From Shrinking to Strong: How I Broke Free from the 90s Diet Culture

From Shrinking to Strong: How I Broke Free from the 90s Diet Culture

Growing Up in a Toxic Fitness Era

I grew up in the 90s, when Cosmo was giving impressionable young women nutrition and body advice while featuring other young women on the cover who undoubtedly struggled with eating disorders and body dysmorphia.

Source: Cosmopolitan Magazine

We watched our moms push themselves to the brink, following along to The FIRM VHS tapes while eating 500 calories a day and sucking down Herbalife shakes.

The Message Was Clear: Be Smaller

Ingrained in us was the notion that as women, our worth was defined by how skinny we were.

Size zero or bust.

Curves? What were those?

I remember when 'Cosmo' (possibly?) printed a guide of 100-calorie snacks, things like 10 gummy bears or 20 pieces of popcorn. Everywhere we looked, we were being told to make ourselves smaller.

The world would only love us if we could hula-hoop through a Cheerio. (Those were probably on the list too, “30 Cheerios and you can have a 22-inch waist.”)

It’s insane to think about the level of starvation society expected us to suffer through.

Only eat a salad for lunch, then play sports, work, and smile. Don’t have a bad attitude or be “difficult.” Be the perfect 5’7”, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, size 00, non-opinionated, non-curvy woman.

Living By the Wrong Rules

I believed these things for a long time.

And some women, like me, still believe them.

They cover their eyes as they walk past the free weight section of the gym, heading straight for the treadmill they’ll grind away on for 60 minutes.

They’ll eat 1,000 calories for three days straight, then wonder how they ended up with a package of sugar cookies they hide in their car because they don’t want anyone to know their “truth.” (Yes, that actually happened to me.) Their truth being that they actually enjoy food, but in their eyes, that enjoyment feels like failure.

Learning to Fuel Instead of Punish

I think the shift started when I began truly going to the gym, building muscle, seeing others build muscle, and flipping through fitness magazines where the women looked more athletic and less like runway models or what society deemed “healthy.”

I started learning that you need food to fuel your body, to fuel your workouts, to fuel your energy, to build your muscles.

Source: Oxygen Magazine

Finding Strength Through Powerlifting
I remember scrolling Facebook one summer, I think it was June of 2017, when I came across a video of Marisa Inda winning the World Championships in her weight class in powerlifting. My first thought was, OMG, she looks like me! For the first time, I saw a woman who was short, strong, athletic, and powerful, not just thin. I was blown away by her size and how much weight she was lifting. She instantly became a role model, and I remember thinking, this is something I could do.

Photo Courtesy of Marisa Inda

But the ultimate turning point came when I actually started to powerlift.

No longer was I eating and training to look good, at least not by the old definition of “good.” I was training and eating for a purpose, for a goal, to lift the absolute most weight possible.

When my mindset did that 180, it changed everything.

My view of my body was completely altered. I started to see it as a functional, powerful machine that deserved care. I began to see myself as strong and beautiful, and even if I looked the same on the outside, I saw myself differently on the inside.

And that changed everything.

Because for the first time, I was truly happy with my body, not because of how small it was, but because it finally had a purpose.

From Shrinking to Strong: My Mission Now

That shift from wanting to be smaller to wanting to be stronger changed not just how I looked but how I lived. I stopped chasing perfection and started chasing progress. And that’s exactly what I help women in their 30s and 40s do now.

Through my coaching, I teach women how to fuel their bodies, build real strength, and finally break free from the old rules that told us we had to shrink to be worthy.

If you’re tired of feeling stuck in that cycle and ready to start feeling confident, capable, and strong in your own skin, let’s get you started.

👉 Join The FOF Academy 4 Week Kickstart & learn more about Females of Fortitude, where we focus on strength, balance, and living life without restriction.

💥 Or book a free discovery call to see if our 1:1 services are the right fit for you.