As we begin to move into the season of many holidays, discussion about diets, weight gain, and needing to “burn off” any sweets are likely going to be everywhere! Ever heard someone say “I’m being so bad!” for picking up a brownie? Or talking about how they’re going to need to buy new pants on Black Friday after eating so much on Thanksgiving? Have you felt the need to skip a few meals before a holiday dinner? Unfortunately, these types of discussions and feelings are seen as so normal; it’s often hard to register how swept away we can get in the concept of needing to maintain or shrink body size, and the judgements we make about food related to that.
With Thanksgiving coming up so soon, I thought this was a perfect time to put out a post with a big list of resources that can encourage you to have a non diet holiday (and life!).
If you’ve been thinking about learning more about intuitive eating, health at every size, or just trying to feel better about your eating and your body, you’ve found the right place! Below are a few books, podcasts, and instagram accounts that I recommend to anyone who wants to know a bit more about the work that I do and the things that really fire me up related to nutrition and health.
I think these resources are particularly helpful going into this time of year. Even if you’ve seen some of these books before, it’s always great to turn back to them as a way to arm you with the anti-diet mindset to share with others who might be deep in diet culture and wanting a way out.
Let’s get to it; here’s the list!
Intuitive Eating and Non Diet Books
Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch
Intuitive eating is the first stop on your journey. This book will teach you all the basics of how to adopt intuitive eating in your life, and find peace with food (without restricting what you eat). It has been life changing for so many, and a key foundational piece of the anti-diet movement! Note that the authors are both RDNs (registered dietitian nutritionists)!
“Having a healthy relationship with food means you are not morally superior of inferior based on your eating choices”
-from the book!
Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight by Lindo Bacon, PhD
This book will teach you everything you need to know about why the medical establishment is wrong to assume that all healthy people are thin and vice versa. If you’ve heard of the HAES (health at every size) movement, it originated with this book and the research that went into it. Anyone who is interested in learning how weight should not be considered a key indicator of health should definitely take a look.
“The only way to solve the weight problem is to stop making weight a problem– to stop judging ourselves and others by our size. Weight is not an effective measure of attractiveness, moral character, or health.”
-Lindo Bacon, PhD
The co-authors of this book were formerly therapist and patient (and the former patient is now a therapist too!), and they have each shared in depth about their experiences with eating disorders in this book. The 8 keys outlined in the book are what the authors gathered to be the most crucial pieces for ED recovery. If you have experienced an eating disorder, this book is a beautiful compassionate peek into how two people went through the recovery process.
“When your healthy self is strong enough to deal with all that comes your way in life, your eating disorder self will no longer be useful or necessary.”
-Carolyn Costin
This book is a great blueprint to help you figure out all of the things that are important to you other than dieting and your body. Body Kindness will show you how to shift your understanding of health away from being weight-loss centered, and will instead show you how to make choices that are the best for your overall well-being. Plus, the whole book is based on an anti-diet mindset and includes some really awesome and easy-to-understand graphics.
“You are not your thoughts. Thoughts have power only when you give it to them.”
-Rebecca Scritchfield
Anti Diet Podcasts
Want something to listen to instead? Here’s a list of some of my faves. Podcasts are one of my favorite ways to expose myself to new ideas, and the ones listed below are interesting, include a diverse set of guests, and keep me thinking about the topics discussed well after I’ve taken out my headphones!
Food Psych, hosted by Christy Harrison, MPH, RD, CEDS
This podcast is my holy grail of anti-diet podcasts. Christy does a really great job of tying in the greater themes of HAES, intuitive eating, and body acceptance throughout the episodes.
Real Pod, hosted by Victoria Garrick
Victoria Garrick uses her background as an athlete to unpack her experiences struggling with eating disorders and other mental health issues on this podcast, while interviewing a wide variety of guests.
Food Heaven, hosted by Wendy Lopez, RD and Jessica Jones, RD
Wendy and Jessica are best friends, and they are also both registered dietitians! This podcast will definitely help you on your journey with intuitive eating and HAES, but will also address larger issues, like how fat phobia and weight bias are linked with racism.
Nutrition Matters, hosted by Paige Smathers, RD
While Paige decided to stop making new episodes of this podcast in late 2020, the archive is like a gold mine – full of ever-relevant episodes where the host explores health through the lens of “Positive Nutrition.”
Body Kindness, hosted by Rebecca Scritchfield, RDN
Author of the book, “Body Kindness” – listed above! Rebecca expands upon the topics addressed in her book in this spinoff podcast.
RD Real Talk, hosted by Heather Caplan, RD
Heather interviews a lot of fellow RDs who also describe themselves as anti-diet and body-inclusive, and the conversations are fascinating, especially for anyone interested in the nutrition and dietetics field!
The BodyLove Project Podcast, hosted by Jessi Haggerty, RD
This podcast will help you define “bodylove” in your own terms!
Nourishing Women Podcast, hosted by Victoria Myers, RD
A holistic look into women’s health, focusing on intuitive eating! Victoria also runs Nourishing Minds Nutrition, which is focused on body image healing!
Is Instagram your favorite media platform? If so, check out my Instagram post with TONS of tagged accounts that are additional resources to bring your feed into the anti diet world!
