A Diet-Culture Free Zone

Alright, so it’s no big secret that food and body talk is rampant over the festive period. Whether it’s your gobby uncle commenting on how your body has changed since last year. Or Jill from accounts saying she’s trying to ‘be good’ at the Christmas party. Or whether it’s the general Ozempic-UPF-thinisin vibe. It’s understandable if you feel weary, exhausted, and fed up of how loud diet-culture is at this time of year.

Over the past couple of years at CIHAS, I’ve hosted a chat thread for subscribers where they could vent/scream/cry about unsolicited opinions around food and bodies over the holidays. It felt like a cosy harbour where you could find some care and solidarity, regardless of if you’re on your own Intuitive Eating and body acceptance journey, or are a parent trying to protect their kid from unhelpful messages (or both). 

When we left Substack, I wasn’t sure how we were going to plug this gap. Substack has done really well to make an elegant, seamless product with all the bells and whistles that a newsletter might need (and then some).

But, as you hopefully all know by now, they also platform transphobes, anti-vax conspiracy theorists and far-right fascists so… we broke up.

Jennifer and I discussed some options, and were initially hesitant to hitch the newsletter to yet another thing (Disqus was a disaster, Ghost isn’t perfect). But at the same time, we felt that having a dedicated space to chat in real time felt important.

We know a lot of other newsletters already have Discord channels so felt like it may already be on your radar. And if it’s not and you feel scared then know that I was also scared because I thought it was some like QAnon/incel adjacent weirdness. Turns out, it’s just an old school message board. It feels quaint and nostalgic; millennials will instantly feel at home, so don’t feel scared.

Discord can be used as a webpage on your browser, or you can download the app from the store on your phone.

We have created three channels on the CIHAS server:

I Need To Talk - A general space for getting support and solidarity if food and body talk is starting to get to you, you need some encouragement not to get back on the dieting bandwagon, or you need some advice around Intuitive Eating, Health at Every Size, or body respect.

Kids Food and Body Talk - For folks navigating feeding tiny humans and helping them feel safe in their bodies. Ask questions, share resources, or just get stuff off your chest.

In The News - A place to share and discuss news articles and social media posts on topical issues like Ozempic, UPF, body politics and so on.

Click the link below to join the CIHAS Discord Server