We discuss the complicated and often toxic diet, fitness, and “wellness” culture that feeds us the myth that in order to be our best selves, we have to lose weight, get into shape, and achieve our dream bodies.
In our pursuits to be “healthy” (meaning thin), we end up doing a lot of unhealthy (and expensive) things! Plus we don’t even have a shared understanding of what healthy means–not even among medical professionals. We attach all kinds of character attributes to the way our bodies look and what we do them. If we eat something healthy, we’re “good.” If we eat a treat, we’re “bad.” There’s no in between.
Achieving health is more than a personal quest. It’s also a justice issue. We talk about how systemic poverty forces people to make hard choices between buying healthy food and paying the light bill, especially poor families with young children.
We also call out the ways that churches have bought into this toxic diet and fitness culture–and have even profited from it.
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