Diets Don’t Work

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Hey there! Just a friendly reminder that how we think about food matters 🥗 Enjoying a positive relationship with food can lead to better overall health and well-being!

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Yes, this might sound radical.
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But it’s not.
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Having spent the last few days with my head in the books and research papers, reviewing what we know about weight and health, it’s only confirmed to me why I continue to practice from a non-diet angle. That is supporting people in the pursuit of improving their health, without the focus on weight loss.
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There are so many proven benefits of improving healthy behaviours, like quality of your diet, moving, not smoking and not drinking above the recommended alcohol limits - and these can independently can improve health, even without weight loss occurring.
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Of course - we also must remember that “lifestyle” factors are a small part of the picture of health. Social status, our biology, access to medical resources, race, class, etc etc., all influence health, regardless of our individual behaviours. We can’t control what we can’t control, and much of this comes down to population level inequalities 😔.
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The pursuit of weight loss can have many negative side effects - weight yo-yoing, increased emotional eating, reduced metabolism, loss of confidence and self trust, disordered eating and eating disorders, body dissatisfaction, food and body pre-occupation. The list is endless.
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If you feel at a lose end with dieting/your weight, I want to reassure you, that it is possible to improve your health without the need to starve yourself. Don’t give up hope.
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A whole other side of this is self-acceptance, and body acceptance... which after years of trying to shrink your body, isn’t an overnight fix. That’s something for another post.
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You’re worthy of help, support & love regardless of your body size or shape 💓


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Research clearly demonstrates the health benefits of fitness. Data from Barry VW et al concluded that unfit individuals had twice the risk of mortality compared to fit individuals regardless of BMI. And of course, neither fitness nor health are prerequisites for being treated with respect, dignity, and having access to competent health care.

Both fat and thin people can be fit (or unfit). Don't make assumptions based on people's appearance! Doing so increases weight stigma and perpetuates internalized weight bias, which negatively impact health.

I find that movement is imperative for my mental and physical well-being. I am a huge fan of yoga, spinning, and dance (as those familiar with my reels know). I hate running, so I don't do it. Find ways to move that make you feel good and are fun!

Would love to hear how you like to move and how it makes you feel.

Reference:
Barry VW, Baruth M, Beets MW, Durstine JL, Liu J, Blair SN. Fitness vs. fatness on all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis. Prog Cardiovasc Dis. 2014 Jan-Feb;56(4):382-90. doi: 10.1016/j.pcad.2013.09.002. Epub 2013 Oct 11. PMID: 24438729.

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Weight ain’t it. 🙅🏻‍♀️


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Just some reminders to start us off for the week ahead…

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Through all the “what I eat in a day” videos and “how to eat under X calories” please use this a reminder that there is no award or prize for eating the least amount. The only person who suffers is yourself. You deserve to nourish your body and eat enough. 💜

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PSA. Organic is basically a marketing term. Buy what you like and can afford. ❤️

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Read this if you are struggling with food at the moment. I know how it feels and how overwhelming the thoughts can be. You can do this, one meal at a time, one bite at a time. You are stronger than your thoughts.

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Just a reminder that there’s no such thing as “extra weight” or “excess weight.” I know that you may hear bodies described that way. You might have had people describe your body that way.
It’s sadly a common way higher weight bodies are talked about. As if there’s some magic number a body “should” be and anything else is “excess” or “extra.” That’s not how bodies work.
Your body will change throughout your life and weight will change and bodies aren’t a math equation and aren’t meant to be one size or one weight indefinitely.
So, whatever size your body is right now is the size it is. Not “extra” or “excess” or something that needs to change.
I hope that using this language to describe bodies will stop. It’s just another way to stigmatize fat bodies and pathologize them. And the only thing “extra” or “excess” with this way of describing bodies is anti-fat bias.
Image description: there is a pink background with flowers and a box in the middle that says “reminder” and then says There is no such thing as “extra” or “excess” weight

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Unfamiliarity is something we humans are biologically hardwired to be resistant of.

That means when we make changes to our usual ingrained patterns and pathways, it feels wrong and uncomfortable. Almost like writing with your non-dominant hand!

The key in recovery is hold awareness of the fact that something *feeling* wrong is not *actually* wrong.
It is just change, and your brain is alerting you to that.

From changing a routine, stopping a behaviour, seeing something presented differently to ‘usual’ to feeling ‘new’ sensations - try your best to settle the alarm that will (biologically) be sent your way.

You are safe. It is only change ❤️

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Can we have a real talk about weight stigma in healthcare and the imbalanced emphasis the medical field often puts on weight?

Here’s the truth: it’s okay to decline being weighed at the doctor.
🫵 You are fully within your right to do this!

What’s not okay is:
⭐️ Feeling like weight is the main topic of discussion at the doctor’s appointment when that’s not why you came in that day.
⭐️ Receiving unrealistic diet and exercise recommendations that you didn’t ask for .
⭐️ Putting of doctor’s appointments because of biased and unfair healthcare you’ve received in the past.

So today I’m sharing 4 ways for you to express that you don’t want to be weighed to help alleviate the stress of communicating this.

1️⃣ Be direct: Politely inform the staff, “I prefer not to be weighed today, thank you.”
2️⃣ Explain if you’d like to: You can add, “I’d like to focus on other aspects of my health instead of the humber on the scale.”
3️⃣ Use a card: Bring a pre-written card (for example, “No Weigh! I prefer not to be weighed today.”) that states your preference. This can be especially helpful if discussing it feels daunting.

Save this as a resource for And follow for more compassionate and relatable tips from a registered dietitian 🧡

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Rejecting diet culture is about so much more than deciding to stop dieting.

Don’t get us wrong, we know it’s HARD to reject those messages that are constantly around us. And they are loud.

Know you’re not alone in this journey away from the BS unrealistic beauty standards.

There’s a tribe of people right here where you can get pi**ed off together at diet culture, talk about body grief, celebrate the ups and downs of living in this upside down world and just have unlimited support.

In this community there’s always someone there ready to listen and support. 💕

Doors reopen to new members 9th Sept (join the waitlist to be let in early)

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I know it might seem impossible to learn to accept the body you are in or even a body bigger than you are currently in, but weight loss is not the cure.
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Did you know that more than 42% of U.S adults reported facing some form of anti-fat bias by their healthcare providers, coworkers, classmates, family members, and friends?

What if the solution to anti-fatness wasn’t asking fat and larger bodied people to change, but instead asking society to stop perpetuating a deadly form of oppression?

As body standards and ideals have shifted over time, the idealization of thinness rooted in Eurocentric beauty ideals prevails. Fatness has never been the problem, these oppressive systems that result in traumatic experiences are the problem.

Healthcare providers, and more importantly mental health counselors, must work from an inclusive, culturally responsive approach. This means counselors must confront their biases about fatness, and strive to make a space for every body in a society free from anti-fatness.

Follow me to learn what fat oppression looks like in our society and how to do better.

If you are seeing this, ask yourself*:
💚 when did I first learn that "fat is bad"?
💚 when did I first have a body-shaming thought about my body or someone else's body?
💚 what was I socialized to believe about my body and other people's bodies?

As mental health counselors, we have an ethical obligation to acknowledge the existence of fat oppression and truly view fatness as a social identity. Anti-fatness is a social justice issue. Let's continue to promote justice for all bodies while dismantling the systems of oppression that relentlessly perpetuate anti-fatness.

References:
Lee et al., 2021; McHugh & Chrysler, 2019; Puhl et al., 2021
*Questions adapted from Center for Body Trust - Hilary Kinavey & Dana Sturtevant; The Body is Not An Apology - Sonya Renee Taylor

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You don’t have to start a new diet, punish yourself, exercise extra, or change anything. You can start being kind to yourself any day any time. There’s no doing intuitive eating “wrong” or “right” there’s just exploration, curiosity and compassion. Learn from things that didn’t feel good and learn from things that do. ❤️🙏❤️‍🩹

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It's not your fault. Most clients who believe their worth is based on how their body looks or what they eat have been taught this. It's often influenced by family systems and our culture. Bodies are meant to be different. Food is food.
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I know it’s tempting to give dieting another go. Many of my clients come to me with hope that there’s the right diet out there for them that will finally work. The thing is, diets all “work” in the same way… which means they all fail you in the same way.
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So what do you do if you want things to be different but don’t want to diet? A big part of the work I do with my clients is shifting the focus from weight loss to wellbeing. I help people act on their wellbeing goals directly, rather than seeing weight loss as the gateway. If you like the sound of this, consider engaging with a non-diet dietitian and exercise professional 😊
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How do you like to move? What questions do you have about exploring movement?

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Thursday reminder 💓
If you are looking to establish a more harmonious & trustworthy relationship with your body, feeding yourself enough food is a great place to start. It’s difficult to establish trust & unity with your body when it’s undernourished & hungry.

— also, it’s important to recognize that not everyone has access to enough food. Food insecurity is a real thing in the United States, and is related to the development of eating disorders in many ways. The newest edition of Intuitive Eating addresses this disparity from a social justice lens, I recommend checking that out for more information.

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Keep this in mind the next time you deem your body size “unacceptable.”
Reach out to our growing community if you’re interested in hearing more about how diets don’t work.

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The sensation of hunger is a natural and necessary signal that our body needs energy (food) to function properly. We are born feeling these sensations. In our society, diet culture has taught many of us that we need to trick our hunger. When we engage in restrictive behaviors we start to disconnect from our bodies and can loose some of intuitive responses we once knew.

Please reach out if you want help reconnecting with your body and rediscovering your inner intuitive eater. I offer 1:1 counseling. To schedule a discovery call, click the link in my bio 🫶🏼

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Reminders we all need some days (a lot of days, let’s be honest).

If you want to let go of diet culture—and learn about why it’s become so powerful in our lives—pick up a copy of my book Anti-Diet, available anywhere you buy books!

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August is Fat Liberation Month.

As a straight-sized person, I don’t have lived experience in a fat body. Even so, I have asked this question (I cringe to admit it!). I have feared looking fat.

Even though I’ve been a therapist and an eating disorder specialist for 25 years, for too long, I bought into the belief that fat = bad.

Until I listened and learned.

It’s blatant prejudice.

We have been trained to believe that fat = bad in the same ways we’ve been trained to believe other completely untrue and cruel biases.

Weight stigma exists for the same reason that racism and sexism do: to oppress people who are different. White people pointed to differences in other people’s bodies as evidence that the “others” were problematic and inferior, which allowed white people to oppress them.

And if you still believe that being fat automatically makes a person unhealthy, DM me and I will send you some of the research that explains why this is incorrect (the science has been clear on this for over a decade).

For more from the experts, please check out:

The Belly of the Beast ()

Fearing the Black Body (Sabrina Strings)

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It was easier to rally when I could gather the adrenaline; kind of like “diet starts Monday!” energy.

It was much harder to stick with myself when the adrenaline quieted down and I was left with just me and a pile of shame, disappointment, and mediocrity.

Recovery is in that place.

The place where you *most* want to give up on yourself because despair and helplessness loom so large.

That’s where we expect abandonment.

See? I told you I’m not good enough. I told you there were conditions of approval. I told you I am not worth sticking around for.

So just go. Throw up your hands and go.

BUT DON’T.

This is where we stay. This is the new territory to chart.

What happens to us when we are believed in, supported, and unconditionally loved?

Be the one.

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Judgers are gunna judge. They can't possibly know anything about you by simply seeing your body.

There are soo many factors that influence health.

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My advice, as always: eat ENOUGH food, regularly, every day. 🍽️

Need some ideas of what to eat? Snag a copy of my Snack Box Recipe Collection! It has 40 balanced, no-fuss recipes designed to take the overwhelm out of eating. Check it out at the link in my bio!

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A quick Monday reminder from me to you. Wishing you a smooth (& fueled!) start to your week 💛

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There is a high cost to fear-based eating.

Minus some select few conditions that exist, our bodies inherently know how to ingest and digest foods and send us feedback signals.

However, if we're in a constant state of threat response (which often manifests as micromanaging our food), much of the effort and work we put into our eating can feel like a drop in a bucket compared to the work that needs to be done to quell the threat response.

So I want you to ask yourself, is it really about getting your food or body perfect or are we operating out of fear?

And then - what motivates your fear?

When we know the motivator behind the fear, we can take steps to diminish the threat response and find real freedom.

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(Based on a post by Deanna | Dietitian & Biz Coach on TikTok)

If you switched bodies with the person that you loved most and had the responsibility of taking care of their mind and body, how would you go about it?

How would you take care of the person you love the most? You would probably nourish it with nutritious food. You speak to the mind with the love and care that it deserves.

How would you take care of the person you love? Think about it, then do it for yourself.

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The vast majority of people with eating disorders AREN’T underweight. But stereotypes persist.

Don’t let anyone’s ignorance invalidate your experience. Not even your doctor’s or therapist’s, if they were the ones who said something dismissive. Unfortunately, even professionals that should know better often don’t, unless they have a lot of experience with EDs.

And that also includes you. Please don’t invalidate your own experience either. Weight is not indicative of how much suffering is involved with your eating disorder or how severe it is.

Your eating disorder is valid no matter your body size. No matter whether other people were educated enough to believe you and offer the support you deserved. 💙

Need some support?
💕 Work 1:1 with me to heal your relationship with food and your body! (🔗 in my bio)