Social Discourse

I recently saw something online about a no sugar/no carb challenge Jennifer Lopez made via (I believe) Health and Fitness magazine.

I was surprised and disappointed to see this message and it's been on my mind as something that should be in the public discourse, so I'm adding my voice to the issue.

I was surprised because in this moment of #MeToo, which we've taken too long to reach, it strikes me as taking a step back to where we were before we collectively understood how damaging these ideas are to both women and men.

Stopping sugar is fine, if it it disturbs your health and well-being (we are all different; some people can eat sugar without negative effects and some can't). But cutting out carbs altogether (unless there is a genuine gluten intolerance) is short-sighted, and can potentially set people up for future imbalances in their body and mental health. Who wants to, for ten days, restrict themselves in this way? What will take the place of complex carbs? If the fat stores in the body become depleted, how will this impact other parts of the body and mind?

Worse is the idea that women, at the expense of our mental and physical health, should be mindful of sculpting our body in such a way that will be attractive to men. I understand Alex Rodriguez is also making the challenge, but I've only seen pictures of Jennifer Lopez taking selfies of her figure for other women to aspire to. I can think of little more unpleasant: that women should deprive themselves to be found attractive to men, and that men would want this for us.

If I were to cut a food group out of my diet completely for ten days, it seems to me this food group would end up taking a huge amount of mind space. Is this really what we want to be focused on all day? How to avoid carbs?

It's unfortunate Jennifer Lopez and Health and Fitness didn't instead challenge us to let go of negative mind chatter and focus on all that is right in our lives. Instead, they want us to be trapped in a miserable cycle of restrictive dieting that could do long-term damage.

What is Jennifer Lopez actually getting out of this, besides exposure? A picture of her body at a moment in time, which will last only as long as she can withstand the restriction of certain foods. 

Also, let's collectively remember that our bodies want balance. Moderation is what we should be after, not restriction. If we can't have things in moderation, then there is an emotional imbalance that needs to be considered, not avoided by a diet.

I think the fundamental issue here is that the people who, in our mass media-run society, control the collective discourse, are celebrities, not necessarily smart or wise people, and this we need to change.