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The Resurgence of Food Guilt & Plate Watching · The imuRgency Room

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  Y'all have gotten really weird about food and I think we need
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  to talk about it and all the prefaces and all the disclaimers
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  around sensitivity around this topic and conversation because
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  this is all being had in good faith.
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  And we're going to try and talk about this as sensitively as we
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  can. And we are going to be using
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  some censored speech because of the platform that we're on.
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  But just by looking around the Internet or real life, it's
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  clear that thin is so in. And I really hate that for all
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  of us. And no, it's not because I don't
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  believe in things like health and like healthy lifestyles.
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  It's quite the opposite actually.
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  And it actually goes far to argue that thin being back in
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  has been making us anything but healthy and is ultimately just
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  making us very weird about food and bringing shame into the
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  kitchen, into our diets and into our bodies in ways that it just
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  does not belong. So let's talk about it for real
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  now. It really got me thinking about
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  this to the point where I wanted to make a whole video on it
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  where a series of conversations that I've been having in my real
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  life. And also that I've been seeing
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  all over social media where the way that I and other people have
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  been talking about food consumption, beauty, and the
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  legs have gotten very concerning.
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  Whether it's food and comments about how small you want your
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  ways to be this summer, making jokes about being big or like
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  eating big or just general obsessive calorie counting.
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  It kind of feels like we're back in the early 2000s.
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  And I feel like sentiments and comments like this become
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  especially more prominent around this time of year where it's
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  like spring and the summer and everyone's trying to get their
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  summer bodies ready. The whole concept of having a
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  summer body and being summer body ready is again, nothing
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  new. But I think the ways in which
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  people are trying to get there have been a little bit more
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  intense and a little bit more extreme and in your face than in
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  previous years because again, look no further than your social
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  media feed. People want to be skinnier and
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  more fit than ever. And let me be clear, there is
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  nothing wrong with wanting to become more fit, to make healthy
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  lifestyle choices and to work out.
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  Nothing wrong with that. All those things are good
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  things. I think the problem here lies in
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  the ways that that is happening for so many people both on and
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  offline, where people are choosing to drastically change
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  their eating habits, not eat, take different supplements or
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  products like unregulated peptides or even GLP ones to a
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  point where it's no longer healthy.
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  And like I said, these general sentiments around body size,
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  around eating are nothing. I was really confronted of this
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  fact a couple of weeks ago when I binge watched the 1st and now
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  the new second Devil Wears Prada.
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  And just seeing how they were talking about bodies and
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  thinness and all of that back in the original movie with like
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  Emily constantly bringing up her size, being like, oh, you're a
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  size 4 or size 6 or a size 0 or whatever.
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  And everyone calling Andy or Anne Hathaway's character in the
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  movie fat and ugly when she is clearly neither of those things.
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  But like during that time, during like the whole rise of
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  America's Next Top Model, that was the thing there to now in
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  the latest movie, they're like critiquing that, still harboring
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  some of those sentiments, but like acknowledging like, wow, we
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  can't really say that anymore. And oh, that might be a little
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  messed up. But the gag of it all is, is
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  that we're kind of closer to like that reality of like the
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  2006, early 2000s then we are to the whole body positivity, our
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  body neutrality movement of the 20 tens and 20 teens.
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  Like it was just wild watching both movies back-to-back because
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  like, if I would have seen just the first movie five years ago,
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  it would have seemed a lot more dated than it does now because a
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  lot of that rhetoric is hitting a little bit too close to home
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  now. Then it would have been with the
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  general fear of food and carbs and anything but protein,
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  wanting to be the smallest, the thinnest, the skinniest you can
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  be above anything else, being some of the predominant ways
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  that we talk about bodies, about food and about fitness nowadays.
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  But what really caused this shift and why are we seemingly
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  back to where we started? Why are we so weird about the
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  way that we talk about food now? I think for one, we can thank
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  the resurgence of skinny culture.
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  Fat. So much of western fat phobia is
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  rooted in drum roll. Please, you know it's coming
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  Racism. First of all, wow.
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  And second of all, let's not pretend that thinness has not
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  always been in. Of course in recent years
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  there's been more PR around it, but there's always been a
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  certain privilege that people access when they are thin.
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  But because thinness is exceptionally in right now in
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  general, PC Ness or wanting to have any form of cooth is at an
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  all time low. It's back blatant and louder
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  than ever. And we've previously talked
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  about things like the death of body positivity in videos
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  before, which you should definitely go check out if
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  you're interested. But what I think is so
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  interesting in the way that we talk about food and the way that
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  we talk about fitness now is that it's just so informed by
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  fear. And I think the real reasons
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  behind why we're afraid of food and why our attitudes around
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  food have shifted are kind of nuanced because a couple of
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  things are happening at the same time.
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  For one, I think in America at least, there is this rising
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  uncertainty and distrust around the quality of food and the way
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  that food is being produced, with people having a heightened
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  consciousness around things like processed foods and foods that
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  have a high amount of sugar, fats, carbs, seed oils and the
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  likes in them. And in reaction to those
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  concerns, we've been seeing people kind of pedestalize
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  things like Whole Foods. Like there's like the whole
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  single ingredient kitchen movement that's been going on on
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  TikTok where people are only buying things and cooking things
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  that have single ingredients like sweet potatoes, chicken,
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  rice and whole vegetables, things like raw milk as well.
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  And for most of these things, it's not necessarily an issue
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  because there's nothing wrong with wanting to eat healthier.
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  Do you think that there is a slippery slope and an
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  interesting intersection here between wanting to eat healthy
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  and cleanly and then going the extra mile to the sort of
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  crunchy conservative Maha side of things where then you're only
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  drinking things like raw milk and trying to protein Max by
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  having as much red meat as possible.
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  And then not trusting anything that's not natural or quote UN
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  quote from the earth, which then leads you down some very anti
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  science, anti vaccine pipelines that can get kind of concerning.
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  And the second thing that I feel like is contributing to this
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  whole food situation is the concept of food now becoming
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  having a luxury, both a financial luxury and a social
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  luxury. Because as we know, the cost,
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  everything has continued to climb, which means that the
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  price of food is also more expensive, which also means that
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  the price of healthier foods is even more so expensive because
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  the fresh organic stuff has always been a higher price
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  point, and now it's becoming an even higher price point.
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  So while yes, there is a cultural shift to wanting to eat
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  less and prioritize thinness, there also is a practical
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  element of it all where people really just can't afford to have
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  as much healthy food as possible possible.
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  So by buying less and by eating less, you can save more money
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  and also be more than. At the time, junk food was a way
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  for the elite to seem relatable while at the same time flaunt
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  that they could eat it without any consequence.
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  But now, with the cost of groceries being so high in the
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  US, tariffs mean that a standard food shop has now doubled.
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  And things are so bad in the UK that supermarkets are losing
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  billions to theft when food has to be kept behind a security
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  glass. Fresh groceries become the
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  latest aesthetic for brands to use to align themselves with
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  luxury, and the aesthetics of aspiration are always a
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  reflection of how the economy is performing.
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  But then there's the whole cultural aspect around food
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  being a luxury as well, which we can in part contribute to the
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  rise of things like GLP ones. If diet culture is back, why is
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  there so much food in marketing? Since the release of GLP One
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  drugs like Ozempic, there has been a noticeable rise in
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  thinness across celebrity culture.
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  But now it's not just celebrities who have access to
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  these drugs. One in eight US adults have
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  tried a GLP One, literally shaping how we shop.
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  Households with a family member starting a GLP One spent on
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  average 5.3% less on groceries during a six month period.
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  And I'm never going to knock someone virtually buying a GOP
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  one or being on a GOP one because I'm someone that
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  believes that you should do pretty much anything you want to
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  yourself to aid in your own personal health, body image, or
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  mental well-being. My only thing is that I just
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  hope that people are making the right choices for their health
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  and are having conversations with their medical providers to
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  make sure that what they're taking, what they're doing is
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  actually right for them. But with the rise of things like
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  GOP ones, the general concepts of restraint are growing
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  stronger because people are just not as hungry and don't have the
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  same types of appetites. And when it comes specifically
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  to how food is being used as a luxury and positioned as this
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  luxurious item, specifically when it comes to sweet and
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  unhealthy foods, I think there's an interesting dichotomy here
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  where just a while ago people were raising eyebrows to like
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  these unhealthy sweet foods and kind of pushing them away.
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  Now we're seeing these incredibly thin models posted up
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  with these sweet desserts and unhealthy foods as marketing
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  campaigns to try and sell you things like, is Loki given let
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  them eat cake? But like literally.
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  And a little bit more on the whole GOP 1 of it all.
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  Like I said, the whole goal of like recreational use of GOP
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  ones is to suppress your hunger, which naturally is a biological
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  function, your body to let you know when you need nutrients and
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  energy. And when I'm talking about this
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  next point, I'm not talking about people that are actually
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  prescribed GOP ones that need it for things like diabetes or
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  excess weight control. I'm talking about the people
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  that don't necessarily need GOP ones, but are taking them just
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  to shed a couple of pounds because again, not everybody,
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  but some people don't need the medication.
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  And those same people oftentimes are the ones that are abusing
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  this medication. And that's where things can get
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  dangerous, essentially going from slim to slimmer.
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  And I know for this general conversation that talking about
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  people's bodies is a deeply debated.
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  So instead of speculating and speaking on other people, let's
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  actually just talk about someone who's talked about it
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  themselves. Layla, who is a mom talk
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  influencer and also someone that has been in the secret lives of
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  Mormon Wives, is one of the first people, at least in my
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  recollection, to talk about it publicly.
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  Why is no one talking about? The fact that.
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  There's this whole. Scene in The Secret Lives of
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  Mormon Wives where Layla's talking about how addictive.
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  GOP one medications are I weighed myself like 2 days.
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  Ago when I was 99 and. You're like 51059, I mean.
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  Do you know? That that's not super healthy.
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  You guys, this is becoming an epidemic and I feel the need to
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  speak out on it as a registered dietitian looking for signs of
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  malnutrition. We are seeing it everywhere.
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  GLP ones are being abused you guys.
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  And it's important to note here that while she says that she has
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  struggled with Edie's long before she started taking GLP
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  ones, she admits that she did get to a point where she started
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  abusing them. And the whole GLP 1 of it all is
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  just so interesting because this is sort of a novel aspect of
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  this conversation. Like there are articles written
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  about how people have GOP one jealousy between two friends
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  with one person who's taking it and one person who's not, and
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  how their bodies are looking like it's getting into such an
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  unhealthy place. And I think the way that we are
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  talking about it and the way that we are going about this
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  whole situation is just so messed up.
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  And speaking from the heart, something that has been
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  especially messed up in the way that we're just communicating
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  and talking to like everyday people is the increase in food
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  and plate watching that's been going on just casually.
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  Literally ashamed for her food choices here.
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  She's made to think that Agave is bad, that she shouldn't be
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  having rice milk. Her white bread is bad, her
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  cranberry juice is bad. Like all of these things are
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  labeled as bad by Anna V Richards, who who's a big
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  proponent for Colleen living. What the fuck?
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  That means one. Of the weird side effects of
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  this current era of diet culture is the fact that people act like
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  they don't remember what a regular meal looks like.
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  Like a regular, cost effective, family friendly dinner that
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  covers all of the bases but isn't like $40 and made of fresh
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  fruits and veggies and what I. Mean by food and plate watching
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  is that people just feel at liberty to make comments about
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  the amount of food that you're eating.
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  I see it as being too much or too little.
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  And I thought we all mutually agreed that like we're not going
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  to do that because what do you mean?
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  You see me fill up a plate with normal portions of food and
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  you're going to come at me like some oh, you're eating all that
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  like, oh, big bag, big bag like, oh, he's eating big, he's eating
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  good like hello, what's going on?
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  And the way we have normalized saying skinny, like I'm guilty
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  of this too, but like someone orders like a parfait or someone
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  orders a side salad at dinner and all of a sudden it's oh,
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  skinny, like yes, skinny, like, oh body.
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  And see, I know that's right. Like, you know what's right,
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  Savannah, you know nothing about what's going on here.
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  And in fact, we need to start keeping our comments to
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  ourselves because if we listen to the Internet, everything we
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  eat is bad. Everything we eat is evil.
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  And nothing you can ever eat can ever be good for you because
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  things like moderation just don't exist.
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  And if you even think about having a morsel of food, you are
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  automatically this heathen that needs to be put down.
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  And like, that sounds crazy, right?
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  Like I'm being facetious here, but for some people that is not
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  a joke. Like some people believe that.
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  And for some people that is scripture in Bible.
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  And I think that is the problem we are at here.
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  And again, I'm not trying to demonize these things at all.
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  I think it is possible that the rise of GOP ones and the fact
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  that they are so well talked about and well known, people are
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  getting a lot more comfortable with plate watching and making
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  comments about people's appetites and the amount of food
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  that people are consuming. Like it's so strange how normal
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  it's become to just talk about how many calories someone isn't
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  taking, like how many calories someone is eating.
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  I've. Recently been seeing a surge of
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  comments online when it comes to recipe videos, often times
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  denigrating the creator for using so much sugar.
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  So it'll be a comment like oh that's way too much sugar or oh
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  I can never use a cup of oil in that cake.
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  That's disgusting, right? And I find these really irking
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  because number one, that's rude. There's no decorum on the
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  Internet anymore. But #2 often times sugar and fat
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  play such crucial roles when it comes to flavor.
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  But beyond that and baking, they play very important structural
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  roles that you just can't simply remove or reduce very easily.
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  Like for this TikTok specifically, like it's given
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  like the bean soup final boss. Like why are we so OK with
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  surveilling? Like what is in people's food?
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  Like of course it's important to know what's in your food, the
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  food that you're personally eating.
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  But when you're seeing someone else eat, why are you so
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  concerned, entitled to know what someone else is using in their
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  food? And at this point in the video,
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  I can foresee comments and push back around things like, oh, why
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  are you so against people leading a healthy lifestyle?
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  Are you just promoting people to be unhealthy and inactive?
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  And to that, I say, no, no, that's clearly not the point.
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  That's clearly not what I'm saying.
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  What I'm trying to say in the point of this video is that I
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  feel like it is OK to be healthy and I think it's OK to watch
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  what you eat. It's OK to be mindful about the
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  things that you're consuming. I think it is also important
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  that we are mindful about the way that we talk about things
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  and the different cultures around consumption, around
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  fitness and around food that we are building because it is an
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  increasingly slippery slope. And we're getting closer and
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  closer to the point where it's not just about healthy eating
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  and it's not just about like portion control or whatever.
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  It then very quickly becomes about our relationships with
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  food and unhealthy with food because it is no secret or
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  surprise that the last time we had this sort of mentality back
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  in the early 2000s and 90s, that we also had crazy rates of
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  people with EDS. When you make food and eating
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  the enemy, people will internalize that and struggle
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  with that because food and eating and making sure you're
• 13:29
  getting your nutrients are all things that you need to do to
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  survive and to be actually healthy and not just appear
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  healthy or appear thin. What happens in the comments is
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  people like, but what about obesity?
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  Like, OK, number one, your fat phobia is showing and #2 it
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  shows the misunderstanding and the lack of information that
• 13:48
  people really have about eating disorders.
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  Eating disorders often are started the origin point.
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  You didn't just wake up one day with it.
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  It started with someone trying to lose weight, trying to get
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  healthier, trying to avoid obesity.
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  The type of messaging that we're giving to people in our society
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  is directly leading people down the path of eating disorders.
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  I don't know if you guys have noticed this but the girls that
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  preach that they can have ABS and a booty at the same time and
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  they preach that being skinny and lean is law and that they
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  can be healthy while being lean because they do XYZ.
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  Those are always the girls that have hair like straw and they
• 14:28
  look exhausted and they're face is sunken in and they have bags
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  under their eyes. And I'm very much under the
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  impression that one of the reasons skinny is being pushed
• 14:40
  in 2026 is because women have been moving up in the world and
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  realizing their power. And guess what that requires?
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  Food, Energy. Carbohydrates.
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  Yeah, women are getting too powerful.
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  Let's strip them of literal fucking energy.
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  And I think it's important that we talk about it.
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  I think often times it can be seen as like a taboo thing.
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  And I think partially that's because the way that a lot of
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  people do talk about food and people's relationships with
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  food. And just pointing out the
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  obvious with like how scary and how skinny things have gotten
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  just culturally is that people can get kind of mean and dogpile
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  and singling people out specifically that they're
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  talking about and using people in their journey as like a case
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  study, which I don't think right.
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  But I think there's nothing wrong with pointing out
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  culturally in the macro about how widespread the obsession
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  with being skinny and the obsession with being thin is
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  because being small and being as sunny as possible seems to be
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  the goal, at least on the Internet.
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  And like most things, I do think that this is a sign of the
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  times. And we cannot take consumption
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  trends, social trends, and what we're at is a society as a whole
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  as separate things because they all really inform each other
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  because times it's hard. Food is actually scarce and more
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  expensive than ever and companies and corporations are
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  constantly pushing ads and agendas about like what you
• 15:50
  should be eating, how many grams of protein you should be eating,
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  and how much protein can you pack in a single day in a, in a
• 15:54
  single beverage. I'm still not over that protein
• 15:56
  water stuff. But like, it's just not healthy
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  to try and gamify nutrition or like biohack or bio Max your
• 16:01
  consumption because that does not foster a healthy
• 16:04
  relationship with those things, at least not long term.
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  And I think we just need to be leading with more grease both to
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  ourselves and to other people because we really don't know
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  what anyone's going through. And of course, if you are
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  struggling and going through something right now, please do
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  seek help or talk to someone you trust.
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  Because I know it's hard to listen to what you need or know
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  what you need when you're hearing all these different
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  voices telling you about things that you should want and should
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  need for your body. Because at the end of the day,
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  no one but your doctor should be telling you're dictating what
• 16:29
  you or your body should look like.
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  Because again, it shouldn't matter to anyone but you and
• 16:33
  your doctor. And also just stop taking on
• 16:35
  this advice from influencers.