It's that time of year again, so pardon my rant. During most of December, consumers (particularly TV viewers) are repeatedly encouraged to indulge themselves, as it's the holiday season. Right after Christmas is over (as though people shouldn't indulge during New Year's?) the $40 billion diet industry ratchets up its propaganda in order to prey on feelings of guilt and the inevitable breakable resolutions many people make as they take stock of themselves this time of the year. How many viewers even notice this one-two cognitive-dissonant punch to the gut every year? Even the Food Network, which one might hope would know better as their whole raison d'être is the enjoyment of one of life's necessities without having to link that consumption to one's appearance, has been backsliding of late, first with their jump onto the low-carb fad bandwagon and a couple of low-cal shows (and having sponsors like Splenda without, of course, mentioning sucralose's toxicity) and now with their current trailers for a new show featuring scale-obsessed weight-loss hopefuls who may indeed become healthier with a FN-planned diet but that's not how the network is selling it. The idea of exercising more and eating better in order to become healthier (an idea on which I think most of us can agree) is never presented as such; the primary purpose of said lifestyle change is always articulated as weight loss rather than better health. As if no thin person, and every fat person, eats unhealthy foods and/or is sedentary, and completely ignoring all sorts of evidence from set-point theories to why diets don't work to exercise actually leading to weight gain. (Based on her articles, I don't think we should look for Sandy Szwarc to get herself a Food Network show any time soon!)
So as you're sitting through these TV show trailers and the latest incarnation of those insipid snake-oil ads (which continue despite lawsuits), remember that you're not alone in your anger and frustration, and that if you're to tune into your body to figure out what it really needs to feel healthier it's a good idea not to start from a point of revulsion against that body. Which, no matter what its shape, is still a temple and therefore fit for worship, not commercialism.
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