Episode #116: Improving Health Without Focusing on the Scale With Adrien Paczosa

Adrien Paczosa believes that dietetic care with a health at every size approach should be accessible and affordable nationwide. Thanks to her vision, she founded Nourish, a virtual-first nutrition group with affordable access to nutrition care.  

On the podcast, we talked about how focusing on body weight only creates harmful weight cycling, how every diet and diet book should have a warning that weight cycling is harmful to your health, and why everyone should be offered the option to define health for themselves because it’s a personal definition. We also talked about incorporating other ways of improving health into daily habits, without the focus on weight loss. 

Learn more about Nourish here. www.UseNourish.com

Connect with Nourish and Adrien on Social

@UseNourish.com

@AdrienPaczosa

Episode #102: Diet Culture, Thin Privilege and Thin Fragility

After sharing a post about how exhausting I felt talking about diet culture (see post below), I realized a few things that I needed to name and share.

On the podcast, I shared the post I shared, why it was an important piece for me to share openly, the reaction I received from the community, and two surprising take-aways; thin privilege and thin fragility. 

I share and name my own thin privilege and get specific about how I know I’m privileged living inside of a straight-sized body. I also share my own fragility and how recognizing the impact of diet culture on marginalized identities is critical to our own freedom. 

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The social media post: 

I know this is very uncool of me, but I get tired of talking about diet culture. 

I'm in awe of so many of my colleagues that call out the harmful messages and inaccuracies we're being told about health, weight, food and body size. 

I know I've done my share and there is more for me to do, but it just wears on me. 

I feel hopeless. Like we are fighting a losing battle. Any impact I have is a faint whisper compared to the massive marketing machines behind diet culture kings like Weight Watchers, Noom, and Jenny Craig. 

In this hopelessness, I feel indifference. Fine- go ahead. Keep marketing to kids. Keep lying to people and telling them your diet is a lifestyle plan. Take people's money and take away their body autonomy. 

It makes me so angry, I could scream. But who do I scream at? Who do I call? It's like I'm swinging my arms blind folded. Diet culture is everywhere, with no obvious physical location. 

I've given my hard earned money to Weight Watchers. I've been duped by them too. 

Maybe that's why I'm tired of talking about diet culture. I'm mad at myself. I'm mad that I was deceived. I'm mad that all of my clients have been deceived too and they have to hire me. 

I wish it never existed. I wish I never went on a diet when I was 12. Then I wouldn't have to talk about diet culture. 

I realize now that I'm just fuckin' sad. That's all. 

Episode #99: Health, Liberty and Happiness Are for All Sizes With Ragen Chastain

Ragen Chastain is a speaker, writer, trained researcher, multi-certified health and fitness professional, and thought leader in Weight Science, Weight Stigma, and Weight-Neutral Health.

On the podcast, Ragen shares her discovery that diets don’t lead to long-term weight loss. She shares the pivotal moment when she knew she couldn’t just be a fat dancer, she had to be a fat activist, why healthism can’t ever excuse fatphobia, how diet culture has hijacked health and healthcare, the history of BMI, and why we all need to challenge the assumption that poor health has to do with being in a big body. 

Ragen is a national dance champion, triathlete, and marathoner who holds the Guinness World Record for Heaviest Woman to Complete a Marathon, and co-founded the Fit Fatties Facebook group which has over 11,000 members. Ragen lives in LA with her fiancée Julianne and their two adorable dogs.

Connect with Ragen here.

Instagram: @RagenChastain 

Facebook: @RagenChastain 

Twitter: @DancesWithFat 

YouTUbe: @DancesWithFat

Check out Ragen’s Fat Healthcare Summer Workshop Series

Subscribe to the Weight and Healthcare Newsletter

Looking for one-on-one coaching support  around intuitive eating, body image and emotional eating? 

Schedule a clarity call with me where you can share what your goals and intentions are, I’ll offer you some insight around what’s going on and if we feel like we’re a good match, I can share more information on how we can move forward. 

Here is my calendar link.