From diet to eating re-education: Some notes on the contemporary eating based on weight loss programs on the Internet

Abstract

The paper aims to reflect on contemporary eating based on a study on educational strategies used by weight-loss programs offered through the Internet, which detect a possible transition from the idea of dieting for the eating re-education. It identifies the main message put forward by the sites is "lose weight in a healthy, balanced and natural way, through the adoption of new eating habits, where you can eat everything without hardship and sacrifice, with pleasure, without deprivation of social life" and that they use the sort of strategies combining three elements: the encouragement and motivation with a strong psychological and marketing, "eat everything" with the promise of not giving up the pleasure and the "no hunger" how to control the appetite. The paper also discusses aspects of the new meaning of eating and food that involves the construction of a new eating distinction. Finally, we remark that the present moment seems to build basis that support the contemporary eating discipline. This new discipline, if we can call it so, crosses the complete denial of food, found in traditional diets, to an attempt to reaffirm diet, by recovering the pleasure of eating.