Thin Is In? Heck No. Why We’re Not Buying It

Lately, my feed has been giving me some serious déjà vu — and not the fun kind. Nope, I’m not talking about low-rise jeans (though yes, those are a crime). I’m talking about the quiet but very real comeback of “thin is in.”

From SkinnyTok trends to “hot girl eras” to nostalgic nods at heroin chic… it feels like the 90s and early 2000s are creeping back, and not in a cute Y2K butterfly-clips way. We’re seeing polished, pastel-wrapped diet culture all over again — and honestly? I’m fired up.

So let’s talk about what’s really going on, why this trend is so harmful (especially if you’re healing your relationship with food), and most importantly — how to protect your peace.

Why “Thin Is In” Is Dangerous

On the surface, some of this content looks like “wellness.” But scratch just a little deeper, and it’s the same old diet culture in a prettier outfit:

  • “What I Eat in a Day” posts that are really just food restriction diaries.

  • Influencers glorifying “discipline” as if smaller = morally superior.

  • Comments shaming plus-size women in Pilates or blaming people for their eating struggles.

Let’s call it what it is: harmful, triggering, and exhausting.

If you’ve struggled with binge eating, emotional eating, or body image, this kind of content doesn’t just make you roll your eyes — it pulls you back into old patterns:

  • The shame.

  • The comparison.

  • The urge to restrict.

  • The voice that whispers, “See? You were never meant to heal. You were supposed to get skinny.”

And I’ll be honest: even for me, after years of recovery, this stuff can still sting. That’s how deep the conditioning runs.

But here’s the truth I need you to hold close:

💜 Healing is not about fitting back into the beauty standards that broke you.
💜 Your worth does not rise or fall with the size of your body.
💜 Thinness is not a guarantee of health, happiness, or peace.

Chasing it will only pull you further from the grounded, sustainable life you deserve.

How to Protect Your Peace When Diet Culture Creeps Back

The world may be relapsing into thin-spo, but you don’t have to follow. Here are some therapist-approved tools to keep your recovery safe:

1. Curate your feed like your peace depends on it

Mute. Unfollow. Block. Release with love.
You don’t owe anyone — not influencers, not family, not old friends — access to your nervous system.

2. Remember: thin ≠ healthy, and health ≠ morality

You have no idea what someone is doing to look the way they do. A smile on screen doesn’t equal well-being off screen. Your worth is not measured in pants size or pounds lost.

3. Use the 3-second reframe

When diet culture whispers in your ear:

  • Pause.

  • Breathe.

  • Respond with a mantra, like:

    • “I’m not here to shrink. I’m here to heal.”

    • “This is diet culture talking — not truth.”

    • “I choose freedom, not control.”

4. Anchor into your actual needs

Restriction is often a coping mechanism. When you feel the urge to punish your body, ask: What do I really need right now? Rest? Connection? Safety?


Meeting that need softens the spiral. (Inside The Break Up, my signature program, we dive deep into this with tools from my Feel and Heal module.)

5. Log off if you need to

Your strength is not measured by how much toxic content you can endure. Choosing not to engage? That’s strength, too.

Here’s What Actually Matters

Yes, the “thin is in” trend is back. But you don’t have to buy in. You are allowed to:

✨ Honour your hunger.
✨ Protect your peace like it’s sacred (because it is).
✨ Live fully in a body diet culture doesn’t celebrate.
✨ Choose compassion over comparison.

You don’t have to shrink to be enough.

If You’re Struggling Right Now

If seeing these trends has you spiraling — you’re not broken, bestie. You’re human. And you don’t have to navigate recovery alone.

That’s exactly why I created The Break Up — my online program that helps you:

  • Break free from binge and emotional eating.

  • Rebuild trust with your body.

  • Learn to regulate emotions without relying on food.

  • Finally step off the binge-restrict rollercoaster for good.

You deserve peace. You deserve freedom. And you are always, always enough.

Take care,


Nic x