“What some call health, if purchased by perpetual anxiety about diet, isn't much better than tedious disease.”
Diet culture promises transformation but often delivers guilt. These quotes take a broader view — covering nutrition, health, willpower, and the complicated relationship most of us have with food and the bodies we live in.
“In the 20 long, hungry years between my late teens and late 30s I bought in to virtually every new diet and/or exercise regime that hoved into view, particularly at this most vulnerable time for those of us prone to poor body image - a new year.”
“What some call health, if purchased by perpetual anxiety about diet, isn't much better than tedious disease.”
“I have to be on such a strict diet constantly.”
“There's no quick or magical way to lose weight. You just have to do it the natural way - diet and exercise and stick to it - and be able to do it at your own pace.”
“You see people who have been very heavy in their life who have taken that body, trimmed it down, firmed it up through discipline, exercise and being able to say no. Eating properly, that all comes into it.”
“I always had to diet. I'm diabetic, so it's a lifestyle for me anyway just to stay healthy and not end up in the hospital.”
“For four to six months at a time, I would barely eat. I lived on a diet of Melba toast, carrots, and black coffee.”
“Cereal eating is almost a marker for a healthy lifestyle. It sets you up for the day, so you don't overeat.”
“Mexican food is far more varied than people think. It changes like dialects. I was brought up in Jalisco by the sea on a basic diet - tomatoes, chillis, peppers of every size and rice, which is a Mexican staple. The Pacific coast has a huge array of seafood.”
“Health food makes me sick.”
“We always think of a diet with a big groan. But I think diets are fun. I think it is an American pastime for a lot of women.”
“I don't go long without eating. I never starve myself: I grab a healthy snack.”
“My diet is mostly chicken and fish. I make sure I get a lot of vegetables, a lot of fruit. I am a big fruit man, I am a vegetable man anyway. And I also get a lot of rest. That's the key I may be up early, but I'm in bed early too.”
“Lifestyle change and changes in diet work faster, better and more cheaply than any medication and are as effective or more effective than gastric bypass without any side effects or long-term complications.”
“I still indulge in a glass of wine or chocolate - treats are mandatory. Without deviating from the day-to-day healthy diet once in a while, it wouldn't be sustainable for me, and that's what I wanted: an approach to eating to last my entire life.”
“If you've got a big gut and you start doing sit-ups, you are going to get bigger because you build up the muscle. You've got to get rid of that fat! How do you get rid of fat? By changing your diet.”