Why 90s Diet Culture Is Trending Again
Diet culture is back and more dangerous than ever. Here's what women over 30 need to know about skinnytok, weight loss trends, and building real strength on this episode of Get Sculpted.
If you've opened Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube lately and felt a wave of déjà vu, you're not imagining it. Skinnytok is trending. Ultra-lean bodies are being glamourized all over again. And for a lot of women, it feels uncomfortably familiar, because we have genuinely been here before.
In this episode, Coaches Jordanna, Marilynn, and Tijana are giving you their full, unfiltered take on what's happening right now with diet culture, why it's hitting differently this time around, and what you need to hear if you're feeling the pull of it.
Here's what we cover:
Why skinnytok is back and how it connects directly to the return of '90s diet culture, SlimFast, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, and all the obsessive shrinking that shaped a generation of women's relationships with their bodies
Why this version is more dangerous than the original, and how the language has gotten softer and more disguised, while the damage stays the same
The role weight loss drugs are playing in the resurgence, and what's being lost – muscle, bone density, and long-term health – when the goal is just getting smaller
The difference between lean and skinny, and why the look most women are going for requires building muscle, not depleting it
Why the Biggest Loser documentary is the perfect case study for everything that goes wrong when weight loss is fast, extreme, and stripped of any real identity shift
How to recognize when skinnytok is pulling you back into old patterns, the language, content, and subtle rebranding of restriction as wellness
What to do instead: practical steps for protecting your mindset, auditing your media consumption, and coming back to a body image built on strength, not size
This one is for the woman who lived through the '90s, did the work to heal, and is now watching it all come back around. You're not overreacting, being dramatic, and you are absolutely allowed to opt out.
“Your body is not a trend. Your body is your body. You don't have to shrink it every single time the algorithm shifts.” -Coach Jordanna
If you're tired of starting over every time diet culture reinvents itself, the Get Sculpted coaching team works with women in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and beyond to build something sustainable, strong bodies, healthy relationships with food, and a fit life that lasts. Fill out an application at getsculpted.ca/contact. And if this episode resonated, share it with a woman in your life who needs to hear it. This message needs to travel further than the algorithm will take it on its own.
Related Episodes
Ep 12: Ozempic & Weight Loss: What Women Need to Know
This podcast is brought to you in partnership with Leah Bryant Co.
More about the Get Sculpted Podcast
Welcome to Get Sculpted, the podcast for women who want to gain muscle and lose belly fat, improve their metabolism, and create real results using science-based fat loss strategies and practical coaching.
We go beyond quick fixes and fad diets to give you sustainable fat loss, strength training for weight loss, and fitness tips for women who want results without burning out. You’ll learn how lifting weights supports fat loss, how to train smarter instead of longer, and how to build habits that fit your lifestyle. Think less about guessing, more about clarity, and about progress you can maintain.
Whether you’re getting started or focused on building muscle after 30, this podcast gives women the tools to lose fat, gain muscle, and feel stronger, without relying on endless cardio or restrictive plans. We emphasize fat loss without cardio extremes, so you can train with confidence and consistency.
We’re your hosts, Jordanna, Marilynn, and Tijana, fitness professionals with over 20 years of combined experience and 1,000+ client transformations. With a strong focus on helping women 30 and older, we specialize in strength training, improving metabolism, and weight training for sustainable, realistic weight loss.
We’ll cover questions like:
Can you build muscle and lose belly fat at the same time?
How does strength training support weight loss?
What’s the best way to lose fat without losing muscle?
What’s the best way to lose fat without relying on cardio?
How can lifting weights improve my metabolism?
Why am I not losing weight even though I’m working out and eating healthy?
How can I stop yo-yo dieting for good?
If you’ve been searching for sustainable fat loss, women’s nutrition, and weight training that actually works, you’re in the right place. Join us every week for practical guidance, honest conversations, and tools to sculpt a stronger body and a more confident life.
Connect with us on Instagram at @getsculted.ca
The unedited podcast transcript for this episode of the Get Sculpted podcast follows:
Are We Repeating ‘90s Diet Culture?
Jordanna: And for a lot of women, this feels very, very familiar. We have been here before and we don't like it. And so today we're asking the question, is this just a trend cycle or are we repeating '90s diet culture? Like what is going on?...Tijana: Have you guys both seen the documentary, by the way? The America's Next Top Model?...
Marilynn: Well, when I started seeing it everywhere, honestly, it was like a gut reaction. I truly was like, here we go again. Because I feel like I've spent so many years trying to heal from the '90s…
Tijana: One word comes to mind is like, I'm disappointed. I'm just so disappointed in society...
‘90s Diet Culture: The Harmful Roots of Today’s Trends
Marilynn: All right, scene setting. I think we actually have to call it for what it was and remember how intense it was because it wasn't at all people wanting to be healthier. It was a full-on obsession with being smaller. Like it was idolized…Jordanna: That was the worst…
Marilynn: That's the thing. It was different magazines. Like, I remember it was, you know, who's wearing the bikini best, who has cellulite, who lost weight, who gained weight…
Tijana: It was like from hunks to chunks. I remember there was one…
Marilynn: And I also remember how being hungry was praised...
Why SkinnyTok Is Dangerous for Women Today
Jordanna: I actually think it's more dangerous now. And the reason being is that one, social media is so much more pervasive in our society…Marilynn: But now it's like you open up your phone, even when you're not following accounts, you're being fed stuff all the time. And I also think another big problem is how it's being referenced now…
Tijana: Well, that's kind of what you were touching on, Mare, is that Right now it could be like the wellness, it could be, you know, you're being disciplined, you're being healthy, you're living your best life, but it's really in unhealthy ways. So it's just really like promoting this very toxic beauty standard and disguising it in a pretty dress…
Jordanna: I think like that's like a big one. The Pilates body. Yes. Is coming back like long and lean and fit…
Tijana: My favorite. And I'm totally going to rant. Lifting is making you inflamed...
The Difference Between Getting Sculpted vs. Getting Skinny
Jordanna: Yeah, I think like, let's tie back to like some of the documentaries coming back out. Let's talk Biggest Loser. Like when they did that documentary, shocker, most of them regained the weight…Tijana: Well, I think what, what skinnytok is neglecting, which I wanna tie this back to, is like there's a difference between lean and skinny. Lean is when you just, yes, that's right. Uh, have a good bit of muscle, not a lot of body fat. I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to be lean. But you do not eat the skinnytok way to get lean…
Tijana: That's kind of what I wanna interject here is that, you know, if you're listening to this and thinking, I'm kind of confused, like I'm watching this content, I do wanna feel better in my body, but I'm kind of pulled into these old patterns and I know that's not good for me. You wanna do things different. This is exactly what we help our clients with...
Why Women Over 35 Are Especially Vulnerable (And How to Break Free)
Jordanna: Yeah, I think it's hitting them a little bit harder now because the marketing message is softer and more disguised. It's not as direct like you were saying before, Mar, and they've already been through this before, and underneath it all, there is still that desire to be in a leaner body and yeah, how they visualize that. The words that they are used to using are the words that skinnytok is using…Tijana: Oh, can I share something that one of my clients said early in our journey?...
Jordanna: Exactly. It's the undereating. It's going back to looking at the scale. It's looking at the numbers. That's right. And that becomes the primary goal again. And they want it fast...
How to Opt Out: Real Advice to Protect Your Body & Mind
Tijana: You don't want skinny, you want sculpted. Like, that's what stands out because I get the whole, like, again, you do wanna get lean and that's completely fine, but The look that you're going for is not about being skinny…Marilynn: Yeah. It's time to get off the hamster wheel, right? Because like we've already established, this is a repeat of the '90s…
Jordanna: I love that, Mara. And it comes down to like one of my favorite principles and standards in Get Sculpted, which is to work smarter, not harder...