Section 1 - There Needs to Be More Time

The feeling of not having enough is oddly familiar for many people on and off diets. It is fertile ground for a poverty mindset to take root. In this section, learn how to step into abundance.

Section 1: Poverty Mind

Your experiences create the stage of your life. Some people see the glass as half empty, others as half full. The difference is their mindset. Having a mindset of abundance creates a different experience than having a scarcity mindset. Yet, the feeling of not having enough is oddly familiar for many people on and off diets.  The feeling of not having enough, not being enough, or not being worth enough is fertile ground for a poverty mindset to take root. It is almost like some behaviors (like dieting), and thoughts (feeling like you must try harder) simply nourish this mindset. 

Poverty Mind

The concept of "poverty mind" is not new, but let's take some time to understand this idea entirely and how it relates to diet culture and creating more time.  

First, a "mind of poverty" does not describe material poverty. It represents a poverty of self-compassion. The felt sense can be expressed in many ways, including feeling a lack of, shut out, or othered. It might be described as an ache, an emptiness that can never be filled.  

As Oriana LaChance, Rev. Master, explains, "It is the mind that is impoverished. We are not speaking about material poverty but rather emotional and spiritual poverty. Along with this sense of impoverishment, there is frequently a wish to be anywhere other than where we are, an idea that if we could just get a hold of our life if we could be "over there" rather than "here," we could be content, full rather than impoverished."

Taking a closer look

This sense of lacking, i.e., Poverty mind, is unpleasant. No one wants an unpleasant experience, and imagining that feels like suffering. Now, this jump from unpleasant to suffering can happen quickly. It happens so quickly that it is like stepping into a time machine. One second, you are here in your life, and then you step into the time machine, appearing in the future or the past.  

When you step into the time machine, you lose time. You look at the clock, wondering where that 10 minutes or 10 hours went. It is as if time vanished. If stepping into the time machine is familiar, this could be one place where you are losing time. The time machine can quickly become a time thief because you think about the past or dream of the future all day.

If this resonates because you don't have time, that is okay. It is good to know if you are stepping into the time machine and living in the past or future. Gently remind yourself that this is a familiar behavior for many people who have been dieting because diet culture encourages you to live in the future. It is how it is marketed. "After this diet, weight loss, program, activity, you will …" 

This notion that you are lacking is powerful, and as you can see, diet culture also feeds this type of thinking. Author and anti-diet dietitian Christy Harrison goes a bit further and calls diet culture a life thief. She explains that it "steals your joy, your spark, and your life, which is why I call it The Life Thief."  Diet culture, which is the desire to be smaller, may not seem related to time and time management, so let's connect the dots. 

Belonging:

When you don't feel like you belong, your insides churn, and your heart may race. This response to not belonging is part of your DNA, passed down from generation to generation. It is easy to forget that everyone belongs. Yet, this need to belong goes deep, and when you experience being 'othered' because of your size, health, blood sugar, medication, or diet, it hurts. 

This hurt has a name. It is called weight stigma. 

What is weight stigma?

The National Eating Disorder Collaboration explains weight stigma is the discrimination towards people based on their body weight and size. While weight stigma may occur across most weight categories, weight stigma is most prevalent among people who are of higher weight. Other terms that you might see include 'weight/size oppression,' 'sizeism,' 'weightism,' and 'weight-based discrimination.'

Related to weight stigma is a term called weight bias. It refers to negative attitudes towards and beliefs about others because of their weight. Weight bias can be automatic or unconscious negative attitudes and beliefs, called implicit bias. Intentional or conscious negative attitudes and beliefs are called explicit bias. Other terms to describe weight bias include 'sizeism,' 'weightism,' 'size bias,' and 'fatphobia.'

Research Weight Bias and Diabetes Care

We are beginning to understand how stigma (all types) impacts health and healthcare. A 2020 article by M.S. Himmelstein and R.M. Puhl examined 1210 adults with type 2 diabetes living in the USA. The study had people with diabetes complete a questionnaire to assess their experiences with weight stigma and diabetes stigma. What they found was pretty terrible. More than 50% of people with type 2 diabetes have experienced weight stigma! What is worse is that 40-60% of these experiences were part of seeing healthcare. Participants reported frequent experiences with diabetes-related stigma, including blame and judgment, self-stigma, and differential treatment. 

A 2023 article by Brooke L. Bennett and R.M. Puhl assessed attitudes towards individuals with Type 2 Diabetes, T2D, and obesity among physicians who treat Type 2 diabetes. The study had 205 physicians specializing in internal medicine or endocrinology complete a series of online questionnaires to understand their attitudes toward patients with T2D and higher weight. What this research found was that 1/3 reported being repulsed by patients with T2D or that they viewed them as lazy (39%), lacking motivation (44%), or non-compliant with treatment (44%). 

Self-worth and Self-Care

Many clients don't know why they struggle with engaging in regular self-care, taking medication, or going to medical appointments. They tell me, "I know, I should go to the doctors." or "I know, I need to have my A1C checked." or "I should be checking my blood sugar more."  They know what they need to do, but they aren't doing it for some reason that defies logical explanation. Not only is this confusing, but it is frustrating. "I am so mad at myself for letting this go on for so long," they tell me. There are many reasons why people delay or don't seek care, including the consequences of weight bias and stigma.