"Water of the Day": Watertok and the New Diet Culture

Comment - Hanna C. Nes

I recently stumbled upon what’s come to be known as “watertok”, a subgenre on TikTok where users showcase which water “flavour” they’ll be concocting that day.  I was enthralled and incredulous, as Chelsea from Tennessee grabbed her Starbucks tumbler – chock full of ice – and started chucking various powder packets and syrups into it. The craze has prompted an outpouring of articles, including the New York Times to Vox, that range from mocking the frivolous fascination to critiquing the weight loss incentives behind the seemingly “fun” brews. But what does watertok’s appearance say about us?

Photocollage: Hanna C. Nes / PRESSET. Copyright: Toronto Herald, @alluredbeauty, @hsp3nce.

Watertok is just the most recent trickle down trend from our generation’s greater issue regarding diet culture. As PRESSET. writer Selma E. Lang-Ree wrote in her piece on the return of heroin chic and 00s body trends, “when will we learn”? Diet fads have developed since the days of Jenny Craig meal plans and Freelee the Banana Girl (a self-proclaimed “vegan frugivore”) on YouTube. Weight loss tips and body trends have simultaneously become more covert and also casually medicalized. Ozempic, an injectable medication that the FDA says is “approved to lower blood sugar levels in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus, in addition to diet and exercise”, has taken the internet by storm. For months now, rumours have swirled around the source of actress Mindy Kaling’s noticeable weight loss (indicative of our need to constantly discuss women’s bodies) and supposed Hollywood parties where guests inject themselves with the drug (sounds like a perfectly normal Friday night to me).

The death knell of the slim thicc reign came when publications everywhere in 2022 announced the end of the BBL (Brazilian Butt Lift, an invasive and potentially life-threatening procedure where fat is injected into the buttocks from other parts of the body). As I mentioned in my end of year list, THAT Miu Miu skirt stole headlines, making many feel a sense of Paris Hilton circa 2003 deja vu, while 20-somethings have happily embraced nicotine – mommy’s former little favorite appetite suppressant. Watertok is a fascinating entry as it doesn’t operate along restriction or suppression, but instead on ridiculous ambition. Followers clutch their humongous canteens, with the intention of reaching a certain amount of litres ingested by the end of the day. God forbid the actual taste of water and forget “clean” eating. Watertok doesn’t attempt to sell itself as a surefire gateway to health, instead as a weight loss hack. Curb your cravings by filling up with as much flavoured H2O as possible and you’ll have a snatched waist! We’ve strayed from the glow of words like “health”, “green” and the aforementioned “clean”. Nowadays, any means to an end is the route to take.

I wasn’t surprised when I came across a video on my FYP of a girl chronicling her daily routine with a medication that’s primarily used for colonoscopy prep. The comment section was full of people asking about side effects or claiming they lost a certain amount of weight in a short time. The relative access (if you have money) for certain medications can mean that anyone can hijack their intended usage for a crash diet. Not to mention the return of smoking’s appeal, which pairs well with our lowered social tolerance post-pandemic and short attention spans (don’t you love a quick escape from a stuffed room at a party?). These days, no one cares about models telling Vogue that they love a burger between shows. Instead, we’re back to square one with the girlies doing coke in the backroom like they’re Kate Moss in the 90s. Vices are sexy again and we’re proud of them – pick your substance and make it your personal branding whether it’s unicorn water or marlboros. It’s a change in sensibility and what can be deemed aspirational. I prefer my tap water, thankyouverymuch.