You're Not Participating In Diet Culture

If you’re in recovery from food addiction, binge eating, or compulsive eating, you may have run into this idea that goes something like this:

“If you still care about weight loss, your body, or how you look… you’re a part of diet culture.”

For a lot of women, that message creates unnecessary shame, confusion, and fear. So let’s clear this up. Having health or body goals in recovery is not disordered.

Wanting to feel better, stronger, healthier or yes, even liking how your body looks is not a moral failure and it does not mean you’re slipping backward.

The real issue has never been the goal. The issue is how the goal is pursued and whether it supports or sabotages your recovery.

Where This Myth Comes From

In many recovery spaces, goals related to weight, body composition, or appearance are treated as dangerous territory.

The intention behind this is understandable. Many people have used weight loss goals as a cover for restriction, punishment, obsession, and self-hatred. For someone early in recovery, diving straight into aesthetics can feel destabilizing, but here’s where the thinking goes wrong: It turns into an all-or-nothing belief that any desire to change your body is disordered, no matter how it’s approached.

That’s simply not true.

Wanting Health and Confidence Is Human

Wanting to:

• Improve your metabolic health

• Reduce joint pain or inflammation

• Build strength and energy

• Feel confident in your clothes

• Take pride in your body

…is not pathology. It’s just being human. You didn’t stop being a whole person with preferences, goals, and values just because you entered recovery. Recovery is about food freedom, not self-erasure.

The Real Question You Need to Ask

Instead of asking:

“Is it disordered to want this?”

A better question is:

“Is this goal being pursued in the best interest of my recovery?”

That is what matters. Every decision you make about nutrition, movement, structure, and habits needs to pass one filter: Does this protect my food sobriety and long-term freedom?

If the answer is yes, you’re likely on solid ground.

Recovery Comes First. Always.

Recovery is the foundation. That means:

• You do not compromise food sobriety to chase a number.

• You do not return to restriction, white-knuckling, or “just this once” thinking.

• You do not ignore red flags just to stay “on plan.”

When recovery comes first, your goals are shaped by self-respect instead of self-punishment and that changes everything.

Aesthetic Goals Aren’t the Enemy

Let’s say this clearly, because it needs to be said: There is nothing inherently wrong with having aesthetic goal like wanting to lean out, wanting muscle definition and wanting to look healthier.

Those desires are not automatically diet culture or relapse behavior.

What is problematic is:

• Chasing thinness at any cost

• Making impulsive, emotionally driven changes

• Using shame, fear, or urgency as motivation

• Ignoring recovery tools because “this matters more”

That’s not recovery-based decision-making.

Disorder vs. Recovery-Driven Goals

Here’s the difference: Disorder says, “I’ll do whatever it takes to get there even if I lose myself again.”

Recovery says, “My sobriety is non-negotiable. Any goal I pursue must honor that.”

Recovery-driven goals are patient, they’re realistic, they’re honest, and they’re flexible. Most importantly, they’re sustainable.

You Get to Want More

You are allowed to want more than just “not bingeing.”

You’re also allowed to want:

• Strength

• Vitality

• Confidence

• Smaller jeans

• Health

• A body you feel good living in

You’ve already done incredibly hard work by breaking free from food addiction and compulsive eating. You don’t have to shrink your vision for your life or your health to prove you’re “doing recovery right.”

Just keep the order clear, with recovery first and everything else second. When that foundation is solid, your goals don’t threaten your freedom, they build on it.

If this message resonated with you, you’ll want to listen to the full podcast episode where I break this down and talk through how to evaluate your goals honestly and safely.

If you’re looking for support navigating health goals without compromising your recovery, that’s exactly the work I do inside my coaching programs. Freedom comes first and everything else is built on that.