HealthNotDiets Digest, Issue 2, 2020

January 3 - January 31, 2020

As always, if you like what you read here, please support the original author by liking/sharing/following/up-voting/subscribing directly to their feed.

Happy reading!

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Articles & Blogs

When Clothing is More than Fashion

by Your Fat Friend

“Even now, access to clothing remains needlessly challenging. According to one retail analytics firm...If you wear a size 14 or under, you have over 43 times as many clothing options as I do.”

https://medium.com/@thefatshadow/when-clothing-is-more-than-fashion...

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Talking of Fat Rights, Is Your Citation Ethical?

by Lucy Aphramor

“It simply isn’t ethical to sacrifice people to a research agenda. Too many fat people have been and are still being misused in the name of health and publications and PhDs.”

https://medium.com/@lucy.aphramor/talking-of-fat-people-is-your-citation-ethical...

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'The Biggest Loser' is back on TV. Get ready for ramped-up fat-shaming and dangerous diets.

by Kate Bernyk

“When I joined the show, I was like most other people: I was spoon-fed this myth my entire life that being thin meant you were healthier...Then I went through the whole process of the show and discovered the techniques they gave me to be thinner. I realized how sick, how physically ill they made me. That connection between thin and healthy was broken for me."

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/biggest-loser-back-tv-get-ready-ramped-fat-shaming-dangerous...

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What we haven't learned from Belle Gibson

by Kasey Edwards

“chasing quick and easy fixes to complex problems — no matter how much money you throw at it or how slick the production values — can be a path to even greater pain and heartbreak”

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/what-we-haven-t-learned-from-belle-gibson...

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Shrill Season 2 Gets to the Mother of All Food Stigmas

by Whitney Friedlander

“I think we have to educate parents … [that] some people think that weight is something you have control over and so much of it is genetic and not in our control … and that bodies naturally come in all sizes and that [being] fat is not so bad. We have to make it safe for people to be fat.”

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2020/01/shrill-season-2-hulu...

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Who are you calling diseased?

by Oli Williams, Amelia Morris & Fiona Quigley

“One of the biggest problems within media coverage of debates about...fatness is that the philosophies and motives behind various arguments are taken out of context and sensationalised.”

CW: discussion of stigma-enacting media from various perspectives including weight-centric, and use, in places, of stigmatising terms (irony alert!)

https://www.cost-ofliving.net/who-are-you-calling-diseased...

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'Intuitive eating' is on the rise, and experts say it's because people are fed up with diet culture

by Gabby Landsverk

“You can't really re-approach nutrition in a kind and gentle way without breaking down...ideas about diet culture”

https://www.insider.com/what-is-intuitive-eating-does-it-work-2020...

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Intuitive Eating: The Not-Diet Diet for People Who Are Sick of Diets

by Emily Cassel

“It’s...not a weight loss plan, no matter what you might’ve read”

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bvgnjm/intuitive-eating-the-not-diet-diet-for-people-who-are-sick-of-diets...

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I want my daughters to know what I didn't: your weight is not your worth

by Sarah Berry

“Mothers have been exposed to this very same relentless training [in weight concern and dieting] so it’s no surprise that we inadvertently pass that on to our kids”

https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/i-want-my-daughters-to-know-what-i-didn-t...

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How To Keep Perspective When Everyone Around You Is Dieting

by Beth Skwarecki

“eating patterns that are marketed around wellness or “feeling good” can end up creeping into our brains the same way diets do—they’re diets in disguise, or they include stigma against larger bodies, perhaps unspoken, but heavily implied.”

https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2020/01/how-to-keep-perspective-when-everyone-around-you-is-dieting...

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5 Pilates YouTube Videos For Beginners That Are Also Body Positive

by Jay Polish

“When you don't have the time or ability to find an inclusive Pilates class in person, these YouTube videos and online programs are a great way to give your body the Pilates love it deserves.”

https://www.bustle.com/p/5-pilates-youtube-videos-for-beginners-that-are-also-body-positive...

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Body-Positive Doctors Exist — It’s Called Practicing HAES

by Ama Scriver

“One of the big problems with fatphobia in medical institutions and in doctor’s offices is that it does create a high degree of stress for the patient. When people go into doctors, the communication is really low, and often patients don’t feel comfortable with their doctors — that’s a problem. It means that patients are not being forthcoming and that doctors are not being able to provide care”

https://medium.com/@cara_harbstreet/jillian-michaels-is-forgetting-one-important-thing...

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This Amputee Has Created a Body Positive Blog to Help Normalize Disabilities

by Christina Oehler

“I ... want to normalize disabilities and normalize differences”

https://www.health.com/mind-body/disabilities-body-positivity-blog...

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It's Time For PCOS Advocacy To Embrace Fat Activism

by Nadia Mohd Rasidi

“What if fatness was allowed to be part of the experience of this disorder [PCOS] without multiple calls to eradicate it?”

https://wearyourvoicemag.com/sex-and-health/pcos-advocacy-fat-activism...

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‘The Biggest Loser’ Is One of the Most Harmful Reality Shows on Television

by Your Fat Friend

“just one hour of the show left thinner people with an even greater personal dislike of fat people”

https://gen.medium.com/jillian-michaels-and-the-alarming-legacy-of-the-biggest-loser...

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Jillian Michaels Is Forgetting One Important Thing

by Cara Harbstreet

“The only thing you can tell by looking at someone is the shape and size of their body, along with your own degree of personal bias towards a culturally-enforced thin ideal.”

https://medium.com/@cara_harbstreet/jillian-michaels-is-forgetting-one-important-thing...

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Do You Actually Need to Floss?

by David H. Freedman

“does all the evidence mean flossing is a sham? And are dentists ignoring the evidence in continuing to push flossing? Not exactly.”

https://elemental.medium.com/do-you-actually-need-to-floss...

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Good As Hell Lizzo Spotted Helping Australia's Bushfire Victims

by Ruth Barber

“We had the one and only Lizzo helping us sort and pack hampers in the warehouse today!"

Lucky Foodbank, lucky us!!

https://10daily.com.au/news/a200108syxvk/good-as-hell-lizzo-spotted-helping-australias-bushfire-victims...

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What “Board Certified in Obesity Medicine” Means to Me as a Fat Patient

by Ragen Chastain

“The word “obesity” was literally created to pathologize [my] body size.”

https://danceswithfat.org/2019/12/23/what-board-certified-in-obesity-medicine-means-to-me-as-a-fat-patient...

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The more we watch TV, the more we prefer thinner female bodies, study shows

by Jack Guy

“the results provide good evidence that TV is affecting our view of body ideals, driving body dissatisfaction and playing a role in the development of eating disorders and depression.”

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/19/health/television-bodies-nicaragua-scli-intl-scn-wellness...

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Training Opportunities

ONLINE (SELF-PACED)

Introduction to the Non-Diet Approach FREE

Unpacking Weight Science $79AUD

The Non-Diet Approach for Dietitians $199AUD

The Science of Self Compassion $39AUD

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Want more info about 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