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Amanda B. Hinton's avatar

Burnt Toast works as a "touching stone" for my life, my work, my parenting. In the past, I used to judge myself for not being "finally fixed" from diet culture. And only recently have I realized (thanks to reading BT) that the pressure weighing down on all of us to be thin is exhausting and downright inescapable. It is everywhere. (I live at 7,500 feet elevation, in relative obscurity, and even out here, I STILL run into the mental pressure to be thin.)

The voices I hear are all so sneaky and slimy—and they normalize distrusting myself at nearly every goddamn turn. I realize now that building in touchstones like BT is part of my self-care plan, not because I need to be indoctrinated with anti-diet spiels, but because I deserve to hear from people who aren't actively trying to make me hate myself.

As an aside: I do wonder if BT has a place for body-trusting professionals who aren't explicitly working in anti-diet spheres. Two reason I'm asking: one is that, when I do seek out professional/creative help, I can pick up on someone who actively hates their body even if we aren't doing "body work" and this makes me very sad and tired; and two, because as an editor, I'd love to have a way for other writers to know that they can bring their stories to me and my work as an editor is grounded in full confidence that they know what they are ready to say. Not trying to pitch myself here. But also, trying to stand up and say, I'm an editor and I innately trust bodies and I think this matters in relationships beyond the physician/patient dynamic. 🫶

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Wax's avatar

I'd love to see some writing. Or some discussion done around being fat in fitness spaces. I'm a yoga teacher and pilates enthusiast. Since covid I find it incredibly hard to find places that feel safe for me. I even find my own students' discussion around their bodies hostile towards larger beings or added "pandemic weight.." The pandemic was a long healing time for me with food and movement. And I guess I don't see a lot of discussion like that

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