You know when you meet over coffee and you or your friend says '"FS I feel fat, why did I eat that?!"
What do you (or they) say in return?
Do you change the subject?
Or do you join in?
“You must be joking — you are sooo not fat. Just look at my thighs.”
This exchange is what psychological researchers call “fat talk,” the body-disparaging conversation between women (and girls). And men do it too.
It may be an attempt to be empathetic, to put yourselves on the same playing field.
But's contagious like the Corona virus and it compounds poor body image.
Some researchers have found that women don't enjoy it and fat talk has become so embedded among women, that it often reflects not how the speaker actually feels about her body but how she is expected to feel about it.
What can you do instead?
How about “Hey, no negative self-talk!” or “Why do we put ourselves down? Let's stop this”
Try it next time
Mel x