Our stories surrounding body image and its importance start very early in life. Many felt embarrassed or shamed in school gym class, which lead to feeling insecure about eating in the cafeteria. It led to skipping meals all together, binging when no one was around and other unhealthy habits.

Some of us had parents who taught us that food is a reward and a way to celebrate. Leading us to connect food with emotions. Sugar equals happy feeling. When you’re sad, angry, stressed or depressed, sugar fixes it. 

Now you’re battling emotional eating habits that are hard to break. You understand that you’re reaching for that snack because you believe it will make you feel better, you know it’s not the healthiest choice, yet you still do it. Now you feel guilt and shame, not the feelings you were seeking, and the cycle continues. For more about emotional eating, check out this blog post.

In 1863, when William Banting published "A Letter on Corpulence", which detailed the first low-carbohydrate diet. He was told to eat a sugar-free, starch-free diet to control his diabetes, and it worked. He took it a little too far and influenced many young women to starve themselves out of fear that they’d be outcast.

Sylvester Graham, of Graham cracker fame, created the first fad diet in the 1830s and is considered the father of all modern diets. (Encyclopedia of Diet Fads: Understanding Science and Society, 2nd Edition: Understanding Science and Society) Graham and his followers believed in a mostly vegetarian lifestyle. They discouraged the consumption of high calorie foods and encouraged mostly raw, low sodium meals. John Harvey Kellogg of cornflakes fame was a follower of Graham and went on to advocate the consumption of bran as critical to human health. This led to the rise of breakfast cereal popularity.

In the late 19th century and early 20th century “Experts” began teaching the importance of exercise as it related to good health. However, they also believed fasting for extended periods or consuming arsenic would rid the body of dreaded toxins. They were on the right track but there were obvious problems with these concepts.

The concept of calorie restriction appeared under the name of "calorie counting" in the 1917 book "Diet and Health, With Key to the Calories" by Lulu Hunt Peters. This led to all manner of ideas to restrict caloric consumption from eating grapefruit daily, to amphetamines, to smoking and various liquid diets.

Shortly after that came the advent of the "cabbage soup diet". Participants consumed only cabbage soup and lost weight effectively, with less pleasant side effects.

Talk about some crazy fad diets!

First it was Weight Watchers in 1961, followed by Slim Fast, Fit for Life, Atkins, Zone Diet and the South Beach Diet. Each restricted one macro nutrient while promoting the consumption of another in its place. They all claimed that you’d never be hungry, you’d lose unwanted weight and be healthier. 

No wonder we’re all so frustrated and confused! For more than 250 years we’ve been being batted around like a ping pong ball from expert to expert giving us opposing opinions. You’re right to be fed up!