Food Psych Podcast with Christy Harrison

Sociology professor, writer, and performer Kimberly Dark returns to the podcast to discuss her latest book, Fat, Pretty, and Soon to be Old; why appearance is a form of privilege; how ageism intersects with other oppressions; how diet culture has influenced our ideas about self-improvement; why women are often penalized for not wearing makeup; and so much more. Plus, Christy answers a listener que...

Social worker and anti-diet activist Ashley Seruya joins us for a second FAQ episode, where she and Christy respond to more questions about Health At Every Size®, including what to do if you feel uncomfortable in your body at a higher weight, how to handle chronic illness, why food-intolerance diagnoses are often problematic, the effect of health behaviors versus social determinants of health, wha...

Fellow anti-diet dietitian Lauren Newman joins us to discuss how to manage diabetes without weight loss and restriction, why the restrict-binge cycle and weight cycling are especially harmful to blood-sugar regulation, why carbohydrates are necessary for health, how to take the focus away from nutritional minutiae and numbers, and so much more. Lauren Newman, RD, LD is a registered dietitian in Ho...

Comedian, fat-positive activist, and fellow podcaster Jana Schmieding joins us to discuss using comedy to call out diet culture, why there needs to be more Native representation in the media, how Western values contribute to oppression and ill health, how diet culture’s demonization of emotional eating causes additional distress, and so much more. Plus, Christy answers a listener question about wh...

Fellow anti-diet dietitian and podcaster Heather Caplan joins us to discuss her experience with orthorexia (aka obsession with “healthy” eating), how to bring joyful movement into eating-disorder recovery, the intersection of pregnancy and diet culture, sports nutrition from an intuitive-eating perspective, and so much more. Plus, Christy answers a listener question about how to know if you’re TRU...

Anti Diet Riot Club founder Becky Young joins us to discuss how diet culture intersects with other forms of oppression, how to respond to people who push back against the anti-diet message, why anger is important in eating-disorder recovery, how unconditional permission to eat can free your mind to focus on things other than food, and so much more. Plus, Christy answers a listener question about t...

Psychologist, fat activist, and Health At Every Size (HAES)® co-founder Deb Burgard returns! We discuss why HAES and weight management can’t co-exist, the social-justice roots of HAES, how weight stigma intersects with other oppressions, the politics of weight science, and so much more. Plus, Christy answers a listener question about how to navigate the food-shaming and fearmongering that’s often...

Evelyn Tribole (co-author of Intuitive Eating) returns to celebrate the launch of Christy’s first book, Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating! Evelyn interviews Christy about the history of diet culture and The Wellness Diet, diet culture’s role in healthcare and the so-called “obesity epidemic,” why food activism is not as progressive as it seems,...

Eating-disorders therapist Stephanie Zone joins us to discuss how diet culture steals our happiness and joy, the physical and emotional effects of restriction and self-blame, why dieting and disordered eating are like being in an abusive relationship, the problem with the narrative that trauma “causes” larger body size, and so much more. Plus, Christy answers a listener question about studying nut...

Weight-stigma and eating-disorders researcher Kendrin Sonneville joins us to discuss how diet culture steals our well-being by perpetuating fatphobia, why even seemingly subtle forms of weight stigma can lead to poorer health, the role of science in the paradigm shift toward Health At Every Size®, why weight stigma is more than just a health issue, and so much more. Plus, Christy answers a listene...

Eating-disorder therapist and style blogger Shira Rosenbluth joins us to discuss how diet culture steals our money through the high cost and low effectiveness of eating-disorder treatment, why she decided to share her story as a therapist recovering from an eating disorder, fatphobia in eating-disorder treatment centers and its effect on recovery, eating disorders as a form of trauma, and so much...

Fellow anti-diet dietitian and podcaster Kirsten Ackerman joins us to discuss how diet culture steals our time and energy, why intuitive eating is the default mode (and how diet culture robs us of that innate skill set), how to recognize true self-care versus diet culture’s version, why there’s so much unchecked privilege in weight-loss marketing, and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a listener...

Fellow anti-diet dietitian and friend of the pod Kimmie Singh joins us to discuss her experiences being diagnosed and living with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), fatphobia and racism in healthcare and dietetics training, how reframing beauty ideals helped in her eating-disorder recovery, why eating-disorder providers need to talk to their clients about fatphobia, and so much more! Plus, Christ...

Fellow anti-diet dietitian Christyna Johnson joins us to discuss adapting intuitive eating for different cultures and life situations, how microaggressions can contribute to eating-disorder behaviors and poor health, fatphobia and Eurocentrism in dietetics and clinical nutrition, how diet culture has warped the way we view and manage chronic illness, and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a liste...

Fellow anti-diet dietitian and certified intuitive eating counselor Alissa Rumsey shares her experience with intuitive eating personally and professionally, how adopting a Health At Every Size® approach shifted her work with food companies, how stopping exercise helped her examine her relationship with movement and with her body, what she learned when she stopped wearing makeup, and so much more!...

Anti-diet nutritionist and Certified Body Trust® Provider Meg Bradbury joins us with her daughter Carson to discuss how Meg’s orthorexia affected their relationships with food and with each other, why Meg decided to share her recovery journey on social media, how the restrict-binge cycle can show up in children, how The Wellness Diet affects people of different identities, and so much more! Plus,...

Fat activist and Comfy Fat founder J Aprileo joins us to discuss how to find comfort in a larger body without weight loss; how improving accessibility for fat people can benefit people of all sizes; how fatphobia shows up in progressive spaces and in healthcare; the intersections of gender identity, body size, and body acceptance; learning to embrace their nonbinary identity without shrinking thei...

Fellow anti-diet dietitian Amee Severson joins us to discuss why intuitive eating is NOT a weight-loss plan, her experiences as a fat dietitian, how she moved from the weight-management paradigm to Health At Every Size®, the social-justice side of HAES and intuitive eating, how social media can be helpful and harmful in recovering from diet culture, and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a listen...

Body image researcher, writer, and linguist Maxine Ali joins us to discuss why wellness culture is really about privilege, not health; racial objectification and how it contributes to feelings of disembodiment; how to recognize when diet culture is co-opting non-diet language; the power of language in changing the discourse on health and wellness, and so much more! Maxine Ali is a linguist and bod...

Medical doctor and Health At Every Size advocate Louise Metz joins us to discuss why weight management has no place in evidence-based medicine, how our current medical system can get in the way of providing compassionate care, why it’s actually not necessary for doctors to weigh their patients, how physicians can shift their practice to be more weight-inclusive, and so much more! Plus, Christy ans...

Plus-size-yoga teacher and wellness coach Rachel Estapa returns to discuss why mindfulness is a tool rather than a be-all-end-all, how seeking validation on social media mirrors seeking weight-loss praise, how to balance vulnerability and boundary-setting when sharing your lived experiences, the role of forgiveness in healing from diet culture, and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a listener qu...

Certified eating-disorders dietitian Lindsay Krasna joins us to discuss disordered eating among athletes, why eating disorders are less of a pathology and more of a reaction to diet culture, the role of thin privilege and economic privilege in people’s relationships with food, why healthcare providers should stop assuming that people have limited knowledge around food and body issues, and so much...

Fellow anti-diet dietitian Aaron Flores returns to discuss unrealistic expectations placed on men and their bodies, why we need to "smash the weightriarchy," the relationship between gym culture and diet culture, how pornography influences the way men learn about masculinity, tips for bringing your male loved ones into your process of diet-culture recovery, why providers need support to he...

Anti-diet activist and marketing pro Kaila Prins joins us this week to break down the role of marketing in diet culture, the complex ways we consume triggering material, the importance of embracing social justice in the body positivity movement, how she transitioned from her own eating-disorder recovery to thinking critically about diet culture, the ways in which our personal brand can quickly ove...

Certified Body Trust Provider and Health at Every Size personal trainer Kristy Fassio joins us to talk about the restrict-binge cycle and binge eating disorder, how to make fitness work for people in larger bodies, why diet culture is The Life Thief and how it steals our power, freedom, and joy, how restriction feeds into emotional eating, and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a listener questio...