Food Psych - Intuitive Eating, Health At Every Size, Positive Body Image, Eating Disorder Recovery, Smashing Diet Culture

Anti-diet therapists and authors Judith Matz and Amy Pershing return to the podcast to discuss their latest project, The Body Positivity Card Deck; how trauma and shame affect our relationships with food and the body; intersectionality in body-acceptance work; the role of self-compassion in eating-disorder recovery; and so much more. Plus, in Ask Food Psych, Christy answers a listener question about whether a particular fad diet is misusing the term “intuitive eating.” Judith Matz, LCSW is a therapist, author and nationally recognized speaker on the topics of diet culture, binge eating, emotional eating, body image, and weight stigma. She is co-author of The Diet Survivor's Handbook and Beyond a Shadow of a Diet, and the author of Amanda's Big Dream. Her work has been featured in the media including NPR, The New York Times, and Psychotherapy Networker. Judith has a private practice in Skokie. She recently co-authored The Body Positivity Card Deck (PESI, 2020). Find her online at JudithMatz.com. Amy Pe

Anti-diet social worker Noel Ramirez joins us to discuss the parallels between disordered eating and dysfunctional relationships, the intersection of eating disorders and substance abuse, creating a sense of home in our bodies, how diet culture shows up in queer male culture, and so much more. Plus, in Ask Food Psych, Christy answers a listener question about whether there’s truly such a thing as “diet-related illness.” Dr. Noel Ramirez is a Philly-based licensed clinical social worker and public health professional. Informed by Immigrant-Filipino parents who love through a sense of home, a chosen Queer family who resist subjugation, and a public health community that seeks to honor social and environmental context, his approach is relational, inter-subjective and grounded in love, honor and respect. Dr. Ramirez received his graduate training in social work from the University of Pennsylvania and his graduate public health training from Drexel University. He recently completed his Doctorate in Behavioral Heal

Anti-diet yoga teacher and body image coach Fiona Flynn joins us to discuss how yoga philosophy has been co-opted by diet culture, how having “forbidden” foods keeps us stuck in the restrict-binge cycle, how confronting her own weight stigma helped to heal her relationship with her body, bringing an anti-diet approach to the yoga community, and so much more. Plus, Ask Food Psych guest co-host Christyna Johnson answers a listener question about how to navigate orthorexic thoughts around veganism. Fiona Madhuri Flynn E-RYT 500, YACEP, founder and director of Body Wisdom Intuition, is a Health At Every Size® and Anti-Diet advocate, an Intuitive Eating Guide and a Nutrition and Body Image Coach and has been offering support in attuned eating since 2011. Having lived in an ashram for 16 years and taught yoga consistently in the Bay Area since the 1990s, she has experienced the problems with disordered eating and exercise behaviors in the world of yoga, and she is now on a mission to awaken the yoga community to th

Researcher and author Joy Cox returns to the podcast to discuss her new book, Fat Girls in Black Bodies; diet culture in Black communities and in the church; her evolving relationship with movement, and how it inspired her to co-create the Jabbie app; how to respond to internalized weight stigma and bias; and so much more. Plus, Christy answers a listener question about how to deal with your disordered-eating past following you around the internet. Joy Arlene Renee Cox is an ordinary person who has been given an ordinary opportunity to share stories about people much more fabulous than herself. She is a Philadelphia native, born on the blessed thirty-first day of December. Joy is a claircognizant Capricorn that thrives through connection and love, rooting for the underdogs in life to take their rightful place as overcomers. She is also a doctor, receiving her PhD from Rutgers University–New Brunswick in 2018. Her field of work is centered on fatness, identity, and social change. Reflective of the name she bea

Certified lactation counselor and writer Leslie Moniot joins us to discuss diet culture in the infant-nutrition field, trying to raise an intuitive eater, the difference between intuitive eating in children and adults, why we shouldn’t judge people regardless of how they choose to feed themselves or their kids, and so much more. Plus, Christy answers a listener question about how to talk to diet-culture-entrenched family members about Health At Every Size. Leslie Moniot is a Certified Lactation Counselor and single mother of a 5-year-old daughter, who writes about motherhood, breastfeeding, body liberation, food and more as The Way At Home Mom. After getting pregnant, Leslie moved back to her hometown on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and through a winding road began working for a government program that serves low-income families, where she does prenatal counseling, breastfeeding classes, and peer support for breastfeeding mothers. Leslie has been living the Intuitive Eating and Health At Every Size life for sev

Body-image coach Summer Innanen returns to the podcast to discuss weight-inclusive pregnancy and postpartum resources; raising socially conscious, anti-diet children; her experiences returning to work from maternity leave; why she rebranded her body-image course; and so much more. Plus, Christy answers a listener question about the current state of the science on COVID-19 and weight. Summer Innanen is a professionally trained coach specializing in body image, self-worth and confidence who helps people all over the world to stop living behind the numbers on their scales through her private and group coaching. She is the best-selling author of Body Image Remix, the creator of the flagship You, On Fire – a 3 month online program to help women break free from body shame and live life on their own terms. And, she is the host of Fearless Rebelle Radio - a podcast about body image, anti-dieting, self-help and feminism. Find her online at SummerInnanen.com. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, go to

SEASON 8 PREMIERE! Therapist and body-image coach Brianna Campos joins us to discuss how to improve body image and fight internalized weight stigma, her concept of “body grief,” how body image is connected to what’s going on in the world around you, and so much more. Plus, Ask Food Psych co-host Savala Trepczynski answers a listener question about how to handle scarcity mentality with special-occasion foods that are typically served at holidays or parties. Brianna Campos is a fat-positive, Health At Every Size provider. She is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the state of NJ and also does virtual body image coaching sessions, groups, and workshops. Find her online at BodyImageWithBri.com. Savala Trepczynski is a writer, teacher, and social justice attorney. She is the Executive Director of the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice at UC Berkeley School of Law, convening scholars, activists, lawyers, and community members at the best public law school in the country to tackle social justice probl

Fellow anti-diet dietitian Marci Evans is back! We discuss the intersection of digestive disorders and eating disorders, the risks associated with elimination diets, the role of the gut microbiome in digestion and health, the importance of consistency in self-care and well-being, and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a listener question about why she as a dietitian doesn’t advise people to shift their food choices to less-processed foods. This episode was originally published on November 26, 2018. Marci is a Food and Body Image Healer™. She has dedicated her career to counseling, supervising, and teaching in the field of eating disorders. She is a Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian and Supervisor, Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor and Certified ACSM personal trainer. In addition to her group private practice, Marci launched an online eating disorders training platform for dietitians in 2015 and co-directs a specialized eating disorders dietetic internship at Simmons College. She volunteers fo

Disability-rights advocate and writer Rebekah Taussig joins us to talk about why body positivity needs to be a radical and intersectional movement, the connection between body acceptance and disability rights, the many ways in which diet culture has infiltrated disability culture and affects people in disabled bodies, embracing all the emotions that surface when doing anti-oppression work, and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a listener question about quick ways to respond when a friend says something diet-y or body-shaming. This episode was originally published on March 19, 2018. Rebekah Taussig is a Kansas City writer and teacher with her PhD in Creative Nonfiction and Disability Studies. She is interested in the powerful connection between the stories we tell and the world we live in, from physical spaces and economic opportunities to social roles and interpersonal relationships. Her writing contributes to the collective narratives being told about disability in our culture -- empowering, mundane, wild,

Mental health counselor and Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor Christine Yoshida joins us to discuss how fitness culture affected her relationship with food, how she broke free and restored her relationship with her body, why diet mentality and “clean eating” can make health problems worse, how young children can be influenced by diet culture, using empathy and connection to spread the anti-diet message, and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a listener question about how to handle black-and-white thinking in eating-disorder recovery. This episode was originally published on October 8, 2018. Christine Yoshida, MS, NCC, maintains a private counseling practice in Vancouver, Washington (north of Portland, Oregon). Christine is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, NASM certified personal trainer, and she is also currently in the process of completing a program to obtain her Eating Disorder Certificate. Her practice focuses on assisting teens and adults dealing with eating d

Body-positive sex coach and fellow podcast host Dawn Serra joins us to talk about the social currency that comes with dieting and pursuing weight loss, her work in sexuality and how it intersects with fat activism, body image struggles within sexual experiences, how weight discrimination affects people in larger bodies, thin privilege, the good-fatty/bad-fatty dichotomy, cultivating curiosity with food and pleasure, and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a listener question about gender dysphoria and disordered eating. This episode was originally published on January 29, 2018. Sex is a social skill. Dawn Serra speaks it, writes it, teaches it, and she helps you learn how to develop it. Committed to ending sexual and bodily shame, Dawn is the creator and host of the weekly podcast, Sex Gets Real as well as the radical online summit, Explore More. In addition to working one-on-one with clients around pleasure, desire, and connection, she also lectures at colleges and universities on sex, relationships, and bod

TV writer and fellow podcaster April K. Quioh joins us to talk about how intersectional feminism and sociology helped her to finally let go of dieting and embrace her body size, why we need to challenge fatphobia and fight for it to be considered a valid form of discrimination, why it’s important to unlearn the diet-culture rules we’ve internalized around food and our bodies, the historical roots of diet culture, and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a listener question about how to know if you're ready to begin re-learning intuitive eating. This episode was originally published on July 23, 2018. April K. Quioh is a comedy writer and podcast host from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She writes about fun stuff like popular culture, love, and blackness and has worked on television shows on Comedy Central, YouTubeRed, and Netflix. She has perfect skin and is a lawful good. She co-hosts A Little Forward, a weekly podcast that kicks down the walls of conformity, and She's All Fat, a podcast about body positivity

SEASON 7 FINALE! Fat activist, author, speaker, and podcaster Victoria Welsby returns to the podcast to discuss the intersection of fatphobia and healthism, why all weight-loss advice is a form of weight stigma, the moralization of different health conditions, the role of thin allies in fat activism, and so much more. Plus, in our new “Ask Food Psych” segment, co-host Vincci Tsui answers a listener question on how the anti-diet and intuitive eating frameworks address health. Victoria Welsby is a world-leading expert on body image and confidence, TEDx speaker and best-selling author. She went from being homeless, abused with self-esteem that was achingly low into the courageous fat activist and change maker she is today. Victoria helps people fall in love with themselves and is dedicated to shifting the way society views fat bodies. Find her online at FierceFatty.com. Vincci Tsui (she/her) is a former bariatric dietitian turned certified intuitive eating counselor and Health At Every Size® advocate. She is the

Fat-liberation activist Angelina Moles joins us to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic perpetuates oppression and trauma, her shift from body positivity to fat liberation, why subtle forms of weight stigma can sometimes be more harmful than overt ones, the trauma of medical fatphobia, and so much more. Plus, Christy answers a listener question about how to dismantle the fatphobic belief that having a larger-bodied population is supposedly a barrier to universal healthcare. This interview was recorded in April 2020, before the recent uprising for racial justice. Angelina is a fat liberationist who seeks to educate about the misinformation around bodies, weight stigma, and “health.” As an educator, Angelina teaches communication studies and is working on creating an online seminar on Fat Liberation and why we all need it. Angelina has a Master of Arts degree in Communication Studies with an emphasis in Performance Studies and Fat Studies. They have created multiple performance pieces on fatphobia and how it affec

Anti-diet writer Kelsey Miller returns to the podcast to share her experiences of pregnancy in a larger body, adjusting to postpartum body changes, being a new mom, navigating the wedding industry as a plus-size bride, and so much more. Plus, Christy answers a listener question about eating-disorder recovery while living at home with a parent who pushes diet culture on you. Kelsey Miller is a bestselling author and speaker based in Brooklyn, New York. While on staff at Refinery29, she created and wrote the award-winning Anti-Diet Project, one of the site's most popular franchises. In her role as Senior Features Writer, she covered a broad spectrum of topics, including popular culture, current events, body positivity and anti-diet culture, fitness, advice, and "weird history." Kelsey is the author of the memoir Big Girl (Grand Central Publishing, 2016) and I'll Be There For You (Hanover Square Press, 2018), a pop-culture study on Friends. Kelsey and her work have been featured in The New York T

Eating-disorders therapist and fellow podcaster Asher Pandjiris joins us to discuss chronic illness in the context of body acceptance, the experience of living with an autoimmune disorder, the intersection of eating disorders and trauma, how the “personal responsibility” narrative perpetuates stigma, how being queer and non-binary has affected Asher’s relationship with their body, and so much more. Plus, Christy answers a listener question about whether trying to let go of restrictions in order to heal from diet culture means that you can’t follow Kosher customs. Asher Pandjiris is a psychotherapist and host of the Living in this Queer Body Podcast. Asher is a queer, white, non-binary (she/they pronouns) parent. Asher is also someone living with auto-immune based chronic health issues. They served as the Program Director at Balance Eating Disorder Treatment Center and have years of experience working with issues related to trauma and its impact on the body. Asher has published on the topics of intergeneration

Anti-diet dietitian Anna Lutz joins us to discuss why it doesn’t make sense to provide both eating-disorder treatment and weight management, the influence of diet culture on parenting, how to provide structure for kids’ eating without creating restriction, managing picky eating, and so much more. Plus, weight-inclusive yoga teacher Rachel Estapa returns to give us an update on her experience of having and recovering from COVID-19 in a larger body. Anna Lutz is an Anti-Diet Registered Dietitian in Raleigh, NC with Lutz, Alexander & Associates Nutrition Therapy. She specializes in eating disorders and pediatric/family nutrition and sees clients locally and virtually. In addition to her clinical work, she writes about nutrition and family feeding, free of diet culture, at Sunny Side Up Nutrition along with Elizabeth Davenport. Anna received her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Duke University and Master of Public Health in Nutrition from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a

Coach and educator Ilya Parker of Decolonizing Fitness joins us to discuss moving away from toxic fitness culture toward an intuitive relationship with movement, how diet culture has shape-shifted to hide its racist roots, the experience of being a Black trans person trying to get gender-affirming medical care, toxic masculinity in white trans-masculine culture, and so much more. Plus, Christy answers a listener question about how health and mental-health providers with various forms of privilege can work to help create a weight-inclusive world without perpetuating systems of oppression.   Ilya (pronouns he/they) is a grassroots organizer and educator whose work centers gender, racial, and healing justice. He is also a Physical Therapist Assistant and Medical Exercise Coach. Ilya decided to merge their love for restorative based movement practices and community advocacy to create Decolonizing Fitness, LLC which is a social justice platform that provides affirming fitness services, community education and appa

Anti-racism educator and author Monique Melton joins us to discuss why doing anti-racism work is a prerequisite to dismantling diet culture and other systems of oppression, the difficulty of raising Black children in our white-supremacist culture, how to move beyond performative activism and allyship, why anti-racism work is never-ending, and so much more. Monique Melton is an anti-racism educator, published author, international speaker, and host of the Shine Brighter Together podcast. She is also the founder of Shine Brighter Together, which is a community dedicated to healthy relationships & diverse unity. She travels the world speaking at conferences and events on topics related to anti-racism, personal growth, diversity, and relationships. She’s been published in magazines, featured in blogs and podcasts, and has touched the lives of people all over the world. She is a natural big-bold dreamer and a deeply rooted woman of faith. She is a proud Navy wife to her high-school sweetheart, and she is a lov

Writer and activist Sonya Renee Taylor joins us to discuss why we need more radical body love in the world, how to deal with weight gain and weight stigma while learning intuitive eating, what mainstream body positivity gets wrong, why understanding oppression and intersecting identities is the key to creating a world that's *truly* body-positive, how to navigate diet culture as a body-acceptance activist, how to begin to untangle internalized oppression, and lots more. (This interview originally aired on July 17, 2017.) Plus, in a new 2020 introduction, Christy offers a list of anti-racism resources for people who are looking to learn more. Sonya Renee Taylor is the Founder and Radical Executive Officer of The Body is Not An Apology, a digital media and education company committed to radical self-love and body empowerment as the foundational tool for social justice and global transformation. TBINAA.com reaches over 1 million people each month in 140 countries with their articles and content focused on th