How Dolly Parton Kicked Her Disordered Eating Habit & Found Peace With Food

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There was a time when Dolly Parton struggled to find balance in her eating habits. In the 2017 book "Dolly on Dolly," the icon opened up about the mindset that contributed to her disordered eating, writing, "It's hard for me to love a little, have sex a little, to eat a little. I like to do everything and I like to do it all the way that I want to do it." Back then, Parton consistently ate and craved fast food. Soon enough, she experienced what happens to a person's body when they overeat and gained 50 pounds. 

During a 2019 episode of "Dolly Parton's America," she admitted that the weight gain, coupled with other personal struggles, brought on an incredibly rough period for her mental health. To lose weight, she tried overly restricting her caloric intake with a crash diet, but soon wound up overeating, gaining weight, and resorting to another crash diet. Soon enough, Parton realized firsthand why people shouldn't even think about going on a crash diet. "Eventually my system wouldn't work anymore," Parton wrote. "My body couldn't hold up under that strain." 

Eventually, Parton realized the answer to a healthy diet wasn't in extreme restrictions but in balance. Speaking to Interview Magazine in 2012, Parton shared that she stuck to healthy, nutritious meals on weekdays and gave herself full permission to eat whatever she wanted on the weekends. Parton didn't seem to follow rigid restrictions on weekdays, either: In an interview with Marie Claire in 2020, the country legend said that she enjoyed occasionally starting her day with country favorites like biscuits and gravy.

Many experts would agree that Dolly Parton's decision to practice moderation instead of restriction worked in her favor. "Saying something is entirely off-limits forever can backfire," registered dietician Sondra Kronberg explained to WebMD. "You can actually develop a fear of food." Kronberg also confirmed that overly restricting yourself after overeating doesn't do much for one's overall well-being: "You're more likely to end up bingeing on a food that you would have otherwise eaten in moderation." 

Kronberg's statements align with long-held beliefs surrounding food restrictions. For instance, a 1975 study in the Journal of Personality compared how people who practiced stricter dietary restrictions and those who took a less restrained approach to dieting consumed ice cream after having a milkshake. The group that practiced restrictions ate more ice cream, likely because they believed there was no point in restricting after they had strayed from their diet. Meanwhile, their counterparts consumed less ice cream. So, it appears that occasionally giving in to your cravings can help heal your relationship with food. 

However, it's not just a mindset change that might have helped Parton find her peace with food. As Kronberg told WebMD, you can manage food cravings by including protein in every meal because it keeps blood sugar levels more stable. Among Parton's weekday go-to meals were fish, which is packed with protein, and fiber-rich vegetables, which help promote satiety.

If you need help with an eating disorder or know someone who does, help is available. Visit the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's Live Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).