Guilt-Free and Sinfully Delicious: A Contemporary Theology of Weight Loss Dieting

This article uses critical discourse analysis to explore religiosity in two secular texts, the Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution (1992) and The South Beach Diet (2003). These diets appropriate the language and concepts of Christian Protestantism in order to construct a contemporary theology of weight loss dieting. Realized through a moralized chain of consumption, this theology is rooted in a dichotomy between “good” and “bad” foods, which culminates in the thin or fat body of the eater. This moral logic reveals dieters’ multiple faiths and how they navigate the competing desires of consumption and restraint in everyday life.