Why Dogmatic Approaches to Food Can Go to Hell: What Walks Like a Duck and Quacks Like a Duck Might Be a Zebra

Over the last 17 years, I’ve worked with hundreds, maybe thousands, of people who:

•  Meticulously tracked calories and macros
•  Ate a very limited range of foods
•  Struggled with hunger and fullness cues
•  Frequently looked at what others were eating to determine what they should eat

A lot of the time, these habits come from concerns about body image, size, and shape, and do lead to problems, but not always so simple. While the world of Diet and Anti-Diet dogma exists in a state of perpetual online war, it’s worth stepping back and asking: what’s actually going on here when looking at our food habits? Because context matters.

For example, neurodivergent people who struggle to interpret visceral cues from the body (hunger, fullness, feeling experiences connected with emotions) often use external references, like watching what others eat, to figure out what makes sense or what will help them “fit in” in any given situation. This isn’t necessarily about insecurity or weight concerns. It can be a practical strategy for navigating a world that doesn’t always make sense to them.

And it’s not just about hunger. Many neurodivergent people use *social modeling in all kinds of ways, calibrating behaviour based on what others are doing. If that extends to food choices, it doesn’t automatically mean they have an unhealthy relationship with eating.

Eating a limited range of foods and tracking intake can also show up in neurodivergent people for reasons that have nothing to do with diet culture. Sensory sensitivities, executive function struggles, and the need for routine all play a role. There’s this knee-jerk reaction to assume that tracking food or eating the same meals every day is about control, when sometimes, it’s just a way to keep life simple and avoid decision fatigue. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a free pass for extreme restriction in the name of controlling body size. I’m not about that. I’ve been there, and there are better ways to handle things.

That said, just like someone with ADHD might:

•  Forget to eat for hours
•  Lose touch with hunger when hyperfocused
•  Find meal planning a complete nightmare

Someone like me, on the other end of the spectrum, thrives on structure and actually feels better when streamlining choices and keeping things predictable.

But here’s the thing - it’s easy to look at these behaviours and slap a “disordered” label on them without stopping to ask why they exist. The same action can have wildly different meanings depending on the person, and assuming that every instance of tracking or food selection is driven by diet culture is just as off-base as assuming every skipped meal is intentional restriction.

This is why rigid, dogmatic nutrition advice can go straight to hell. It ignores nuance. It assumes one-size-fits-all solutions work for everyone. And it completely misses the fact that what looks like a duck and quacks like a duck… might actually be a zebra.

Marcus Kain - Nutrition Coach, Strong Not Starving Founder

*Social modelling is learning behaviour by observing and imitating others, often to navigate social norms, decision-making, or unfamiliar situations effectively.