How to Navigate Dating in Diet Culture

Today we’re talking about dating and relationships in diet culture with therapist, Becca Moravec. The world of dating, where our bodies often feel like battlegrounds of judgment and bias. It's no secret that our culture's obsession with diets and body ideals can make finding love feel like an uphill battle, especially if you don't fit into society's narrow mold of beauty. Join us as we delve into Becca’s journey of dismantling diet culture and fatphobia to live authentically. Becca, once entrenched in these issues as a therapist, shares her transformation through Health at Every Size (HAES) and insights into the body liberation movement since 2020. We discuss how diet culture infiltrates modern relationships and online dating, conflating attractiveness with lovability and fostering judgment based on body size. Becca offers strategies to navigate these challenges, emphasizing the importance of feeling deserving of love and belonging. Learn how she supports others in overcoming dating fears, using tools like the Enneagram, and challenging harmful beliefs such as “I will date when I look like x.” We explore the impact of desirability politics, the benefits of rejecting body ideals, and how to maintain body liberation in relationships. Plus, practical tips and red flags for dating in a fat body, and the importance of authenticity in finding true connection.

• How Becca has seen diet culture show up in modern relationships, specifically online dating which overemphasizes body image and attractiveness
• The distinction between attractiveness and lovability, despite diet culture wanting to conflate the two
• Fear of real or perceived judgment or rejection because of body size or shape that many folks feel within dating

• The problem of thinking, “I will date when I look like x” and how using courage, supports, and compassion can challenge this thinking

• Becca’s story of having a relationship end as a result of her body size and how she views that now

• We explore desirability politics and where we get from our attractiveness standards

• How to navigate your own body liberation while your partner still embraces diet culture and anti-fatness
• How body can be a scapegoat for connection in our partnerships
• How our root fear of unlovability can interfere with our ability to live into authentic self
• Practical tips and red flags to watch for in your dating relationships regardless of body size

• The role of honesty when taking up space in relationships and work on the narratives that tell you to stay small

• How Becca’s story and dismantling of diet culture and fatphobia has allowed her to live a more authentic life
• Becca’s history of once being steeped in diet culture and anti fatness as a therapist until she encountered HAES