Content warning: Mentions of
eating disorders.
The voice in my head sneered,
Still too high, you’re a failure, as I
yanked on the fat of my stomach. I
was in my bathroom, trying to calm
myself down and stop the moisture
overpowering my eyes. My mom had
bought a different type of yogurt that
week at the store because it was on
sale, but it was 30 calories more than
the usual brand. An unpeeled apple
is 90 calories, six almonds are 42, one
cup of cooked broccoli is 35, two eggs
are 180. Total calorie intake: 650. My
mind was scrambling to recalculate:
Well, if I take out the almonds and
exercise for an extra 20 minutes
tonight, I can still make my calorie goal,
I rationalized.
***
Last week, while scrolling through
my Instagram Explore page to avoid
homework, I came upon a video that
showed how to make something
called “nature’s cereal.” I was curious
and so I did more research. Originally
created by Tik Toker Sherwayne
Mears, nature’s cereal consists of
coconut water poured over a mix of
blackberries, blueberries, raspberries
and pomegranate seeds. This trend
blew up when singer Lizzo shared a
video on Tik Tok trying it for the first
time.
Now, I love an unexpectedly
delicious food combination (trying
ketchup on mac and cheese was truly
a life-changing experience). And if
Mears and Lizzo love nature’s cereal,
who am I to judge? But the underlying
issue with the nature’s cereal trend
is that it can be misinterpreted,
especially by impressionable youth,
to demonize regular cereal with
milk for being unhealthy while
inadvertently
idolizing
nature’s
cereal for being lower in calories.
If we are continuously bombarded
with content proclaiming that cereal
is making you fat or that switching
from full-fat milk to skim milk
will aid weight loss, we start to
subconsciously label certain foods
as “bad.” Gradually, we might start
to avoid them or feel that we have to
“earn” these foods through exercise.
Even if we were able to enjoy these
foods blissfully in moderation before,
we might now feel guilty for eating
them or that we need to substitute
“bad” ingredients in a recipe like
butter or sugar for “good” alternatives
like avocados or apple sauce.
Take, for example, the Instagram
handle for the account on which I
first saw the dish: @eatthisnotthat
— a page is filled with posts that
encourage you to suppress your
cravings for unhealthy food with
“clean alternatives” to cut calories.
Nature’s cereal is full of antioxidants,
vitamin C and other essential
nutrients, but we should take it for
what it is: fruit in water. We must
avoid putting certain foods and meals
on pedestals. To function, our bodies
require many different nutrients that
come from a balanced diet made up of
a variety of foods, including ones that
make us happy.
The set of beliefs that idolizes
thinness, perpetuates fatphobia and
vilifies “unhealthy” foods is known
as “diet culture.” It goes farther than
to tell us to cut back on donuts and
fried foods. Instead, it creates a fear
of food and not exercising which
can lead to disordered eating habits
and potentially full-blown eating
disorders. Diet culture taunts: “You
can’t have a flat stomach if you snack
in-between meals.” “Stop eating by 8
pm.” “Don’t eat fruits that are high in
sugar.” “Keep away from unnecessary
carbs.” “Never ever let your discipline
waver.”
While writing this, I am reminded
of a time when I used to spend every
minute of every day fixated on food,
calculating every calorie, every gram
of carbs, ultimately telling myself
what I could and couldn’t eat. All in
the name of hitting a number on the
scale, this toxic mentality stole my
time, happiness and ironically, my
health. Hours wasted poring over
online restaurant menus, trying to
decide what I would order the next
day when I went out to eat with my
family. If I couldn’t meticulously pre-
calculate my calories for the meal
based on grainy images of online
menus, I would eat a small portion
of it, feigning fullness. The next day,
I would heavily restrict my food
intake to under 900 calories and
spend countless hours exercising,
regardless of whether I really had the
time to or not. Sometimes I would
make excuses and cancel dinner
plans altogether. Instead of studying
for an exam, I would be googling
things like, “How many calories are
in toothpaste?”
When the numbers on the scale
fell, my friends praised me for my
“willpower” to be healthy. I was
constantly terrified of losing control,
but the truth was I already had. I liked
feeling the gnawing hunger pangs in
my stomach because I equated it to
success. The first thing I did every
morning was rush to the mirror to
see if my stomach was flatter or my
thigh gap bigger. What I saw would
determine my mood, what I would
be allowed to eat that day or how long
I would spend on the treadmill that
night. I thought that tracking every
single calorie on calorie-counting
applications and sticking to a strict
two-hour workout seven days a week
meant that I was strong. The reality
was that I was being controlled by diet
culture, brainwashed into thinking
that once I hit a certain amount of
pounds, I would finally love myself
— that I would finally be happy.
Growing up, I learned about how the
media distorted our image of beauty,
but that didn’t stop me from trying to
conform to that “perfect” body type.
It reinforced in me that to be “fat” was
a fate worse than death.
Diet culture has brainwashed
many of us into thinking that a
healthy
lifestyle
means
salads,
detox smoothies and always telling
ourselves “no pain, no gain” when
offered cake at a birthday party. It
has convinced many of us that eating
when we feel hungry is a failure
and that we should instead distract
ourselves to divert hunger cues and
chug water to feel full. Our social
media pages flood with infographics
about the warrior diet, the egg diet,
the baby food diet, the cabbage soup
diet and the list goes on. Not only
do these weight loss plans often
contradict each other — the infamous
IU diet calls for one apple for
breakfast and two sweet potatoes for
lunch while the keto diet tells you to
avoid most fruits, potatoes and high-
carb foods altogether — they are not
sustainable. Being healthy entails not
having to obsess over what foods you
can and cannot eat.
Anyone can be manipulated by
diet culture. Yet, disordered eating is
frequently presented as an issue that
solely affects white women. Research
has shown that Women of Color in
the United States are less likely to
be diagnosed or receive treatment
for eating disorders. Studies have
also found that those who identify
as LGBTQ+ are at a higher risk to
develop these disorders. Nonbinary
abolitionist and organizer Da’Shaun
Harrison voices because they were
Black, fat and perceived as male,
doctors refused to acknowledge that
an eating disorder was possible. They
write, “Not a single doctor or other
medical professional that listened
to me talk about my relationship to
food and eating considered that I
might have an eating disorder. In
fact, when my mom once named ED
as a possibility to one of the doctors,
without hesitation, he responded:
‘That’s not likely, as eating disorders
aren’t typically seen in boys, especially
when they are African-American
and overweight.’” It is important to
recognize that disordered eating has
to do with more than just outward
appearance but also mental health.
You can’t tell when someone is
struggling with a single glance. Often,
diet culture works menacingly in
the background, slowly poisoning
our relationships with food and our
bodies.
Particularly after New Year’s Day,
diet culture becomes ubiquitous: ads
for gyms, weight loss programs and
pills that promise to “burn fat fast”
appear as an ode to the infamous
“New Year’s resolution.” Fitness
influencers upload “How to Get
that Summer Bikini Body” videos,
implying that there’s some perfect
body we should be striving to attain
and that we are not worthy until we
do so. Celebrities like the Kardashians
promote waist trainers, “appetite-
suppressing
lollipops”
and
Flat
Tummy Tea in spite of being notorious
for editing their social media photos,
having access to personal trainers
and professional nutritionists as well
as the many speculations of them
undergoing weight loss surgery and
other treatments.
If you’ve ever seen a “What I Eat in a
Day” video, ask yourself why they are
always accompanied by thumbnails
of girls in bikinis and include
clips of body checking “progress”
throughout the day, as if aesthetic
pleasure is the purpose of self-care
and exercise. Fundamentally, seeing
a larger number on the scale doesn’t
mean you aren’t healthy nor does
seeing a lower number mean you are
healthy.
“Before and after diet photos”
can also be problematic. On the left,
there is a frowning individual. On
the right, they appear to have lost
weight and are smiling, seemingly
much happier overall. These images
may be motivating to some who want
to lose weight out of genuine health
concerns,
but
oftentimes,
these
comparisons
portray
individuals
as “success stories,” worshiping
thinness and equating it to happiness.
But there is no one diet or one exercise
regime that will give everyone a
“perfect body.” Trends change and
what society proclaims is the “perfect
body” will always change. 150 pounds
will look different on everybody, and
no amount of weight loss will solve a
lack of body appreciation as a result of
society’s indoctrination of fatphobia.
Here’s the truth: Even if we all ate and
exercised the same, our bodies would
still look vastly different from one
another’s.
So, the next time your nosy Aunt
Jenny feels the need to comment
on how many potatoes are on your
Christmas plate, remember that like
our personalities, our bodies are all
different and need different things in
order to function. We will have less
energy to work out sometimes, and
we might feel hungrier some days
and we don’t need to justify that to
ourselves or anybody else. Our bodies
are smart; we should listen to them.
Eat more vegetables and fruits for
physical health, and don’t forget the
ice cream and potato chips for mental
health too.
Diet culture is everywhere, but so
is body positivity — if we know where
to look for it. Despite the clickbait-y
video titles and thumbnails, Linda
Sun’s Youtube channel was one place
that never failed to remind me that
what made me special had nothing to
do with what I looked like. Likewise,
Victoria Myers’s Instagram account
encourages intuitive eating and
teaches us how to navigate a world
obsessed with diet talk. Actresses
Lana Condor and Gabourey Sidibe
remind us that no matter how
perfect someone’s life seems on
the surface, body image issues are
so much more common than we
realize and that ultimately, we are
not alone in our struggles. Model
Ashley Graham pushes back at people
who call her “brave” for posting her
un-photoshopped bikini pictures.
Catherine Pawley’s TED Talk, “Life’s
too short to weigh your cornflakes,”
reminds us how joyful life can be if
we silence the poisonous voice in our
heads that tells us we need to engage
in destructive behaviors in order to
feel safe and in control.
A slice of birthday cake is not a
shameful 370 calories or 32 grams of
carbs or 22 grams of sugar. That slice
of cake is more than just numbers.
That slice of cake is laughter with
family,
unforgettable
memories
with friends and happiness for the
tastebuds. We must deconstruct and
reconstruct our relationships with
our food and our bodies and embrace
that our bodies change over time.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan in Color
6 — Wednesday, April 14, 2021
puzzle by sudokusnydictation.com
By Julian Lim
©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
04/14/21
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
04/07/21
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
28 One shared at a
04/14/21
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
Release Date: Wednesday, April 14, 2021
ACROSS
1 Treble symbol
6 “Do the __!”
10 Toppers with
visors
14 Siri’s Amazon
counterpart
15 Felipe of
baseball
16 “The Thin Man”
canine role
17 Monument on
one end of the
National Mall
20 Cathedral recess
21 Expected-in hr.
22 At first, say
23 Falsehood source
25 Rice-like pasta
26 Eleven-yr.-old
insurance law
29 Singer of the
2019 #1 hit
“Señorita”
34 Mall cop’s ride
36 “Brava!”
37 Schoolbook
38 O. __
39 __ rub: BBQ
spices
40 One with a need
for speed
41 Bread spread
42 Bro’s sib
43 Mexican state
south of Veracruz
44 Local political
gathering
47 “Acid”
48 Capricorn critter
49 Poker variety
51 Chosen groups
54 Watched
55 File format for
digital books
59 Upscale
restaurant’s
offering
62 Christian on a
label
63 “Marriage Story”
actor Alan
64 “We didn’t do it”
65 Tall tale
66 Itchy red area
67 Foe found
phonetically
in four puzzle
answers
DOWN
1 Lavish party
2 Film segment
3 Many a Zeiss
product
4 Shine
5 Toy retailer __
Schwarz
6 Meditation word
7 __ mater
8 Piggy in a crib
9 “It’s weird, but
just do it”
10 Ecological levy
11 Himalayas locale
12 Education orgs.
13 Bargain hunter’s
delight
18 Patrick __,
Vermont senator
since 1975
19 Cinq plus six
24 Words to an old
chap
25 Sole
26 Had __: was still
in the running
27 Songwriter Green
28 Nixon’s first veep
30 Razzie Award
adjective
31 Hot rod
attachment
32 Management
bigwigs
33 Highly coveted
violin
35 Right that isn’t
right, e.g.
39 Paleo __
40 Tortellini topper
42 Five-armed
ocean creature
43 When a football
may be snapped
45 Springfield bar
46 Old Testament
prophet
50 Exorcist’s target
51 Jacuzzi effect
52 Kylo Ren’s
mother
53 Composer
Stravinsky
54 Criteria: Abbr.
56 Best of the
Beatles, once
57 Word on U.S.
coins
58 At it
60 __ carte
61 Omaha-to-St.
Paul dir.
SUDOKU
WHISPER
“How can you
expect any-
one to do work
when it is 70º
in Ann Arbor?”
“You cant.”
WHISPER
Why I stopped calorie counting
VICTORIA TAN
MiC Columnist
“How many would you like?”
“Ba muonốmay cái?”
“Please fill this out with your date
of birth and address, then sign at the
bottom with today’s date.”
“Má phai ốdienố vô ngày sinh, ốốdia
chiố nhà, ký tên roiốviet buanay là ngày
may.”
This is how a lot of shopping trips,
doctors visits and phone calls go for
my family. Someone asks my parents
something. My sister or I translate
it. My parents respond to us. We
translate back.
And I hated doing this. Like, hated
it. It was embarrassing for 10-year-old
me. I felt like a burden to the workers
and thought I was slowing everything
down. So every time my mom told me
to order food over the phone, I’d feign
busyness just so I wouldn’t have to.
She’d tell me to sit with her while she’s
on the phone with the doctor’s office,
and I would grumble and sigh.
I’ve always been proud to have
grown up in a bilingual environment,
being immersed in two languages
that come naturally to me. And I knew
that it made my parents proud too,
especially when other Vietnamese
parents
would
compliment
me
and my sister’s seemingly native
Vietnamese fluency. Adults would ask
us if we were born in Vietnam, and I
knew my parents were beaming with
pride behind their humble smiles.
I liked talking to my parents in
Vietnamese when we were out and
about because it made me feel like
we were telling a secret no one else
would hear, but not when someone
was waiting on the other end for a
response. I dreaded the deafening
silence of someone standing and
anticipating a response as I translated
what they said to my parents,
waited for my parents’ response
and formulated their words back to
English.
Thinking about it now, I can’t
pinpoint an exact reason for having
felt that way. Was it because I was
afraid someone was going to mock
me as some kids did in elementary
school? Or was it because I had yet to
understand how my translations gave
my parents a sense of security?
When I asked her why she would
have us translate, my mom told me
that it made everything easier, but
she emphasized how it made her
more comfortable. She feared people
would assume our family was “fresh
off the boat,” as people say, and hated
the feeling of asking employees to
slow down their speaking. Her past
experiences taught her to expect that
these “inconveniences” would be
met with impatience and rudeness.
Having my sister and I speak up would
signal to people that we know just as
much English as any other American,
though that should not determine
whether or not we are treated with
respect.
As I got older, I learned more and
more about my parents’ immigrant
stories. For years, my mom sat in her
evening ESL class after tirelessly
working multiple jobs during the day,
trying to perfect her “th” sounds and
the “r” in words like “earth” (which
still require my gentle guidance). My
dad failed many writing assignments
because he could never fully express in
his writing what he wanted to say. He
can still picture himself sitting in the
library studying until midnight while
his classmates played football outside,
solely because he couldn’t understand
what he was reading. Once I put
myself in my parents’ shoes, I began
to understand their immigration
experience with broken English and
their constant “uh”s, “um”s, and “oh,
never mind”s when talking to English
speakers. The “Where I go?” instead
of “Where do I go,” or the “Look nice”
instead of “That looks nice.” They
were foreigners doing their best with
the English they knew, but what they
didn’t know created another challenge
for surviving in the United States.
I’ve learned the best I can do is help
ease any burden my parents may feel.
Now, I embrace translating for my
parents by taking initiative with small
gestures I know they appreciate, even
if they don’t voice it. I call the doctor’s
office instead of just sitting there
and only interjecting when I have
to. I order the food without my mom
asking. I see my dad having difficulty
explaining what he’s looking for and
jump in for him instead.
I think speaking Vietnamese has
done more for me than simply helping
me communicate. It has allowed
me to understand and value things
my parents keep close to them. My
mom radiates happiness when she
sees me reading her cookbook filled
with scrawls and scribbles from her
attempts to perfect each recipe. My
dad sits back with a nostalgic look on
his face as I read notes he used to write
for my mom when they were dating.
Without a language barrier, my sister
and I are able to stay in touch with my
grandma and older relatives.
It’s as if we have become our
parents’
own
personal
Google
Translate, and that’s not such a bad
thing.
I love you.
Con thương ba má.
Their personal Google Translate
HANNAH NGUYEN
MiC Columnist