My complicated relationship with other people's complicated relationships with food

I don't want to know what you eat in a day. (Actually, yes I do, and that's the problem.)

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Photo by Tamas Pap on Unsplash

Not long ago, an Instagram post from a content creator I’ve followed for years caught my eye. The (slender and svelte) creator promised to detail her typical eating and exercise habits, and I found myself sucked in, wanting to know how this particular human stayed in such conventionally-attractive shape after the age of 40. I clicked “read more”, the magical thinking side of my brain believing her strategy would be somehow novel and new.

Strangely, I found myself surprised by how unsurprising her strategy is.

The exercise plan detailed was nothing new (move more, lift weights) and the food piece even less so. (Turns out, she just doesn’t eat very much of it.)

This was literally the exact same advice (eat less, move more) that I read in women’s lifestyle magazines like Self and Shape for decades and have more recently consumed via blogs, podcasts, and instagram.

What’s more interesting and telling, I think, is my reaction. First I felt intrigued (I wonder what her secret is!) then inspired (hey, this isn’t so hard, I could do it too!) followed by annoyed (must be nice that it’s so easy for her…) and finally let down (I can’t believe I bothered reading this…)

This wasn’t the first time I’ve gone on this particular roller-coaster of reactions to other people’s food and fitness choices. My reaction to “what I eat in a day” or “my daily workout” content alternates between feeling inspired and rolling my eyes. Often I have both responses to the same piece of content, and sometimes those wildly opposite responses happen within minutes of each other.

What’s going on?

Yesterday I published the latest episode of the Mother of Reinvention podcast featuring an interview with Dr. Jenn Salib Huber, a registered dietician, naturopathic doctor, and intuitive eating advocate. We recorded the interview back in June, and Dr. Jenn shared some data-driven, no-nonsense information that helped me make sense of confusing terms like “metabolic flexibility” and "hormone balancing foods.”

When I talked to Dr. Jenn I was feeling overwhelmed by conflicting nutrition information, and shortly after our conversation I decided to take a couple of months completely off of worrying about food.

I didn’t count calories, shun carbs, pay attention to my eating windows, track macros or consider my protein intake for two months. I thought simply “opting out” of diet culture would free me from confusion and help me feel better about my body.

But that isn’t what actually happened.