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Dieting distracts us

Dieting distracts us

Posted on January 30, 2023January 30, 2023

It’s still January, the month when a lot of people in our society start dieting again. Most people view dieting as a ‘good intention’ for the new year. I know a bunch of people around me who are dieting right now. New year, new me, right? Well, no. There are so many reasons why diets don’t work and I think most of us know that very well. But today I want to talk about a specific downside of dieting. Today I’ll tell you more about how dieting distracts us.

No headspace

All human beings need food to survive (even though there are people who believe they can survive off only sunlight, but I think that’s bullshit). We eat multiple times a day. And so, if you start dieting, you’re entire day is focussed on food. You think about when your next meal will be, what it will be, how much it will be, and you also think a lot about food in general. Unfortunately, I know this because I have been there too. Dieting takes up a big chunk of your headspace in a day. 

Loss of time

And that is so wrong. We human are capable of doing the most wonderful things. We can built things, help others, teach others things, learn something new ourselves, make art, have fun, love, etc. But instead we waste out time on keeping ourselves as small as we possibility can, just because marketing taught us to do so. If I think of the time I spend dieting, I think of a loss of time and headspace. I could have used that time to learn how to play the piano. Or I could have volunteered and helped others. I could have written many more blogposts too.

Self-worth

But those thing that I just listed are all output-focused (another thing capitalism taught us: you should always be productive). But that’s not what I mean, I don’t think you should always be productive. You could have used the headspace you spend on dieting on leisure as well. Enjoying a good movie or book, or wandering in nature, maybe even philosophizing about politics. And maybe even more important: you could have focussed on what makes you happy and what you want in life. When dieting, we waste our headspace and time on something others expect from us. Dieting distracts us from what we want in life. But we should live the life we want ourselves.

Delayed plans

Another thing dieting does: it makes us delay life. We think: ‘when I have lost 5 kilograms, I will give myself some relaxation’. And that relaxation can also be replaced with fun, happiness or something else. We wait with our plans because we think we’re not worth all those things unless we lose weight. Most people think that being ultra-skinny will make them happy. But it won’t. We should focus on the things that actually make us happy, right now. Not when we’re lighter.

We only have a limited amount of days on this planet and nobody knows how long they’re going to live. But we all know one thing for sure: one day we will die. So please, don’t waste your time on dieting. It’s not worth it.

Especially women

That’s how dieting distracts us. And even though things are changing and men are the victims of diet culture increasingly too, I still think dieting is mostly focussed on women. And that is extremely anti-feminist. If women are occupied by dieting, they don’t focus on the things that are actually important. Not on politics, not on equal rights, not on any kind of empowerment. I would not be surprised if dieting was invented to (besides making a shitload of money) keep women occupied. To distract them from politics. 

So please, don’t waste your time, headspace, effort or money on dieting. You are worth and capable of so much more.

Yours sincerely,
Romee

Follow my personal journey on Instagram.

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ABOUT ME

 

Hi! My name is Romee Hoeksma and I am on a journey to an eco-positive life. An eco-positive lifestyle is a lifestyle in which I have a more positive than negative impact on the beautiful planet earth. On this blog you can follow my journey to a life with only positive impact. At this blog you can find all sorts of things, from tips to recipes to personal experiences, but most of all fun (I hope!). I write about how I want to change the world, but don’t look at it as if I’m judging you. If anything, I like responses from my dear readers the most, so don’t hesitate to contact me or respond to any of my posts!

Yours sincerely,
Romee

Here’s what I posted most recently

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Eén van mijn favoriete vegan snacks, bij de Lidl tijdens de Griekse week 🇬🇷. Op dit moment is plantaardig eten nog niet de norm in Nederland, helaas. Daarom hebben veel mensen dan ook geen idee wat veganisten eten. Om die reden heb ik de afgelopen week weer eens een eetdagboek bijgehouden, want wat eet ik nou als veganist gedurende de week? Je leest het nu in mijn vegan food diary via de link in mijn bio 🥭. #plantaardig #veganfood #dagboek Verpakkingsvrij wasmiddel kopen, dat hoeft niet moeilijk te zijn! In deze reel laat ik je zien hoe ik dat doe 🧺. Volg mijn account voor meer duurzame tips. Elke maand doneer ik ongeveer 7% van mijn inkomen aan goede doelen, omdat ik dat zie als enorm belangrijk en het juiste ding om te doen 💸. Maar daarmee komt de vraag op: geloof ik dat goede doelen het antwoord zijn op alle grote problemen van onze tijd? Oftewel: is geld doneren de oplossing? Over die vraag én het antwoord schreef ik een uitgebreid artikel die vandaag online staat, de link vind je in mijn bio. #goeddoel #doneren #blog Vegan pizza tonno, hmmmm. Dacht je dat vegans geen tonijnpizza kunnen eten? Think again! 🐟 Een hele tijd geleden schreef ik een artikel over e-mail activisme: een vorm van activisme die je thuis op de bank kan doen. Vandaag deel ik graag een geslaagd voorbeeld daarvan met jullie ✨. Vandaag staat er een documentaire-tip op mijn blog. Disclosure, een documentaire over de representatie van transgender personen in de media 📽. Echt een must-see, want wat wij hebben als cis-gender personen nog een hoop te leren. Lees meer over de documentaire via de link in mijn bio. #disclosure #documentaire #transgender Vandaag deel 2 van de vegan hotspots in Londen 🧆. Wat heb ik lekker gegeten daar, niet te doen! Bubala was mijn absolute favoriet, dus als je iets moet kiezen, kies Bubala. Vorige week verscheen er een artikel over treinreizen naar Londen op mijn blog. Aanvullend daarop verscheen er vandaag een artikel over een ander aspect van duurzaam reizen: het eten. Lees nu het artikel met mijn favoriete veganistische restaurants in Londen nu via de link in mijn bio 🌮. #veganfood #veganlondon #veganrestaurants

Read my latest posts

  • Femicide
  • Vegan food diary for a week – March 2023
  • Are charities the solution to our problems?
  • Documentary: Disclosure
  • Vegan restaurants in London

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