How to Tune Out Diet Culture in 2025: 3 Steps to Reclaim Your Peace

We’ve officially turned the page to 2025, and hopefully, by now, we’re consistently writing the correct year without having to backtrack and fix 2024. Last year was a challenging one, and if January is any indication, 2025 is shaping up to be a doozy as well.

As we near the end of January, diet culture is still in full force. Millions of people began the year with resolutions focused on weight loss, fitness, and self-improvement—goals that are heavily influenced by a massive marketing push. The diet industry thrives on convincing us that we need to change our bodies to be valued, accepted, and “healthy.”

By now, most resolutions have faded, and diet companies know this. That’s why they ramp up messaging around “lifestyle changes” and use fear-based tactics to shame people into continuing their programs. (For the record, if you started a new fitness plan on January 1st and found it didn’t work for you, you’re among one-third of people who experience the same realization each year—and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with you.)

The noise of diet culture may feel overwhelming right now. Whether you’re new to mindful eating and body acceptance or have been practicing for years, tuning it out can be difficult. But remember, diet culture’s influence is intentional, and feeling affected by it is not a personal failure.

Since we can’t eliminate diet culture overnight, the best thing we can do is take steps to affirm ourselves and block out the noise. Here are three effective strategies to help you navigate this season:

1. Curate Your Environment: Reduce Diet Culture Triggers

One of the most powerful steps you can take is filtering the messages you’re exposed to daily.

• Unfollow and mute diet-related content: If certain social media accounts make you feel pressured to change your body, now is the time to unfollow them. Most platforms allow you to block or hide fitness and diet-related ads as well.
• Establish boundaries with friends and family: If conversations about dieting make you uncomfortable, set clear boundaries. You can say, “I’m focusing on my well-being in a way that doesn’t involve dieting, so I’d rather not discuss weight loss.” If someone doesn’t respect that, consider how you want to respond to their boundary violation.
• Limit exposure where possible: If coworkers frequently discuss diets, try steering the conversation elsewhere. A simple redirection like, “I’m not sure about that, but I recently watched a great show…” can shift the focus.

2. Reinforce What You Know: Stay Grounded in Anti-Diet Principles

Diet culture messaging can sneak up on you, even when you’re committed to rejecting it. That’s why regularly reinforcing what you’ve learned is essential.

• Engage with anti-diet content: Listen to body-neutral or anti-diet podcasts, watch comfort films where weight isn’t a focus, and consume media that doesn’t reinforce diet culture.
• Practice mindfulness and self-reflection: Journaling about your relationship with food and body image can help solidify your beliefs. Write down why you left dieting behind and remind yourself of the toll it took on your mental and physical health.
• Create affirmations: Keep a supportive mantra in your notes app or memorize one to ground yourself when doubts arise. Examples include:
  • “My body is happier and healthier now than it was when I was dieting.”
  • “I won’t romanticize the struggle I endured to make my body smaller.”

3. Build a Supportive Community

Having like-minded individuals around you can make all the difference in staying strong against diet culture’s influence.

• Surround yourself with people who reject diet culture: Seek out friends, family members, or online communities that embrace body neutrality and intuitive eating.
• Find structured support: Consider joining a group that aligns with your values, such as my upcoming Anti-Diet Plan Foundations Group Coaching Program. This program combines structured coursework with a supportive community and weekly live coaching calls led by Dr. Alexis Conason to help you navigate your anti-diet journey.
• Plan activities free from diet talk: Engage in social gatherings where dieting isn’t a focus. Whether it’s a hobby group, a game night, or a nature walk, being in spaces free of weight-focused conversations can be refreshing.

Moving Forward With Confidence

As you step into 2025, give yourself grace. Rejecting diet culture is a process, and it’s okay if it feels challenging at times. Surround yourself with positive influences, reinforce your beliefs, and find a community that supports you. With these steps, you can move forward with confidence, free from the exhausting cycle of dieting.

Here’s to a year of self-acceptance, peace, and joy.