The Cult That Isn't Considered A Cult

Please let this be the most compassionate article I have ever written, is my prayer.

I have lived a lifetime in the fitness and diet industry, decades and decades of rules, regulations, and paradigms (subconscious beliefs and ideas.) That is now a thing of the past and my life has turned out so differently than I ever thought it was going to be. I believed I was going to be helping people be thin, fit, and strong my entire life, but it just didnt work out that way.

I now teach people to heal their health in a more conscious way, utilizing mind, body, and spirit. I help people heal through physical arts, nourishment, emotional techniques, and brain sciences. I am more in tune with what my body wants it to do, instead of forcing it to do what the fitness industry dictates. I am much more accepting of all body sizes, instead of thinking "thin" is the only acceptable body size. I eat what I want to eat intuitively, instead of forcing rules and regulations on my food.

The epitome of a cult is a person or industry that gains control over a person’s thought process. It’s not for the benefit of the person being influenced, but rather for the person or industry inflicting the control. Once someone is influenced by the cult's philosophy, the cult must keep control of the individual, or they will lose money, prestige, power, etc.

I was watching a documentary showing the rise and fall of an entrepreneur. He started out his life, became successful, had some trials, lost a business, and then reinvented himself in the self-help industry. This is where many people followed him; many famous, smart, intelligent people. No one is immune to the effects the cult culture creates.

As I watched this documentary, one of the girls, we'll call her Gwen, started out very curious and dedicated to leader of the cult. I watched the leader take Gwen under his wing and feed her ego (we always appreciate that.) Then he went on to correct her in the most abrasive, yet effective ways. He was able to create insecurity, desperation, and control over her. By the end of the show, she felt completely threatened by anyone with self-confidence, prettiness, or thinness. I felt sad for her. When it all comes down to it, this leader pulled Gwen away from her inner knowing, and replaced that with his doctrine.

One of the tools the leader used to break this girl down was diet. He began limiting the amount of food Gwen, and many other girls inside the cult, were allowed to eat. Gwen was already very thin when she came to the group, but by the end, she looked utterly emaciated. Each member was only given a small number of calories a day. If someone wanted to eat something, they had to send a text to their upline, “Master, may I have 92 calories?” “Master, may I have 200 calories?” and so on and so forth. Thereby replacing their inner knowing with external doctrine. This really got me thinking… Gwen is smart and capable, she is an actress that I recognized as soon as I saw her. It’s not like she was dumb. She isn’t. She was a bright and upcoming star! Yet she fell under the control and power of this cult.

While we may not be in a group that is considered a “cult,” we do belong to a society where thinness is valued and perceived as the preferred body type. This thought process is like a thick, always-looming fog hanging over our heads and in our minds. The pervasiveness and heaviness of the fitness and diet industry creates the same mind manipulation effect, and accomplishes the same control over us if we allow it.

We valiantly log our food on our phone, and eat only appropriate portions to stay under our calorie or macronutrient count. We are being taken away from our true inner knowing and replacing it with what the diet industry says is correct. We make sure we get enough exercise to compensate for any calories we may have consumed. We control ourselves more and more. If we have a trainer or nutritionist, they say, “If you do what I tell you, you will lose weight, and if you don’t, you won’t!" You might even be saying these same words to yourself.

95% of the people who go on diets, within 5 years, gain it all back, plus some. Only in the diet industry do they put out an inferior product, and the consumer gets blamed when it doesn’t work. Yes, I am saying the diet and fitness industry is a type of "cult." The fitness, diet, and nutrition industry needs your money. It is the sole purpose of these industries. They do not love you - they do not care about you - they just need you to keep giving them money.

You can climb up the fitness ladder, and still feel just as insecure, unhappy, and deprived of self-esteem as when you first started your weight loss journey. Just like Gwen. It is a never ending story, a paradigm that has been repeated through the centuries that the only way we can feel good enough is if we are thin, fit, and constantly living within their rules and restrictions.

I watched another documentary where the leader of a church told her followers, “To be with God, you have to take care of your body. If you take care of your body, you will be thin. If you are not thin, you’re not with God, Amen.” Her hands would go up into the air as if she was preaching truth. This weight loss rhetoric made anybody who needed to lose weight feel insecure, sad, hurt, and low. Thoughts of suicide were rampant! The judgement was immense.

Several of the young women who were in the church, and eventually got out, shared their story. They shared statements like, “When I got out and started working on myself…” What this means to me is they began to learn who they are (a child of God that loves them, no matter what size they are.) In the documentary, they added that it is really helpful for people who have been abused in this way to talk about it. Find a support group and talk it out. Talk and release all that negativity! The women had to release the indoctrination of weight loss as a qualifier for worth. They had to find their inner knowing of movement and eating patterns that worked for them. One way to do this is to really notice where you feel trauma in your body. Allow yourself to really feel it, and then release it. Through this healing, the women began the process of building themselves back up to be vibrant and confident in their skin.

I cannot stress enough the message to always listen to your inner knowing. Your inner knowing knows that you are divine, loved, and sacred. Your true essence, your spirit, knows this truth. Your intrinsic nature is indispensable. You are beautiful and AMAZING! You are worthy of feeling good about yourself. This is the truth! You are enough just as you are!!

If your mind is causing distress or sadness, depression, or lethargy for the sake of being thin, know that this thought process is a lie. Living in a lie is painful to your soul. Our mind tells us we need to lose weight, and because of our indoctrination we believe it! I compassionately share with you, our minds lie to us all the time. Indoctrination does not always equal truth. Thoughts do not always equal truth.

You do not need to lose weight to feel worthy or enough. You are perfect just as you are. You don’t have to feel better after you have lost weight; you can feel better right now, at whatever weight you are at this very moment. We have all been indoctrinated with fitness and nutrition lies. These lies cause us pain because they are not true.

I give you permission and invite you to let go of the fitness and diet paradigms you’ve had forced upon you that do not serve you. It’s time to free yourself from the time and effort that these industries require. Dedicate that extra time and energy to your family, yourself, and your spirituality. Of course, I’m not saying you will never move your body or eat healthy foods. I am a huge proponent of taking care of yourself. I just want you to listen to your body and inner knowing. Do what is best for you right now that will bring you joy. Some things that have been helpful for me are to not overdo, go slower, eat intuitively, and be completely compassionate towards yourself!

I end this message with deep love for anybody who may be reading this post and can relate to the “cult” of the fitness and diet industry. I feel that all of us will be able to relate on some level. I hope this will be received with the loving energy that is intended.

I love and believe in you!

Laura