Decluttering, Anti-Diet Style

Okay, y'all, it is January. Time to do some decluttering. If you are on this journey away from diet culture, even if you are just toying with the idea, let me offer you three decluttering ideas. I hear decluttering is a focus for some people this month… let's declutter anti-diet style.

Here is a simple and quick thing to declutter—your scale. The number on the scale means nothing. NOTHING. How many times have you been having a good day until you look at the number? And then your day turns bad because of some story that you have been telling yourself about what that number needs to be. The number means nothing. There are lies about that number. I want to keep this a little simple for now. It does not serve you to have a scale. So, declutter it. Donate it or throw it out (or smash it with a hammer, friend, I know some have done this and report it feels ah-mazing).

The next thing to declutter is clothes that don't fit you or that aren't comfortable. Or that you don't love wearing. Many folks out there who have a history of dieting or disordered eating are hanging onto clothes that are too small, hoping that they'll lose weight. Open up space in your closet and donate those clothes. If you don't love wearing it or it doesn't feel right, let it go. (Our size does fluctuate up and down some, and it is okay to have a little bit of flexibility here as you get to know and accept your changing body). Be reasonable with yourself.

The last thing to declutter is your social media feed. Unfollow diet accounts or "fitspo." Clean up your feed. You can do this all at once and/or have it as an ongoing mindset. It is quick and easy to unfollow (and block if needed) an account. Take some time and dig into who you are following (you might find some anti-diet folks to follow while you are at it). Last year (2020), I tried to see if there was one person to unfollow or unfriend a day… or unsubscribe from a newsletter that was no longer an interest. My thought was it took me less than a minute to do this, and if I were consistent all year long, I would unfollow more than 350 things (spoiler alert, I was only consistent until about March—then so many things went out the window).

Those are just three things to declutter. Even if you are only dabbling with anti-diet ideas, these three can benefit you and your mental health regardless. I mean, if you are wearing clothes you don't like or aren't comfortable… or if you are following social media accounts that make you feel gross… you'll feel better decluttering. And the scale, well… that may need more of its own blog post one day, but at least put it up, so you don't see it all the time!