Rachel’s Room🛋️ Navigating Summer Diet Culture

Happy Wednesday. Cadre Crew. Hello. Hello. I think there was a mistake with my scheduling. I needed to res. I need to reschedule next week. I'm just gonna give you a heads up now. Next week my live stream will be earlier in the morning. I think I set it for 11am But I think there was a mistake and it got rescheduled this week. So if you thought I was going live this morning and I wasn't, I apologize. That's why. So I'm here now and I want to be going live next week at 11, not 2 PST today. I think we need to talk a little bit about summer diet culture because it's starting to be that time of year where a lot of social media posts, influencers, content creators are posting things like summer's around the corner, which means you have X amount of time to follow X diet and X whatever fitness plan.

And as someone in recovery, this is always incredibly triggering. It's a hard time of year for me to stay recovery oriented because a, there's all this messaging around, like you have this amount of time to change your body, which puts me in like a panic mindset, an urgency mindset. And also there's just a lot more of that external social pressure to change your body for a certain time of year. So I just wanted to talk a little bit about some things that I am doing and have done in the last several, several years around this time of year to try and stay grounded and rooted while there's extra messaging that can be potentially, potentially triggering.

So a very simple thing that I like to do. If you don't know how to do this, let me know. But hi Jules. On both Instagram and TikTok, you can, if you see a post that you don't want to see or like you don't want to see posts like that, you can, there's a way to, to on the post, say and tell Instagram or TikTok, please don't show me posts like this. Which will teach your algorithm to show you fewer of those kinds of posts. So if those kinds of posts are overwhelming or triggering, you can just let the algorithm know.

Actually, I don't wanna see stuff like this, so that's something that I like to do. The other thing I like to do is refocus on things that I'm already working on, like other goals that I'm already working on outside of my body or changing my body. So things like, like if I have a goal to go on a trip and I'm saving for that, I Just refocus on that potential project or goal. If I'm trying to work through something in therapy, like right now, I'm practicing identifying my needs and like vocalizing them.

So I just remind myself like, this is, this is what I am working on right now. I make sure that I'm checking in with friends that I love, who love me, who know me and know what I, what I, you know, what my history, if and when I get these body image bad days or urges, and make sure that I'm like really checking in with my, my people. I also make sure to like surround myself with people who. Sorry, that was weird. Without context. These are some hair extensions that I am using for a photo shoot. Also, they look really silly.

I realize I was just like petting hair. I make sure that I surround myself with people in my life who, when they have conversations with me, are talking about things other than their body. So I have friends in my life who do talk about their bodies a lot or have negative body image or maybe are not quite ready or in a headspace yet to move through what feels to me like a recovery oriented headspace. And that's fine. Everyone's on a different path. I'm not gonna shame or judge anyone for where they're at in life or the choices they make.

Everyone has bodily autonomy, but maybe right now is not the best time for me to be around those kinds of people if I need to be sure that I'm taking care of myself and my mental health. Another thing I like to do is remind myself that just because other people are focusing on changing their body or are immersed in diet culture doesn't mean they're bad people. Sometimes too, we use as a mechanism to cope with something that maybe is harmful for us. We reject it or we place our own judgment on it.

And that actually is not fruitful for me in the long run either. That's not the kind of person that I want to be. I witness or experience other people on their path and it's not necessarily the path I'm on in terms of being recovery oriented, that's okay. I don't need, I don't need to change them or tell them to do anything differently. I can simply remove myself from those narratives. So remembering not to project the things that I'm experiencing or going through on other people and respecting that every single person has autonomy over their choices.

What's another thing that I like to do? Continue to go to therapy. So I'm like sticking with my weekly therapy, of course, and then also like Continuing to say yes to experiences regardless of what my body looks like. Like, just because I'm having a day where maybe I'm not feeling that great in my body doesn't mean that I don't deserve to go to the beach or get on a boat or wear shorts. I still have every right and deserve to go enjoy my life when the weather is warm and wear what I desire and wear what I feel good in.

Also choosing to buy clothing for this season that fits my body now. So rather than buying things that I'm hoping to fit into in a few months, if I'm going to be needing to buy clothes for the summer or buy a new bathing suit, buying things that fit the body that I am in rather than buying something to fit a body that I hope to be in. So continuing to accept myself where I'm at and meet myself where I'm at and let me see if I have any other tips. Also continuing to set boundaries, right? So like, if I'm having a day where I'm actually feeling super, you know, not great in my body and you know, like I need a day to like take care of myself, like, it's also okay to say no.

Like so, you know, saying yes to things and still like engaging in activities that feel nourishing that I would normally do regardless, but also like allowing myself to say no and take a step back if I'm not feeling my best and just really making sure I'm taking extra care of myself because this is a time of year that can be extra difficult if we're trying to reject diet culture or for recovery. So it's a good time to take extra care of yourself. Okay my loves. Like I said before, apologies if there was confusion about the schedule today.

I will be here next Wednesday at 11am PST instead of 2pm I think that's all for now. Okay, love you lots. I hope you have a joyful day and get to enjoy some time outside and with people you love. I'll see you next week.