The Serious Harm of Restricting Your Diet In the Name of ‘Ambition Sizing’

When Kim Kardashian set her sights on wearing Marilyn Monroe’s iconic—yet much-too-small—dress to the 2022 Met Gala, she pulled out all the stops to make sure it fit her body like a glove.

“I would wear a sauna suit twice a day, run on the treadmill, completely cut out all sugar and all carbs, and just eat the cleanest veggies and protein,” Kardashian told Vogue last May. “I didn’t starve myself, but I was so strict.” Thanks to her efforts, the reality TV star ended up losing 16 pounds in three weeks, and by the time she graced the red carpet, her body fit snugly in the sheer frock.

While Kardashian’s crash diet may seem extreme, the situation highlights a toxic, yet incredibly common habit among folks who feel uncomfortable in their bodies: “ambition sizing,” or altering your eating habits in order to fit into a particular outfit.

“I definitely see this among my clients—they feel like they need to fit the clothes, not that the clothes are meant to fit their bodies,” says Mia Donley, MPH, RD, CDN, a registered dietitian who specializes in disordered eating. In fact, 65 percent of people admit to owning clothes in sizes that are too small, hoping they’ll fit into them in the future, according to a 2018 TODAY Style survey of nearly 1,500 women.

Though celebrities may make it sound glamorous, restricting your diet in the name of ambition sizing can have serious consequences for your physical and mental well-being. Ahead, anti-diet dietitians lay out just how harmful ambition sizing can be—and what you can do to accept your body as it is.

What is ambition sizing?

While there isn’t one set definition for or look to ambition sizing, Donley says her clients typically restrict their eating as a way to fit into, say, a pair of jeans from college or a dress from their pre-children days. They might eat less, take up intermittent fasting, or trial crash diets—“really anything that just restricts the nourishment and energy that they’re taking in,” she adds. Some folks may also wear too-small clothes while they’re eating, and they’ll use any sensation of tightness as a sign to end their meal.

“In their minds, they’ll eventually fit into the items if they abide by this ‘artificial stopping point,’ even if they’re not physically or mentally full,” says Donley. While caloric intake is generally slashed, movement and exercise may also be dialed up. “For instance, a person engaging in ambition sizing might take more fitness classes or suddenly start training for a marathon,” she adds.

The problem: “This increase in activity might be more than what their bodies may even be able to hold, especially with the lower level of energy they’re taking in,” Donley says. Meanwhile, the “goal” clothes that hang in the closet motivate the person to stick with these unhealthy behaviors. “It’s almost a reminder of, I used to be able to fit in these clothes or I want to be able to fit in these clothes, so I have to keep this [restriction] up so I can eventually fit into them,” says Donley.

According to Donley, this desire to fit a particular size of clothing largely stems from the societal pressure to match the “ideal” body type (think thin, with a small waist, large butt, and flat stomach). It makes sense: A recent survey of 1,000 Americans found that the “ideal” woman has a 26-inch waist—more than 12 inches smaller than the average female adult, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (For reference, that’s roughly a size zero or one compared to a size 18/20 in a pair of Levi’s jeans.)

“We live within a society that very much promotes size over health and has a small range of specific beauty standards,” Donley says. Diverge from that unrealistic body type, and you may make strides, even unhealthy ones, to conform.

“We live within a society that very much promotes size over health and has a small range of specific beauty standards,” Donley says. Diverge from that unrealistic body type, and you may make strides, even unhealthy ones, to conform.

Fatphobia has also made it pretty inaccessible to find larger clothing sizes in a variety of styles and price points, says Donley. To keep their budget in check and reduce their environmental impact, she explains that folks living in bodies bigger than they had in the past may opt to change their size rather than spend their time finding and money investing in a new, well-fitting wardrobe. “It’s so normalized that people will morph their bodies to fit an article of clothing, but it should be the reverse: The clothing should be made to fit us,” adds Abby Chan, MS, RDN, an anti-diet registered dietitian nutritionist and the co-owner of EVOLVE Flagstaff in Arizona.

“In general, women, femme-identifying individuals, and members of the LGBTQ+ community may be more likely to take part in ambition sizing, as these groups have a high risk of experiencing body dissatisfaction,” says Donley. Some folks may also restrict their diets to reduce their size ahead of a major event, such as a wedding. Case in point: 70 percent of engaged women report wanting to lose weight before their wedding, and a third of these people use diet pills, fast, or skip meals to reach their desired weight, according to a small 2007 study out of Cornell University. “That said, no one is exempt from the pressures and the ideals of a certain standard of body in our culture,” says Donley.

70 percent of engaged women report wanting to lose weight before their wedding, and a third of these people use diet pills, fast, or skip meals to reach their desired weight, according to a small 2007 study out of Cornell University.

According to Chan, anyone who’s coming to terms with a changing body may be more susceptible to ambition sizing. A postpartum person might feel uneasy about not fitting into their pre-pregnancy clothes, for example. And a collegiate athlete may get wrapped up in their size once their years on the field end and their distribution of muscle mass shifts, she notes. “If you have an expectation of what your body used to look like, you’re going to have a hard time unless you’re doing some internal work and recognizing that your worth is not based on the size of your body,” says Chan.

How ambition sizing impacts your physical and mental health

Skipping meals and reducing your caloric consumption doesn’t come without harmful impacts on your physical and mental well-being. If you’re not nourishing your body with enough calories (read: energy) to maintain proper functioning of your brain, heart, lungs, and gastrointestinal system, your basal metabolic rate (aka the amount of energy your body burns at rest) will decrease, stalling any weight loss, “because your body’s just trying to keep you alive,” says Chan.

Dieting and fasting can also lead to difficulty concentrating, extreme hunger at bedtime that makes it tough to fall asleep, and reduced hormone levels, according to the National Eating Disorders Association. What’s more, dieting simply isn’t sustainable. Once you restore your typical eating habits, you may regain the majority of the weight that you lost, encouraging yo-yo dieting and, in some cases, contributing to the development of an eating disorder, adds Donley.

While you’re reducing your caloric intake, you may also deal with increased thoughts about and anxiety around food. “I always like to say that a malnourished brain is an anxious brain,” says Chan. “If you’re already feeling anxious or stressed about having to fit into a certain size, and then you decrease the calories you’re taking in, that will start to amplify all of the other anxieties and stressors.” In turn, you might find yourself overreacting to small annoyances, such as a driver cutting you off in traffic or your partner forgetting to fold the laundry. “[When] you’re really hungry, your body sees everything as a stressor,” she notes.

“I always like to say that a malnourished brain is an anxious brain,” says Chan. “If you’re already feeling anxious or stressed about having to fit into a certain size, and then you decrease the calories you’re taking in, that will start to amplify all of the other anxieties and stressors.”

Ambition sizing for a special event comes with its own set of consequences. If you restrict your diet to fit into a smaller wedding dress, for example, you’ll mentally link a smaller version of yourself with one of your greatest life moments. “It sets an expectation that was unsustainable, so you’re subsequently going to feel like you are ‘less than’ every single time [you see it], no matter your shape or size,” explains Chan.

But you don’t need to personally practice ambition sizing to feel its effects. Simply watching others, whether it be a celebrity, influencer, or close friend, restrict their diet to fit into a certain piece of clothing could lead you to second-guess your own eating practices. “You might inadvertently change some of your habits, like eating less of something or having a little bit more hesitance about a certain item of food, like carbs,” says Donley. “Even if it didn’t directly impact your diet, it may affect how you think about your body.”

How to step back from ambition sizing

Recognizing and accepting that your body will shift throughout your lifetime isn’t easy. One simple first step? Change your worldview, says Chan. “Unfollow the social media accounts that stir up anxiety and body dissatisfaction and fill your feed with a diverse representation of body shapes, sizes, and colors,” she suggests.

However, the most impactful practices to nip ambition sizing in the bud involve some serious introspection. “When you feel comfortable, think about the behaviors that constantly remind you that your body has changed,” says Chan. “Then, make strides to nix those practices from your routine.” Say you weigh yourself a couple of times a week. If you’re taking part in ambition sizing but the number on the scale is stagnant, you might double down on your restrictive eating habits, she explains. Cutting the weigh-ins out of your routine could help you come to accept your body—even if it fits clothing differently than it did a few years ago.

Curtailing restrictive food habits or fixations on your body will also be helpful to identify what you truly value in life—what brings you happiness, fulfillment, or peace, adds Donley. “If skipping meals with friends and making other choices to simply fit into a piece of clothing doesn’t align with your values, you may want to take a step back from ambition sizing,” she says. This process can be tough to tackle alone, so you may benefit from working with a mental health professional who can support you through it.

“If the high price tag and inaccessibility of a new wardrobe are contributing to your ambition sizing, try finding the least harmful way to own clothing that fits your body in its current state,” says Donley. You might look into tailoring your jeans, holding a clothing swap with your friends, shopping at a thrift store, or—when you’re able to invest in a new item—buying a piece that has a bit of stretch so it can continue to fit your body down the line, she suggests.

You can also make the shopping experience less shame-inducing by grabbing multiple pairs of, say, pants in different sizes. Then, try them on without looking at the number on the tag or in the mirror. “Consider how they fit and feel on your body, and if you give the pants a five-star rating, glance in the mirror and ask yourself if you like how they look,” says Chan. Focusing your mind on how comfortable you feel—not the size—can help minimize the pressure to be smaller.

Above all, show yourself compassion. “Recognize that you’re not alone in facing these pressures,” says Donley. “We all swim in the water of a culture that constantly asks us to look a certain way and be a certain way.”