As someone who sticks mostly to a healthy diet because I like to feel healthy, I’ve had my fair share of “food shaming” situations. For some reason, people take issue with healthy eaters and feel as if it is acceptable to openly shame them in ways that, in other situations (i.e. in situations with less healthy or unhealthy eaters) would never be acceptable.
While I don’t really self-proclaim my healthy eating habits, and rarely talk about them unless people initially ask, comments I’ve received from people in the past in regard to my eating habits include:
“Honestly, sometimes I really hate you.”
“Ugh, you’re so healthy.”
“Why don’t you just eat a donut?”
“Like, I don’t get it, do you not like this food or do you just have really good self-control?”
In all of these situations, I was doing nothing other than simply eating in the other person’s presence. I wasn’t talking about what I was eating, I wasn’t acting disgusted by the other person’s food choices—I was just eating. It was as if my salad was somehow a huge offense to him or her.
A friend of mine who frequently pokes fun at my healthy eating habits (and who himself is a lover of all things fried and fatty), once said to me: “You realize I make fun of you all the time because I wish I could eat like you.”
The thing is, I really don’t care about what other people choose to eat, and I don’t judge them for choosing a cheeseburger when I prefer a salad. I eat healthy because it makes me feel good, and over time I have actually learned to enjoy it. And while I’m happy for people who decide to eat healthy too, my mission is not to get everyone around me to eat like I do. Like I said, I eat healthy for myself and could honestly care less about another person’s food choices. But for some reason, a lot of people tend to assume I “look down” on them for their food choices—when in reality I don’t provide any indications of doing so.
I’ve luckily reached the point where comments about my food choices no longer bother me, but it still upsets and baffles me that it’s okay to shame healthy eaters for their choices, but if I were to shame an unhealthy eater, I would look like (for lack of a better word) a huge bitch. Could you imagine?
“Honestly, I don’t know how you eat so unhealthy it’s disgusting.”
“Do you just have terrible self-control?”
“Like, why don’t you just eat carrots or something.”
“You’re sooooo unhealthy it’s actually annoying.”
Those comments sound pretty mean, right? Just because they’re aimed at someone who eats healthy doesn’t make them less offensive. Shaming someone for his or her food choices—healthy or unhealthy—is rude and unacceptable. If someone loves vegetables and quinoa, let her eat her vegetables and quinoa in peace. And if someone wants to eat ice cream after having pizza, it’s not your place to tell her that she shouldn’t because it’s unhealthy. Are you her nutritionist? Then keep the food comments to yourself, unless someone directly asks you for advice. When people do come to me to ask about healthy eating, I’m more than happy to provide advice, but there’s nothing more annoying than a know-it-all, holier-than-thou health nut, which is why I don't go around doling out health advice to those who prefer French Fries over sweet potatoes. It's not my place to do so, just as it's also inappropriate for people to put down those who choose to eat healthily.
What I want to make clear is that shaming people for their food choices is personally hurtful no matter what. Eat what you enjoy and respect others by letting them eat what they enjoy too, without throwing in a nasty remark.
