Fitness, Food and Fashion Flashback
We’ve come a long way from cheese and pineapple sticks, Jane Fonda videos, leg warmers and Roller Boots. But it’s fun to look back over the last four decades at the changes in food (what we thought was healthy), diets, fashion and fitness crazes, even if it’s just to remind ourselves how lucky we are.
Let’s start with the 70’s- a decade filled, it seems, with brown (my old family photo albums confirm this).
Instant Smash, Angel Delight and instant coffee were seen to be delicacies, and anyone who got married in the 70’s was sure to receive a fondue set as a wedding present!
Dr Atkins published his diet book and the high protein, low carb craze began
Slim Fast was introduced in 1977
Diet pills were the quick fix. Dexatrim was an appetite suppressant that contained the drug phenylpropanolamine (sounds nice) but it was pulled from the shelves in 2000
Joe Weider revolutionised fitness by introducing the Weider home Gym. It provided a perfect way to build exercise into the daily routine.
Moving on to the 80’s (my teenage years)
Slush Puppies, Soda Streams and the Toastie machine (ok so not healthy options but food crazes all the same)
It was the decade of convenience foods. Diet food started to emerge in the form of pre- made, ready to eat food. In 1980, Marks and Spencer started selling sandwiches (prawn mayo being the most popular).
Concerns about heart disease were surfacing in people who had never set foot in a health food shop. Unfortunately, heart health awareness brought with it a misguided fat- free craze and food manufacturers moved away from ‘real food’ and started producing fake margarine instead of butter and other such products filled with unpronounceable ingredients. Nuts were considered too high in calories and fat, and egg yolks shunned for their high cholesterol content.
The ‘in’ diet was the Scarsdale Diet which was a two week high protein, low- carb and super low calorie diet (less than 1000 cals a day) Apparently, you were promised a twenty pounds per week weight loss without any deficiency in vitamins or minerals. Snack choices were raw carrots or celery….mmm, no thanks.
80’s Fashion and Fitness
Jane Fonda videos, the sounds of Olivia Newton John’s ‘Let’s get Physical’, the invention of the ‘grapevine’
Tight, shiny, neon
Sweatbands, scrunchy socks, leg warmers, off the shoulder tops.
Thong leotards over Spandex dance tights with stirups
Men’s running shorts were SHORT and very fitted. Muscle, sleeveless t shirts to show off the physique. Some men went a bit too far and even cut the shirts above the belly button to show off their stomachs.
Basically, the theme was the tighter and the brighter the better.
1990’s
More convenience foods, frozen meals and TV dinners, cereal bars and the opening of Starbucks with a baffling array of coffee.
In 1992, the first mini supermarket opened in Covent Garden (Tesco Metro).
However, a series of food scares exposed the presence of dangerous chemicals in food which led to the rediscovery of more natural and organic foods.
The Dr Atkins diet craze resurfaced with a vengeance.
90’s Fashion and Fitness
As technology improved, so too did the production of breathable fabrics and performance footwear.
Who didn’t have an Adidas tracksuit, cropped tank top and high rise cycle shorts?! (Quick, hide the photos)
Big hair, scrunchies, banana clips, Nike cross trainers….and why did EVERYTHING have a hood?
PortableWalkmans and CD players to listen to your tunes whilst training…but don’t jump around too much or your track will skip!
Step aerobics and Rollerblading became novel fitness trends.
2000’s
Taste dramatically improved and in response to a surge in demand for gluten free, lactose free, non GMO ingredients, food manufacturers produced food with more simplified, creative, fuller flavoured ingredients. Quite right too! If you can’t pronounce an ingredient, you shouldn’t be putting it in your body.
Seasonal and local became buzzwords and environmental, animal welfare and farming ethics also played a big part in the changes in our food at this time.
The diet theme of the decade was to focus on ‘good carbs’ and ‘good fats’. The South Beach Diet and more intense ‘cleansing/detox style’ diets emerged.
2000’s Fitness and Fashion
Kickboxing, Pilates, Celebrity workouts and Road races became the things to do. Personal Trainers were not just for the rich and famous. Bootcamps, TRX, CrossFit, P90X and Zumba also became popular.
More science based training emerged in the form of strength training (yes, for girls too)
Running tights (meggings for men), capri leggings, yoga pants, writing on our bums (thanks Juicy Couture).
It was the decade of gadgets GPS watches, Treadmills with TV’s, iPods with digital music
2010’s
Where are we now?
The health conscious are sipping on smoothies, chugging down juices and nibbling on nuts. You can’t even walk down a supermarket aisle without seeing quinoa, amaranth and millet as we once again swing back to ‘real food’. Nutrient dense and gluten free. More and more are buying organic foods. (Of course, 80% of supermarket produce is still not providing this nutrient density and is having massive detrimental effects to our long term health, but that’s another blog altogether.)
There are more vegetarian and vegan options than ever before as more people are worried about the questionable production of meat. Eggs are back, so too is butter and coconut. People want minimally processed, simple foods made with whole food ingredients.
We are also caring more about where our food comes from and who made it. I expect my food to be healthy and taste good but also need to know that it is clean and fairly produced.
The celebrity chef phenomenon is seeing more and more people cooking and experimenting with food. Diet trends range from celebrity endorsed plans to diet delivery services, Paleo and clean eating.
Wearable technology has been a huge trend and is set to continue to rise in popularity. Wrist bands to tell us how far we have walked, cycled, skied or swam and how long we slept for. Clothes that can give us feedback on how hard the muscles are working, track our heart rate and regulate our temperature .
What’s next?
Ethical food production without destroying the planet? Natural food manufacturers will be working hard to answer this problem.
Conventional supermarkets will look to embrace the sale of organic produce to drive down the prices and make it more accessible to all.
The taste, quality and variety of natural, healthy foods has improved dramatically but we still need to counteract the stereotype that healthy food doesn’t taste good. In the past this stereotype was deserved and people ate health food for prescription and their conscience but not for pleasure.
Diet trends, fitness, food and fashion will continue to change and evolve. Unfortunately, it’s still believed that the quick fix solution is out there. People want a 30-day fitness or diet plan that they can follow and afterwards go back to the way they were before.
As for fitness fashion, it will also change and what we think of as cool and trendy now….well, lets see what we think in another twenty years!