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'What does clean-eating even mean? Are other foods dirty?'

It’s Eating Disorders Awareness Week.

And to mark the occasion, this weekend body positivity campaigner Grace Victory to answer questions about eating disorders submitted by the public, covering issues such as how to tell if you have an eating disorder, or how to support a friend who is dealing with these issues.

Grace is a vlogger and writer who’s gained over 200,000 social media followers by speaking out about body positivity. She’s investigated the clean-eating movement for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Three’s 'Clean Eating’s Dirty Secrets', and she co-presented the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Three series Girls Get Stuffed, together with Bella Younger.

Last September, we caught up with her to hear why she thinks we need to see more women shamelessly enjoying their food.

This is what she said...

It's no secret that I've struggled with an eating disorder - I talk openly about it on my social media platforms.

Since my teenage years I’ve pinned my self-worth on what I eat. Now, at 27, I can see that it was partly triggered by the way we’re relentlessly bombard with the message that women are somehow better and more beautiful if they restrict what they eat.

Just think of the language used in food advertising. Salads are virtuous and desserts are 'naughty'. We've probably all experienced that time when we’re eating out with friends, or sitting down for Christmas dinner, and reminded we can’t have too much of something because it’s 'bad' for you. The message is conditioned in us.

In the last few years, we’ve seen a huge rise in a new phenomenon: ‘clean eating’. That term, doesn’t sit well with me at all. What does it even mean? Are other foods ‘dirty’?

It perpetuates the idea that some foods are ‘good’ and others are ‘bad’. A lot of celebrities and bloggers literally use the terms ‘good’ and ‘bad’ to describe certain food types.

I believe giving food morality is dangerous. It has always been there, but it’s changed with the times. Now we all take photos of our food and put it on Instagram, and it’s constantly to get validation from other people.

Morality around food turns something simple and pleasurable (and essential for our survival) into something complicated and loaded with judgment. And that’s causing so many people so much unnecessary distress and shame.

Thinking about this was the motivation behind my series Girls Get Stuffed, which I presented with Bella Younger AKA Deliciously Stella. I wanted other people – young people, my followers, the general public – to be able to see women, who didn't fit into the societal ideal of what we should look like, just eating normal food.

It’s not about showing the morals around food – it’s about simple enjoyment. Men have shows like that – you see them all over various TV channels. It’s really important for women especially to see ourselves represented, just eating and enjoying food. You never see that in the media.

Making the series wasn’t easy for me. Bella and I both said it gave us that anxiety about a food show going out and people judging us on what we’re eating, how we’re eating, what we look like when we’re eating – so that’s probably proof enough of how much anxiety there is about how women eat and fear of that type of judgement.

It's incredibly empowering to realise that food has no moral value and is only there to fuel and nurture us - not define us.

It also makes your realise how the way in which food is packaged and presented can impact whether or not you eat it. If something sweet is marketed as ‘healthy’, you’re more likely to buy into that, as a regular chocolate bar.

I often create Twitter threads about fat phobia – the fact that we’re often absolutely terrified to be fat; to be seen as fat; to be called fat. I am now getting professional support to help me develop a healthier relationship with food, but it’s taking a while for me to undo everything I’ve learnt.

Women especially are manipulated by the diet industry to feel like they should always strive to be thinner, slimmer, smaller and quieter - but I say screw that. Be big, be bold and take up space.

Your self-worth isn’t determined by what you eat, what you weigh or what you look like. We should all be free from judgment and learn to embrace ourselves for who we are.

Watch Girls Get Stuffed .

Originally published 1 September 2017