From Weight Watchers to Ozempic: How Diet Culture Keeps Reinventing Itself

Please don’t get me wrong. If you are on Ozempic or any weight loss injection, the last thing

I ever want to do, is lead you to feeling any shame. I understand that many people are

recommended these weight loss injections for medical/health reasons.

But…..

Have you noticed some of our beloved celebrities who we have cherished and admired,

many in larger bodies, have now shrunk down, as we see the Ozempic effect. What is the

Ozempic effect- I have made up that term, it is not a medical term. I am not a doctor. But I

am writing as an eating disorder clinician who has worked in this space for nearly 20 years.

I am over diet culture. I have had enough…every era we see it…a new diet…new

gimmicks….new trends…ALL to do with weight loss as the ultimate goal. Yes, promising

you, that if you lose weight, then finally, finally you will be happy, successful, beautiful,

whatever!

In the 80s we had to hear about Weight Watchers – the ‘healthy’ way of losing weight-

showing millions of people (including myself) on this diet, how you can lose weight and all

you have to do is count a point for this food, another point for that food…and this food has

less points so you can eat more of it..and that food has a lot of points so it is bad

food..….what the hell were they teaching people? Other than becoming obsessive over

calorie counting and over controlling with their food…..but they would say they are doing it ‘ in a ‘healthy’ way of course!’ And Fats was the enemy in the 80s – low fat this, low fat that- was very big. I recall studying a Nutrition component in my Certificate in Fitness course and the instructor informed us, that he would tell his girlfriend, why are you drinking skinny milk when full cream milk is actually low in fat! I loved that class!

Then the 90s come around, and good old Aitkins diet took over – oh yes…carbs was the

enemy and we saw bodies shrinking before our eyes…I remember seeing Gerri Halliwell

from the Spice girls, a normal – framed beautiful red head- shrink before our eyes…and

people loved that diet- I would hear people say, you can eat as much bacon, eggs, meat as

you like….oh yes, how healthy is that?! I remember studying about the GI factor (found in

carbohydrate foods) and why this is an important factor when considering foods that assist

people with diabetes. But I also came across so much research around the benefits of a high

protein diet- and guess what, it was sponsored by the Aikins foundation/organisation. Of

course it was! And by the way, Aikins died of a heart attack (how ironic!).

And, what have we seen since then? Well Jenny Craig came and gone – just like the

celebrities who would have advertised this diet – their weight went and came back! Of

course it did- that is WEIGHT SCIENCE, weight loss and dieting ends up increasing our

weight (whenever we go back to eating naturally again)….And there is Lite and Easy- but

that is ok, because they say it is ‘Not a diet”– really Not a diet? Who are you kidding, any

food intake that requires you to restrict the amount of food you are eating or the type of food you are eating IS A DIET! It is not simply healthy because you are advertising it to people on Aged care programs!

So, during all this time we have also had an increase in Bariatric surgery- what a miracle !

People have finally been able to lose that weight permanently….Or NOT – I cannot tell you

the number of clients I have seen over my years as a psychologist where their gastric sleeve

or bariatric surgery has not worked for them, or worse has made their life even more unhealthier in some way…..and by the way, if you have an eating disorder, bariatric surgery

will not eliminate it, most likely, it will become worse.

And so here we are in 2026, and we have this new wonder drug, a ‘fix it’ diet, and we don’t

have to worry about food. Finally, an easy way to lose weight, by giving yourself an injection.

Amazing, people have lost so much weight….they get compliments, they get attention, they

get praise…and guess what I have noticed – they still hate their bodies! They still feel

disgusting, shameful, worthless, inferior and sad. And the main point is, they know that

unless they take this expensive drug (that has an array of side effects) for the rest of their

life, their weight will come back , and in abundance! It’s the set point theory- our body has a

natural weight where it likes to be – we cannot fight genetics.

So what is my moral message about diets - Diets no matter what form they come in- points,

small packets, shakes, or injections, DO NOT WORK. They do not equate to happiness,

they do not make us feel anything- other than continuing to imply that by being in a body that is not the thin ideal, is problematic, is not good enough…..ALL BODIES ARE DIFFERENT, bodies come in different shapes and sizes AND THAT IS OK. And by the way, we have enough research that shows us that we can be Healthy At Every size. Want to read more, check out the book “Health at Every Size” By Linda Bacon.

Enjoy life, enjoy your body, not matter what size.