Researcher and activist Joy Cox joins us to talk about how we can fight back against internalized weight stigma and body shame, how intersecting identities can affect body image, why refusing to conform to cultural and societal expectations can help change the world, the racist roots of diet culture and why fighting it is an important part of creating a more inclusive society, the problems with framing larger body size as “obesity” and labeling it a disease, and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a listener question about intuitive eating for athletes.

This episode originally aired on May 14, 2018.

Joy is current doctoral candidate and self-professed fatty in the Department of Communication at Rutgers University using her dissertation to study the impacts of identity and social change within the Fat Liberation Movement. Through interviews and content analysis, Joy has been able to unearth answers to questions around member identification, micro and macro discourse, and political action outcomes for movement members. When not conducting research, Joy serves as the Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion team for ASDAH, and hosts her own podcast, Fresh Out the Cocoon, which highlights the lived experiences of Black fat women. She is an avid lover of justice and a fierce defender of those who cannot defend themselves. Find her on Instagram @FreshOutTheCocoon

This episode is brought to you by Christy's forthcoming book, Anti-Diet, which is now available for pre-order! Learn more and pre-order now at christyharrison.com/book.

Grab Christy's free guide, 7 simple strategies for finding peace and freedom with food, to get started on the anti-diet path.

If you're ready to break free from diet culture once and for all, join Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.

Ask your own question about intuitive eating, Health at Every Size, or eating disorder recovery at christyharrison.com/questions.

To learn more about Food Psych and get full show notes and a transcript of this episode, go to christyharrison.com/foodpsych.

Jes Baker, body-liberation activist and author of the book Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls, discusses her continuing process of recovery from trauma related to food, eating, and fatphobia; why talking about trauma is so important; why she uses the term "body liberation" instead of "body positivity" or "fat acceptance"; why we need to have more nuanced conversations about people's body-liberation journeys instead of reflexively shunning celebrities who've had weight-loss surgery; how the experience of being "small-fat" differs from the experience of being in a larger fat body; why the mainstreaming of body positivity has been so problematic; and lots more. PLUS, Christy answers a listener question about starting movement again after a history of compulsive exercise.

This episode originally aired on July 10, 2017.

Jes Baker is a Tucson blogger and author who is on a mission to turn our society's concept of beauty on its oppressive head as she knows for a FACT that every person in this world is worthy of respect and feeling valued regardless of their size, shape, shade, sex, ability, gender, age or health records.

She preaches the importance of body autonomy, ALL CAPS, self-love, mental health, strong coffee, and even stronger language. Find her online at themilitantbaker.com, and check out her article on Lisa Frank BoPo. 

This episode is brought to you by Christy's forthcoming book, Anti-Diet, which is now available for pre-order! Learn more and pre-order now at christyharrison.com/book.

Grab Christy's free guide, 7 simple strategies for finding peace and freedom with food, to get started on the anti-diet path.

If you're ready to break free from diet culture once and for all, join Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.

Ask your own question about intuitive eating, Health at Every Size, or eating disorder recovery at christyharrison.com/questions.

To learn more about Food Psych and get full show notes and a transcript of this episode, go to christyharrison.com/foodpsych.

Body-positive photographer Lindley Ashline joins to talk about the power of representation, the process of breaking fashion rules for people in larger bodies, how the diet industry uses aspirational marketing to lure us in and keep us hooked, Lindley’s journey to her career in photography for diverse bodies, and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a listener question about whether it’s appropriate to talk to diet-recovery clients about choosing “whole” foods.

This episode originally aired on April 16, 2018.

Lindley Ashline is a professional photographer in Seattle, WA, who specializes in body positive portraits of people of all sizes, genders, orientations, ability levels, and ethnicities, not just the ones whose bodies are likely to be seen in magazines and advertisements. Lindley takes a judgment-free approach to her photographic subjects, with little to no retouching.

She created RepresentationMatters.me in 2016 as a response to (and rejection of) the airbrushed, normative, too-perfect stock photography available on the big mainstream stock sites. The images available on the site focus on representing people who are fat, of color, and/or part of the LGBTQIAP+ community. Representation Matters gives small business owners a way to represent the real bodies and lives of their customers in their marketing and on websites and social media. It contains Lindley's own photography as well as photos and illustrations from a growing number of contributors, making diverse and body positive artwork accessible and affordable while paying contributors a living wage.

Find thousands of high-quality diverse stock images and free monthly photos over at Lindley's site, RepresentationMatters.me.

This episode is brought to you by Christy's forthcoming book, Anti-Diet, which is now available for pre-order! Learn more and pre-order now at christyharrison.com/book.

Grab Christy's free guide, 7 simple strategies for finding peace and freedom with food, to get started on the anti-diet path.

If you're ready to break free from diet culture once and for all, join Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.

Ask your own question about intuitive eating, Health at Every Size, or eating disorder recovery at christyharrison.com/questions.

To learn more about Food Psych and get full show notes and a transcript of this episode, go to christyharrison.com/foodpsych.

Season 6 finale! Fellow anti-diet dietitian and certified intuitive eating counselor Katherine Metzelaar joins us to discuss orthorexia within the health-and-wellness field, the cultural shift that made it cool to eliminate foods, mourning the loss of community and connection when you stop dieting, why growing up with a peaceful relationship with food doesn’t guarantee a lifetime of immunity against diet culture, and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a listener question about how to deal with physical discomfort like thigh chafing and waistbands digging into your belly.

Katherine Metzelaar, MSN, RDN, CD is a Seattle-based Dietitian and Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor who is passionate about inclusive healthcare for all bodies. She is the owner and founder of Bravespace Nutrition, a private nutrition practice that helps women, both virtually and in-person, to create peace with food and their body free from rules, dieting, and perfectionism. Through the use of a client-centered, therapeutic, non-diet approach, she helps women and womxn to recover from disordered eating, eating disorders and body image challenges. In addition to her practice, Katherine is the founder of Body Image Badass: Compassion, Connection, Embodiment, a body-acceptance group that works to create community and a safer space for women to talk about the challenges of what in means to exist in a world that seeks to control and oppress women’s bodies via dieting and body-shaming.When not at work, you can find her checking out the local foodie scene, dancing salsa, and in the pursuit of finding the best latte in town. Find her online at BraveSpaceNutrition.com.

This episode is brought to you by Christy's forthcoming book, Anti-Diet, which is now available for pre-order! Learn more and pre-order now at christyharrison.com/book.

Grab Christy's free guide, 7 simple strategies for finding peace and freedom with food, to get started on the anti-diet path.

If you're ready to break free from diet culture once and for all, join Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.

Ask your own question about intuitive eating, Health at Every Size, or eating disorder recovery at christyharrison.com/questions.

To learn more about Food Psych and get full show notes and a transcript of this episode, go to christyharrison.com/foodpsych.

Couples therapist and plus-size dating coach Krista Niles joins us to discuss statistics and misconceptions about body size and romantic relationships, how to navigate dating after being in a relationship with someone who says cruel things about your body, great strategies for creating a dating profile, what to do if you’re struggling to find a therapist, and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a listener question about how to cope when you’re surrounded by people who buy in to diet culture. 

Krista Niles, couples therapist and dating coach, created the Curvy Cupid Course in 2016 to help women of all sizes start writing their love stories. Krista is a strong believer in the transformative power of love, and experienced firsthand the stuckness, discouragement, and hopelessness that can accompany dating as a plus-she woman. Through the Curvy Cupid Course, she teaches a step-by-step intentional approach to dating that encourages perseverance and nurtures confidence skills -- even within a deeply flawed system of fatphobia and poorly-designed dating apps. Find her online at CurvyCupidCourse.com. 

Grab Christy's free guide, 7 simple strategies for finding peace and freedom with food, to get started on the anti-diet path.

If you're ready to break free from diet culture once and for all, join Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.

Ask your own question about intuitive eating, Health at Every Size, or eating disorder recovery at christyharrison.com/questions.

To learn more about Food Psych and get full show notes and a transcript of this episode, go to christyharrison.com/foodpsych.

This episode is brought to you by Christy's forthcoming book, Anti-Diet! Learn more and pre-order now at christyharrison.com/book.

Psychotherapist and fellow certified intuitive eating counselor Devinia Noel joins us to discuss how her work as a therapist influenced her own process of re-learning intuitive eating, why using food as a coping skill isn’t a bad thing, how diet culture creates shame, the need for diversity among intuitive-eating counselors, and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a listener question about what to do if you get a diagnosis of pre-diabetes.

Devinia Noel is a cognitive-behavioural psychotherapist and certified intuitive eating counsellor. She believes in a health at every size paradigm and a weight-neutral approach. Her mission is to create a safe diverse intersectional space for all individuals to develop peace with food and their bodies. Devinia is passionate about making non-diet spaces more diverse by sharing her experiences as a black woman previously trapped by diet culture. She also works in the community as a cognitive behavioural psychotherapist helping people with a wide range of problems including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and disordered eating. Her experience of implementing self-care and self-compassion, inspires her to encourage clients to implement these practices. When Devinia has free time, she can be found baking, lifting weights and spending time with family and friends. Find her online at DeviniaNoel.com.

This episode is brought to you by Christy's forthcoming book, Anti-Diet, which is now available for pre-order! Learn more and pre-order now at christyharrison.com/book.

Grab Christy's free guide, 7 simple strategies for finding peace and freedom with food, to get started on the anti-diet path.

If you're ready to break free from diet culture once and for all, join Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.

Ask your own question about intuitive eating, Health at Every Size, or eating disorder recovery at christyharrison.com/questions.

To learn more about Food Psych and get full show notes and a transcript of this episode, go to christyharrison.com/foodpsych.

Anti-diet therapist and author Judith Matz joins us to talk about shifting the focus of emotional eating toward the underlying deprivation and diet mentality, why turning to food to meet emotional needs isn’t an “eating problem” but a “soothing problem,” how diet culture and marginalization rob us of the ability to meet our needs, why Health at Every Size and intuitive eating are better approaches for true health, Judith’s work teaching other therapists about weight stigma, and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a listener question about how to frame public health efforts to change the built environment in a way that doesn’t stigmatize people in larger bodies.

This episode originally aired on April 9, 2018

Judith is the co-author of two books on the topics of eating and weight struggles. Beyond a Shadow of a Diet: The Comprehensive Guide to Treating Binge Eating Disorder, Compulsive Eating and Emotional Overeating has been called “the new bible” on this topic for professionals. The Diet Survivor’s Handbook: 60 Lessons in Eating, Acceptance and Self-Care was a #1 bestseller on Amazon and a favorite resource for therapists to use with clients. She is also the author of Amanda’s Big Dream, a children’s book that helps kids to pursue their dreams – at any size!

Judith has a private practice in Skokie, IL, where she focuses her work with clients who want to get off the diet/binge rollercoaster and learn to feel at home in their bodies. Through her individual counseling, groups, workshops, presentations and books, Judith has helped thousands of people to develop self-care skills that increase physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing without a focus on the pursuit of weight loss. Through educational programs, she is dedicated to helping people end the preoccupation with food and weight and to fighting weight stigma.

Judith is a popular speaker at national conferences and descriptions of her work have appeared in the media including the New York Times, LA Times, Allure, Fitness, Self, Shape, Today’s Dietitian, Diabetes Self-Management, Psychotherapy Networker, NBC News Chicago, Huffington Post Live, and she appears in the documentary America The Beautiful 2. Find her online at JudithMatz.com.

This episode is brought to you by Christy's forthcoming book, Anti-Diet, which is now available for pre-order! Learn more and pre-order now at christyharrison.com/book.

Grab Christy's free guide, 7 simple strategies for finding peace and freedom with food, to get started on the anti-diet path.

If you're ready to break free from diet culture once and for all, join Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.

Ask your own question about intuitive eating, Health at Every Size, or eating disorder recovery at christyharrison.com/questions.

To learn more about Food Psych and get full show notes and a transcript of this episode, go to christyharrison.com/foodpsych.

Activist and scholar Jeff Iovannone joins us to discuss diet culture and harmful body standards in the gay community, how oppression and the AIDS crisis shaped the “normate gay” aesthetic, why every body is a Pride body, how to create a gay men’s body-liberation movement, and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a listener question about fatphobia in eating-disorder treatment programs.

Jeff Iovannone is an activist-scholar, writer, and researcher from Buffalo, New York who specializes in gender and LGBTQ studies. He is the creator of the blog Queer History for the People, writes a bi-weekly column--entitled Talk Queerly--on LGBTQ culture and politics for the web magazine Th-Ink Queerly, and is a founding member of Body Liberated Buffalo, a volunteer-run activist and advocacy organization that works for body liberation in Western New York. Find him online at medium.com/@jeffry.iovannone.

This episode is brought to you by Christy's forthcoming book, Anti-Diet, which is now available for pre-order! Learn more and pre-order now at christyharrison.com/book.

Grab Christy's free guide, 7 simple strategies for finding peace and freedom with food, to get started on the anti-diet path.

If you're ready to break free from diet culture once and for all, join Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.

Ask your own question about intuitive eating, Health at Every Size, or eating disorder recovery at christyharrison.com/questions.

To learn more about Food Psych and get full show notes and a transcript of this episode, go to christyharrison.com/foodpsych.

Fat-positive dietitian Julie Duffy Dillon joins us to discuss common misconceptions about managing polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), how weight stigma harms people with PCOS, why you shouldn’t believe the hype about certain foods causing inflammation, the connection between PCOS and binge eating, the importance of considering that PCOS occurs in people of all genders, and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a listener question about a particular multi-level-marketing diet and the concept of “accountability.”

Julie Duffy Dillon is a Fat Positive Dietitian, Eating Disorder Specialist, and Food Behavior Expert who partners with people along their Food Peace journey. Julie began specializing in treating Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome in 2005 after noticing the connection with weight bias and eating disorders. She sought training on the physiology and endocrinology from pioneering experts willing to not focus on weight loss and diets to treat the complicated condition. This insight has provided people with PCOS to advocate for their physical and emotional health without torturing themselves with diets.

Julie hosts the weekly podcast Love Food. It is a Dear Abby show for those with eating concerns hoping to rewrite their fate. Listeners pen a letter to food outlining their complicated relationship. Julie and sometimes a guest discuss solutions before Food writes back.

She speaks around the country about anti-diet approaches to PCOS while running a group practice in Greensboro North Carolina. She was the featured expert dietitian and PCOS expert on TLC's documentary My Big Fat Fabulous Life. Find her online at JulieDillonRD.com.

This episode is brought to you by Christy's forthcoming book, Anti-Diet, which is now available for pre-order! Learn more and pre-order now at christyharrison.com/book.

Grab Christy's free guide, 7 simple strategies for finding peace and freedom with food, to get started on the anti-diet path.

If you're ready to break free from diet culture once and for all, join Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course 

Ask your own question about intuitive eating, Health at Every Size, or eating disorder recovery at christyharrison.com/questions.

To learn more about Food Psych and get full show notes and a transcript of this episode, go to christyharrison.com/foodpsych.

Anti-diet therapist and Binge Eating Disorder expert Amy Pershing joins us to discuss how our fatphobic culture hinders recovery, how diet culture steals our personal power, the healing that can be found in getting angry, the role of restriction and trauma in binge eating, and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a listener question about quick ways for primary-care providers to talk to patients about intuitive eating and HAES.

This episode originally aired on March 26, 2018

Amy Pershing LMSW, ACSW is the Clinical Director of the Center for Eating Disorders (CED) in Ann Arbor. In 1993, she developed “Bodywise™,” a comprehensive treatment program to serve a growing population of clients coming to the center with binge eating disorder (BED). In 2008, Pershing and Chevese Turner, CEO and founder of Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA), joined forces to found Pershing Turner Consulting LLC which offers training to clinicians treating BED nationwide.

Pershing has pioneered an integrated approach based on almost 30 years of clinical experience. Her approach is strengths-based, incorporating Internal Family Systems, mindfulness strategies, Self Compassion interventions, and a range of somatic trauma techniques. Her approach also integrates intuitive eating and movement and a “health at every size” philosophy. Pershing offers two- and three-day Intensives for those in recovery, as well as “Hungerwise™,” a 10-week program for ending chronic dieting and weight cycling offered jointly with with St. Joseph Mercy Health System in Michigan.

Pershing lectures internationally and writes extensively on the treatment of BED and her own recovery journey for both professional and lay communities. She has been featured on numerous radio and television programs speaking about BED treatment and recovery, relapse prevention, weight stigma, and mindful eating and movement. She is the winner of BEDA's Pioneer in Clinical Advocacy ward. Pershing has also served on a variety of professional boards and is the Past Chair of the Binge Eating Disorder Association. Her book, published by Taylor and Francis, will be out in late summer 2018. She maintains a clinical practice in Ann Arbor. Find her online at TheBodyWiseProgram.com.

Grab Christy's free guide, 7 simple strategies for finding peace and freedom with food, to get started on the anti-diet path.

If you're ready to break free from diet culture once and for all, join Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course—enrollment closes May 29th!

Ask your own question about intuitive eating, Health at Every Size, or eating disorder recovery at christyharrison.com/questions.

To learn more about Food Psych and get full show notes and a transcript of this episode, go to christyharrison.com/foodpsych.