No Diet Day – The myth of the perfect body

International No Diet Day (INDD) is observed around the world on May 6 and is slowly becoming mainstream dedicated to promoting a healthy lifestyle.

Purpose of No Diet Day

The day is an annual celebration of body acceptance, including fat acceptance and body shape diversity in different shapes and sizes rather than the stereotypes and beauty standards developed by the media.

This day is also dedicated to promoting a healthy lifestyle with a focus on health at any size and in raising awareness of the potential dangers of dieting and the unlikelihood of success.

The Institute of Medicine states that those who complete weight loss programs lose approximately 10 percent of their body weight only to regain two-thirds within a year and almost all of it within five years.

Feminist groups in other countries around the globe have started to celebrate International No Diet Day, especially United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Israel, Denmark, Sweden and Brazil.

There has been a long-standing movement to shed the shame typically associated with being less than Hollywood perfect body. The photoshopped images found in fashion and beauty magazines have been marked as a direct cause of a rising instance of eating disorders among the youth.

Health has been associated with unrealistic body types and unhealthy, dangerous fad diets. No Diet Day has been pushed forward with the intention of promoting healthy lifestyles for all body types.

History of No Diet Day

No Diet Day was first started by Mary Evans in 1992 in UK. The purpose was to help men and women around the world to appreciate their own bodies.

Mary set up Diet Breakers after she suffered from anorexia. She created the first No Diet Day, bringing attention to the cause and her organisation as well. The day is now used to help tackle tough issues regarding diet and body awareness.

Feminist groups in other countries around the globe have started to celebrate International No Diet Day, especially in United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Sweden and Brazil.

Since 1998, the International Size Acceptance Association (ISAA) and the National Organisation for Women (NOW) have sponsored similar days.

Aim of No Diet Day

No Diet Day is used to help tackle tough issues regarding diet and body awareness, focusing on a number of agendas. This includes educating people about the right way to diet responsibly and effectively; having people take a one-day break from their diets; and celebrating the diversity of different shapes and sizes

The aim of celebrating International No Diet Day includes questioning the idea of one “right” body shape, raising awareness of weight discrimination, size bias and fat phobia; and declaring a day free from diets and obsessions about body weight.

The day also aims to present the facts about the diet industry, emphasizing the inefficacy of commercial diets and honour the victims of eating disorders and weight-loss surgery.

How to celebrate No Diet Day

Celebrating No Diet Day is best done by recognising that your own body is beautiful as it is. You should not focus on reducing weight to look a particular way but live a healthier lifestyle.

Furthermore, you should worry less about your final goal, and more about getting out and being active and keeping your body healthy. Losing weight rapidly or shooting for unrealistic body types is an excellent way of causing harm in the pursuit of greater health.

No Diet Day is also used to order to make people aware of different eating disorders. There are so many ways as you can share own personal experience and share it.

The day is the perfect time to start focusing on the positive rather than the negative. We have a tendency to focus on the things we dislike instead of focusing on what we do like about our bodies. The day is the perfect time to change this mindset.