Tag: diet culture

A decade ago, my husband and I purchased an elliptical machine from a store that specialized in exercise equipment. The purchase price included a complementary session with a personal trainer. We took advantage of this offer, mostly to get some valuable pointers on how to use the machine and all...

Almost three years have passed since I began to recover from anorexia nervosa. In July 2020, my 65th birthday was coming up and I could not remember a time without eating disorder thoughts and behaviors. Eating disorders are devious and sneaky; mine defied discovery for decades. Now I know better,...

Utopia: a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) In sixth grade, my class was asked to write a paper entitled Utopia. The year was 1966-67, when the United States was embroiled in the Vietnam war, peace protests and race riots. My class was...

Jennifer Hamer When poring through old photographs I stumbled across some pictures of my childhood. In one picture, I am walking along the beach with my nan. I’m holding a doughnut, and am enjoying the yumminess of the sweet dough as I take bite after bite. This image got me...

“I HAD an eating disorder.” This sentence has left my mouth frequently over the past two decades. I was 19-years-old when diagnosed with an eating disorder (ED). At the time, I had no idea that cutting out refined sugar and carbohydrates as a method to get in shape would spiral...

I have pondered this question repeatedly for the past few months. Sometimes it has kept me awake at night, because what if ‘it’ happens while I am not paying attention? What if the weight creeps in unannounced and I can’t do anything to stop it?  I panic. “I can’t let...

From the moment we’re born, we are exposed to this constant idea that thin is good, and fat is bad. In an increasingly health conscious society, we’re pounded with messages about the health dangers of the “obesity epidemic”, and simultaneously exposed to images of the “thin ideal” in our media....