weak willpower, actually only ensure your survival. In addition, weight is influenced by an incredible number of factors:

You can see that we have no control over many of these factors. And on the point of diets, there is just as good scientific evidence that dieting is one further weight gain lead (= exceeding the initial weight), such as smoking causes lung cancer. Deliberately forced weight loss does not solve any problems, it fires them up.

… and when it comes to health

One of the biggest statistical errors of our time is the weight-associated attribution of diseases. Have you ever noticed that Body weight no behavioris?

Diet is behavior. Movement is behavior. Sleep is a behavior. Stress management is a behavior. Coping with emotions is a behavior.

Of course, behavior can affect body weight and health. But since when does it make sense to combat symptoms when we can concentrate on the causes at the same time? It is incredibly important that we realize no direct influence on our body weight.

Additionally is Body diversity Part of human existence - there are an enormous number of people whose health is suffering massively due to the prejudices of our society. Discrimination and stigma are bad for health more than anything you could ever eat (Provincial Health Services Authority, 2013). Health can also be increased through health-promoting behavior. Regardless of body weight. (Matheson et al., 2012)

If self-doubt is the norm, self-acceptance is rebellion

Yes, it makes sense to orientate your life in a health-promoting manner. Move in such a way that you enjoy it. Exercise because you want to do something good for your body, not because you hate it. Eat a colorful, sufficient and varied diet and learn again on yours to hear inner signals - you are an expert on yourself and therefore know best what you really need. Let your body find its natural target weight by itself and become the role model for others that you would have needed yourself.