HealthNotDiets Digest, Issue 1, 2019
December 27 - January 3, 2019
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Happy reading!
Articles & Blogs
It’s OK That I Don’t Drink. It’s Not OK That You Ask Why.
by Beatriz Alegria
”The truth is that you don’t know what is happening in a person’s life when you decide to ask why someone doesn’t drink. A person can be sober for many different reasons....Sober people don’t owe you any explanation whatsoever for our perfectly valid choice.“
Managing Mental Wellness During Stressful Holiday Times: “Remind yourself that you are enough!” with Judith Matz, LCSW
by Yitzi Weiner
“if you’re complimenting someone else’s weight loss, you’re contributing to your loved one’s body shame — even if it’s unintentional.”
Weight Stigma and Health: Does Self-blame Play a Role?
by Rebecca M. Puhl
"Consistently, studies showed strong, negative associations between internalized weight bias and poor psychological health indices, including high levels of depression and anxiety, lower self-esteem, disordered eating, increased binge eating, and poorer mental health-related quality of life.”
The Short Term Weight Loss Lie
by Ragen Chastain
“The fact is that most people are able to lose some weight over a short amount of time. The problem is the two conclusions that are drawn from that, which then form the foundation for diet culture.The first is that if it’s possible to lose a little weight, then it must be possible to lose any amount of weight. The second is that if short-term weight loss is possible for almost everyone, then maintaining weight loss must be possible for almost everyone.”
“My official resignation from slimming by committee”
By Vix Leyton
“I needed to look at why my self-worth was so intrinsically linked to a machine that I could influence by moving around the bathroom floor, rather than simply have the opinion that it was so readily validated by people who have a vested interest in doing so.Slimming clubs, it’s not you, it’s me. It just took me a while to get here.”
CW: includes an account of dieting behaviours
You're going to fail your New Year's resolution – but it might not be your fault
by Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz
“The truth is social determinants control far more of our lives than we would like to admit. While a common refrain from politicians who would like to cut services is that each individual determines their own fate, the reality is that things as diverse as whether one of your parents went to prison or whether you grew up near a motorway can define your health for the rest of your life."
CW: brief weight centrism.
The shopping meltdown that changed my life
by Charlotte Salusinszky
“Christmas is typically difficult for people with or recovering from eating disorders, and not because we think pudding equals weight gain. It is not that simple.”
I Hated My Body. Then I Stopped Making New Year's Resolutions.
by YourFatFriend
"This new year, I’m resolving to chase after my dreams with abandon — to move boldly toward the life I have long dreamt of for myself, but rarely felt entitled to. And I’m resolving to care for the body I’m still learning to love.After all, so little of what’s interesting about me — about any of us — is our size. There’s so much more to all of us than that. This year, I’m resolving to tend to the whole of me.”
Escape the echo chamber
by C Thi Nguyeni
“In order to undo the effects of an echo chamber, the member should temporarily suspend all her beliefs – in particular whom and what she trusts – and start over again from scratch."
Is Permanent Weight Loss a Myth?
by Romeo Vitelli
“What makes these [weight loss] claims so believable for many people is their own tendency to accept evidence that supports their beliefs while rejecting anything that contradicts them. For those desperate to lose weight, this often means setting aside their natural skepticism to accept often fantastic claims.”
Lining your stomach with milk before a big night out – and other alcohol myths
by Duane Mellor
“people the world over have sought remedies to mitigate the dreaded hangover. Here we put some of the better known myths to scientific scrutiny.”
10 Reasons Not to Focus on Your Weight in the New Year
by Hilary Kinavey and Dana Sturtevant
“Dieting follows a predictable cycle of initial enthusiasm and excitement (the honeymoon phase), followed by hunger, cravings, worry and fear, backlash eating (falling off of it), getting mad at yourself and trying again. This cycle will not be broken or finished when weight loss is achieved. In fact, rarely does any amount of weight loss feel like “enough.” The only way out of the dieting cycle is to approach yourself with the kindness and respect you would for anyone who has struggled and incurred harm as a result.”
Diets in a Time of Scurvy - Part 1
by The Angry Chef
“Christmas is typically difficult for people with or recovering from eating disorders, and not because we think pudding equals weight gain. It is not that simple.”
6 Ways My Parents Unintentionally Taught Me Disordered Eating
by Suzannah Weiss
“he was crying because he knew that if it weren’t for his own actions, we might not even be there [at the eating disorder treatment hospital]. Because he was the one who put me on my first diet at age thirteen.”
https://thebodyisnotanapology.com/magazine/6-ways-my-parents-unintentionally-taught-me-disordered-eating...
What Health at Every Size ISN’T
by Flawed Nutrition
“Only with internal rewards do humans pursue anything healthfully, and long term. This means behavior change has to be enjoyable and empowering.”
To free yourself from toxic diet culture, deconstruct its language
by Rosie Spinks
“Food literally is calories. That’s the sole requirement of calling it “food.” Ergo those “zero calorie noodles” made with obscure starches are not an innovation or diet hack, but actually noodles that are failing at the main job of being a noodle.”
Like podcasts?
How about bite-sized podcasts that you can claim as professional development?!?
I've designed the Unpacking Weight Science Podcast to suit health professionals, health science students and anyone who wants to know more about human body weight, health outcomes, interpreting weight related research and the far ranging effects of weight bias.
The 20-30 minute monthly podcasts unpack different elements of weight bias & stigma, weight research, BMI, health behaviours and weight neutral approaches. Paid subscribers (only $5/month!) get instant access to the previous 15 episodes plus full show notes, reference list, self-test quiz and resource materials for use in practice. This equates to an hour of professional development activity each month :-)
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'Obesity': Unpacking 'Risk' vs 'Disease'
Ep 18: This episode delves into the definition(s) of 'disease' and 'risk factor' and how body size has come to be understood by various 'body size stakeholders'. At its core, the question is, is being fat the same as being sick? And can telling someone that they’re sick, even when they’re not, actually make them sick? is a condition that has both short-term and long lasting consequences. In this episode I unpack the science of malnutrition, it’s signs and symptoms (particularly in heavier people) and as always, how our intentional weight loss focus results in dangerous malnutrition invisibility.
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Episodes 1-4 are now on iTunes!
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Want some training in the non-diet approach or unpacking weight science? Resources include books, courses, workshops and handouts: visit www.healthnotdiets.com
See anything you think I'd like to share or comment about? Post in the comments below or email me at fiona@healthnotdiets.com