Download Episode! In this episode of the "Life Unrestricted" podcast, I get to talk to Dr. Linda Bacon from Berkeley, California, USA. It’s a lucky day for all of us, because we get to listen to her highly insightful knowledge and opinion about our relationship to food, bodies and health. Dr. Linda Bacon is a health professor and researcher on the inside track of weight-regulation science, she holds graduate degrees in physiology, psychology and exercise metabolism with a specialty in nutrition. She has conducted federally funded studies on diet and health and is well-published in top scientific journals, and has written two books, first, her highly acclaimed bestseller "Health At Every Size – The Surprising Truth About Your Weight" and recently "Body Respect – What Conventional Health Books Get Wrong, Leave Out Or Just Fail To Understand About Weight". She is currently a health professor at City College of San Francisco and an Associate Nutritionist at the University of California Davis. She is sharing her story with us and will tell us: – Why she invested decades diving into science – How it is possible, that the clear understanding about health (and how little weight really plays into it) has for decades been kept from the public – Why the truth about diets not working and weight not being an important determinator of health is being held back – Who is really behind the decision to make "obesity" classify as a disease – Why there is such tremendous resistance to the idea of size-acceptance – Who and what is behind the "obesity"-crisis, fat-fear and weight-stigma – Why our capitalist society needs us to believe there is something "wrong" with us – Why putting the sole focus on weight-loss will not improve health markers, and what does – Why so many women and men aren’t even recognizing the damaging effects of the myths they believe in – Why diet and exercise are only small contributors to a person’s actual health – How social status, agency, genes, mental and psychological stress and unfair treatment are so much more important in determining someone’s health – How, during her Phd, she was confronted with the fact that the actual (!) truth wasn’t appreciated by decision-makers – Why so many doctors are innocently prescribing weight-loss despite the fact that this most often doesn’t address the issue at hand – What the pillars of Health At Every Size (HAES) really are and what the most common myths about it are – Why Health At Every Size (HAES) is for people of all sizes, and why it gets so much push-back – Why we need a lot of critical thinking to see behind the lies that keep so many people trapped, unhealthy, and frustrated – Why weight- and fat-discrimination are highly detrimental to a person’s health and will never lead to long-lasting, healthy weight-management – Why it is wise to look at so-called "scientific proof" with a critical eye – Why people who accept and appreciate their bodies will take better care of it – Why much of the problems we blame on fat have, in fact, nothing to do with fat – Why both thin people as well as people in larger bodies risk medical misdiagnosis due to the BMI index – Why she is optimistic that the medical profession will, ever so slowly, change their views – What her mission in life is... ... And so much more! Check out Dr. Linda Bacon, her work around Health At Every Size (HAES) and her coaching over at: www.lindabacon.org All the relevant infos and the Health At Every Size (HAES) community are here: www.haescommunity.com www.healthateverysizeblog.org www.sizediversityandhealth.org Here’s the links to her books: – "Health At Every Size – The Surprising Truth About Your Weight" https://www.amazon.com/Health-At-Every-Size-Surprising/dp/1935618253 – "Body Respect – What Conventional Health Books Get Wrong, Leave Out Or Just Fail To Understand About Weight" https://www.amazon.com/Body-Respect-Conventional-Health-Understand/dp/1940363195/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1471714036&sr=1-1&keywords=body+respect+linda+bacon   ********* Don't forget!********* Make sure to join my tribe and meet some of the most supportive, loving and kind people of all shapes and sizes, including great coaches and leaders! We’re right over here at: http://www.lifeunrestricted.org/join/ Please consider supporting the podcast with a donation by becoming a "Patreon"; so that I can keep producing it. Thank you! Here's the link: https://www.patreon.com/lifeunrestricted Please: Do subscribe on iTunes (Apple): https://itunes.apple.com/ch/podcast/life.-unrestricted.-podcast/id1130713233?mt=2 or on Stitcher (Android): http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=93987&refid=stpr