It happens like clockwork. Every January, the cries of “New Year, new you!” begin. The targeted ads to lose weight or change your body start increasing. Conversations begin revolving around “lifestyle changes.” Things you are pretty sure are diets get disguised as wellness.

It’s exhausting. Being a human with a body in our culture is just plain exhausting. And once the New Year fades into just another year, and the resolutions to overhaul lives do too, the incessant diet chatter will pick back up again and start fear mongering for spring break swimsuits. The 66.3 billion dollar diet industry thrives year round.

Here’s your reminder that your body is just enough as it is. You have a right to exist in the body you exist in. Period. No caveats. No prerequisites. You are absolutely worthy as you are now. And while I will shout this from the rooftops all day, it can be difficult to keep in perspective when our culture is so unrelenting with their criticisms and arbitrary ideals.

In a culture that isn’t safe for all bodies, it’s important to begin a practice of cultivating a space that is anti-diet. I think of it as your own personal shield to hold up against diet culture, a safe space that is mobile with you. While this will look uniquely different for each person, here are some places to begin:

• Listening to podcasts that take an anti-diet approach. Start here: Food Psych, Dietitians Unplugged, Body Kindness.
• Reading books or listening to audiobooks that work to dismantle diet culture. Start here: Anti-Diet by Christy Harrison, Body Respect by Linda Bacon & Lucy Aphramor, The F*ck It Diet by Caroline Dooner, Intuitive Eating (most recent edition) by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch.
• Minimizing time with folks that are dieting, when possible. Working on setting boundaries with those who are dieting. Practicing your favorite way of saying, “Hey, can we change the topic?”
• Fill your social media with body diversity and anti-diet accounts. Unfollow those accounts that make you feel less than or like you need to change.
• Finding groups of folks doing the same anti-diet work. The Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness hosts free, clinician led groups throughout the country for those wanting to heal from their eating disorder.
• Working with an anti-diet therapist and dietitian to support you in your journey of making peace with your body.

What I want you to remember above all else is that it is not YOU who is wrong: it’s the culture. Creating a space that is anti-diet is a radical act.