This year-round problem with diet culture and fatphobia doesn’t disappear with a new season but morphs to market self-hate in a new way. But for me and many plus-size people, Christmas is when it hurts the most. "Christmas seems to pose a lot of contradictions," Southard-Ospina muses. "On the one hand, we become obsessed with the food. The roast dinners, the chocolate advent calendars, the puddings, and the sweet treats in our stockings. I don't think there's any time of year that revolves around eating quite as poignantly as this holiday. At the same time, however, social attitudes towards calorie-counting and weight loss are at an absolute high too. Every magazine seems to have some 'how to prevent the holiday flab' headline on its cover. The idea that fat people, in particular, should be especially careful not to consume 'too much' food is usually at an all-time high in December as well."