The “holiday season” means being bombarded with ridiculous diet advice. Since you’re likely to have to deal with this whether you celebrate the holidays or not, in another DancesWithFat annual tradition I’ve compiled a list of so-called holiday diet tips from actual serious online articles, with thoughts on why we might be better off skipping each of them:
10 Diet Tips You’ve Never Heard Before!
You’ve totally heard these tips before. They didn’t work then, they don’t work now, they will never work.
Start Our Program Now and Get a Head Start on Your New Years Resolution
If you start earlier, you can fail at weight loss sooner while giving the diet industry (who are fully aware of the massive failure rate of their product) a boost on their fourth quarter earnings. Or, you know, not.
Eat a Big Bowl of Fiber Cereal and Drink Lots of Water Before A Party to Avoid Snacking.
Spend the party in the bathroom with your friends awkwardly knocking and asking if you’re ok while you miss out on delicious snacks.
Buy Your Party Outfit a Month Early and a Size Too Small for Inspiration to Lose that Last 10 Pounds
Frantically search through your closet on party day for something, anything, that fits and is party-appropriate, end up going to the party uncomfortable in an outfit that’s too small.
Save Your Calories For the Party by Eating Very Little During the Day
Show up at the party absolutely ravenous, bribe a cater waiter to get your hands on an entire tray of shrimp puffs, get caught hiding behind the tree and eating them all.
Make low-calorie egg nog with skim milk, egg substitutes, and artificial sweeteners.
Oh…I just…I can’t even…Just… Ok, by the underpants rule you can totally make this beverage if you want and I will support you in drinking it – whether it just sounds good to you or it works or food allergies/sensitivities, whatever – as long as you support me in not drinking it. Ever.
Only Eat Desserts that Are Truly a Sensual Experience for You
This author has a different relationship with food than I do… I’m looking for desserts that taste good, not desserts that turn me on. I would change this to “only eat desserts that you want to, and that aren’t expired or poisonous.”
Don’t Taste The Food While You Cook – Those Calories Add Up
Serve your guests delicious-looking appetizers that taste like a salt lick, or like nothing at all, who knows? If only there was a way to tell how the food tastes before we give it to other people… The person who wrote this article obviously never watched Hell’s Kitchen or Chopped.
Choose Foods that Won’t Make You Feel Guilty the Next Day
Here’s the super-secret trick to guilt-free eating: Eat. Don’t feel guilty about it. Done. (Ok, I know that this is much more complicated than that, but this is the basic framework.)
Bring Fruits and Veggies to Parties and Work and Remind People About Their Weight Goals, They’ll Thank You!
They will not thank you. They may, in fact, throat punch you. There’s nothing wrong with bringing fruits and veggies to the party, there may well be something wrong with being what Southerners call a “superior sumbitch,” and you may be able to avoid that by skipping the second part of this advice. Instead consider “Bring fruits and veggies to parties and work and then shut up about it – find something more interesting to talk about than weight goals.”
Enjoy Fat-Free Mock Versions of Your Favorite Holiday Foods, You’ll Never Miss the Full Fat Variety
I doubt that very much, and I do not think that the words “mock” and “food” should be put together, but of course that’s just me.
Divide Foods into Naughty and Nice
Use the holidays to ease yourself into a disordered relationship with food.
Don’t Read Articles About Holiday Diet Tips
You caught me, this one didn’t come from an article, it’s my advice – take it or leave it.
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Need some fat-positive end-of-year cheer? Here’s a playlist of re-vamped holiday songs that highlight things like the importance of fat-friendly seating, singing the praises of our amazing bodies, and just saying no to giving unsolicited weight-loss gifts. Enjoy!
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Book and Dance Class Sale! I’m on a journey to complete an IRON-distance triathlon, and I’m having a sale on all my books, DVDs, and digital downloads to help pay for it. You get books and dance classes, I get spandex clothes and bike parts. Everybody wins! If you want, you can check it out here! (DancesWithFat Members get an even better deal, make sure to make your purchases from the Members Page!)
Book Me! I’d love to speak to your organization. You can get more information here or just e-mail me at ragen at danceswithfat dot org!
I’m (still!) training for an Iron-distance triathlon! You can follow my journey at www.IronFat.com .
If you are uncomfortable with my offering things for sale on this site, you are invited to check out this post.
Twas the week before Christmas and all through the mail, the diet companies shill programs guaranteed to fail.
A little good news in the fight for size equality. To begin at the beginning, fat tax is when fat people have to pay more for the same product or service. Some examples are being forced to pay 
Food-shaming happens all year long, but the holidays often mean parties and gatherings around food, which can make it a food-shamer’s paradise. So Jeanette DePatie and I created a little holiday song (to the tune of Up On The Housetop) to help people tell food-shamers that they can either mind their own business, or find someplace else to be.
Anyone who attempts to even suggest that fat people have a right to be treated with basic human respect, and that other people’s fat bodies are nobody else’s business will run into this argument sooner rather than later:
Dances With Fat 