"Instead of trusting our body and our hunger we are weighing a square of chocolate?"

Some viewers tuning in to last night's episode of Operation Transformation took to Twitter to share that they felt one particular scene encourages disordered eating. In the latest edition of RTÉ's weight loss show, one of the participants is seen cutting a piece of Toblerone chocolate down to 20g in order to stick with guidelines given to her. Kathleen, who is isolating due to Covid-19, was told that she could have a small chocolate bar, like a Fredo or a Snack bar, but she didn't have any of those in her home. Instead, she fancied a triangle of Toblerone, and asked her husband to weigh it out. When he did, they realised it was over the limit and decided to cut it in half. Viewers jumped to social media to express their frustration with the show and its rigid guidelines. The clip was shared on the show's official Instagram page where it was met with scrutiny. https://www.instagram.com/p/CZKksnfogbq/ One person wrote: "I find this very sad (...) also it definitely encourages disordered eating." Over on Twitter, one person shared: "Weighing and halving a triangle of Toblerone is disordered. Encouraging this behaviour is blatantly encouraging a disordered relationship with food. Food restriction is not healthy, it's misery. It's a bit of chocolate, it's not poison!" The group End Diet Culture Ireland shared the clip on Twitter and wrote: "No disrespect to the person involved but to @rte producers and @HealthyIreland this is why @OpTranRTE is problematic. Instead of trusting our body and our hunger we are weighing a square of chocolate. Sustainable? Safe?" Another person tweeted: "I don't know how to express this hard enough: weighing a piece of chocolate is disordered eating!! #OperationTransformation is normalising disordered eating. And then sharing the clip on socials like it's all a bit of fun? Shameful. For the health of the nation, my eye." Someone else wrote: "I try to be fair discussing #OperationTransformation. I'm conscious of the lovely people who are the participants. But this clip is the issue with OT. Cutting a square of chocolate in half is not healthy. It's disordered, restrictive & a slippery slope." If you have been affected by anything in this article, you can contact Bodywhys at (01) 2107906 from Monday, Wednesday and Sunday 7.30pm-9.30pm and Saturday 10.30am-12.30pm, or email alex@bodywhys.ie anytime.