Shahroo Izadi

My mum was already very weight conscious herself.

And much like myself and a number of now thousands of people that I've spoken to and heard from, I'm sure that my mom would tell you that she wishes she was the size she was when she started calling herself fat.

Yes.

When she started dieting, everyone, everyone says that to me that I wish I was barely even overweight, you know, um, I looked so great.

And they're also able on reflection to see how young I looked, how vibrant I looked, how this, you know, um,

My mom didn't come to associate because she didn't grow up in a time where diet culture was so pervasive.

Right.

It didn't seem strange to say, well, just eat a little bit less because that happens to do this to you.

It didn't feel like it was attached to and therefore you will be able to be successful and people will like you and all of that stuff.

It was more of a health thing.

And then culturally, I'm Iranian and I feel like, again, it was held lightly.

Don't get me wrong.

It's damaged a lot of us girls, but it was held lightly culturally.

What do you mean by that?

It was seen more broadly as an act of self-care to also care about how much one ate and looked and things like that.

They had higher levels of like, you should also blow dry your hair every day.

And I was like, that's high maintenance beyond belief.

But it was an extension of that.

Yes.

That said...